Looking for a Home

Hanna Van Aelst's videos are an amazing source of
inspiration and support.  This is a photo grab from
one of her videos. 

 It has been at least 5 years since I started looking for a place to call my own little pocket farm. I first found out about willow when I was trying to find a solution to the flooding in my basement caused by the incredibly heavy rains we've been having in WNC. Willow loves wet ground, and would have helped with runoff, but my city water pipes were too close to risk willow's water attraction. But my interest in willow was piqued - it does so many things well.  

I just ended a 25 year career as a fiber artist, making clothing from wool, another natural product that does many things well. I am close to this community and basket makers are a large contingent of our WNC crafts population.  Willow is a very common material in baskets, and also is used for sculpture - Penland, a craft workshop nearby has had Patrick Dougherty's work on their property recently. 

A living fence/hedge with a woven base, 

photo from The Willow Bank in UK.

The landscaping applications really made me want to find out more - Willow excels at Fencing, Hedges and Screening but also can make living fences and structures. It's easy and quick to grow and is very productive when given sufficient water and sunlight. And beautiful in all seasons.

And boy, is it raining these days in NC. And there are only a few Southeastern growers.

So I am currently in Due Diligence on a small property for the Good Willow Farm. I won't jinx it by giving out the location because it hasn't closed and there's still permits to be checked on. If the purchase goes through, we'll start grading and getting in utilities and storage this summer and we'll be planting in the fall (I have 70 plants already in pots). I'm doing lots of searches and you tube videos on farm tractors and shed foundations, so those subjects are coming up now. 

So this is the beginning of the newest adventure. Hope you will come along.