The Dirt: Confessions of a Tree Planter

Awhile back I sat down with Zach Melanson, originally from and now settled back in New Brunswick. He was a longtime Brinkman planter and one of the founders of Community Forests International. What is that you ask? Have a listen to find out all about it!  If you are interested in being a CFI ambassador, shoot Zach an email at zach@forestsinternational.org LINKS 15-minute Nat Geo Doc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5VcPoGj4DU Website: https://forestsinternational.org/homepage/plant-4-pemba/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canadatrees/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pembatrees/

15 Okt 202150min

Harland Alexander's distinct brand of lo-fi indie pop music metabolizes friendship, family, love, tree-planting, childhood trauma, the comical absurdity of everyday life, and unites them into healing art. His live performances seek to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable in their own skin and safe to exist within their deepest truths. He wants the audience to leave feeling free to explore the depths of their beings free of guilt and shame. His shows are fun, self-loving, playful, life celebrating experiences.  After obtaining a certificate in Recording Arts from NSCC, Harley has been engineering and producing music in Halifax for the past decade. During this time he has worked alongside artists such as Charlotte Day Wilson (as well as The Wayo), Walrus, Billie Dre and the Poor Boys, Robert Loveless, Kurt Inder, Campbell Woods and Adrian Teacher - either headlining shows and touring, recording and producing, or making music together. He has been touring across Canada's East Coast - notably Halifax Pop Xplosion and the Canadian Space Program Celebration hosted by Bill Nye - as well as in the US. His new album just released August 15, go check it out at the link below! LINKS https://www.harleyalexandermusic.com/ https://harleyalexander.bandcamp.com/album/im-feeling-things https://www.instagram.com/harleyyalexander/ Streamable on Bandcamp & Spotify

8 Okt 20211h 3min

See brief memo for details! Make sure to share your favourite episodes with friends! Happy Turkey Weekend!

8 Okt 20211min

Hey folks, just a quick update to let you know I am still kickin' and so is this podcast. Releasing a TFTB I recorded at some point last summer, which feels fitting for any time of year. Enjoy it and hopefully wherever you are, it is not on fire...

15 Aug 20215min

Ariel, situated in Revelstoke, has been spending her off seasons creating art in the form of clay! We chat about her evolution not only into treeplanting but also into pottery. We discuss her process and how planting has continually supported her creative lifestyle, and how this year she'll be planting from home and able to continue her art throughout the season for the first time. Go give her Etsy site a look and check out the beautiful pottery she's creating. Or if you're around Revy you can catch her at a local farmer's market this summer.  LINKS https://www.instagram.com/keep.cool.clayworks/ www.etsy.com/ca/shop/KeepCoolClayworks https://www.facebook.com/keepcoolclayworks/

17 Jun 202145min

Mark Oxer is a Chartered Professional Coach (ChPC) and a member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association who received his Master's degree in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Central Lancashire where he graduated with Distinction. Mark began planting in 1998 and retired in 2011, encompassing his career over multiple provinces in Canada. Uniquely to me anyways, he spent his entire career partner planting, and surpassing his millionth tree in 2005. This is an incredible conversation where we get into the psychological aspects of planting and how it builds so much of our character and human experience. There is so much depth to this conversation it’s hard to encompass in a description, so I highly encourage a listen! LINKS https://www.markoxer.com/ https://www.facebook.com/mark.oxer/ https//www.instagram.com/mark_oxer/

13 Mai 20211h 29min

An interesting tie in to Episode 40 with Kat Tourond, I have their father, Mike on the podcast! Mike began his treeplanting career at the ripe old age of 56! We cover what careers Mike had pursued prior to this new adventure he decided to embark on. We talk about how he came to this decision and how his lifestyle already appealed to the idea of going treeplanting, coupled with all the changes to the world in 2020. Reflecting on his first season and coming out of an injury, his story is one that shows you are never too old to try something new! Mike is returning for his second season, after vowing he would never do it again at the end of his first; classic treeplanter in the making! Enjoy this episode and good luck to everyone putting their shovels in the ground this next week.

22 Apr 202148min

Mike planted 8 seasons from 2007-2015. Over his career he planted a million trees, worked for 12 companies, and also planted in Scotland. He attended the Western Silviculture Association conference three times, once as a speaker on a panel about worker retention with Scooter. Mike executed a successful exit game and is now gainfully employed and living the stable life that doesn't involve suffering on the block! We talk about why Mike decided to leave planting, what he misses, how he went about doing it. This is the lo down episode for those who are trying to take the plunge this year, want to take the plunge, considering taking the plunge....a good reminder that there is life outside of treeplanting and that you CAN thrive financially and otherwise doing so. LINKS Treeplanting song he mentions: General Store by The Gruff https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Various_Peppermill_Records/Hi_and_Ho_We_Plant_Trees Contact form to come onto podcast: https://wildewords.ca/2021/04/15/podcast-updates/

15 Apr 202153min