“Natural abundance is literally growing on trees! — and in yards, gardens and roadside ditches. People are asking me if they can buy the baskets I’m making, and also if I can teach them how to make them.“

When I started exploring learning basketry at the end of June, it was kind of a wild hair, something I gave myself permission to explore because of my Summer Creativity Challenge. I wasn’t sure where it would lead and I didn’t care. it just felt good and I trusted that.

Now it’s nearly Labor Day and baskets are everywhere. I’ve rearranged my household to make space for basket making, with cattails and daylily leaves drying in the sun on the back patio, along with coils of grapevines, bittersweet nightshade and strips of basswood bark gathering in the back shed, ready to be made into baskets in the colder months. I’m looking at the plants and trees that are growing around me in a different way — the sweetness of this life growing all around, as an active collaborator in my creativity. 

Natural abundance is literally growing on trees! — and in yards, gardens and roadside ditches. People are asking me if they can buy the baskets I’m making, and also if I can teach them how to make them. 

This makes me really happy. It dovetails with my passions for gardening and working with the natural world, also for caring for our connection with the earth. In many cases, while harvesting the materials for basketry, I’ve simultaneously been managing invasive species (and in some cases using these plants as part of the baskets), while making the spaces more conducive to healthy biodiversity. 

It’s also feeding my need for meaningful connection. I just love the way I start talking about making baskets and people lean in, interest sparked. There’s something about this that many of us are hungry for.

I’ve taught a couple friends some of what I’ve learned so far. it’s amazing to me to see others light up the way I did at learning some of these crafts, — how much happiness blooms at seeing a beautiful basket emerge under our hands with the stuff that grows in our yards!!

I plan to begin offering these baskets for sale soon — keep an eye out for upcoming emails announcing sale dates. 

Basket Making Workshop

If you’re in the Northfield, Minnesota area and want to join in a basket making workshop, let me know and I’ll add you to the list. I have a couple of informal gatherings coming up this week (Sept. 3 and 6, 2025) where I’ll share a twining technique for making small decorative baskets from plants in your yard. There is still space so if you’re interested please email me to let me know and I’ll send you the details. if there’s a demand, I will continue offering these sessions regularly.