The Art of Tree Planting

Plantninja is moving to a bigger and better space!

Big Red — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:48:55 +0000

Thank you all for following this blog experiment so far. Enough of you have paid attention to warrant a move to a real space on the web.

Therefor, I am pleased to announce the launch of www.TREEPLANTINGONLINE.com. Your definitive web resource on all things tree planting.

Enjoy.

p.s. All the content has been moved to the new site, so check there for older posts.

Back in the saddle.

Big Red — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:53:00 +0000

New posts coming, I promise. Pics, links, and hopefully gear deals. Stay Tuned.

Busy.

Big Red — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:09:24 +0000

Sorry for the hiatus, but there is planting to be done. Look forward to pictures, videos, stories, and hopefully some guest writers to come in the off-season. And of course the usual info and gear updates.

More on boots…

Big Red — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:17:40 +0000

Here are a few pictures I took this morning of my boots from last year compared to what they looked like at the start of the season. As you can see, they take some ware! These boots are the Zamberlan Vioz GT’s, and I can’t say enough good things about them. Light, comfortable, and durable. They are a little on the pricey side as far as boots go, but I wore them everyday last season and they will be going out for another this year.

Some advice I would like to pass along is to a) load them up with a couple coats of water repellent, and b) Shoe Goo the toe caps and heal seams, especially where the rubber meets the leather. Do both of these while the boots are clean and dirt free and your boots will last far longer than a season. I Shoe Goo’d the pair in the picture about 4 cycles in after I noticed the leather was getting rough on the toes and heel. Putting a good thick layer of Goo on before the boots see action will allow you to screef to your hearts content without worrying about putting a hole in them.

As you can see, the tread takes a beating after repeated screefing. The hole you can see in the middle of the sole only happened on the second last day of the season. I plan on Shoe Goo-ing it up and running these boots into the ground this season.

Planting slang.

Big Red — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:22:56 +0000

Here is a fun list of tree planting specific terms that may help you rookies decipher a sentence like “There’s cream behind that slash pile, now get your ass out of the crummy and POUND!”

This list has been straight plagiarized from T. Colin Strong’s study on the tree planting specific lexicon that we all know and use, despite the bewilderment of our non-planter friends.

The whole paper can be read here.

1) easy-to-plant land? cream

2) difficult-to-plant land? shit, schnarb

3) the debris left on the ground after logging? slash, sticks, litter

4) the land on which you plant trees? block, piece

5) the layer of moss and twigs above the soil? duff

6) vegetation on the land you plant? green, natural

7) dark, wet soil? organic

8 ) sandier soil? mineral

9) ground left just as it was after it was logged? raw, unscarified

10) the person who runs a single crew? foreman, crew boss

11) the person who runs a group of crews? supervisor

12) someone who plants many trees a day? highballer

13) a first-time planter? rookie

14) an experienced treeplanter? vet

15) the vehicle that brings you to and from your worksite? crummy

16) what you use to carry the trees while planting? bags

17) where you do Number Two in camp. shitter

18 ) painful afflictions of the hand? the claw

19) numbness in the foot? Christmas toe

20) trees that come with exposed roots? bare root

21) where you store trees during the day? cache

22) the bag from which you pull trees while planting? draw bag, trigger

23) rolls of long, thin fluorescent plastic strips? flagging tape

24) a bent root? j-root

25) when trees arrive in the box with bent roots? nub

26) trees that come encased in dirt, with minimal root exposure? plug

27) the truck in which trees are stored? reefer

28 ) a poorly planted tree? slut

29) single-person, four-wheeled off-road vehicles? quad

30) where you get and eat your food in camp? mess tent

31) the act of planting a line away from the existing line of trees? ghost lining

32) planting as hard as you can? pounding

33) the start-of-contract morning meeting with mill representatives? pre-work

34) redoing work due to poor quality? replanting

35) the action of kicking away debris to clear the ground? screefing

36) hiding or throwing away trees? stashing

Another gear list.

