There probably are very few people who can claim to have been with a company for over four decades, but Joe Oliveira is one who can. Since 1964, Mr. Oliveira has been a staple at Brighton Nurseries, teaching the tricks of the trade to the younger staff, and taking care of their vast supply of plants.

When the understated gentleman started at Brighton Nurseries he was a contract worker in the fields, picking onions.

A year later, the owner, Roger Outerbridge, approached Mr. Oliveira and offered him a position at the nursery as they were understaffed.

Mr. Oliveira’s first duties involved watering the plants and replanting seedlings. Then he moved on to propagation, which has kept him busy for over ten years now.

“You take the cuttings, and you cut at the knot, at the leaves, because the roots come from the skin,” he explains of propagating.

Once finished with his cuttings, Mr. Oliveira pots each one and sets them in the greenhouse to take root. From there, the plants are potted into bigger pots and sold.

Although the farming industry is steadily becoming revolutionised by machines, Mr. Oliveira’s work has been left untouched by technology: “My machine is my knife.”

Considered a dying art, he feels that farming will soon become an obsolete industry on the Island, which is a “good thing and a bad thing”. As condominiums sprout up, the availability of land decreases. Other factors involved, he feels, include the fact that often produce brought to the Island from overseas is cheaper than local produce and muscles in on local farmers’ business. This fact also seems to be apparent to younger generations, as fewer and fewer are entering the field.

“Most of the farmers now are old,” he concedes. “There are few young guys, because it’s hard work and little money.”

But this reality is not enough to stop Mr. Oliveira from doing what he does best: tending the plants.