Five-year-old helps P.E.I. family with potato harvest
Pat Martel | CBC News | Posted: October 19, 2016 10:00 AM | Last Updated: October 19, 2016
Carter MacDonald rewarded with treats and hugs from his grammy
He's only in grade one, but that hasn't stopped Carter MacDonald from helping his family in Elmwood, P.E.I., get the potatoes in before the weather turns.
The five-year-old shows up for work almost every day, putting in ten or 15 minutes to help bring in the potatoes.
Carter's job, along with the grown-up rock pickers, is to grab stones and sod from a conveyor belt carrying the spuds into the warehouse.
"Kids nowadays and my generation do not want to farm and don't know where our food comes from, and teaching Carter hard work at this age is a good idea," said Carter's uncle, Logan Docherty.
Safety comes first
Carter's uncle, Logan Docherty said he keeps a close eye on the young boy at all times.
"We have to teach him all about safety first, and because he is so young, we have to keep an eye on him as well, and make sure he doesn't get caught in any belts or chains."
'You learn how to do your job right'
Docherty said Carter's a good hard worker.
"I am very impressed and take a lot of pride in seeing him working with us every day that he can and loving what he does."
Carter agreed doing a good job is important.
"You learn how to do your job right."
Work hard and good things happen
He said the rocks and sod speed by on the conveyor belt, but he can still pick them up.
"I just work and wait, and then I grabbed and grabbed and grabbed."
Carter drops the rocks and sod into the back of his mini John Deere Gator, then drives over to the rock pile and dumps them.
Carter isn't making a lot of money working on the farm, but he gets all kinds of treats and hugs from his grammy.
"I do stuff and good things happen."
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