# Harvesting/Manicuring Big-Time



## GanjaGuru (Aug 24, 2005)

Word just hit the street as it does everytime right about now.
Growers looking for people to hire for manicuring.
Large-scale growers that is.
I've wrorked at some of these (sometimes running that entire aspect, sometimes as a lowly employee).
Harvesters are always the most trusted people, because of course they are out at the exact location.  Usually they work in 2's, 1 cutting the buds off the standing plants, another person bagging them up in garbage bags.  They are then transported to the manicuring barn.
Sometimes this is an actual barn, sometimes just a big room, but they all have 1 thing in common--a long table and chairs on each side.
And lots of trash cans.
Let's take a 12-person crew for an example.  Pay is usually $15/hr, plus room and board.
"Room" may be a floor, mattress and sleeping bag.  Sometimes a tent or ratty trailer.  Some people like to sleep under the stars.
Food--lots of rice, beans and pasta & bread.  Not a whole lot of meat or fish because some hippies are vegans, but there is usually meat/fish/dairy every day for those who want it.  Lots of hippies play something so at night there are sing-alongs and socializing.
People can work as long as they like, but the growers usually want at least 10--12 hrs/day.
It ain't fun but it's ******* better than a lot of jobs.
1 person's job is bringing full bags of buds to one end of the table and putting them on the table and emptying tash cans that are all around the table as they fill up with trim, and at the end of the table fully manicured buds.
The buds move along the table assembly-line style.  The first few people take off the biggest leaves, then a few to take off the medium-sized leaves and the rest of the workers get down to the nitty-gritty, snip snipping until the buds are how the grower wants them.
You get a break every few hours, and you can smoke whatever you want during your breaks, as long as your work remains "up to par".  There is usually a good sound system in the room although some people use walkmans etc.
These days usually start at 8--9 a.m. and go on til at least 8--9 p.m., with 45-minute breaks for lunch and dinner.
Employment lasts anywhere from 2--4 or 5 weeks, and you work 7 days a week, straight thru.  Some growers grow just 1 strain but most grow different strains with different finishing time.
And sometimes other local growers contract to have their pot processed at the main location instead of hassling with it themselves.
Not everyone can stay for the entire month but most do.
Let's say you're there for a month, working 12 hrs/day, 7 days/week.
At $15/hr, that adds up to $5,400.
The last day there is usually a party.  And people get paid, usually 1/2 in cash and 1/2 in buds, sometimes all in bud.
The more buds you take as pay the more $ you make, because most growers give you as much as a lb. for every $1k they owe you, and those pounds can be sold for a lot more than a grand.

There are variation on this process.  Some growers harvest the entire plant and hang it upside-down for a few days first, esp. in humidity is high.
Sometimes the buds finish drying in paper bags, sometime in big piles on a floor.
Some work'days' run from noon 'til midnight.  It all depends on how the grower wants it.

A few people stay on to help with packing up the pot once it is dried and cured.  Then they are usually transported south to the L.A. area, but growers who have an afford to sit on thiers for a few months, because starting in Nov. there is a huge glut and prices are low.  The smartest growers always save some to sell in the summer, when prices go up and up.  Pounds that go for 2 grand in Nov. will fetch $3,500 next summer.

Problems:
Of course they are some.
People are told before they are hired--no hard drugs/no alcoholics.  But some people don't listen.  And some are just slackers.
This is usually not too bad a problem because 90% of the people hired have done it before, some of them for decades.
And once there was a fist-fight (over a chick) but that was resolved quickly (she was told to leave).

Some new/stupid growers have been known to just pull up in a van in Arcata and hire anyone who walks down the street.  These people run into problems.

Most people I know nowadays are small-time.  Some like me just grow for themselves, most like to have a little left over to sell.  We usually take turns, 4 or 5 of us helping out whoever needs it at the time, usually for 3--4 days.
One friend let's call him space cadet (used to work in aerospace) has a sister who's a stripper and he hires her to come do a show when the manicuring is done.


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## skunk (Aug 24, 2005)

Hey Ganga Ill Help You I Need Money Or Anyone That Needs Help .i Am Disabled . And With 4 Kids And Thats All I Do Is Side Jobs . Mainly Remodle Houses But I Have To Sit Down Or Stand Up When I Want .because Its My Lower Back .if You Know Anyone That Needs Help Let Me Know They Would Also Have To Pay For Plane Ticket Up . Payment Can Be Taken Out To Compensate Back . Anxiouse To Learn .maybe I Can Do My Own Rt 1 Day .


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## GanjaGuru (Aug 24, 2005)

Well thanks for the offer skunk but I'm stricly small-time these days.
I just have 2 dozen plants (some quite small) and between my brother, myself and a few friends we can get the job done.
I lost touch with all the big-time guys.  And I doubt if they would hire anyone who's not a local.
The only thing I can suggest is to come out here and hope to hook-up with someone in need, but don't count on it.


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## Max (Aug 25, 2005)

Seems like it would be a hard job to actively seek.  Wouldn't the growers be suspicious of people who seemed to eager?  To me, it's a labor of love.  I live in the right region and would love to do it, but don't really know the right people.  Thanks for the interesting history though.  I'll keep my eyes peeled and ear to the ground.  Happy Harvesting.


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## Bubonic Chronic (Aug 25, 2005)

i'd do it


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## skunk (Aug 27, 2005)

well thanks anyway ganga and max . it does look suspiciouse .but im just really more axciouse to learn more than all my friends that say there ol timers at it . 1 of them is the 1 that told me to pick all my big leaves off that it takes nutes away from the plant .that just didnt sound right because i knew they was on there for a reason . then ganga corrected him by telling him that the big leaves supply them with nutes and also he had his head up his pattootie for telling me that lol. but anyway i spoke to a friend and he told me that he might get me an under table job trucking locally .thats what i need so i can be home everyday to watch my plants grow . dam i wish theyd hurry and bud still have them lil white strings in middle like flowers .


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