Treeplanting #13: A Planter's Dictionary

Feel free to send me more terms and phrases to add

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All the trees are on the block (phrase)	If you need more trees, force someone else to give you theirs because the truck is empty
Ambi n.	When you alternate your tree and shovel hand because you were smart and listened to your foreman in your first year; “planting ambi”
Area planting v.	When individual planters are given a large piece of land to complete on their own. Certain elements of area planting can be applied to crew planting in more slashy blocks.
Baby bag-up n.	A small number of trees in one bag-up. Anywhere between 100 and 250 trees can be considered a baby bag-up. Synonym to pussy bag-up
Bad tree n.	A poorly planted tree; refers to a tree planted according to any of the faults; enough of these will fail the block and then nobody gets paid
Bag out v.	The most wonderful feeling of finishing all of the trees in your bags. Especially if it’s shitty ground. Congratulations – you have bagged the fuck out.
Bag-up n.	One load of trees in your bags. Generally takes between 1 and 2.5 hours. Changes depending on what people can or feel like carrying; anything from 150 to 700 trees
Bamas n.	Super thick bootie things to stick inside your boots so your feet don’t hate you
Blabbedy blah on a handheld (phrase)	“Testing the handheld radio; anyone wanna let me know if it works?” See Strykerism
Bounce v.	To fill an area with a group of planters by ricocheting off each other to bring the line forward
Boxfire n.	Burning the wax boxes on the block because they light up super easily and are the best possible thing on a freezing cold day
Burn n.	(1)  A slash pile that has been burned, leaving an expanse of sand that is very easy to plant in. See gravy. (2)  You backed into the hippie killer cuz you’re an idiot and now you have a giant burn mark on your ass. See hippie killer
Cache break n.	The time you spend at the cache or in the truck during the day doing things like bagging up, eating, drinking water, taking photos, chilling, etc. Keep ‘em short and you’ll plant more trees. Max 15 min.
Cache n.	Where all the trees are
Cattle plant n.	At the end of the day when multiple crews end up on the same block, there could be up to 18 people all planting in one long row. Terrifying times
Cork boots n.	Better than regular boots. Have spikes sticking out the bottom; are essentially weapons on your feet
Cream n.	Really easy area to plant; often open mineral soil. Synonym to gravy
Cream v.	To plant out an entire easy area instead of leaving some for the other planters. A dick move.
Crew beers n.	When your crew boss is amazing and decides to buy everyone beers on the drive home. Six people if the truck is full, which is the perfect number.
Crew boss v.	The head of your pack. On the small crews we have (generally 4-6 people), they plant as well as receive an extra wage for crew bossing and driving. Having far more experience than anyone else (usually between 8 and 30 years of experience), they manage how the block is planted, check on everyone’s trees, and provide individual feedback. The crew boss’ relationship with the planters is pretty damn important for small crews.
Crew planting v.	To plant one block with a crew of generally 4-6ish people. More common in BC, to my understanding, but I could be wrong.
Cull n.	Shitty trees that the nursery fucked up before you could even get to them; usually the larch. Bury them, tear them up, or toss them
Double Friday n.	When Day Three and the actual Friday actually intersect. Exciting times
Double Monday n.	When Day One and the actual Monday actually intersect. Exciting times
Dually n.	Basically a monster truck. A double set of wheels in the back makes it very difficult to get this truck stuck. We, however, manage to do so.
Everybody stop planting; I need to bag out (phrase)	“Oh fuck we’re cattle planting and I’m behind the herd with a lot of trees left!” See Strykerism
Fast ground n.	Ground that is easier to plant but priced much lower (ie. 7-12 cents per tree). Typically Ontario blocks. The occasional planter prefers it to BC blocks, but one has to plant upward of 3500 trees per day to make money. This is generally where the highballers reached their PBs (10 000 trees in one day?!)
Fill plant n.	A previously planted block that was done so shittily that it needs replanting. Careful not to plant close to the trees that actually survived. Everyone hates fill plants. Can be done as kind of a cross between area and crew planting.
Fill v.	To fill a section of a block instead of plant a line back and forth; generally a fairly small section
Fist n.	The giant box on the back of the truck where all the trees are
Flag v.	To rip off a piece of flagging to mark the tree you just planted. If you drop flagging ten feet from your tree, you’re a jerk. If you half bury your flagging with your tree, you’re a jerk. If you forget to flag, you’re a jerk. If your flagging blew away, you’re forgiven.
