Preparing Burdock for use in Basketry
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มิ.ย. 2020
- As the season ends for eating Burdock shoots, it is still well worth foraging for the long, coarse fibres that can be used in basketry or as cordage. The fibre prepared in this video will be used to make a coil basket in part two.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.77[1/2] ก็ไม่ได้ชอบเอาชนะ แต่เรื่องอะไรต้องแพ้!!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JraaBYOd7I0/mqdefault.jpg)
thanks so much for posting! very helpful as I am learning to weave in Eastern Quebec, Canada!
Thank you for this informative video! I'm going to try adding burdock to my next natural basket. We've highlighted your video in our nature weaving projects roundup on the Textile Indie website.
I am so happy this is a thing i have two huge burdocks growing in my front patio area and was gonna clear them out. However id been watching some primitive build videos and it got me thinking about how i could use different plants and today i was thinking to myself burdock is one tough plant i bet its got some uses then i found out its edible on top of many other uses the more i dive into more pre industrial lifestyle stuff the more exciting i find it to be
It's amazing what is right in front of us when we start exploring these things!
BEAUTIFUL. You've inspired me 🤔🧐❤️ thank you
just went out and processed some burdock just like this for the first time. it was so fun!! excited to have my fibers ready for basketry in the winter
Thank you Sally for sharing your information so generously. Much appreciated. Going to give it a go 😃
I know this plant! I didn't know it was edible or that it can be used in basket weaving. 😆🙀
Sally, you are my hero!!
Just this morning I was experimenting with different local plants for fibers (spreading rush, cattail, even tried daisies just for fun), but I have no idea what to actually MAKE when I get there. A basket sounds like fun, I think I should try it someday. :) (If anyone is wondering, daisies work, but not as well as cattail leaves and split/depithed rushes. Blackberry fibers are the most fun, though.)
I used common reeds to make coil baskets, works really well if you use the middle part of the leaves to wrap up the coil and doesn't require much prep work.
Very simple but usefull technique. We don't have a lot burdock here, but I keep that in mind, might got handy some time.
I always wanted to try this, and I'll do it soon
Just found your channel. Excellent teacher!!!❤
Thank you for your informative and delightful videos. I spent a great day yesterday making cordage from dock. It was so simple and satisfying and I got nearly four meters of cord from three dock stalks. Just waiting for the blackberries to grow some more and I will try them. ( spring here in Australia.)
I love your hedge bothering videos! I'm excited to see the basket you make. I'm going camping on some family land soon and there's tons of burdock. Guess I'll be collecting some 😁
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us
Look forward to seeing the next phase of this.
I'd be interested to know more of your recipes! I never knew you could eat the pith of burdock, I thought it was just the roots. Either way, a video next year maybe about preparing it for food use would be really interesting
Ill try to remember! I generally use it very much like bamboo shoots in stir fries, or sauted with onions and bacon, but I can probably come up with a handful of easy recipes to showcase. Great idea, thanks!
So I've been following this just as knowledge for the future and loving it. I've never even considered Burdock as something that grew anywhere near me. Lo and Behold I have some Burdock on the edges of the back yard. So to night I watch to review and tomorrow I'll put this to use! See what I can come up with. Thank You!
Great! Let me know how you get on!
In early spring and fall roots can be dug up and dried for medicine, stalks can be used for soups like artichokes. I never dug mine up yet as it is hard to dig up! And it has spread a ton in my space. Time to make things 😁
Enjoy watching this sort of thing 😊 Thanks
Fibers in nettle and flax and probably burdock are held together with amylopectins... Retting can be aided by amylase, an enzyme readily available... In spit!
Absolutely. Scraping like this doesn't require retting though. I might try retting burdock at some stage, not one I've tried that on so far. Thanks for the suggestion!
So... so I could lick the nettles, and then... ?? :D
Chew your cud, then spit.
Hullo and thank you! I have only recently discovered your videos and what delight they are!
I hadn't heard of using Burdock fibres for cordage before, so thanks for that too. It should be considerable easier for the cubs I help with than processing nettles to make string. A shame I'm possibly a little late in the season to gather Burdock.
Love the 'Hedge Bothering' term.
Best wishes
Al
Yep, for kids, the ribs of burdock, dock, plantain or horseradish are all really accessible
Mrs. Pointer, do you collect any material during the winter months?
Thank you for sharing these videos that you have created; learning heaps.
Not so much the fibrous material but winter is the best time to cut willow withies and similar for basketry, when the leaves are off and the sap is down.
@@SallyPointer I immediately went off to dig in your video section for winter gathering but could not find any. Summer is so very busy for me, but will add gathering some fibers to attempt a basket in winter. I appreciate your reply, thank you.