Big Red — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:53:14 +0000

With planting season less than a month away, it is time to start thinking about what you are going to bring. here is a nicely formatted gear list that you can print off and use while packing to make sure you’ve covered everything. Use it in conjunction with the other gear lists I’ve mentioned in former posts, and you should be pretty set up for the season.

Gear List

The three week hurdle.

Big Red — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:09:54 +0000

As the title alludes, your third week of planting will be the biggest hurdle of your rookie season. The infamous third cycle is known throughout the planting world, and is marked by a peak in bitching, whining, and usually quitting. The reason, which is often overlooked by quitting rookies, is that the third week is not only when you peak in physical pain, but also in mental suffering as you battle up the learning curve. Your body has been adjusting for 3 weeks, and is just getting to the point where you will start to develop your bush legs, but not quite. Be patient. Take it from someone who’s been there, the rest day at the end of the third cycle will be the tipping point in your planting career. If you can make it to the 4th cycle, you will most likely finish the season. You will also be reaching the gradual plateau of a learning curve with a steep beginning, but slowly climbing tail.

My advice to you is to recognize that this will be your toughest week. Recognize that the pain, and mental frustration that you are experiencing this week will pass, and if you can conquer this, the most difficult of cycles, the rest of your season will be easy. The money will come, your crew will bond, and you will become a person you’ve never known before.

