Bathing Bark

After pollarding some trees, there was fresh material available to experiment.

Not the best time of year for harvesting bark.

Mid-spring (May) is ideal, when the sap has risen and new leaves are well opened.

But the period for willow (Salix alba) is much wider, from April to August.

 

It takes some strength and effort but then you'll end up with a nice piece of bark.

Inspiration

Perhaps you remember my Neolithic beach find from 2021.

A Doggerland 'spits', you can read about it here.

There was an opportunity to join the Resurfacing Doggerland project.

The project lend the spits and I agreed to remove a small piece of material.

After 19 months, ZooMS and C14 research, the spits returned home.

(as soon as I can, I'll share the results of the outcome)

When we went to Leiden in January to pick it up,

I was intrigued by these objects....

The fur one inspired by a mummy; the Arrow Quiver of Iceman Ötzi

Back to DIY:

You can fold the bark and make yourself a 'bag' or 'quiver' (smile)

Have a can with rain water available to keep the branch and bark wet.

Your material will dry quickly as soon as you start peeling the bark.

 

If you're not sure what to do with it yet....

You can buy some extra time by preventing it to dry

.... the harvested bark is underwater now. 

The largest piece is rolled with the outer bark on the inside and secured with wooden pegs.

  

You can dry the bark to store it for arts-and-crafts projects later. Soak it well before use.

I also tried to harvest a piece of bark from the goat willow

(aka great sallow, pussy willow, boswilg, Salix caprea)

It was really difficult, labour-intensive and not motivating at all.

There wasn't enough sap, it has been a very dry year so far.

Next spring I'll give it another go.

My previous post about bark harvesting: Barkin Time

Tree Treasure

Last winter I found a black and soaked branch collar (takkraag) in the woods.

After letting it dry slowly, to prevent cracks, it's on the wall now.

I just love it. To surround yourself with beauty can be easy.

It doesn't have to be expensive or 'arty-farty' at all.

Barkin Time

I started this blog and have been posting since 2012

and I just can't believe it has been 13 years already.

Time flies!

The last year has been a 'turbulent' year for me.

The blog disappeared to the background. Life can 'absorb' you.

But then someone reminded me of my blog (merci!)

When I checked the statistics today, I was blown away.

All time 234 K

Last 12 months 52 K

Last 30 days 8 K

Last 7 days 2.81 K

Last 24 hours 776

 

Most views from Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil, Austria and Germany.

A big thank you to all of you  ♥︎

Especially to those who come back to have another look.

I could really use some extra motivation and energy.

Some how I want to continue where I left off. 

My blog became some sort of diary or external memory to me (smile).

The big gap has to be filled now (wink).

 So several new posts with old news will be antedated to 2024.

Please be patient with me and in case you're curious, scroll back to 2024.

There will be posts about sea visits, walks, design and art soon.

Hopefully my blog inspires you to see beauty in simple things,

enjoy wildlife and spend more time in nature.

Or perhaps it will inspire you to visit a museum, the cinema,

a concert or, even better, make time for your own creativity. 

It provides the best medicine to our stress and busy lives.

Perhaps you already support or protect wildlife. Chapeau! ★

 

harvested white willow and 'noisetier rouge' bark

The Earth has a lot to offer.

I think we should treat it with respect and be careful with what we take.

The trees and shrubs in our garden need pruning and pollarding regularly.

Instead of stacking the wood for wildlife, I harvested some bark form the cut branches.

I don't want to take the risk of damaging a tree or shrub.

Rolled up and dried, the bark can be stored for a very long time.

My intention is to gather enough material and use it for a bark weaving project.

I will keep you posted so to be continued...

Birch

About 6 months ago I got this idea of some slender floor to ceiling birch trunks in our living.

One of my facebook friends answered my call. He would be able to help us.

Now the trunks are drying outside waiting to be fitted in our house.

I think Nim will love these trunks :)

Too bad only one of them has the floor to ceiling length we will be needing for the living.

But the other two can still be (partly winded with rope) functional.

Nim's scratching posts :))