Lessons From 1 Month of Tree Planting in the Boreal Forest of Northern Ontario, Canada
It wasn’t until after I turned 34 years old that I had the itch to try out tree planting for the first time while I’m still young and the Lyme-infested ticks are still primarily in the south for now. I’d recently taken a Canadian Red Cross Wilderness First Aid/CPR course and one of my peers there was planting with a company out west this summer. My mom also went tree planting in Northern Ontario when she was younger, and I’d also heard about it from one of my favourite local natural skincare small businesses, Boreal Folk, and it was actually how they met and came to start the business (and while tree planting can potentially be romantic, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that…). There has always been something in me that heeds the call of the wild, and so this was a great opportunity to do something on my bucket list and experience something new.
Tree planting is usually a summer job and a common “rite of passage” for Canadians who want to challenge themselves and make lots of money by planting as many trees as possible. Often taken up by summer students and hardy younger people who are well accustomed to the outdoor elements, this is a kind of job that is incredibly physically demanding, and even chaotic and dangerous at times. Even my experience volunteering in nature with the local land trust was nowhere near as intense as living and working in the bush like this. You can train at the gym and practice camping off grid for years, but nothing will adequately prepare you for tree planting like tree planting itself.
I was raised in a very white collar environment, having always worked in sterile offices and on laptops remotely, but this season, especially after the Covid years, I was eager to try something different and a little more human while in between work contracts. Despite having mostly unrelated work experience, I was offered the job on the spot, which was something that never happened when I was younger! I tend to be very cerebral, delicate and living in my head, so for me, it was a true test of my mental, physical and spiritual limits, and a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about the secrets of the Boreal forest while earning potentially decent money and diversifying my life skills and gut microbiome.
Before this, I had never planted a tree in my life, but I ended up planting hundreds. I developed strong bush legs, confidence, greater inner peace and sharper senses, and all of my problems from back home seemed very small and manageable after tree planting. Tree planting was where all of my life was concentrated in one place, undivided and full-spectrum–experiencing a form of communal, off grid living in the bush with inexpensive built-in camp costs, meeting all kinds of interesting people while growing and discovering myself as a human, waking up exposed to the beneficial UVA at 6 am sunrise with a healthy circadian rhythm, and not having to pay for a gym membership as the work itself is highly physical and outdoors. The more trees you plant, the more money you make. People get into tree planting primarily for the money, and I definitely did too, but for me, the meaningful, life affirming and fulfilling aspect of planting trees despite the Boreal wildfires was the additional cherry on top.
Hint: back away slowly, make noise, avoid eye contact, and be thankful it’s not a moose.
Depending on the kind of company you’re with, you may find yourself living in a primitive bush camp without any of the comforts of modern life, and only occasional showers and wi-fi. If you’re not accustomed to getting potentially hundreds of bug bites (mosquitoes, midges, black flies in Northern Ontario…) and experiencing the health benefits of hormetic stress from both the natural environment and man made elements while completely immersed in a highly social, off grid and often inconvenient setting, you may want to turn back and find something different!
Some moose antlers were found by other teams, and someone even encountered a moose face to face–and got away safely! The camp supervisor and I even saw a family of black bears while driving, but they were too fast for me to take a picture.
Tree planting is not for the faint of heart.
I've been working out, hyperactive, lifting weights, hiking, building the solar callus on my skin and doing yoga for years and I was still not fully prepared for the experience that is tree planting–a whole different beast. It's a kind of job that takes practice and experience in action, and some people are more built for it than others. Luckily, tree planting is very easy to learn for almost anybody, and it doesn't take a lot (theoretically) except for insane amounts of tenacity and team spirit to become a great tree planter. Our crew boss once hired someone with one arm and I hear he did really well! Being fit and jacked is always nice, and training a decent amount with a high level of physical fitness will help, but it actually isn't so necessary in order to be a decent planter. Along with staying in a bush camp, it's a unique experience in the wild in which all of your activity isn't so divided and commodified–and you also reap the many health benefits of the outdoors and communal, human-centered living all at once. It is something very close to freedom. A single day of tree planting confers way more health benefits than a cabinet full of health supplements. Try it if you dare.