41 Things to bring planting.

Big Red — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:32:45 +0000

1. Watch – so you can be crazy and time your bag outs, and so you don’t stay in your land forever and not know when its quitting time! (want a digital one with a time, just pick up a cheap one!)
2. Notebook and pen – to keep track to totals/numbers
3. Tupperware (for lunch, needs to be pretty big – I’m talking enough for 2-3 sandwiches, some apples and oranges and lunch treats)
4. Rain gear – should be waterproof and breathable, but this type of jacket can get pricey, a normal rain jacket that’s just waterproof is better than nothing
5. Long underwear – top and bottom, it gets chilly at night for awhile
6. Some sort of polypropelene shirt – long sleeve,
7. At least one fleece sweater thing, and bring other sweaters to wear in camp and at night –wool is good too to have for warmth. (bring at least 2 crappy fleece and wool sweaters to wear to block and then you’ll want a couple to wear around camp at the end of the day. Old down vests are good to bring too)
8. Plate, knife, fork, spoon, cup/mug/nalgene
9. Water container = big one at least 6 litres. Can get a big blue plastic round water jug – 10 litres at Canadian tire. Don’t bring plastic bag kind! Can bring big therma jug that people take on picnics – don’t hold as much water and are more expensive!
10. Sun screen and lip stuff with spf in it!
11. Bug dope – should have some deet in it
12. Band aids/ tensors, polysporn, foot bandaids, second skin ***important**
13. Baby wipes – keeps you clean!
14. Bandanas = good to wear under hard hats
15. Benadryl, tylenol, cold stuff (no pharmacy in camp)
16. Quick dry pants – cargos or mec pants (1 or 2 pairs)
17. Gators (optional, you can get these at mec to keep your boots dry and protect your legs, I’ve never personally used them)
18. Warm sleeping bag and bring extra blankets
19. Therma rest or foamy thing to sleep on (can get these at mec or any outdoor store, can get foamy thing at canadian tire) **important for comfort and warmth!
20. Pillow –camping one (little small one that barely fits your head) or normal one!
21. Tent with a vestibule (area at front and/or back of your tent covered by your tent fly to keep your equipment in like stinky boots that you don’t want inside your tent) – as long as you can fit yourself and your stuff in it, size doesn’t matter. Usually people aim for a big 2 man, or a 3 or 4 person tent!
22. Hats, mits, warm fleece stuff – we’re not going anywhere tropical!
23. Winter jacket (wont be wearing it planting hopefully but, good to have for in camp and days off)
24. Light long sleeve shirt, preferably light colour to wear when its hot and bugs come out
25. Nothing blue= the bugs will love you! (no blue hard hat, pants etc)
26. Back pack – need a day pack to take with you to the block everyday, needs to be big enough to fit lunch in, some extra clothes, rain gear and anything else you’ll need at the block in a day!
27. Gloves – working gloves = good to have for reefers (unloading of trees) and for your shovel hand
28. Nitridex gloves… they are a thin glove with a lot of grip and you can still feel your tree. This isn’t necessary but they save your hands from cuts.
29. Duct tape!!!!!!!! AND LOTS OF IT, THIS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE !
30. Rope – to tie tarps up with
31. 2 tarps – one to go under your tent(just needs to be as big as the bottom of your tent) and one to go over your tent, (to protect it from sun and other types of weather)
32. Day off clothes – jeans, shirts, sweaters etc that are what you normally wear!
33. Dry sack – good to put sleeping bag in to make sure it doesn’t get wet and to take to the block on rainy days to keep all your stuff dry (can get this at mec)
34. Music – mini discs, mp3 players, cd’s, walkmans, discmans – helps calm people down after long days, remember though they could get ruined. Some people plant with music but after about a week they’ve been through everything and start to go mad! We also have a stereo in camp that we usually rock out to every morning and night so you can play your cds as long as everybody likes your music.
35. Alarm clock – only if you’re the deepest sleeper ever and think that you’ll sleep through a horn being blared 10 feet from your tent for 5 minutes, music, and 70 other people getting up and telling you to get out of your tent! (sometimes this does happen)
36. Flashlight or headlamp (headlamp good to have if you plan on reading at night and makes it easier to find your stuff in the pitch black)
37. Don’t forget your tree planting equipment – shovel, bags, hi-vis, steel toed boots, and hard hat! **very important***
38. Bring other shoes – running shoes, flip flops, Birkenstocks etc for days off and after planting, some people even bring flip flops to the block because your feet get really sore after planting all day and you might want to get out of your boots asap!
39. Wool socks, I would definitely recommend Merino Wool socks – these things will save your life. You can buy them in bulk off ebay.com. They prevent blisters, they don’t smell, they wisk sweat away. They’re pretty much the best things ever. Bring at least 6 pairs of them.
40. Camping foldable canadian tire chairs – a really nice luxury and it beats sitting on boxes around the campfire
41.
** This is just a list I made of things that are good to bring. You don’t have to bring everything on the list, but these things can definitely come in handy. Definitely don’t cut corners too much as this will hurt your planting numbers. As well we will be in town on days off and if you forget to get anything you can pick stuff up then. There will be most likely a Canadian Tire, some sort of outdoor store, a drug store etc in town. As well a lot of people have been asking about how much stuff to bring. I usually end up bringing two medium sized duffel bags and a giant tupperware bin. But I feel like I might overpack a bit! Don’t go crazy because you may not get all your stuff on a plane if you are flying 20Kg is usually the max per bag, and unpacking and packing can take forever if you have tons of stuff! It also doesn’t really matter what you pack your stuff in. Sometimes I just throw my tarps etc in garbage bags. I’d recommend duffel bags, or hockey bags. Mec has some good ones for a fair price that I’m going to pick up this year, but in the past I’ve just taken whatever I found around my house. This list is pretty much just an elaboration on the outland list which is in the crew area part of the website in the planter’s manual. So make sure to have a lookster at it! Happy packing.

List provided by Gregg Geir. Many thanks.

Gear Part 3

Big Red — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:27:50 +0000

So you’ve had a good sleep, worked hard all day, and are finally at the end of a hard 5 day cycle and you’re ready for some down time. Nights off are spent doing what ever you want: chilling, relaxing, drinking, socializing, playing music… choose your own adventure! Depending on how close you are to town, nights off can often consist of a trip to a crappy motel, and partying at the local watering hole. A good way to decompress after a week of hard work, these nights out can fun, but also costly costly. If you have come planting to pad your bank account, you will probably want to limit the amount of in town nights.
Days off usually consist of sleeping in… sort of, packing the crew in the truck and heading into down for a big breakfast, laundry, email checking, maybe hitting the pool (if there is one), and all around chilling and relaxing.

