Green Willow Weaving With Nick Neddo- WildLife Series - Episode 0

[@carvingthecottonwood]

As a wood carver who is learning to weave willow, I am really grateful to come across your video!

[@TheNightshadePrince]

I love this video as we as a society walk away from modernism, globalism and other 20th century evils, traditional crafts and arts will become much more important. :)

[@amandadetour4365]

I just did a wild remote river trip. I’m a black ash basket maker but the ice dams reshaped the river I was on and the willow was amazing. I could not keep my eye off of it. I didn’t have a clue how to weave it but I tried. I gave birth to an ugly basket here in Montana. But I fell in love and want the next one to be beautiful. Loved running across your video

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Awesome way to get a start!

[@matthewcolombo8382]

Awesome, awesome, awesome! Thank you guys for sharing the work of true heroes of our time. I'm so happy to see people getting proper recognition in such beautiful ways...the quality of the video is amazing!

[@ateleskier7066]

Very inspiring. I came for the basket-weaving (or so I thought) and went away with a head full of wider thoughts and received wisdom. Well worth every second of viewing. Thankyou, and greetings from Scotland.

[@Linda-it6ci]

I remember my mither buying a big basket in fiji around 1967.. she still had it up until 2019....

[@jg1019]

Amazing! I really appreciate the effort you guys put into your filmmaking, this video feels like an art peice in itself. I'll be planting my willows this spring, and I'm excited to start my basket weaving adventure.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching! We did put in a lot to the film making, if you enjoyed there are some pretty cool episodes about our friend in St Croix.

[@leciadv]

I love your wisdom about 'materialistic'. It's amazing to me what nature imparts on us if we just allow ourselves the space to hear her. Great video. Thank you

[@kor6ik]

Guys, this is amazing! The quality and coziness of this video made me write this comment. Thrilled to see next episodes.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for all the love everyone! Already cutting the next episode!

[@deborahlabitag4133]

i love basketry thanks for sharing your talents me too love to do it its my favorite...

[@chelseaholley4950]

Oh wow! What a gem! I made super ugly willow basket today and popped onto old KZbin for some help. I'm so happy to have found this!,

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching! For me the first one I make is the worst one!

[@nickdesbois4597]

This was so amazing. Her voice, Spirit, personality made me stay. Then Nicks passion had me locked. Love it guys. So greatly made. Thank you

[@josephshoemate9933]

Epic. Loved this so much!!

[@pennyghostpennyghost7000]

What a beautiful film. I am inspired. Thank you.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

More to come! Thanks!

[@hildamorrison2003]

Absolutely stunning, beautiful baskets. Thank you.

[@loonCT]

quality on all counts - filming, content, people

[@quartztemple]

Loved this beyond words! So beautifully filmed!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@davidsmart8594]

I did enjoy that, thank you. However, given that green willow weaving is different to seasoned willow weaving (and this is the first green willow weaving video I've found), it would have been nice if Nick had explained the difference.

[@OntheTrailwithDale]

Man, this was so well done! I know a lot of time and effort went into this production, and it really paid off. Simply amazing guys. I’m really excited about this, please keep the episodes coming!! I highly enjoyed it. Take care!

[@mkbman45]

Very nicely done.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thank you very much!

[@lynneturner3704]

Soooooooo deep, l feel you old soul.

[@helennorbury9765]

Absolutely beautiful film. Thank you x

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks so much!

[@mattstacy1442]

Sarah and Brad, that's a fabulous video. Very well edited and produced. So glad to see that y'all are still at it in the hills of Vermont. I wandered off a few years back. Currently camped out in Nevada, but there are times when I do miss the Waits River valley.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@zeros_knives_and_bushcraft.]

I wish I could give this more thumbs up! Please do more videos like this.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

More on the way!

[@parisrose921]

So happy to find this video! So looking forward to experimenting. Thank you for sharing xx

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Glad you enjoyed it! Have fun weaving!

[@vladdy9739]

Cinematography was top notch. Interesting person. Good video

[@magicalcuriosities7062]

Vladdy The Greenhorn I agree! This is very professional, could be a program on tv or made into a feature film documentary

[@20p65s]

I do not give praise lightly but I will speak highly of you. Really well done.

[@kathrynrodlun1624]

I loved this video. I have tons of willow. So cool!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Weave it up!

