Nettle Cordage Harvest @ Fairhaven Park: 9-12-15

As the Spotted Owls gathered for our opening meeting on a gorgeous fall day, we shared among ourselves the changes in nature and our daily lives that accompany the coming of autumn: leaves changing color; FALLing limbs, leaves, and  trees; darker days; bird activity - both migratory and at the feeder; animals putting on their winter coats and scouting out hibernation spots...and for humans, new homes, new schools, new changes. 

Before setting out, we talked about cordage. What is it? What could it be made from (all sorts of plants and roots, and even hair, and animal intestines!), how essential string and rope were to the development of civilizations. We brainstormed uses (pull, carry, tie, climb, attach to make nets, snares, bows, clothing, sandals, baskets, shoelaces, bags, mats, lines, etc…). Would progress have marched on without rope and string? We doubt it! We shared that nettle cordage has been found in caves dating 30,000 years, and that today we were going to engage in an ancient activity: seeking out nettle in her tall, fall form, to strip for string that we would dry for cordage making later. 

We hit the trail with explorer’s eyes – and what an abundance of things to see. We stood beside Padden Creek and figured out where it came from and where it was going, and the ways it provides habitat and obstacles for salmon (hooray for the current project to daylight Padden Creek!). Girls clambered along and in and over the stream with exploring joy. 

We could have spent all day in the microcosms of that short stretch of trail, but there was work to be done, and it was time to meddle with nettles. Where the sky and the forest opened up, we began to gather nettles to turn into string for cordage behind the Center for Local Self Reliance. As we collected, we remembered the best practice of the One in Twenty principle of harvesting. 

After Peaceful Place next to Padden Creek, we were brought back into circle, and experienced the satisfaction and calm that comes when we get busy with our hands. It was a lovely thing to see how focused the girls became on the task – like a meditation for many, and a great chance to talk about our lives with each other. By the end, we had an impressive amount of stripped nettle string that will dry through the winter and be ready to made cordage in the spring!

We made our way up to the parking lot with time to spare, and stopped to walk and admire the Labyrinth in Fairhaven Park. We discussed how labyrinths can be a walking meditation, a place and process to find clarity and solace on the journey to the center. Many of the girls took this meditation idea seriously and practiced it till the end of the day.

You may see a slideshow of our shared day here.