Black Willow

2013- Present

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A long term physical study of wild black willow (Salix nigra), including: its habitats throughout the Southeastern region from North Georgia through Maryland, beaver coppiced and flooding coppiced zones, harvest, storage, tending (human pruning) of wild patches, cultivation and planting, and finally, its weavability for basketry in comparison to wild willow varieties of the Northeast. The basketry weaving portion of this study (January 2023) was done in collaboration with Maine based basket weaver Willa Moore. This project is both a devotion to and highlighting of wild Salix nigra rods for use in basketry, and an encouragement for the cultural embrace of wild willow of the Southeast for weaving.  

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