[@kathrynrodlun1624]

@@ROOTSSchoolVT You are very good and fast! I am going to watch your videos a couple more times then I will have the confidence to do it. When is the best time to cut my branches? Can I do it now? Im in wa state.💜

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Best time is when the leaves are down, but you can always give it a shot with smaller ones.

[@yearnn9172]

Phenomenal shots and music choice! That timelapse near the end was awesome !!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks a ton!

[@yearnn9172]

@@ROOTSSchoolVT Thank you for this free video!

[@canteenadventures]

Wonderful video..... Congrats on your new adventures. Jennie and Larry :)

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks! Hope your both well!

[@BasementRuthie]

This is goals. I am working towards one day having my own bit of land to develop permaculture style and you can bet I want to have willows for basket-weaving on there!

[@andrewjuntunen5539]

THAT. Was incredible...so inspiring and extremely well filmed!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks!

[@joekrein8046]

Just been doing a little follow-up research after checking out the video, and it seems (so far) that both S. purpurea and S. viminalis (the two species most commonly referred to as "basket willow") are both non-native... this makes me wonder, "What were the earlier peoples of this continent using prior to the coming of the Europeans?"

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

From our research people in New England at least used a lot of black ash, birch, and elm for different types and styles of baskets. The stake and strand style in this video is more of a European style.

[@march5673-e8m]

pine needles, rushes, cedar bark out west

[@fruitfulmotherhood]

The Abenaki used pounded Ash to make baskets.

[@CharlesGann1]

The Yurok in Oregon area used spruce roots. Just as styles may emerge peoples used their creativity to use what naturally available.

[@trandafirmihai1941]

Wonderful work! I love you!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thank you so much!

[@thoreaubushcraftprepperhom1511]

😮 wow!!! What an amazing video! I clicked for the how to and got so much more....that was deeply philosophical 🤔great work

[@NuclearMango.]

Found the video by accident... watched out of curiosity. Great video!!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching!

[@juneosborne421]

Are there any videos with instructions on how to make a basket?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Not from Nick that I know of.

[@lorettawinters7687]

Most excellent

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching!

[@pnwRC.]

GREAT video!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@RiverbendlongbowsOutdoors]

Put on watch later. Excited to watch.

[@organicgardenmamavictoriab2768]

I want to grow some willow too.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Its one of the easiest to cultivate, just get some fresh cuttings and stick them in the ground where its a little damp. They love to grow and come with their own rooting hormone in each shoot.

[@bminderh73]

Love it!

[@RickTOutdoorAdventure1969]

Nice footage and camera work, editing 👍. Lovely feel to the film

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching!

[@DDamiani87]

This was really cool. I look forward to more episodes.

[@magicalcuriosities7062]

So did you plant the kinds you like out in the wild, or you just found an area with those willows to forage? I’d love to do somthing like this but don’t know how to go about finding an area like this

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

We do both. We are always looking for pots with willow and harvesting them so that they grow back like this and also often planting it.

[@aremedyproject9569]

Summer 2020 with COVID and other potential threats seemingly at every turn lol, and I’m thinking basket weaving would be a worthwhile new meditative skill to learn. Beautiful video. Thank you.🧘‍♀️🇨🇦👍

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Good call!

[@charmainegentz9543]

I've made a willow back rest , for my Tipi.. I have wanted to learn how to make Baskets.Im a visual person.Books ,do me no good.. one day , maybe I can learn.

[@thebackyardjoeshow6435]

Absolutely great video keep it up👍🏻❤️

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thank you! Will do!

[@shofarmvt]

Very nicely filmed! I was looking for more instructional content about willow and less personal narrative/personal philosophy about Nick, but enjoyed watching.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mr_Wicked]

excellent video!

[@BelfastBodger]

By using green fresh willow... how do you manage shrinkage. Loose weaves etc?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

He just weaves it as tight as he can and knows that it will loosen a little. The baskets are still very strong and durable, they just have a little flex.

[@Maybe.Its_You]

Well I thought I was going to get taught how to make green willow baskets but it’s a documentary 😢 it was still awesome though! Btw your baskets are beautiful

[@Linda-it6ci]

All Gardners worth their willow work the landscape and follow nature......

[@tybrady4598]

I wish I discovered willow basket weaving at an early age.

[@OfftoShambala]

I want to plant some willow trees on a property that is on top of a limestone shelf... the natural soil is about 4 to 5 feet deep ... can willow trees grow in this condition?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

They could grow but the need to have wet feet to thrive. Thanks for watching.