At the laundromat, totally bug bitten and feral from the bush. The crazy part? I wasn’t nearly as badly bitten as many other planters.
You will have off days–you’re only human.
Don't be afraid to take a break or a day off and always hydrate constantly with spring water, natural electrolyte powders in the water, sea salted fruit, and/or coconut water, even when it’s cloudy and raining. Take Gatorade if it’s the only thing available. Take care of yourself: if you drink alcohol and caffeine, do it in moderation, and rest and recover when you need it (especially in the luteal and menstrual phases if you have them). I’m someone who is highly attuned to my body’s needs and connection to the natural elements. I really thrived being extremely active and full of energy tree planting during my follicular and ovulatory phases, but definitely slowed down during my luteal and menstrual phases of the month, and refused to push myself too hard for an extra bit of cash–sacrificing my feminine health was not worth it. There was a day where my Raynaud’s was way too intense in the cold, plus I was in my late luteal phase with a significant energy dip, so I took a full day off with no regrets. Keep in mind though, that the more you keep up the speed and consistency with quality trees, the more trees you'll plant and the more money you'll make. The more satisfying it will also be to pile into the van after a long day, ready for dinner back at camp.
Tree planting will bring you face to face with nature's wrath and callousness.
You will get dirty, bug bitten and sweaty beyond comprehension, and your microbiome/gut flora will be incredibly diversified from exposure to the elements alone. You'll have to go to the bathroom out in the bush. You'll experience crazy amounts of healthy hormesis in your biology. Your snot and fingernails will be guaranteed full of dirt. At the camp I was in, an opportunity for a proper shower (that's not an outhouse) in town will only happen once every few weeks, and dirt and sand will make its way to every crevice of your body with a perpetual layer of sweat, so be prepared to get uncomfortable and embrace the dirt and beneficial microbes.
Camp food is often fun but of mediocre quality.
Whilst many people can plant decently on caffeine pills, other kinds of pills and even alcohol, I opt to bring my own superfoods like chia seeds, greens powder, natural electrolyte powder and homemade adaptogenic herbal granola to mix in with the supplied foods, which personally gives me a genuine, natural extra boost while keeping me looking somewhat ageless, protecting my body, and performing and feeling my best. The potentially great thing about the bush is that it forces you not to be neurotic or overthinking things like health optimization and avoiding toxins, and encourages you to have faith, be brave, and face the fullness of life directly. On a rest day in town, I try to prioritize nose-to-tail nutrition and find some chicken soup or pho, and generally healthier foods like sushi. It's also not a time to be picky in camp so it can be a good idea to eat while prioritizing energy over quality first, making the healthiest choices available, and hope for the best outcome for your body. You will get dirt and dust in your food and water, so enjoy the health benefits and beneficial microbes connecting you to the land.
My homemade adaptogenic turmeric granola is easy to prepare before a big journey, and may even help support your body naturally while planting thousands of trees, dealing well with stress, and making a lot of money. Use ingredients and substitutions that work best for you. Gather:
5 cups GF rolled oats
1/3 cup virgin cold pressed coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup almond butter
2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp fine Redmond salt
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp pure vanilla (bean or tincture)
3/4 cup Styrian pepitas
1 cup buckwheat groats
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 tsp adaptogenic tonic herbs of your choice (I used SuperFeast Jing blend! Discount code ROOTTOSKY10 will unlock 10% off anything on the SuperFeast site.)
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Toast only the oats on a tray lined with parchment paper for 15 minutes. This will enhance the flavours! Remove the oats and lower the heat to 300 F. Mix the rest of the ingredients with the oats in a big bowl, pack the mixture down on the same tray, and bake for 50 minutes. Remove, let cool, and break up into chunks. Store in a big Ziploc for travels.
