As always, we began today by watering the garden before the sun got too hot. Then it was time to start our morning workshop: rope making!
Did you know rope is one of humanity’s oldest technologies? There is evidence of string making dating back to prehistoric times; approximately 28,000 years ago. (https://rope-source.co.uk/ropes/the-history-of-rope-making) So it’s very cool that we carried on this long-lasting skill by creating our own rope samples today!
How to Make Rope
Today we learned how to make rope using natural fibres like blackberry bark, day lily leaves and corn husks. The same rope-making technique can also be used with a variety of other long, flexible materials, including fabric scraps, plastic dry-cleaning bags, and English Ivy vines. Susan said she learned this technique from a local artist named Sharon Kallis, who is part of the Vancouver-based non-profit EartHand Gleaners Society. The organization is a collective of artists, makers and educators who create environmental projects using local materials. Sharon’s work can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sharonkallis/.
We used the following supplies:
Bucket(s) half filled with water
Dried blackberry bark
Dried corn husks
Dried Morning Glory (bindweed) stems
Dried day lily leaves
Next, select a strand of fibre and fold it in half, creating two strands. One strand should be
Then, take the strand furthest away from you with your dominant hand. Twist it away from
As you are making the rope, it’s important to make the twists tight and keep the diagonals
To finish the rope, make a simple knot at the end or tie ends to the loop at the start of the rope.
Rope samples made from the following fibres (from left to right): day lily leaves, corn husks, blackberry husks and bindweed (Morning Glory) stems
I (Adena) enjoyed making rope with the day lily best. I found it the smoothest material to work with and I liked the result from the day lily more than the other samples I made with the other fibres.
Talking Fast Fashion, Forgotten Skills, and Hidden Costs
While waiting for our rope-making materials to soak, we discussed Sharon Kallis’ work as well as the labour-intensive process of making textiles (fabric), which quickly brought us to the topic of fast fashion. Fast fashion is the mass production of inexpensive, trendy clothes. Nowadays, acquiring clothing means: seeing something you like online or in person, and using your card to buy it. Many of us do this often and in large amounts. When we have finished wearing our clothing (sometimes only wearing a handful of times), we dispose of it. Sometimes by donating it, sometimes by just throwing it out. However, even when we do the responsible thing and donate it doesn’t mean we saved it from the trash. The market and donation bins are overflowing, and much donated clothing gets trashed, or shipped to another country to make it their problem. This is our part in fast fashion: The rapid purchasing and discarding of clothes.
But as our activity today demonstrated, our relationship with clothing was not always this way. Until recently, clothing was something that took a lot of time and effort to make, and because of this people often kept clothing for years, even decades. Mending, simple tailoring, and repurposing of old clothes to make new ones were the common practice for centuries. However, while these skills are by no means dead, it does feel like they are starting to be practised less and less. This made us reflect on other skills that, due to the passage of time and different priorities, have been put to the side and less emphasized in schools. The first example that comes to mind is handwriting. Nowadays, printing and typing are used much more prevalently in society, so that is what we teach in schools; however, handwriting itself is still a valuable skill. It helps students practice fine motor skills and continues our collective access to historical documents.
A Song While You Work
As if today couldn’t be more idyllic, Susan brought her accordion to the garden and serenaded us with music and songs while we created our rope samples. Below is a list of the songs she played on her accordion. Some of us danced and joined Susan in singing while she played music for us. It truly was an enjoyable experience and incredibly gratifying to make something useful with our hands while listening to such sweet tunes.
Susan and Waisail
Songs
A Country Life
Kettle Valley Line
Princess Royal
Mrs Casey’s Lament
Fanny Power
Applebo Ganglat
Work Party!!!
Preparation for the Saturday workshop and solstice party
We are slowly preparing for next week’s events. Kate and Megan worked on preparing the empress seed pods for painting for the Saturday workshop. Alex, Kirstin, Keegan, and Lu continued to gather morning glory for the solstice flower crowns. This time, we ventured out into the wider field and the gardens' apple trees. Kat and Sara joined in the preparation by removing the morning glory’s leaves. Last but not least, Jillian began work on what is going to be the Solstice centrepiece, a large wreath for the children to help decorate.
Garden Additions (Some Welcome, Some Not)
One of today's main gardening themes was companion plants. Companion plants are a term used in polyculture farming where certain plants are planted together because each plant benefits from the other's presence and can grow stronger. The reasons can range from pest control, one plant physically supporting the other, or the nutrients that each plant requires, and many more. The first companion added was some basil to the tomato bed. To humans, basil smells delicious, but its smell actually repels many pests that like to snack on tomatoes. The next pairing to be added was actually a trio, the three sisters: Corn, Bean, and Squash. The three sisters are a set of Indigenous companion plants. Corn, the eldest sister, is the first to grow. Her stalk then acts as a trellis for the second sister, Bean. Beans fix the amount of nitrogen in the soil. And the final Sister, Squash, spreads out her leaves and acts as a weed deterrent. The garden had started a three sisters, but as of yet none of the crops has noticeably started growing. Ladan was kind enough to stop at a nursery this morning to pick up some squash, beans, and corn to add to the bed. we are looking forward to seeing the three sisters in action and are hoping that what was planted earlier will still grow. During our visit with Dr Megan Zeni, she demonstrated how the idea of companion plants can be applied to the classroom to help students understand positive and negative friendships.
Squash, Beans and Corn on the way to the orchard garden curtesy of Ladan! So kind and thoughtful!
A non-plant addition to the garden was James’ repainted grape sign. It joins the many others we have been updating throughout this week.
We also had some unwelcome additions in the form of weeds in our carrots and onions. Some of us spent some time back in the carrot patch to weed out our unwelcome guests to make room for the carrots and onions’ continued growth.
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