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Make money fruit picking

The fruitful way to make money

Find out everything you need to know about fruit picking.
How you get paid
Here's our guide to getting started.
Take a look at these websites.

What's involved?

When can you do it?

Fruit picking in the UK takes place in the summer months usually from June to September, when strawberries, apples and hops are harvested. Fruit is picked at certain times, for example strawberries and gooseberries are often picked from early June to mid July, plums and apples are picked in late August, and apples and pears are picked in September.

What do you need?

Fruit picking is an outdoor job so wear old casual clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. You may be standing in fields for hours on end so comfortable shoes are a must. You'll also need a hat and some sun cream so you don't get burnt. Insect repellent is a good idea, and make sure you drink plenty of water.

There are no skills required and you won't need previous experience. All you need is to be able to speak English and a willingness to work hard. You will be shown how to pick the fruit and don't worry if you find you are a bit slow to begin with - you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Quite often there are other jobs to be done such as checking the fruit, weighing the fruit, making jam, packing/labelling and selling the fruit in the farm shop.

Do I need to relocate?

If you don't live near the farm you want to work for then you may be able to stay in the farmhouse, or camp in a field or possibly a caravan. Some farmers will provide this accommodation for free to their pickers, others may charge a small fee.

How will I be paid?

You're usually paid cash in hand so you'll need to sort out your own tax/national insurance.

You may get an hourly or daily rate, but sometimes you are paid according to the amount you pick (e.g. you get x amount per kg or pound). This system is called 'piecework' and it is fruitful (sorry) for those who work particularly hard.

Most farmers see this as casual work and you probably won't get a contract of employment or any perks like holiday or sick pay.

Should you do it?

Fruit picking is fairly tough farm work and is not suitable for everyone, so if you aren't keen on physical work this wont be for you. If a bit of hard work doesn't scare you it's a great way to stay fit whilst earning money. You'll be outdoors soaking up the sunshine which is certainly appealing to some.

Get started

Fruit picking in the UK

There are fruit farms all over the UK producing a wide range of fruit, so it shouldn't be difficult to find work somewhere. Here's our step-by-step guide to finding fruit picking work:

Step one: search your area

Check local farms for work first and keep an eye out for vacancies in the local papers. Find a farmers' market near you here and ask about any jobs going.

Step two: look online

Go to Picking Jobs where you can put in a search for fruit picking in Europe and see what's available. Another useful website is Anywork Anywhere which has a similar set-up and can be used to search for all kinds of other seasonal jobs both here and abroad.

Go to Gumtree which also lists landscape jobs all over the UK.

When you see a job that interests you, email the employer directly giving a few basic details about yourself and the dates you can do.

Step three: find out what it's like to be a picker

Read about other people's experiences of fruit picking here and take a look at this information about two big fruit growers in the UK to give you an idea of how it all works:

PJ Stirling Fruit Farms have a soft fruit farm in Scotland where the picking season runs from April to November. At this farm a shift is normally no more than 8 hours, for 6 days a week. The day starts early, at around 6.30am and finishes by 3.00pm. There are mobile homes and dormitories for workers to share for £6.70 per day and there are coach trips on Sundays to take workers to local places of interest.

Edward Vinson Ltd own three sites in the south east of England, Kent. There are 70 hectares of strawberry fields and 20 hectares of raspberry fields. Employees are paid either by the hour or by piecework, and the working week is from Saturday to Friday with overtime shifts available in peak seasons. The basic hourly rate is £5.52, which isn't much, but the overtime rate is 150%. Again accommodation is available (campsites with mobile homes) for a small charge of £28-30 per week, and there are football pitches and volleyball areas to enjoy plus trips to nearby cities.

Fruit picking abroad

Fruit picking is an ideal way to earn some money during your gap year while you are travelling. You'll probably meet lots of people who are also on their gap year and you'll be able to find much cheaper accommodation as a picker than you would as a tourist.

Again good websites to use are Picking Jobs and Anywork Anywhere where you can search for vacancies in Europe, North America and Australasia. Helpfully you can also search vacancies for particular months at Picking Jobs so if you're going backpacking you can organise work before you leave.

You can access working holiday/temporary work visa information at Anywork Anywhere plus a list of embassies and consulates in the countries you plan to visit.

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