Tuesday, January 27, 2009

MOP Willow Harvest

Brussel sprouts peeking through oak leaves.

Peeking parsley too.

It's time to cut down the willow before it starts to bud. Here we are cutting the poles quite close to the ground. Ruth says she will come back the next day with power tools to make clean cuts. The best twigs are the ones that stay straight all the way to the top and don't branch out. Larger branches need to be sawn through.

We decided we needed a pygmy beaver to do the job!




Ruth makes ties for the bundles by deftly looping and twisting thin willow branches around the poles.


So here we have the bundles of poles ready to be made into fences and baskets. We left two yellow and two green willow trees to develop catkins for the bees, and important source of pollen and nectar to build up the spring brood. Ruth is a biodynamic farmer, and a real friend to the bees!

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