Wow ok I have learned a new use for burdock! Burdock leaves were used as animal bedding, and mattress filler as well as the young leaves are edible, but I have mainly collected the roots which are delicious in stews and such, now a terrific use for the stalks! :) I am curious about the tapping of the stalk to release the fibers, would a rolling pin across them work as well or you know those old wringer washers? using a rolling method like that?
Always worth trying different methods, a rolling pin should work fine
Do you have recipe videos for leaves. ? Mattress filler? Cool! I need to try all these things 😁 ibe got a lot of burdock
@@michelleasunnydays140 I cook up the same way you do spinach and dandelion, in a bacon dressing, but I pick it when it's young and tender I add mushrooms and onions and boiled egg slices to my bacon dressing also I cut the leaves up finely.
Love it!
Do you only use the branches and the main stalk or can you also use the stems from the leaves? Also, the flowers on mine haven’t opened up yet. Do the fibers get stronger throughout the season or will they be just as strong now as in a few weeks.
Lastly, (though this should have been first) thank you. Your videos are so informative and inspiring and I am getting so excited about the potential for things I have in my own backyard.
Definitely try the leaf stems, I know people who find those more accessible than the main stem so use them more often. You should be fine anytime now, as a very very rough rule of thumb, most of the plants that make good fibre are worth harvesting after midsummer, though use your common sense and local knowledge as more northerly or cooler areas may be a little later.
I can twist the similar fibers to make twine without any tools (^^). I have friends in north Thai and they have the knowledge.
That's the lovely thing about cordage, tools are very rarely needed. Have a look at my cordage videos to see the method I use the most, no tools there either 🙂
Very interesting, thank you.
Very cool.... Thanks
Nice vid as usual. I'm slowly collecting Horseradish fibres to have an attempt at bowdrilling...lt seems l have another fibre to experiment with after that.
I wish we had horseradish and burdock in Colorado and New Mexico US . I use yucca and hemp for bow drill and bow strings . Using sinew from the leg tendon of a deer or elk makes excellent cordage when mixed with plant fibers . All the best .
Hi Sally, just curious; do you think ancient people did this against their own leg, or perhaps against leather over their laps? SInce they probably didn't have nice flat chopping boards to work with.
It's impossible to know, but any piece of wood can make a useful work surface
Can you use fat hen for basketry? I haven't seen burdock in our area near venice. Lots of brambles though. Thanks.
Perfect! Found some burdock today, xanthe wait to make my foraging basket. Can I make the whole basket from burdock Sally? And how much will I need?
See how you like the texture of the cordage made from it, and if it's something you like, you could make the bindings with that too. As to how much you'll need, depends on how big your basket is!
Why not rot it in a ditch as is done with flax. Works very well for nettle.
Have you tried retting burdock? How did it go?
Cat!
I was wondering : what about putting the branches in hot water to help dissolve the green parts?
You could certainly try it. Let me know how it comes out!
Did you try it?
Why is that "green stuff" so problematic? Would it not sort of seal and protect the fibres a bit longer against biological decomposition and physical wear?
If you leave too much of it on, the end result are fibres that are rough and 'lumpy', also, it will decay faster than the fibre itself, so if the finished item gets damp for example, it can go out of shape. If all you need is very coarse cordage or the end result is going to be fairly rustic in effect, it's no huge problem though, I made a coil basket last year using unscraped nettle as the core, and though it's knobbly and rough, it's absolutely fine. Really depends on what you want from the finished item!
i made burdock cordage and it came out very wirey.
It is fairly coarse
Can burdock fibers be made fine enough to be spun into cloth?
It's a fairly coarse fibre, but if you don't mind the end fabric being relatively stuff and heavy, then yes it should be useable on a look. It's nowhere near as fine or soft as nettle
How long do you soak it?
Just run it under the tap and wrap in a cloth for twenty minutes or so
can you use bitter or curly dock for this too?
I would think so, try it and see how you get on!
@@SallyPointer bitter dock turned out too brittle on the first attempt but the plants were young. i could make a very tiny braid though.
@@AnimeShinigami13 I would guess it's a little early for most of the fibre plants, I wouldn't be picking most of my usual options for a few weeks yet
@@SallyPointer I suggest trying dead nettles that have been sitting out all winter and become dessicated to see if they work for yarn or cordage. I'm using some dead milkweed from a local park, and some of the fibers I'm getting are so soft they're like down.
@@AnimeShinigami13 in this part of the UK we are too wet for winter retting to work, I occasionally find a sheltered stem or two, but mostly it's only good fibre between the summer solstice and autumn equinox here. I'm always envious of those with the climate for winter retting!