Willow Harvest 2023

I’m halfway through harvest 2024 and finally getting around to putting some thoughts down here about last year. In the midst of the year I’m not quite sure how I got through it all. I taught the most amount of classes I ever have before, and in doing so used most of what we harvested in 2023. I’m so grateful that everything worked out like it did, because so many of my resources dropped off the map. However now I can say I’m 100% self sufficient in this willow adventure. Knowing that I will no longer have to purchase willow is a huge relief, and it was a goal I had in my mind for many years. Goals are hit and we sometimes don’t even realize it in the moment, but looking back now I can smile and appreciate what a huge accomplishment it truly was.

In 2023 I harvested 6 thousand plants mostly by myself. My boys helped at the end to cut and plant everything in the span of a few weeks of April when the weather decided to warm up unexpectedly. We dealt with some pretty bad vole damage after figuring out the deer issue but writing on the other side of 2024 I feel like I learned a lot in 2023 and have things mostly under control. I’m just bracing for the day that the bugs move in.

The property is starting to look like a proper farm now and we added on a composting toilet and outdoor shower facilities this year. With the kindness of Theresa and Jean Gage, and cuttings from what I had already I was able to add another 3K willows making a total of 9 thousand!!!!

The harvest started out great in March and the picture below was about half way through the 6k.

In 2023 we made a whole lot of syrup since we could be at the farm more. And as you can see below we lost a lot of willow to the voles. They chew all the bark off the rods and some even off completely. Needless to say I was freaking out a whole lot. Experience has taught me that you cannot leave this type of infestation to thrive, and you have to just forge on and replant when you can. Even the plants that weren’t girdled completely suffered and many died because they were not able to get enough water up into their leaves. We did have a bit of a drought and then nothing but wet, wet, and more wet in the later part of the year. My location for growing still remains my greatest source of pride because my fields will never get flooded. We may be working on a slope but these beds will always be away from any standing water. Not that I had much choice in the matter because this property was really the only one I could afford at the time. We made it work and it’s looking more and more beautiful each year. Three years into this adventure and I’m extremely proud of all we have accomplished so far.

My boys helped tremendously to get the willow planted and harvested. I love how they are both taking pride in what we have built here. Even though their help may only last 10 minutes, it makes me smile each time I turn around and they are standing behind me asking if they can help. I don’t know if either of them would want to take on this type of work as they get older but I’m very interested to see in how much this will play a part in their lives in the future. My hope is that despite all of this they learn the most valuable lesson, which is that you have to work damn hard to make your dreams a reality, but that it is totally achievable.

I’d say this was my first full experience of what it was like to harvest, and I was astonished at the amount of work required. Having only ever purchased willow before it was a true eye opening moment dragging bundles and bundles of willow down to the barn to be sorted. The price of willow has definitely grown over the years but now as a grower myself I can completely understand why. Thank your grower, or take the time and effort to grow your own and really get a feel for what it is like to be part of this craft. The “whole circle moments” are what I’m constantly chasing in life. To learn something start to finish. I can now say though that I never expected it would be so much work to be a basketmaker.

A couple more pictures from early on in the year. Looking at these pictures with little sticks in the ground is so funny because I know how they all turned out. That section below was the best producing and successful section I’ve planted to date. Having larger willow is important to me because with rib/frame work we need to have big willow for hoops, handles and ribs. Now knowing which varieties to plant and where to plant them was extremely helpful. It’s amazing how little there is about growing willow, but yet there is plenty to learn in theory. I truly believe though that until you start growing in your own spot, you won’t learn the most valuable lessons from a book. Knowing your land and watching the varieties is a relationship that’s built over time. We will be taking a year off from planting more, but in 2025 I already have big plans and new theories to test out. I’m already getting excited at the idea of what I want to plant next and where.