Catch-up #5!
Throwback on our last workaway, a three and a half week stay in southern Norway.
We arrived at our host's house mid-May to work at the willow plantation.
At SkovstuenPil (www.skovstuenpil.no), 24 species of willows are grown to make baskets, living willow fences and anything else that can be created with the flexibility and strengh of the willow, with a little imagination.
We did all kinds of things:
- Sorting by size (20cm range) of willows harvested in spring.
- Peeling willow: this allows to have white wicker for baskets and the tannin contained in the bark is used to tan leather.
- Preparation of orders containing dry or live willows.
- Stretching of goat and salmon skins (yes you read that correctly), before putting them in the tannin tanks.
- Making homemade sauerkraut (in big quantity to be sold on the Viking markets this summer).
- Making 350 pancakes (same destiny as sauerkraut).
- Making 18 bird nests that we then went to put around a willow field so that the birds eat the willow pests.
- Making a willow garden border.
- Harvesting with a billhook of the last willow field of the season.
- Thinning of a willow field intended to harvest only large branches to make basket handles, for example.
- Weeding of willow fields and various gardening tasks.
The landlord of the island even offered us to repaint the house of our guests in exchange of some crowns, which took us a whole sunny weekend.
As a reward for all this hard work, we were able to enjoy nice walks on the island, with horses and sheeps roaming free, collecting huge mussels and oysters in large quantities, and attending a basketry class which taught us the basics of this art.
Koala was even able to try the woodturning lathe and the forge, while Cerise could finish sewing the Viking outfit of her loved one.
It is under 30°C that we left the beautiful island of Langø, heading north!
