brush pickers scum of the earth

5 December

Looking on line at Criags List I see this job posting -----

Work in the forest picking plants and Christmas greens.
No boss. Unlimited earning. Piece work.
Will train, transportation provided. If you are a small team even better.

If you have a car or if you have a tent or camper you can earn 3k+ per month.
Fun easy year round work. You will be working in Squamish or sunshine coast.
Start now and pick your own hours and days.
No resume needed.
Catch an early bus to Squamish. Work all day and get s free ride back to city.

might be interesting and it gets me outside so I emailed the person who posted the listing asking what was involved and was phoned back within ten minutes... and a followed up emailed. This young man wanted to take me out the next day and he would even provide me with his high cutters till I could buy my own....

Hi Marty,
Thanks for taking my call regarding brush picking in the wilderness.
If you are interested in doing x mas greens, cedar, balsam, hemlock, white pine and birch, give me a call or text.
$1.00 - $1.50 per bunch means $1000-1500 per 1000 bunches.  All piece work and no boss, you pick your days and hours.
Thanks xxx

So I went online to find out what they actually do,,,,, ,I copied this from part of another persons blog,,,,

 although it is illegal to do so, brush pickers often visit private property. People who pick brush for a living look for parts of wild plants used by floral companies to accent their flower arrangements. Whenever you buy a bouquet, keep in mind that those greens were picked by hand in Northwest forests. The pickers bring their bags full of greens to large warehouses where they are sorted and shipped out to florist shops. It is a growing industry. I have watched the construction of a half-dozen such warehouses in the past ten years.

Brush pickers bushwhack through forestland, 365 days a year, gleaning specific greens from it — salal, moss, beargrass, evergreen boughs, and

ferns. They have trimmed the lower branches off all the young western pine trees on this property. Each year around Christmas time, they trim a little higher on the tree. The boughs are made into Christmas wreaths. On some trees there are almost no branches left.

-------Sorry this is not the job for me – I am a tree hugger not a tree killer. So I past this information onto the environmental club here in Squamish.

"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out." – Proverbs 10:9

6^th December

Do trees cry? The Northern hemisphere is in a deep freeze.

Taking out the Dalhouise – man it is cold and windy.. I walk around the pond very quickly but not so fast not to stop and look for the ducks. The pond is mostly frozen over now and there are not any signs of any of the ducks – mergansers – herons or eagles.

Standing still I hear the cries – groans - eerie creeks of the trees as they express their sorrow, grief. OK maybe I am exaggerating slightly. But they have every right too – mankind has chopped – burnt – bulldozed – chainsawed them relentlessly since time began. Or is it cries of shame having lost their leaves and now standing naked and bare before the northern Arctic winds. Do they not know I can hear.

- As I left the my condo building Dalhouise and I encountered a free Pitt bull with no owner around that I could see. I had my hiking poles with me (for this reason) I hit the dog once and then kept sticking it in between it and my Dalhouise – finally it moved off a little and I left the area..