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adromedanblackhole
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26 Nov 2020, 11:49 pm

Dear_one wrote:
As I listed, neither of those are in nature except for the weather. Landscapers may have to work with many poisons. Many of my friends went tree planting, and they never made as much as the loggers who had destroyed the nature. Some contracts paid well, but nothing was guaranteed, and it took considerable skill to pass inspection at any lucrative rate. The isolation was certainly a hardship, and I've heard epic stories about mosquitoes.


No to get a job as a tree planter you need a phone interview and the ability to get yourself to the base camp. I did this for a few days being in relatively good shape as a 20 year old or so and it absolutely destroyed my body. By the third day I was in so much pain I could hardly move. And it's very much in nature, you spend the entire day very removed from society and even your fellow tree planters. It's an every man for himself scenario most definitely. The plot you're working has been logged but you're deep in fairly old growth forest.



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26 Nov 2020, 11:59 pm

adromedanblackhole wrote:
I knew a troop of guys who worked their way through college landscaping. It wasn't a fortune but it was significantly more than what most other college kids were making $25-$30/hour. They all really loved how so much of their time was spent outdoors.


I live in Australia.
All that comes to mind, with that job, is melanoma. 8O :mrgreen:



adromedanblackhole
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27 Nov 2020, 12:10 am

Pepe wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
I knew a troop of guys who worked their way through college landscaping. It wasn't a fortune but it was significantly more than what most other college kids were making $25-$30/hour. They all really loved how so much of their time was spent outdoors.


I live in Australia.
All that comes to mind, with that job, is melanoma. 8O :mrgreen:

This was in Vancouver - land of grey and rain



cyberdad
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27 Nov 2020, 12:18 am

Pepe wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
Well, it gets quite hot, here in Australia, during summer, and I wouldn't give up my airconditioning. :wink:


Don't forget the flies, mossies and midgies.



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27 Nov 2020, 12:38 am

adromedanblackhole wrote:
Pepe wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
I knew a troop of guys who worked their way through college landscaping. It wasn't a fortune but it was significantly more than what most other college kids were making $25-$30/hour. They all really loved how so much of their time was spent outdoors.


I live in Australia.
All that comes to mind, with that job, is melanoma. 8O :mrgreen:

This was in Vancouver - land of grey and rain


All that comes to mind is footrot and jock-itch. :mrgreen:



Dear_one
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27 Nov 2020, 1:26 am

adromedanblackhole wrote:
Dear_one wrote:
As I listed, neither of those are in nature except for the weather. Landscapers may have to work with many poisons. Many of my friends went tree planting, and they never made as much as the loggers who had destroyed the nature. Some contracts paid well, but nothing was guaranteed, and it took considerable skill to pass inspection at any lucrative rate. The isolation was certainly a hardship, and I've heard epic stories about mosquitoes.


No to get a job as a tree planter you need a phone interview and the ability to get yourself to the base camp. I did this for a few days being in relatively good shape as a 20 year old or so and it absolutely destroyed my body. By the third day I was in so much pain I could hardly move. And it's very much in nature, you spend the entire day very removed from society and even your fellow tree planters. It's an every man for himself scenario most definitely. The plot you're working has been logged but you're deep in fairly old growth forest.


I never said anything about how to get hired. There are many small planting companies with their own practices. Any physical work may require a lot more fitness than "relatively good shape" in a world of couch potatoes. Because it is usually piecework, you can take your time to build muscles, etc. if you can stand being in camp at all.
Now I know that the Los Angeles river is now trickling down a big concrete ditch so you may have odd notions, but a tree planting job is NOT in nature. An old growth forest is intact, natural, and needs no planting. A clear-cut is where people usually plant, and we have giant protests about those.



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27 Nov 2020, 1:32 am

Dear_one wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
Dear_one wrote:
There's almost always a big difference between being in Nature and working outside.

Unless you're a forest ranger XD

Yeah, a friend of mine got a summer job at a national park, and somebody had to do an overnight backpack trip to check the trail before opening day. She was amazed that she was the only volunteer, to get paid for her hobby. I also knew a very happy mushroom hunter.
However, I could fill this column with jobs like roofer, farmer, sailor, bike courier, tree planter, landscaper, bricklayer, road worker, ad infinitum. Nature almost never pays.


Still you have posted a nice little collection of outdoor jobs here .


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traven
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27 Nov 2020, 1:48 am

tree planting is afaics among the worse outdoor contracting works,
it is here, i was once asked but it didn't follow through

anything (work) valuable is paid badly
contrary to the useless jobs

forest ranger or other official maintanance would be a safer bet,
making money in nature only happens when you get people paying; tourism, education, retreat or amusement, etc
--ah well, there's the covid in the wheels, again
:mrgreen: :skull:



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27 Nov 2020, 4:38 am

Dear_one wrote:
Some contracts paid well, but nothing was guaranteed, and it took considerable skill to pass inspection at any lucrative rate.

Not true. Depends on the company. The company I worked for paid on an honor system per tree planted. The shift supervisor recorded how many saplings a planter took each time they refilled their harness. I originally interpreted the aforementioned quote to suggest there was a skill inspection to pass to get hired. Not the case. No inspection for planters either. It was strictly a strength test, if a person could plant 3,000+ saplings a day, 6 days a week they would
come away from a typical 6 week job with $16,000+ minimum. Not a huge money maker long term, but if in superb physical shape and fairly young it's a way to afford a year of school for working just one summer.



