Journal
Making an Ash Pack Basket
For ages I've been wanting to make a pack, or back, basket from wood splints. They're best made in the spring when the sap's rising, so earlier this year I took a trip to the woods near Bath for a few days to make one. There's a long tradition of black ash splint...
Foraging Plants for Wild Basketry; weaving a connection between land and self
‘Plants are integral to reweaving the connection between land and people. A place becomes a home when it sustains you, when it feeds you in body as well as spirit.’ (Robin Wall Kimmerer) There’s an arable field margin under two ancient oaks that is species-rich with...
Nests in Nets
I've returned to Wakehurst on a bright autumn day to see if the rumours are true. One of my areas of research for this project was looking at nests. And that's why I'm back today. I've heard birds have nested in the work I made. My godson showed me a blurry photo on...
A Song for all Foraging
It’s a busy time for foraging plant materials right now. The plants have made all the vegetative growth they’re going to make this year. And now they’re setting seed. Over the past months I’ve logged key spots in my mental map of the neighbourhood, spots where certain...
Stonehenge: Neolithic Basketry
During the Neolithic time at Stonehenge, there would have been willows growing on the banks of the river Avon, which ran right by the houses situated at nearby Durrington Walls. These are the Neolithic dwellings that have been reconstructed at Stonehenge visitors...
Stonehenge: Neolithic houses for Neolithic basketry
I'm delighted to have been invited by English Heritage to run some staff training at Stonehenge in Neolithic-style basketry. They recently constructed a number of Neolithic style dwellings on site (pictured left)... and it's there that I'll be running the training...
Forage of the Month
Forage of the Month- February
Bramble Tips Lots of us know bramble as the blackberry bush, the one that gives us those delicious autumnal berries that stain our fingers and tongues. Bramble plants are vigorous and plentiful in their growing habit, and the hardiness of the plant means it has a...
Forage of the Month -October
Beech Nuts Beech trees are beautiful for so many reasons! Where I grew up, near the Chilterns in South Oxfordshire, we roamed in beech woods during bluebell season, and in the autumn when their fallen leaves glow copper. For other creatures and plants, beech woodland...
Forage of the Month- June
Elderflower Fritters Pick your elderflowers on a calm, sunny day when the buds are freshly open, before the petals brown around the edges. This is when they're most flavoursome. Lightly shake them to release any small insects, then snip off the larger stalks. You'll...