WILLOW BARK & BASKETS

 

  

Jonathan Ridgeon  Some people NEED this connection in their lives, Jon is one of them. Jon grew up in rural England, adventuring in woodland and working on his bushcraft skills. In 2015 he moved to Norway, seeking out more freedom and to live a simple off-grid self-sufficient lifestyle among the forest and mountains. For the most part, Jon gets what he needs from the land, but he also makes his living as a writer and is the author of three books on the subject of willow weaving. LINK

Processing Willow Bark for Cordage: "Surely one of the best cordage materials; Willow bark is both abundant and relatively easy to process. This article will describe how to strip the bark (in Summer or Winter) and turn it into supple fibre strands ideal for cordage making. There is an accompanying tutorial which shows the techniques you'll need to transform these fibres into cordage or rope. Firstly you need to find and cut down a living shoot/ branch of Willow between 4cm and 10cm thick. Look out for tall relatively straight 'poles' of willow that have as few side branches as possible. Willow will tolerate many growing conditions, but it prefers damp/wet places, so lake sides and river banks are good places to look. A coppiced woodland is a good place to find the straightest wood with few side branches. There are many varieties of Willow, Goat Willow and Crack willow are likely the most common. I have never tried processing Weeping Willow, although this would probably work too." LINK

• TIM JOHNSON: FOCUS ON BARK ... CLICK HERE
• IMAGE SEARCH  ... CLICK HERE
• SWAMP ROAD BASKETS _ FACEbook ... CLICK HERE