THEY LOVE IT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 290, 7 December 1943, Page 2

THEY LOVE IT

WOMEN IN GARDENS

VEGETABLES FOR THE FORCES

(J.M.A.) Lately there has been a buzz of controversy about the work of girls on the Government vegetable farms. Can they stand the hard work? Do their boy friends shun them because they no longer have beautiful hands? So we went to the Vegetable Production Project at Belmont to find out. Pea-picking is now in full swing. Eight acres of peas have to be harvested within the next few weeks and seven acres of beans will soon be ready. Last week over 130 women and girls were picking peas at top speed and more are urgently needed. The pay, with the cost of living added, is about 1/9 an hour. There are only about 14 girls on the permanent staff. They plant, cultivate, harvest and pack the produce. All of them have had indoor jobs before, except one, who had the unusual occupation of butcher's boy. The others have all come from shops, doctors' rooms, restaurants or photographers' studios. One was a school teacher. One, who was formerly-a nurse, has taken a course at the Ruakura Government Farm and intends to make nursery work her career after the war. Another, though you would never guess it if you could see her, slim, in the briefest of shorts, is the mother of five children. Praise For Their Work Dressed in overalls, or shorts, these girls don't look fashion-plates, but their golden sun-tan must make them envied on the beach. They really like the work, too. "I used to work in a shop," said one, "but' I wouldn't go back. This doesn't seem like work it's such fun." And they can work. Planting by the thousand means nothing to them. They have just finished putting in three acres of lettuce. Mr. Bearsley, who is in charge of the gardens, has nothing but praise for the work of those girls. Then there are the "casuals" — about 40 married women. "I'd rather grow vegetables than do any other war work," said one. "It's really productive and important. After all, a soldier can't fight without food." "Besides, we enjoy it," said another. "I close the house in the morning and come out into the air with a cheer." This isn't surprising when you see the lovely situation of these gardens—straight rows of young green vegetables marching, like the soldiers they will feed, down to a headland which overlooks Rangitoto Channel and the islands of the Gulf. No wonder these women look so brown and fit. Mothers Work Part-Time Don't think that they neglect their homes and families because they work, although nearly all have young folk at school and hungry husbands coming home for dinner. Being parttime workers, they are paid by the hour and choose their own time to work. It would be an eye-opener to many men to see these women with hammer and nails turning out seedboxes by the dozen, and when it comes to shovelling or working a sieve, the women have surprised even themselves. One of the regular workers is a grandmother. She doesn't find the work too hard. It's fun, they all say; it's healthy and it's a war job.