The Dirt: Confessions of a Tree Planter

Delia Roberts is the President of Research & Programs at FitSafe Solutions. She is also the brainchild behind fit to plant, a widely used program within the industry. Her protocols and research have contributed to many of the H&S programs implemented as well as the standards. Its likely that if you've started your planting career with a larger company you have probably been directly impacted by some of her own research. We chat about her background and how she came to be involved with treeplanting, as well as some really interesting findings she's had. I asked her some of my burning questions, and a part 2 will definitely be needed!! Enjoy!

LINKS

https://www.bcforestsafe.org/resource/silviculture-fit-to-plant-resources/

A little bit about this week's guest Nate Federau: Born in BC and raised in Ontario I was always longing till the day I could return to the mountains. I'm a winter fanatic that spent years searching for a seasonal offset to support living and having fun in BC. At 24, I finally found everything in tree planting. As a competitive student athlete, becoming an industrial athlete was a logical transition I didn't see. It's blessed me with extended opportunities to explore the different biomes in BC and find the place I would love to one day call home. But for now I'll continue to live a Van lifestyle year round with my pup Avigale searching for ski lines, Prestine rivers and wild mushrooms. 

LINKS 

van app: https://ioverlander.com/

I challenge each and every one of you to listen to this conversation, especially and controversially the entire last 90min. I also want to stress that this conversation is stemmed from (obviously) our own opinions and personal experiences. It is NOT meant to invalidate anyone else's experiences, or any fears or thoughts anyone else has. This conversation stemmed from the increasing restrictions we found ourselves in last winter here in Canada, and how the planting industry was adopting those types of restrictions. I was particularly curious about how a counterculture industry was slowly turning into one that went with the grain instead of against it. 

I had figured I would release this episode once we had nationwide, or at least province-wide mandates in effect. However shortly after recording this episode the Freedom Convoy was birthed and really altered the trajectory of everything in this country. We find ourselves now in a much different position, though I am not holding my breathe for the future just yet. I felt this was an important conversation, albeit a difficult one in these times. So I wanted to release it now in hopes that people are more receptive to it than they may have been 8 or 9 months ago. 

Too many of us cannot engage in civil discourse. Too many of us cannot disagree on topics and still be willing to have conversations with respect and open curiosity. Travis Chambers was brave enough to come on and have this conversation with me. We have had different paths through this journey, but come together to have a conversation about it all. First we cover his planting career and personal evolution alongside it, and then we get into the nitty gritty of 2020 and the Great Unbecoming. We traverse a wide array of topics that have been of importance over the last few years, most importantly the mandates and how that has affected the both of us-and how we see it affecting the planting industry. 

Who is Matthew other than a longtime veteran treeplanter? He is also a Lomi Lomi practitioner. This conversation discusses his planting career to date, as well as his off season venture. He explains his journey to, and what Lomi Lomi is. We chat about that balance between planting and other pursuits, and where things may go in future. A great chat and another wonderful new approach in any and all human journeys. Enjoy!

LINKS

Website: https://letyourlightspeak.com/

IG: https://instagram.com/letyourlightspeak

Offerings: https://linktr.ee/matthewkent

This is an episode I have wanted to do for so long!!! I sit down with my good friend Matt Brickenden to talk about his lengthy planting career, his new full time exploration gig, and his journey with money. We discuss the tools and tricks he has personally used over the years to make smart financial decisions with his planting earnings, and where he's at now. We also talk about my own money journey and compare and contrast tools we both use for financial literacy and empowerment. Near the end we also cover traditional investing, cryptocurrency and bullion. 

Disclaimer: We are not financial experts, nor pretend to be. This episode is not financial advice but simply two planters sharing their own experiences with money and treeplanting. We offer up our own personal experiences and opinions, and not any legit financial advice!

LINKS

Mint: https://mint.intuit.com

Wealthsimple: https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca

Index Investing Basics: https://canadiancouchpotato.com/

Compound interest calculator: https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement

Financial Independence et al. blog: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com

Financial coach: https://verdiadvising.com/

Great podcast about Gold: https://palisadesradio.ca/

A little astrological and tree planter wisdom coming from my piece. You don't need drugs for a bad trip, just go treeplanting! Sharing my insights and wisdom from a rough day out there. 

I was absolutely shocked to receive an email from a forester in Northern Ireland talking about treeplanting!! He directed me to one of his planters for this interview, Rylen Franke. Rylen started out planting a little later in life, and it was mostly something to help support his travels and love for working in wineries. We talk about his time planting in Canada and abroad, as well as go into great detail about what exactly planting in Northern Ireland looks like-especially because the country is so damn small! 

Stay tuned for an expansion into all things planting and Ireland in upcoming episode 64.