725 Days

725 days…725 days ago, give or take a few, we began a new adventure. Did we know exactly what we were getting into? No, we absolutely did not! Did we know exactly how to do it, what it would take and how to make things go smoothly….that would be a NO! What we weren’t prepared for was that we would fall in love with ALLLL of it! Weaving is one thing. Growing willow, drying willow, soaking willow and everything in between; seeing the whole process gives us a whole new appreciation for growers of any kind. We now appreciate the time, blood sweat and tears that small business owners put into their businesses. We also have a whole new appreciation for the “gift” we received when we jumped all in to The Branch Ranch!

Its not always smooth sailing, there are bumps, long days, big decisions and sometimes delays, but there has always been excitement, SO much excitement for what’s to come! SO what’s to come?!!

The short answer to that is good things…lots of good things to come! First and foremost we have some old favorite workshops on the way, we also have some brand new workshops coming up. We have many weavers who are looking to develop their skills a little further, some who want to be able to weave at home as well as during classes. We have developed some new classes that will allow our weavers to take their skills to the next level, to help them learn the very basics and the start to finish process. We are also working on offering more classes each month! We are well aware that our classes fill very quickly, this happens for a number of reasons, the main one being that we limit the number of attendees in our classes so that everyone gets adequate teaching time and there isn’t too much down time in classes. However, we want basketry and willow craft to be available to as many people as possible so we are working hard to be able to offer more classes! Oh ya, and there may be some new products along the way!!

We also have a BIG project on the way this spring! If you have been following along you know that we purchased the business approximately 664 days ago in 2021 *where has the time gone?!* If you have been following along, you know that we don’t yet have an indoor workshop, we currently operate solely out of our polyhouse. This is a little limiting when the cold weather arrives. We are So excited to begin the build of our NEW Workshop!! We can’t wait for this new space here on the farm so that we can offer classes year round in a heated or air conditioned building!! Cross your fingers and toes for us that all goes smoothly! We look forward to welcoming you to our new build when the time comes!!

Hard work never felt so good! We’ve never worked this hard nor wanted anything SO much before! We are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity, for our clients, and for our support systems that allow us to bring you willow craft!

Keep your eyes peeled for what’s to come! We hope you are excited, because we surely are! We can’t wait to see you all and help you create beautiful things!

Weaving our way to happiness!!

Branches and Twigs, Barns and Workshops..

And soon the leaves will change colour. Fall is here, my favorite season! Mostly because of the views here at the farm, we are blessed with stunning vistas where we can see for miles! The last 6+ months have been a blur of activity as we began our new journey with The Branch Ranch. In fact, I had to look at my calendar to be sure that 6 months ago was in fact when we began our transition! In March of this year the twigs and branches began their shuffle across the small village of Warkworth! We were building, renovating, planning, and moving all at the same time! It has been very busy, but our hearts are full!

Since March, we renovated our barn to accommodate our Willow inventory and built a drying area.

We planted willow…many, many cuttings! We have been in a constant state of awe as we watered and watched them grow!

We can’t forget the many phone chats and emails with Madame Twig’s I and II. Rest assured they are well and enjoying a new chapter and luckily for us they have been available at every turn when we had questions!

 We built a poly house so that we have a structure where we will host our willow workshops in fair weather.

Our first workshops have been completed and we’ve booked our Fall and Winter workshops! This summer we met many lovely people and shared our love of all things willow.

We’ve shipped willow to Nova Scotia, Toronto, British Columbia, The Yukon, Quebec and MANY more places.

This journey has been hard work but so exciting and so rewarding. We would like to thank our family for all their help and THANK YOU for all your support! We look forward to weaving with you!

Yours in all things willow,

-The York Family-

An Outdoor Classroom

In spring of 2016 Percy Centennial School Council in Warkworth, Ontario was pursing the idea of an outdoor, green alternative to the traditional school playground. Their hope was to build an area where they could extend the teaching environment to include a quiet, safe outdoor space and at the same time give students a place to play and relax in a natural setting. The school had already installed an eco garden on the west end of the grounds, so this green playground was a perfect addition and something the primary students were going to enjoy for many years. 

Percy Centennial's principal was enthusiastic and school board approval came swiftly, plans began for two tunnels and a dome. A suitable site was found, with reasonably level ground, close to the original play area.  Since water is essential in the first year of planting, it was important that the site also had access to a hydrant for once a week, deep watering and mulch to help retain moisture in the soil. As it turned out, the need for water was far more important than anyone had imagined, since that summer Ontario experienced one of the worst droughts in it's history. Thankfully, school council chair Cherie Whalen was on site weekly, making sure the willow received plenty of water and the payoff was huge...almost 6ft growth! 