[@vasiliychebotarew5598]

Красивая природа. Красивые люди. Спасибо за фильм :)

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Наше удовольствие

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

Just found your channel💕

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Welcome!!

[@charmainegentz9543]

I live in Tennessee..What plants Would be good for Basket making ?! There's a lot of Bamboo.. Would that be good , if it's split thin ? Grape vines ?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Anything flexible, durable, and non toxic. Then each material lends itself to a certain kind of basket.

[@evelynrope7032]

I'm a weaver. Enjoy your basketweaving videos.

[@TheMeneltarma]

What is the name of the song in the opening? I absolutely love it.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Its a theme for the show by our friend Reuben Blanchard. I am glad you like it!

[@charlieswearingen500]

Do the willows you harvest for baskets have to be cut only in the spring or can you use willows that were harvested at any time of the year?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Best when the leaves are down!

[@agnosjr]

Awesome thank you for sharing!

[@morningcoffee1111]

Are the other episodes on a different page? This was really good.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Cutting the next one right now...

[@KindredAcresHomestead]

I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing.

[@elphoenix1248]

This is awesome!! Thank you for sharing. I am becoming a jack of all trades and always looking for more natural ways to live, especially just reducing the damage already being done to our beautiful mother earth. Ironically came across this video looking for a natural method for my bunny to have a tunnel. He was given to me by someone he was abused by and he's a big guy so the stuff online is not usually big enough or quite what I was going for. I love wicker and since he keeps chewing what wicker I have I thought hey, make him some wicker tunnels but this is even cooler. Any ideas on how I could make tunnels since the bottoms are weaved for the baskets? I've watched a few other videos where they had some pieces of wood as the base and weaved around that and took it out after but that was wicker and I've not experimented myself yet and don't know what it will be like until I do. Just trying to make sure I buy the right materials before I do anything, thank you in advance and keep up the good work guys!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

We and Nick have never tried that before but once you know the basics of tension you can go way off the map!

[@quartztemple]

I love you for doing all you do for that bunny. We honor the earth thru our actions. Righting the imbalance.

[@akbarsingkut5030]

Hi, I'm from Indonesia. Did you sell it

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Sell what? I think he mainly uses his baskets or gives them to folks.

[@44492611]

This is such a good film. Would love to see more like this. Thank you.

[@poplawsj]

You guys are the best!

[@internetqutie123]

I live Vermont a can not find flint in my area. Or do you buy it?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

There are some okay cherts in New England, Hudson Valley NY has normanskill, st albans has hathaway chert, there are quartz crystals and some workable quartzite... Also, ballast flint from the English merchants dumped near or at all of the major shipping harbours from Labrador to the Caribbean.

[@internetqutie123]

Ok thanks Roots School

[@kaninchenschwartzepfote1089]

Glass works VERY well for knapping! Try the bottom of beer bottles. KZbin can show you how to do it!

[@joshroberts1284]

yes

[@brookes275]

Awesome thanks for sharing! Would love to come to your classes - but am too far away sadly! Any weaving books you would recommend? Thank you again!

[@romesweetrome8407]

Wow, I really enjoyed this video. I think I'm going to add it to my staff required watching list.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Glad it was helpful!

[@goretisantos33]

Pode prfv. colocar opção de legenda em portugues pra gente ou faça videos traduzidos se puder. grata.

[@theresaenglish7191]

Nick, so you are weaving with fresh willow? You aren’t drying it and then reconstituting it?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Yeah, he does mostly "green" willow weaving. There are upsides and downsides to doing it this way.

[@SweetLife529]

Your title says “ green willow “, does this mean you weave your baskets with fresh willow not dried?

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Yes, that is how Nick does a lot of his basketry and has been starting to do living willow weaving.

[@SweetLife529]

@@ROOTSSchoolVT Awesome! Thanks for answering....Gorgeous baskets 😘

[@hazelosborne8595]

xxxx that is all

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Thanks for watching!

[@stevenfeil7079]

Scientists are discovering that willows are actually all the same.

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Although they can interbreed and are considered the same species, there are still useful variations within that species that effect the characteristics of color, length of the rods, growing attributes and more.

[@stevenfeil7079]

@@ROOTSSchoolVT I totally agree. Environmental conditions have a huge effect. If there was enough time it would be interesting to transplant a species to a HUGELY different location to see what happened.

