Getting a gardener to stay and work in the farm was a daunting task from the beginning. We started the search as soon as we started work on the farm shed. Our friends and family cast a large net and were looking for the right person.
The number of people available to work on farms on daily wages is already very low. There are several reasons for this - some of the Government schemes aimed at helping wage earners had an unintended consequence of reducing desire for them to work. Further, number of people willing to stay in a farm and work is even lower. So it was hard to get good leads - we had some leads initially but turned out to be not viable.
As the farm shed construction was taking longer, our search kept expanding. After 3 months, my mother-in-law landed a lead through the coconut trader they work with. The lead was a 69 year old single man. He visited us and had a look at the farm. He asked for a monthly salary that is on the high side. But based on the recommendation from the coconut trader, we appointed him.
He was happy to see the new shed that he would inhibit - a kitchen with washing sink, ample space and also a solar powered light and fan. So by October 2015 - we have a shed and a person to live in.
He stared work by clearing some of the thorny bushes that grew back since our earlier cleanup. We had to employ a JCB to clear certain areas as well as level the field. Once the bushed were cleared and leveled, we had a tractor fitted with rotavator ( a rotary tiller) to run through the field.
[caption id="attachment_667" align="alignnone" width="1632"]
Field preperation[/caption]
The number of people available to work on farms on daily wages is already very low. There are several reasons for this - some of the Government schemes aimed at helping wage earners had an unintended consequence of reducing desire for them to work. Further, number of people willing to stay in a farm and work is even lower. So it was hard to get good leads - we had some leads initially but turned out to be not viable.
As the farm shed construction was taking longer, our search kept expanding. After 3 months, my mother-in-law landed a lead through the coconut trader they work with. The lead was a 69 year old single man. He visited us and had a look at the farm. He asked for a monthly salary that is on the high side. But based on the recommendation from the coconut trader, we appointed him.
He was happy to see the new shed that he would inhibit - a kitchen with washing sink, ample space and also a solar powered light and fan. So by October 2015 - we have a shed and a person to live in.
He stared work by clearing some of the thorny bushes that grew back since our earlier cleanup. We had to employ a JCB to clear certain areas as well as level the field. Once the bushed were cleared and leveled, we had a tractor fitted with rotavator ( a rotary tiller) to run through the field.
[caption id="attachment_667" align="alignnone" width="1632"]
Field preperation[/caption]