On the first day of the build landscape fabric was applied, then the willow rods and soaker hose were installed. On day two the students, teachers and volunteers helped to weave the rods, secured them with ties and covered the area with a thick layer of mulch. 

A snow fence was installed around the perimeter of the planting area to protect the structures while the willow rods began to root and grow. Each week the willow was given a deep watering with a soaker hose. Then all that was required was to wait for it to grow...and boy did it grow! 

In September when students returned to school, we were very pleased to see lush, green growth thanks to diligent watering by parent volunteers. The students were anxious to have access to their new playground and a date was set to remove the fences and get weaving! It was a wild and crazy weaving party that day, so much excitement! They had waited so long to get their hands on the willow and now the day had come to have some fun. 

As the living willow grows each year, volunteers will continue to weave and prune to keep the structures healthy and in good shape.  Bravo to everyone at Percy Centennial for such a great effort! We look forward to watching their outdoor playground mature and flourish in years to come. 

Spencer Jenkins

Our journey begins with the extraordinary artist Spencer Jenkins from Birmingham, UK. Spencer is a sculptor, furniture designer and environmental artist who uses sustainable materials to create masterful, linear art forms with "functional intent". His diverse artworks are inspired by organic forms and found objects, constructed from greenwood, willow and steel. We are pleased to present you with just a few of his living willow projects.

The view from inside the dome. photo courtesy spencer jenkins

Living willow is something Spencer creates on a 'grand' scale. He has been commissioned to build tunnels, domes, screens, arches and any number of structures for schools, communities and private clients throughout the UK. 

In 2013 Spencer worked with the Burbage Infant School in Hinckley, UK building a series of tunnels and large dome to be used as an outdoor classroom. The dome spans 10 meters in diameter and now, after some training,  it has reached a height of 3.5 meters. Take a peak inside one of the tunnels in this video>

A beautiful, natural graft on the willow. photo courtesy spencer jenkins

““I have slowly been building up the sides and curving them inwards by weaving in the new growth during the winter months. I planted this in the winter of 2013. I’ve been developing these spaces at Burbage Infant School for the pupils to play in, be taught in and get closer to nature. I’m so pleased on how healthy the willow is looking and I got some great feed back from the head today who has supported this idea from the start.” ”

Weaving and pruning complete. photo courtesy spencer jenkins

The next series of photos show a remarkable 80 meter tunnel Spencer created by bending willow trees  inwards to form an arched canopy. Walk thru the archway in this video>

photo courtesy spencer jenkins

““I started this project last winter by trimming and bending these pollarded willow trees into arches. I’m back this year to bend and weave this years growth into a woven tunnel effect. “”

photo courtesy spencer jenkins

photo courtesy spencer jenkins

To see more of Spencer's work visit his website or follow him on Facebook and Instagram @salixrobotspencerjenkins

photo courtesy spencer jenkins

photo courtesy spencer jenkins

photo courtesy gill aspel

Living Willow - A Photographic Journey

A tunnel and dome on the farm. Planted in April 2016

Growth on the tunnel by July of the first year.

Winter 2017 before re-weaving begins.

June 2017

View from the dome spring 2017

Spring 2018

Fusing of braided willow within two years of planting

Magnificent structures just keep on growing! Summer 2018

Re-weaving of the structure is starting to take shape. Fall 2018

Summer 2018

Dome and Tunnel kits are available for pre-order now for planting in Spring 2019.

Eddie Glew in Canada

If you have ever dreamed of making baskets for a living, Eddie Glew is living your dream! This talented young man is a self proclaimed basket nerd who holds workshops with tea and 'posh biscuits' in his red shed in Staffs, UK. Eddie works throughout Britain on basket and sculptural commissions, indoor and outdoor installations of pretty much anything you can make out of willow. He teaches at many venues, sometimes to large crowds, and has been interviewed for television, magazines and blogs. Eddie inherited his love of basketry from his father who taught him to weave, later he studied with Adrian Charlton and then spent 2 years training with Sally Goymer, author of The Complete Book of Basketry Techniques.

Eddie's skills are precise and impeccable, a natural talent who is patient and extremely generous with his knowledge. We had the pleasure of working with Eddie in 2014 and are thrilled to have him here teaching for the first time in North America. We are pleased to offer three special workshops this summer from August 1 - 6. Take a look at his website, BLITHFIELDWILLOWCRAFTS.CO.UK and scroll down this page to see photos of some of his work.

For information about Eddie Glew in our Guest Instructor Series 2018 click here>>>