In the past gleaners were mostly young girls and old women who were often related to the farm or field labourers who worked on the fields during harvest season.

A gleaner, originally is a person who picks grain in the fields, is a person who gathers pieces of information, slowly, carefully and methodically/systematically (in a proper order).

In the present day usage, gleaners are those farmers and agricultural scientists who pick up fallen seeds or grains in a field to examine why a crop failed.

In today’s modern life, too, there are gleaners of a different kind who go about the neighbourhoods in search of thrown away items in garbage bins and trash cans, which can be used by charity organisations or people who cannot afford them, things such as party broken furniture, clothes and even electronic goods!