[@carmone0016]

👏👏👏

[@Cup_of_tea424]

low-key... can we just go back to this style of living... I don't want to pursue a PHD in vet med. I just want to be a farmer and have animals of my own, be closer with nature... :'( Why is this earth so focused on technology!

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

I think a lot of people are making that choice. It is not without its own downsides, but now more than ever I am happy to be living close the land.

[@rachellegriffin5886]

1st in comments!!!!!!!!!!!

[@AMEla-si2hn]

👍🐞🐞🐞🌺

[@stevenfeil7079]

Luring to care for... medicinal plants do the same thing.

[@quartztemple]

So true. It’s just like pets! Who’s really in charge. Lol.

[@silvasimonian7556]

I lost lav basket

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

I am not sure what this means but thanks for watching!

[@ThePunitiveDamages]

I get it. I'm into permaculture. Too bad this was so one sided from the POV of settler colonialism. We've gone full circle, but replaced this natural space with slow motion, hipster beardspeak about white people reconnecting with a nature our ancestors worked hard at to depopulate indigenous people of. I also like baskets. 🙄

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

I get it. I am into history too. It certainly is from a colonial perspective, but unfortunately that is who we are descended from, and it's the perspective we get to share. The reality is that it is super complex navigating working and teaching these skills in the reality we find ourselves in. I appreciate your perspective though, this was our first attempt at creating something to try and share the skills with people without naked people and drama. I hope you got something out of it.

[@ThePunitiveDamages]

@@ROOTSSchoolVT Thanks for the reply. Try to consider indigenous space and efforts to decolonize permaculture and other aspects of our lives. It's too easy to just say, 'It is what it is" when we can recognize not just what we've taken from those whose land we call ours now, but what indigenous experience and craft has given us based upon their histories. Much of what we hold dear in terms of technique, style, design is owed directly to indigenous peoples that helped our ancestors, those first settlers who arrived. Taking ownership of 'primitive skills' needs to acknowledge from whom we learned this and where we tread now over their lands. Believe it or not, but discussions on settler colonialism (it's an ongoing system of oppression and not an event) and acts of decolonizing are important aspects of permaculture, especially when talking about traditional (not primitive) skills. ;)

[@ROOTSSchoolVT]

Hey again. I hear you. We do our best to take those things into consideration, although I see it doesn't come through in this episode. You can see Matt engaging with it in the next episode, I am sure there is someone who will disagree with or find fault in it, although he does his best... We also engage with indigenous communities directly and hear their perspectives and educate ourselves with outside sources... By saying it is complex, I am not trying to say it is what it is, and should be ignored, just that it is complex knowing how to navigate what we find and how to share about it. Especially in the realm of the internet. There are a lot of ways to be misunderstood and offend people, and the range of indigenous opinions we have engaged with is wide. How much of that I feel able to communicate in a youtube comment is much less than what I feel like I can communicate person to person. It is a complex and nuanced topic though, as a lot of the skills we teach are ubiquitous to humans and not associated or solely practiced by North American indigenous peoples. The stake and stand basketry style that Nick is enamored with is most commonly associated with European peoples for example, although people have been making many types of willow baskets where ever it grew for as long as we can find records of it. Flint knapping is 3.5 million years old, and originated with pre homo sapiens in Africa, bows, pottery, cordage, hide tanning etc were certainly a part of European, Asian, African, North, South and Central American, Australian(not bows) tribal life, and on and on. We don't teach cultural traditions such as ceremony etc. at all. We dont teach skills that we know are specific to a community without express permission from someone in that community, although again, opinions in that community can be widely distributed. "Primitive skills" is a frustrating term in it of itself, we have tried to take it out of our literature as it is a relic from the community of teachers and practitioners we learned from. Primitive has negative connotations of being simple or backwards to some, but as we study them we find them to be nuanced and deeply complex in application. We try and go for other terms as much as that one keeps popping up. I understand that the oppression continues from the outside perspective I have as well as I can, I see it in the news, I read about it, I talk to my indigenous friends who are still dealing with racism and colonialist oppression right now in their communities. I appreciate your awareness of it and you mentioning it though, as there is a lot of work to be done here by us, as much as internet commentary is hard place for me to want to make it happen given its limitations. Sorry for the book!

[@solomonjacobsen8192]

@@ThePunitiveDamagesyour thoughts and beliefs are your own. These people, or anyone else for that matter, can and must interpret on their own. Our reality as humans is what is front of us. Our conscious efforts to better ourselves and those around us should not be effectively put down at each and every opportunity due to not being what you consider indigenous.