Learn to weave a willow basket and a cattail mat, plus make rope from stinging nettle. Process these plants into some of the best winter tonics to keep you healthy, and whip up tasty dishes today as well.
Join us to celebrate three of the Top 10 Most Important Plants of the Pacific Northwest, and take a huge step toward understanding the most critical plants of our region! If you would like to prepare in advance, check out our essays on Stinging Nettles and Cattails!
Make Rope from Stinging Nettle - Our strongest native plant fiber!
Central to this workshop is making rope from stinging nettle, the strongest dry plant fiber that is native to Western Washington. We will harvest and dry it, then spin it into cordage using various "reverse wrap" methods. Take home what you make for use over the coming year. You might never buy rope at the store again!
Dine on Stinging Nettle - Our most nutritious native green (and tasty, too)!
We'll celebrate the nutritional and medicinal qualities of nettle by harvesting new growth that comes up in the fall and making it into a tasty soup and pesto! You'll also learn to properly dry and store it for continual use as a tea tonic for improved health during the cold and flu season.
Harvest Cattail for mats, tinder and warmth - Our most abundant source of down!
Before lunch, we'll head over to our cattail collecting pond to harvest cattails. We will use its "down" as part of a tinder bundle and "carrying match" used for keeping embers alive when combined with dried nettle stalks and other materials. We will also harvest plenty of cattail leaves and craft them into sitting mats and makeshift pillows, using the cattail down to insulate them. This project will demonstrate that you can use cattails for many things, including an entire sleeping bag!
Snack on sumptuous Cattail - Our greatest source of carbohydrates in the wild!
We will also roast delectable cattail shoots over the coals of a fire, and work together to separate flour from the starch-filled rhizomes, adding that to "ash cakes" which we will bake right in our lunchtime fire.
Weave a Willow Basket and Make Aspirin!
In the afternoon, we'll gather willow branches to start our baskets. While weaving, we'll also learn about the medicine willow provides and prepare willow bark tea to taste.
Join us for a great day together, and please contact us for carpooling information! Please prepare as you normally would for a hike, including lunch, water bottle, 10 essentials, etc. However, please be aware that sparks from the campfire can melt your synthetic clothing, so wool might be a good option. And although we have extra of the following items, do try to bring rubber boots and dish gloves for cattail harvesting, leather gloves and scissors for nettle harvesting, and clippers for willow harvesting.
