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Tag: life

Two New Willow Baskets, One With Miscanthus Leaf

Some photos of new IRL non-AI willow baskets, one with miscanthus leaf woven in uploaded here, and linked below:

Still a little janky as far as technique goes, with a bit of cracking, but getting better and more fluid with the patterns. I have enough materials soaking to I think maybe complete 3 or so more baskets in this style for this season.

I’m doubling out the size of my production in the Spring, as I really like growing willow and all the side benefits like basket-making that it brings in addition to biodiversity and general awesomeness.

I know most people use landscape fabric to suppress competition from grass, but I have a personal prohibition against using anything plastic-based in the garden because of fragmentation, and the already ridiculous levels of contamination of micro- and macro-plastics in natural environments. I’ve carefully followed this prohibition at least ten years on now. So instead I’ve experimented with successively thicker types of brown kraft and paper for construction applications. This latest round, I’m trying something called Ram Board which is extremely thick. I’m laying three overlapping layers of that down, followed by a second course of each if I have enough. Then I’m mulching over that.

What I’ve seen previously is that thin papers (with mulch) don’t do much to suppress grass long-term, though they might last a few weeks and possibly give cuttings a bit of a headstart. Thicker ones tend to do better but still break down and let a lot of grass through in first season. I weeded the new plots out that I planted of various ages, stock sources & types, and only ever weeded those beds three times this season. There’s grass growing but I don’t see it having negatively impacted the growth of the cuttings too much.

I will leave most of those newly planted plots to overwinter, and harvest only in Spring when the ground is unfreezing, and take both my basketry material and planting stock at that time. I know other people harvest and store in Winter, but not having somewhere to store cuttings at the right temp over winter, figure they may as well just stay on the stools and I’ll cut them then. I did that this year with some others and they grew back huge, so not too worried.

I have some dogwood I’ll also harvest, though that plant material live is also really useful as fascines for erosion control which I’m exploring, and I want to try the same method I did on the river edge in my regular garden: take fresh dogwood cuttings, make them into a bundle, dig a shallow trench, cover them back up with soil. Voila. I’m curious if willow will also grow that way? Could be a means to get multiple shoots coming out of the same buried stock linearly that could be easily integrated into hedgerow armature… More experiments await in this area.

Conspiratopia: Chapter 18

We walked back after that in the direction of my dad’s apartment and stuff. The underground mall thing was super huge, holy crap.  

After a while, I was all like, “Dude, but what am I gonna tell mom?” The Wizard of Oz hologram thing had given me permission to make one phone call (monitored) to my mom.

And my dad was all like, “Dude, listen. Just tell her the truth and stuff. You got a new job and you’re gonna go try out living with your dad for a while.”

“I don’t think she’s gonna like that very much, you know?” I said. “She sorta hates you, and is worried I’m gonna turn out just like you.”

“Haha,” my dad said. “Well, she’s entitled to her opinions, but it’s up to you to decide how your life turns out. Do you wanna live in the basement with her for the rest of your life?”

I was all like, “I mean, it’s pretty cool. It’s not actually so bad, when she isn’t hassling me about getting a job or cleaning up. It’s almost like having my own apartment and stuff.”

“Then fine, stay with her, and have your life be how it is now forever, if it’s really that cool and stuff,” my dad said. “Or stay here, and try out how it could be if you created your own life and did something different.”

“I mean, I signed the contract…” I said. “I’m staying. I’m just saying, she’s not gonna like it very much. And anyway, what if she asks where we are? I’m not supposed to say anything about the island or the project, or they said I’ll get kicked out. What am I supposed to tell her?”

“Tell her I have a place in the next county. She hates driving, and she hates me, so she’ll never actually check.”

“But she’ll want me to visit her all the time, and stuff,” I said. I was sure of it. “I’m sure of it, you know?”

My dad was like, “Just tell her you have a 90 day training & probationary period with the new job, and they asked if you could start right away, so you won’t be able to see her in a while and stuff.”

“Okay, I guess. Idk,” I said. 

When we got to his place, it was actually pretty small. A tiny living room/kitchen with a couch and a TV, a mid-sized fridge, a hot plate, a microwave, sink, etc. Plus a small bathroom with a shower, and a bedroom and stuff. 

“You can sleep on the couch. It folds out too. And you can stay as long as you want, or until you find a place, or whatever. Whatever you want, you know? You’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, bro,” I said. I wasn’t actually ready to think much about the future. I was just like dreading talking to my mom and like telling her I was moving out, and stuff, and how she was gonna react. I mean, I didn’t have any clue how she was gonna react, but I thought she was probably gonna scream or like freak out or something when I told her about dad and everything. I didn’t think she wanted me to move out or anything, you know?

But when I finally called her and stuff, it basically was super short and went like this:

“Hey ma,”

“Hi honey, congratulations about that new job, that’s great. I’m so proud of you.”

“Yeah, mom, thanks. Listen, uh, they want me to start right away with training and everything, you know.”

“Good for you, honey.”

“And it’s out in the county. Um, the next county over, actually.”

“Okay, do you have a place to stay out there, or…?”

“Uh, yeah, somebody from the company is putting me up with them. You know, until I find a place, or…”

“Until you find a place?”

“Yeah, Idk yet. If the job goes good, they might ask me to stay out there. I guess there are more positions available and stuff. Cause they have a bunch of warehouses out there, and only one here.”

“Okay, honey. I’m glad for you.”

“You are?”

“Of course.”

“I thought you’d be like you know mad and stuff or something.”

“Why would I be mad? This is your life, you gotta go out and live it, Matty.”

“Thanks mom, I’m glad to like hear that and stuff. It means a lot to me. Oh, and about your car.”

“Oh, someone from the company dropped it off this morning. And it was vacuumed and polished too. Immaculate. This must be a very top notch company.”

“Oh, it definitely is mom. Lots of you know, room for growth too.”

“Well that’s nice honey. I have to go meet Fran now, but it’s great to hear from you, and I’m so happy for you. Call me once you’re in and settled. You know, if you have a chance, and stuff.”

“I will mom, thanks. Have a good time. Bye.”

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