The food service at camp is what it is. I was grateful to come back at the end of a crazy 12 hour day to a hot meal, no matter what type of food, and for the hard workers who made it all possible. It is true that the tree planting world isn’t exactly known for attracting health nuts like myself, but if there’s one thing I’d change about the tree planting world, it would be better curated nutrition for the workers, focusing on natural, grass fed animal fats and colourful natural foods that support the skin working in the sun all day, instead of using industrial seed oils like canola oil, which make our skin cells more vulnerable to oxidation when exposed to UV light, which actually promotes diseases like melanoma to a greater extent.
Living Libations’ non-nano zinc sunscreen is usually my last resort for when I’m spending an entire day in extreme sun and seriously need to cover up. Otherwise, I try to avoid sunscreen and anything else on my skin, and stay mindful in my regular daily life with regular direct, full body exposure to the sun throughout the day for the heliotherapy and health benefits.
Healthy sun exposure for holistic health is about striking a delicate balance with your primal connection to the natural elements, just as humans have done for ages before the Industrial Revolution. Because I didn’t have a lot of choice in the quality of foods that were available, I did opt to use a non-nano zinc sunscreen on hot days where the sun was intense and more skin was exposed. Otherwise, in my regular life, my anti-inflammatory natural, colourful and varied diet lets me tan nicely, reducing disease without burning or using any kind of sunscreen!
Food insecurity and malnutrition is widespread in the boonies of Northern Ontario (without hunting, foraging or fishing abilities)
…and with that often comes a lot of the issues around drugs and overdosing, affecting a lot of the younger people in tree planting culture. My little contribution to healing this is offering better education on ancestral, nose-to-tail nutrition from nature. I don’t want to stigmatize drug and alcohol usage, but a planter in one of the other Ontario camps literally died this summer due to opioids this season, so look out for your crew and camp, party smart, try to have common sense even if this is an environment you’re new to, know how to use naloxone and harm reduction practices, and know where the naloxone stations are within your camp. RIP.
Definitely bring a bunch of biodegradable TP rolls with you at all times.
You’ll also want to bring an effective bug spray and After Bite, extra Buffs, and bug proof, long sleeved, UV protective clothing with a hood that can be worn under your hard hat that won’t overheat you. You'll notice planter veterans will often not use any kind of bug net, as they can be pretty useless, but I liked to have one for my head and neck area, whether I was on my piece or back at camp, as the bugs of the Canadian Shield can be absolutely relentless in warmer temperatures. Sometimes I even wonder if the bugs are guarding something secret, keeping us from delving deeper into the forest. Bring extra TP in a Ziploc (and maybe a Shewee if you're female) to every piece you work on, and be prepared to find a good solid bush, tree, or tree stump on the land that you can do your business behind–while no trucks from the supervisors or your block buddies are around. You might also want to be up to date on a tetanus shot or at least carry Polysporin. The branches and logs you’ll encounter are brutal and you will fall and be scratched at least a few times.
As long as you change your socks and underwear regularly, you'll likely be fine in terms of health and safety.
I’d heard of one guy in a previous season who got trench foot as it rained for two weeks straight, and he only had one pair of socks the entire time. Don’t be that guy.
Ultimately, even as a scrawny framed, cerebral, small woman out of my element, I found that I had an adequate level of fitness, energy, adaptation and hardiness that only increased the more days I spent in the bush. I genuinely love the challenge of planting consistently high quality trees but refused to push myself to the level of tendonitis, skipping a menstrual cycle, or other health issues. I can’t speak for the quality of planting experience out west in BC and Alberta, and I hear it’s a lot nicer with better pay per tree and fewer bugs out there, but in the end, it was the large amount of bugs that bite in Northern Ontario that severely overwhelmed me and made me quit my contract before it officially ended. I’m sad that I had to leave early and I will miss our great crew boss, the culture and our team, but I’m incredibly fortunate to have been able to plant at least a few hundred trees in my lifetime, and for the experience that prepared me well for life’s challenges. If you’re serious about trying tree planting and driven by making good money, and can deal with the many inconveniences, I hope this helped inspire and adequately prepare you. To everyone back at camp: here’s to a prosperous, safe and successful planting season!