A few things to consider when packing about days off:

Town clothes. Though we will be living in the wild, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to look it. Your everyday clothes will function just fine, though there is an unspoken assumption that in-camp relaxing clothes are allowed to be as crazy as you want.

Bathing suit and towel.
Laundry bag (or some kind of bag to haul your dirty clothes around)
Comfortable shoes
Anything else you require to relax

Gear Part 2

Big Red — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:14:43 +0000

WORKING

To continue from the last post, the next place you will be spending a majority of your time is on the block. If you scroll down, you will see a post written by a crew mate of mine Robin who very nicely summarized the average planting day. I am going to elaborate on that synopsis a little with the gear used in mind.

Your day will start with an alarm of some kind. If you’re like me, you will probably slap the snooze a few times. It will take about 1-2 weeks to calculate exactly how long you can sleep and still get all your chow in and gear prep’d for the day ahead. (TIP: Fill your water and lay out all your clothes etc. the night before)

After wake up, it’s get dressed and pee time, not always in that order. If you have laid out all your clothing the night before, this part will be easy. (TIP: putting clothing in the bottom of your sleeping bag will keep it warm. No one likes putting on cold clothing in the morning.) Clothing is again a very personal comfort related decision. Keep in mind that Prince George has one of the best Value Village’s (VV) I’ve ever seen, and anything you wear-out can be replenished for a few bucks. My daily attire consists of:

Toque
Cheap cotton T-shirt
Longsleeve T-shirt
VV rugby shirt
Jacket
Mitts
Polypro underwear (Keeps the swamp ass at bay)
MEC climbing pants (Pricey, but they dry super fast and are light and durable)
Gators (personal preference, but work well with shorts and keep your boots in better shape for longer.<-always a plus!)
Smart wool socks, or a polypro + wool layer combo
Bombproof hiking boots (Mine were Zamberlan’s and were amazing<-more on boots later)

Keep in mind that this is the system that worked for me. You will have your own preferences on materials and warmth. I liked my set up because it allowed me to regulate for temperature very easily by shedding layers.

Your next move in the morning is to grab your day bag and head to the lunch or breakfast line. Your day bag should be as waterproof as possible and more importantly, animal proof. Ravens and foxes in the north are very crafty, especially when your lunch is involved. Also remember that this bag will be tossed in and out of dirty trucks constantly and will take a beating. My weapon of choice is a heavy-duty dry bag (the type you’d take canoeing) with backpack straps for the dreaded walk-ins. Your day bag should include, but is no limited to the following:

TOILET PAPER in a ziplock bag (This stuff is worth more than gold in the bush, and TP left unattended is fair game. Guard it with your life)
Bug dope (Watkins cream is king)
Sunscreen
Rain gear
Duct tape (Note: All duct tapes are not created equal. As a rule of thumb, you pay for what you get. The pro stuff is better)
Knife
Hat for the sun

In the lunch trailer, you pack you fuel for the day, again it’s up to you, but remember you are what you eat (long live the PB & J). I bring a big tupperwear container to store my lunch. Some people just use the empty bread bags, but if you’d like your artfully crafted PB & J to still resemble a sandwich when it comes time to eat it, I’d suggest bringing a hard container of some sort.

Your next move is to breakfast where you load a jail tray with as much food as you can stomach. A luxury item here is a good travel mug for hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. Nice to have for the longer drives to the block.

With your stomach full, your lunch packed, and 8-10L of water in your jugs (usually old milk or juice jugs, though some people bring the insulated versions as well), you jump in the truck and head to the block.

PLANTING TIME!!!!

Planting gear consists of:

Shovel
Planting bags
Silvicool inserts (x2)
Flagging tape
Plot cord
Silvicool trap
Hand covering (Duct tape, gloves, nothing… it’s up to you.)

And that about sums up the planting part of your day as far as gear goes. Again, follow the lists provided in the previous post, and you should be good to go.