Homestead
BDN’s Homestead section is a celebration of rural life. Our writers cover small farms, animals, DIY solutions and fascinating Maine people who find unique ways to live simply. Read more Homestead stories here.
The dead plants in your yard right now are useful in one way you’re probably familiar with: providing nutrients and enriching the soil as they decompose.
But there are also ways to use them to create practical, simple things for everyday life, and this is the time of year to try it. Here are a few exciting ideas to get you thinking about new uses for things you see in the winter landscape.
Plant stalk fibers
Milkweed, nettle and dogbane are familiar plants with a surprise inside their stalks. They’re a few of the species containing fibers that, when dead and dry, can be used to make rope, cords, plant ties, candle wicks and even rough woven fabric. Called “bast fibers,” they’re related to jute, hemp and flax (which is processed into linen).
Collect some plants, trim any branches or leaves and hang them inside to dry fully. The specific steps for processing different species will be a little different — an online video search for the plant and the word “cordage” should get you a guide — but generally, you’ll need to gently crush the stalk, pull the woody casing off and remove the fibers inside.
To create a cord, you can tightly braid the fibers at whatever thickness you want or make a two-ply twisted rope by twisting until it doubles on itself, then winding the two ends over each other as you continue to twist. The resulting rope should be strong, long-lasting and durable to use in the water — real bushcraft devotees use it for fishing line or traps.
With more advanced processing, some fibers can also become wearable. You can experiment with tree bark and other stalked plants such as cattails.
Cattail everything
Speaking of cattails, there’s no part of these plants that you can’t make use of.
The entire plant is edible, starting at the roots. Cattails are tubers, like potatoes, and their roots can similarly be boiled, mashed or fried. The roots and seeds make a flour substitute when dried and ground; so does pollen from the male plant. In spring, the new shoots can be eaten. If you try it, make sure they don’t come from a polluted area, as they can take up toxins.
Eating aside, the seed fluff was historically used as insulation for buildings or clothing, stuffing for pillows and quilts, a fire starter and even a wound dressing (though we can’t vouch for that last one). Other parts of the plant have been used for first aid in the past, with the ashes of burned stalks and the sap serving as antiseptic. People have also used the sap to relieve toothaches.
Its wide leaves are easy to weave when dry, lending themselves to chairs, hats, lean-tos, mats and baskets.
Foraged baskets
Baskets made from foraged materials seem to be having a moment online, with many tutorials and video guides available. But they’re not a new concept, and can be pretty simple to start making. The different colors and textures of wild materials are another bonus.
Vines such as honeysuckle or wild grape can serve as the hard “ribs” of sturdier baskets. Willow is another popular material.
The leaves of iris, daffodil and daylily plants are good choices for softer materials, along with cattail reeds, pine needles and long grasses.
You’ll want to let them dry fully, then wet them right before weaving so that they’re easier to work with. Drying them first will keep them from shrinking too much after you’ve created a basket. Making cordage can also be a way to develop your skills and learn how different materials behave.
Like with the plant fibers, you’ll want to do more research based on the type of basket you’d like to make and the materials you have, but the prep work is similar. You could start with a woven cattail reed base and build up the sides with grass, or make a large carrying basket with vines.
For information about bast fiber, you can read up from the Fibershed, a local fiber advocacy group that has a chapter in Maine. Basketmaking tutorials and ideas can be found in dedicated books or lots of online videos. Try search terms including “foraged,” “wild basketry” and “bushcraft.”
