If you’ve indulged in fresh locally grown produce in the past 20 years, chances are it may have been planted or picked by Dion Stuck.
The Appleby Fresh irrigation worker recently celebrated two decades at the company and has a no-nonsense approach to producing a variety of fruit and vege on its more than 150 hectares of Waimea Plains land.
Dion says he had been undertaking seasonal work, harvesting apples and grapes in the local area, when he took on the job at the Appleby business in 2003.
He says he approached the owner, Mark O’Connor, numerous times before he cultivated a one-week trial to test his horticultural skills.
“I never had that opportunity before to prove myself, so I thought if this guy’s going to give me a week’s trial, I’m going to work my ass off, and I’m still here,” he says.
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“When I first started off I was cutting vegetables, and then a year after I started they got me doing irrigation… the only reason I keep going is I have good bosses, it’s a really good place to work, and I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ll probably work here until I’m dead or retire.”
The 52-year-old says his best memory at Appleby Fresh was simply being part of the seed-to-table process with the likes of lettuces, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and summer produce like pumpkins, sweetcorn and melons.
Mark O’Connor says Dion cropping up two decades at his company was a “good effort”.
“It’s always good to have a good state of workforce. I think that’s across most of the workers here really, we don’t have much of a change around, very dedicated staff.”