Flagging n.	A roll of very thin coloured tape, a piece of which you rip off for every tree. Heaven blesses the planter ahead of you with blue flagging. The devil curses the planter ahead of you with yellow or purple flagging.
Forester n.	A fabled species of human hired by the logging company that supposedly comes out to check on the trees and make “helpful” comments; rarely seen
Fucking alder n.	Alder bushes. A fucking bitch to plant through.
Frenchie n.	A French person in camp. Often a remarkably high number of Frenchies in camp, considering how little of BC’s population speaks French. Probably almost a third of our camp is French.
Garbage box mwahaha! (phrase)	“I’m the only one who doesn’t have to break down a box because it’s the first one finished. Ha!” See Strykerism
Grab me a condom; I’m coming (phrase)	“I’ve fallen behind but now I’m about to catch up so watch out! Also, all my jokes are so clean and innocent so now I’m trying to be dirty.” See Strykerism
Gravy n.	See cream
Greener (pejorative) n.	A foolish planter; used after a foolish mistake
Greener n.	A first or sometimes second year planter.
Heli block n.	A block involving a helicopter. Either the trees are arriving by helicopter and the planters are walking in, or the helicopter is taking both the planters and the trees.
Highball v.	To plant more than any other planter; to plant a high number
Highballer n.	A planter who regularly achieves a high number of trees
Hippie killer n.	The wood stove kept in camp
J-root n.	A planted tree where the plug is curved instead of straight; a fault
Leaner n.	A planted tree than leans to one side; a fault
Lifer n.	Career planters. Those who came out planting years ago and decided this is what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Far more common in BC than in Ontario.
Line (take the) n.	The edge of the trees that have been planted. When planting, you follow this line and thus your own line becomes “the line”
Load-up n.	When the foreman has to go and get all the trees at night for the following day
Loosey n.	Unbundled trees. Sometimes planters are nice to each other and volunteer to help each other bag out the other’s loosies.
Lowball v.	To plant less than any other planter; to plant a low number
Lowballer n.	A planter who regularly achieves a low number of trees. See greener
Ontario planting n.	Lol. Planting contracts in Ontario. Probably around 50% of BC planters started in Ontario and have loads of horror stories. Everyone’s relieved they got out of that shit.
Ooh (phrase)	Multi-purpose. Could mean “Huh – I don’t really give a shit but that’s rude to say” or “that’s actually really interesting” or “oh shit – my bad”. See Strykerism
Overplant v.	Planting too many trees in a given block; bad
PB n.	Personal Best. Don’t compete with other planters – compete with yourself!
Pussy bag-up	See Baby bag-up See Strykerism
Reefer n.	A refrigerated trailer on a transport truck. Parked somewhere outside of camp and holds all the trees
Shallow tree n.	A planted tree where there is not enough dirt covering the plug; a fault
Shovel hand n.	The hand you hold your shovel in, if you don’t plant ambi because you didn’t listen to your foreman in your first year
Skid road n.	A former logging road that has been dug up in order to be planted. Apparently they’re actually “rehabbed roads”, but nobody calls them that
Skid roooooad! (phrase)	“Haaaa I beat you to the skid road and now Imma cream it out.” See Strykerism
Slash n.	All the branches and logs and shit that the loggers don’t take
Slash pile n.	Sometimes loggers are kind of nice and pile some of their slash into a pile for you to plant around
Spring trees n.	Trees planted between April and late June; better weather and easier trees
Strykerism n.	A phrase coined by my uncle years ago that is now part of common usage
Summer trees n.	Trees planted in July; hotter weather and bigger, heavier trees
Tendo n.	Slang for tendonitis; common
The claw n.	When your fingers are stuck in a claw position until you pop them out again. Apparently has something to do with carbon build-up or something. Can be prevented by sleeping with your shovel hand flat beneath your pillow at night
The mix n.	The daily percentage of each tree to plant. If you fuck it up, other planters will get mad at you
The watch list n.	Not a good place to be. When you’re labelled a “bad planter” and the camp supervisor and crew bosses know exactly who you are
Tree hand n.	The hand you hold the tree you’re about to plant, if you don’t plant ambi because you didn’t listen to your foreman in your first year
Truck breakfast n.	Eating your breakfast in the truck because you’re too damn lazy to get up earlier
Underplant v.	Planting too few trees in a given block; worse than overplanting
Waait for meee! (phrase)	Fuck I’m still at the cache and everyone else is out there already. See Strykerism
Walk-in n.	Haha you have to carry trees in because the logging road doesn’t reach all the way to the cut block

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