Pro farm hand
Introducing the other Schacherer, Dominique’s brother, who has made himself invaluable as our jack-of-all-trades: he helped construct our greenhouses; manages most of the weeding of our spring crops that includes (but is certainly not limited to) flame weeding and stirrup hoeing. Not only that, he is a core member of the planting team (and I have to squat walk pretty bloody fast to keep up with him!).
During our busy periods on the farm, Kyle can be seen hooning around on the tractor dropping off empty crates to be filled and running the full crates back to the wash-pad; he will sit in the paddock and harvest, uncomplainingly, trying to ignore inane chatter I imagine! The appropriate description for Kyle is this: a legend.
In a sense, we are all extremely grateful that Covid-19 happened: it forced Kyle home to NZ – previous to hanging out with a bunch of humble farmers, Kyle was out exploring all the good, bad and ugly that the world has to offer: he has travelled extensively, picking a new continent almost each year. One time he biked through Africa (yeah, that volatile continent with corrupt policemen, people with no fear of taking advantage of travellers, and let’s not forget the incredibly dangerous animals that won’t let a metal bike frame and a pair of sandals scare them away from an easy meal!). He spent months in Switzerland skiing, snowboarding and doing everything snow related.
In his free time, Kyle spends most days building his own little cabin (yep, a legend who is also apparently a part-time builder!) although, given the chance, a weekend off will see Kyle out hiking and hunting. However, he doesn’t shy away from the close confines of indoors either: cooking and preserving have apparently sucked up many hours of rainy days! We are still trying to discover if there is anything Kyle can’t do!