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27 Nov 2020, 5:47 am

At one point I considered and even took some jobs in the general field of naturalist, teaching children and adults about “nature.” And while I am a good teacher, this really was not a good fit because of the stress of interacting with so many people.

I had a friend who was a tree planter when he was young. He worked for several summers and made enough money for a down payment on a home. He seemed to do well with the rhythm and mindlessness of the work.

There is something to be said for working outdoors all day, even if the working conditions are unpleasant. One summer I worked painting yellow patches on trees to mark the boundary of a nature preserve. I loved it. No trails. Black flies. No people. I became quite intimate with the trees.

To be outside from sunrise to sunset or beyond. I feel more attached to the fundamental rhythm of the planet.


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27 Nov 2020, 8:05 am

adromedanblackhole wrote:
Dear_one wrote:
Some contracts paid well, but nothing was guaranteed, and it took considerable skill to pass inspection at any lucrative rate.

Not true. Depends on the company. The company I worked for paid on an honor system per tree planted. The shift supervisor recorded how many saplings a planter took each time they refilled their harness. I originally interpreted the aforementioned quote to suggest there was a skill inspection to pass to get hired. Not the case. No inspection for planters either. It was strictly a strength test, if a person could plant 3,000+ saplings a day, 6 days a week they would
come away from a typical 6 week job with $16,000+ minimum. Not a huge money maker long term, but if in superb physical shape and fairly young it's a way to afford a year of school for working just one summer.


There are usually inspections of the work. Seedlings (not saplings) are delicate life, and also easy to hide instead of plant. I think it takes a long time to learn to plant quickly and well in varied terrain. I do know that an experienced bicycle rider can stay with a beginner riding around the city using half as much oxygen. There's more to it than sheer strength.



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27 Nov 2020, 11:10 am

Pepe wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
Pepe wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
I knew a troop of guys who worked their way through college landscaping. It wasn't a fortune but it was significantly more than what most other college kids were making $25-$30/hour. They all really loved how so much of their time was spent outdoors.


I live in Australia.
All that comes to mind, with that job, is melanoma. 8O :mrgreen:

This was in Vancouver - land of grey and rain


All that comes to mind is footrot and jock-itch. :mrgreen:


Eewww..... :(


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adromedanblackhole
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27 Nov 2020, 1:56 pm

Dear_one wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:
Dear_one wrote:
Some contracts paid well, but nothing was guaranteed, and it took considerable skill to pass inspection at any lucrative rate.

Not true. Depends on the company. The company I worked for paid on an honor system per tree planted. The shift supervisor recorded how many saplings a planter took each time they refilled their harness. I originally interpreted the aforementioned quote to suggest there was a skill inspection to pass to get hired. Not the case. No inspection for planters either. It was strictly a strength test, if a person could plant 3,000+ saplings a day, 6 days a week they would
come away from a typical 6 week job with $16,000+ minimum. Not a huge money maker long term, but if in superb physical shape and fairly young it's a way to afford a year of school for working just one summer.


There are usually inspections of the work. Seedlings (not saplings) are delicate life, and also easy to hide instead of plant. I think it takes a long time to learn to plant quickly and well in varied terrain. I do know that an experienced bicycle rider can stay with a beginner riding around the city using half as much oxygen. There's more to it than sheer strength.

No, it's incredibly simple. The training was maybe 30 seconds. Shovel goes in ground, swift counterclockwise motion and tree goes in the ground. The only obstacle was strength. I had thought I was in good shape. I was sorely mistaken pun intended. No inspections for the work, it was mostly people on the team checking in to make sure I hadn't collapsed out of exhaustion. I was fit for city life but for tree planting that was a whole other world.



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27 Nov 2020, 2:15 pm

adromedanblackhole wrote:

No, it's incredibly simple. The training was maybe 30 seconds. Shovel goes in ground, swift counterclockwise motion and tree goes in the ground. The only obstacle was strength. I had thought I was in good shape. I was sorely mistaken pun intended. No inspections for the work, it was mostly people on the team checking in to make sure I hadn't collapsed out of exhaustion. I was fit for city life but for tree planting that was a whole other world.


I only did a day of planting, with other amateur volunteers, but we had to clear a patch of grass, and be very careful to get the dry soil closed around the roots. That could be done with one stomp, but only with practice.



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27 Nov 2020, 3:29 pm

Dear_one wrote:
adromedanblackhole wrote:

No, it's incredibly simple. The training was maybe 30 seconds. Shovel goes in ground, swift counterclockwise motion and tree goes in the ground. The only obstacle was strength. I had thought I was in good shape. I was sorely mistaken pun intended. No inspections for the work, it was mostly people on the team checking in to make sure I hadn't collapsed out of exhaustion. I was fit for city life but for tree planting that was a whole other world.


I only did a day of planting, with other amateur volunteers, but we had to clear a patch of grass, and be very careful to get the dry soil closed around the roots. That could be done with one stomp, but only with practice.

I'm not surprised volunteers would put more effort into how they planted because they choose to do this out of an altruistic drive to do something good.

I was with a company and was told point blank, not all of these are going to grow spend as little time on each and get as many in the ground a day as possible



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27 Nov 2020, 9:58 pm

I love being out in nature. I love being surrounded by trees of green and wild animals. I also like to make believe that peanoms (Om Noms) are real and that they're coming in and out of the trees and bushes.


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