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Grading the 2026 Willow Harvest at Lauriston Farm; signup sheet
Creating, harvesting, and managing basketry willow beds at Lauriston Farm Agroecology Co-op.
Next job- willow grading!
The harvest this year has been phenomenal, many thanks to all the volunteers who helped with this already!
We have now shifted the harvest down to the Market Garden Yard, where we will do the sorting. Willow sorting/ grading is a super fun job that doesn't involve any kneeling in a soggy cold willow patch, and results in beautifully sorted bundles of willow that look so inviting and uniform. The willow is put into a dustbin / large bucket and all the 8' lengths are pulled out, then 7', then 6' and so on down to 2'. It's quite physical but very satisfying!
If we have lots of volunteers we can have lots of buckets. If we finish the work on the first session (May 9th) I may not run the second session (May 24th).
Please come straight to the market garden yard, you can bring your bikes there and access the farm from the West / Market Garden Area gate if you would like, or walk down the hill from the Main Entrance/Toby Carvery car park side.
Please come dressed for the weather..... whatever it may be- could be roasting could be freezing!!
*********previous sessions info********this work is all done now! ***********
This year, 2026, we will do the first full harvest of the the new 'perfect, model' willow bed, planted in 2024 through ecotex mulch mat. We will weed around the edges and amongst the plants and infill any further cuttings that have not taken, though I think this will be minimal if at all, as we did this last season. This bed produced an incredible amount of growth in its first year and now, after its second full year of growth, it has what I would call a full harvest (earlier than anticipated) and is quite the teacher's pet, a fine example of a thriving one year rotation coppice bed. It is the bed closest to the polytunnels and market garden main area.
The original bed, planted in early 2022, is really weedy and our mulching efforts didn't come to much- so, more weeding and strimming, and such to get the willows to get away ahead of the grasses. I plan to cut the bulk of this bed on a long leg/ low pollard, to have the new growth each year coming up above the weedline. I may decide to make this intial higher cut this year (2026), or may decide it's best to wait till next year so that the plants all have a lot of strength in them. These willows are larger varieties, "Norfolks" and "Harrisons".
In March 2025 we pollarded the 3 year old 'Carl Jensen' willow which is at the East end, at a height of 3', so I think this will be ready for its first proper harvest this year.
It is my plan with these ongoing sessions that we will gather a group together each time, and if there is no work to do (😂) we can just have a nice time in the willow patch admiring their incredible growth and flexibility and colours, but by getting some sessions in the calendar we will keep on top of the weeds etc and the willow will thrive!
Please dress for the weather, much of the work will be kneeling, and bring gloves if you have them. You don't need to bring secateurs for any of the cutting work as I have plenty and I will have them nice and sharp.
Please don't feel you have to stay for all the slot you sign up for, likewise feel free to stay on for longer or sign up for mulitiple slots in the day!
