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It’s a blustery winter evening in Mount Vernon, Iowa as the sun begins to set and snow starts to fall from the sky. Practices at Mount Vernon High School have just concluded, and most students are now within the confines of their warm house. However that is not the case for Mount Vernon senior Sammy Moss, her night of hard work has just begun as she travels to her job at Kroul Farms to complete a list of evening chores.
Moss is a star athlete for the Mustang softball, soccer, and girls basketball teams. Moss is a fierce competitor with a hard ethic and a gritty mentality that allows her to compete with the best athletes in the state. Moss credits her success and work ethic to her job at Kroul Farms where she has been employed for the last five years, but has helped her mom there since she was young. Regarding her job Moss said, “It’s a lot of work, so you have to have a hard-working mentality in order to get everything done by the end of the day.”
Moss said that each day she has a list of tasks to complete. The tasks vary depending on the season. Spring and summer involve lots of garden work. A typical day involves checking a list in the main shop to see what produce needs to be picked. Moss then picks the foods in the gardens and brings it back to the shop so it can be sold. Other tasks Moss has to complete is removing weeds from the garden, planting new vegetables, and preparing food for the local farmers markets.
Winter is a less hectic season for Moss, where her main task is giving water to the livestock animals in the mornings before school and in the evening after basketball practice. In the fall, Moss picks pumpkins for the hundreds of visitors that will come to Kroul Farms to find the perfect pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Moss said this task is something that her entire family participates in. They have developed an annual tradition where Moss and her two siblings each pick a pumpkin to carry back to their house and carve for Halloween.
Work at Kroul Farms isn’t always dreary monotonous work, Moss said her favorite part about her job is working with her coworkers. “I enjoy getting to know my coworkers and hanging out and having fun with them,” Moss said. Moss also spends a great deal of her time out at Kroul Farms working with her family. She describes her siblings as “crazy in their own way,” but she still enjoys spending time with them.
One of the things she and her siblings like to do is bring out a radio and sing along to music while they work. “We’re all really bad singers, but we’re just out there enjoying ourselves,” Moss said. Instances like these make Moss want to continue her work at Kroul Farms after high school.
Moss signed on to continue her softball career at the University of Northern Iowa next fall. Even with the chaotic schedule she will have, Moss still plans to continue to help at Kroul Farms when she is able to get away from school and softball. Regarding what she will miss most about her job at Kroul Farms Moss said, “I will miss being around the people I really care about.”