Cathy Kim has been an outdoor worker for 10 years now, and she likes it much better than working in an office.

"It keeps the pounds off," she said.

A native of Cambodia, Kim and her friends travelled from Rhode Island every day this week to clear the cranberry bogs on Route 6 near Marion.

Weeds have prevented cranberries from growing as much as they normally would, said Kim. Using weed repellant for two years didn't prove to be a solution, so Kim and her friends hand picked and raked all the weeds out.

"Our boss, he tried spraying, but it didn't work," she said.

Still, the bogs are filled with cranberries and more will grow until harvest.

During harvesting season, machines called "water reels" are brought out on the bogs to churn the cranberries out. Tall weeds would get caught in the machine and clog it up.

That's why Kim's work is necessary for a good harvest.

It's tedious, but Kim enjoys it and she has a few tricks to keep herself comfortable.

Kim and her friends cover themselves from the sun to keep from overheating. In addition to hats and sunglasses, the women wear long sleeved, loose shirts and loose pants.

"If you don't wear enough clothes, you get burned," said Kim.

She joked around, saying if someone worked outside without being covered, they'd spend half their day in the car.

By the end of the day on Thursday, the women had cleared two fields of weeds and were working on their third.

Cranberry harvesting will begin in October, and the Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration will be held at Tihonet Village on Oct. 8.