Jodie Goldring

I am so pleased to get this workshop up and running! A workshop that focuses on plants, which many participants have identified as an area they need to gain skills and knowledge. So, last Saturday a group met at the Centre for Rare Trades and started the workshop with a Plant Walk. I talked about 20 plants and participants had a Plant List that supported the walk. Many were writing notes into this list and asking questions about plants in their own gardens.

Back at the Centre I showed baskets and talked about characteristics of plant used in each basket. I then demonstrated how to split, dry, store and rehydrate 4 plants (flax, red hot poker, jonquil & willow) for basketry.

We ended the workshop by learning through making to weave a small hank of string from jonquil and red hot poker leaves. Making string is a great way to see whether a plant material will be useful for basketry. Does it split? Twist? Can we make string with it? A fun way to learn through experimentation and discovery.

This 3 hour workshop is a great way for people to learn about plants for basketry. I hope there is enough ongoing interest so that this workshop becomes a regular feature on my annual workshop schedule…

See link to the Plant List that participants were given for the Plant Walk.