Threads 70: Early Summer Gathering

Along with all the gardening jobs, it is hard to realize that this is the time we should be out gathering basketry materials. They will not wait!

Birch bark

Sheets of birch bark stored flat and held down with a heavy old flat iron.

Birch bark will come off easily at this time of the year. You should not take it off down to the inside layer as you will kill the tree. Ideally you find a tree cut down on the road side.  Once taken off, the bark must always be stored flat and not allowed to curl up. 

When I was in Sweden, I learned that each piece should be placed alternatively, on top of the next, and then the whole pile weighted  down with a big stone. I have learned that once it curls up, it is impossible to straighten. See photo below

Cedar bark

The easiest way (and most environmentally friendly way) to collect cedar bark is to find someone in your area who cuts, cedar, and sells posts 

You have to ask the manager, and if he agrees, you can strip the bark off the posts before he puts them through the big bark stripping machine.

The alternative is to collect your cedar bark directly from the tree. Ask permission! The bigger and taller the tree, the better. Start by looking up the tree to try not to run into a branch which will hold you up and maybe prevent you from pulling it off. Using a saw, make a 3” to 4” cut across the trunk low down and with a screwdriver or axe loosen up your piece. Using both hands pull the strip up to the top. You can watch the removal of strips of cedar from a red cedar tree at this link: https://youtu.be/1HEiSVUph14.

It is much easier to remove the outside bark as soon as you take it off the tree.Then roll it up and fix it with a clothes  peg. This way it is much easier to soak up when you are ready to make a basket. Otherwise it dries in the hard straight pieces which is much more difficult to save.

One more note, this is usually mosquito time in the woods, so take some insect repellent with you!

Toll for rooting

Roots

This is also a very good time for collecting roots. They can be used for wrapping or stitching, and used extensively by our indigenous people for their basketry. 

Once dried, they will last forever, and just have to be soaked to be ready for use.

The best trees are the ones that have roots close to the surface. In this area it is spruce, cedar, and birch. It is easier to collect them after a  rainfall.

Take a little hand trowel like tool with hooks or a small fork. You can follow the roots as far as possible before cutting. 

They can be easily cleaned by stripping with a  knife when done immediately.

I did spend a week in Sweden learning how to make birch bark baskets and will explain how to make them in the next issue.