Jess
Farmers Market Assistant, Farm Crew
Should you ever attend the South Christchurch farmers market, even sometimes the Riccarton Deans Bush market, you are very likely to come across Jess either heckling, joking or laughing. Quick with a joke, Jess is great company out in the field – there is always a great story for very situation! Having done a lot of travelling – and not your typical tourist exploration, but truly delving into the culture and traditions that different countries manifest; I have not met a more widely travelled person. Jess lived in Thailand for 12 years working in community development, ameliorating the lives and living conditions for a huge number of people. While her social science degree doesn’t directly apply to her work here on the farm, she makes our lives better too!
While she only blesses us with her presence 3 weekdays out here on the farm, her management of the farmers market makes up for any lost time! The market is her forte, however Jess has shown her quick-flash knife skills out harvesting veges, and her organisation and concentration in the packing shed leaves me speechless. As one might expect, Jess has excellent communication skills (probably quite hard to work in the social science sector without being able to make clear and concise points, I suppose!) – this means she lets us know what crops are selling super well at the markets, and which vegetables are deemed less desirable by the general populace – thus we can adjust our market vege harvest accordingly… always worth having insider knowledge!!
Outside of work, Jess is an extremely active person – be it hiking, trail running or pack-rafting, if the weather is good (and even when it’s not so good), Jess is out there doing it in the true Kiwi fashion. How she has the energy to do such things (because I tell you what, farm work is most certainly tiring!) is super impressive… So go ahead, pay a visit to the South Christchurch farmers market in Beckenham and chat to the lady herself! It’s always a great time!!