Serendipity on a Willow Growing Trip to the UK
This spring break I escaped to England to get away after a busy harvest/tool season, also because Musgrove Willows and Coates English Willow have been calling to me in my dreams. The itinerary was simple: visit two legendary willow farms, soak up growing tips, and return home before Spring Break is over. (See Bath and Stonehenge along the way)
As luck (and the small-world magic of basketry) would have it, while chatting with the lovely Carol Horvath from the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild, I discovered she was visiting the exact same places on the exact same day. The universe, clearly a fan of serendipity and good weaving company, nudged us together. I joined her on her tour of Coates, and Carol joined me for a private tour with Jack of Musgrove Willows. We were off and running!
Coates English Willow is a willow tourist’s dream. With a willow museum and beautiful shop, they offer a whole day’s worth of area to explore. You can even grab lunch while you’re there. They incorporate willow sculpture into a scenic walk with a theme that changes annually. While I was there families were coming in to collect scavenger hunt sheets for children to engage with during the walk. All looked thrilled to be there. It’s a fun way to spend the morning. One bummer is that they aren’t offering farm tours anymore (we caught one of the last ones). An employee mentioned it’s a favorite thing to offer but modern rules about health and safety make it too challenging to bring folks around the working farm. There is still plenty to take in while you’re there, but you’re not going to get the same growing perspective as on the tour. I think it’s a loss for everyone, especially the school groups that use to see the ins and outs of a working willow farm. With or without the tour, Coates English Willow is a great place to visit.
In total contrast to the type of visit we had at Coates was the visit to Musgrove Willows. Both are large growers, but with very different goals and personalities. Touring with Jack Musgrove felt like being given backstage passes to a botanical weaving rock concert: dry rods here, willow beds there, and a whole lot of enthusiastic explanations about storage, harvest, planting, favorite varieties, pest management… on and on in a way that somehow sounded like a love song to willow. We even got to see behind the metaphorical velvet curtain to their coffin weaving. I can’t say enough positive things about the experience. Musgrove Willows isn’t built for tourists, it’s for serious weavers and growers. There isn’t a cafe, no family focused walk, just incredible fields and knowledgable workers who practice their craft to an unbelievable standard. As a grower - it was heaven. I’m hoping to continue to learn from Jack and his team and I expand.
In addition to the farm visits, Carol was spending the second half of her trip having private lessons with Jenny Crisp. Yes, Jenny Crisp, world-famous basket weaver and author of the book Willow: A Guide to Growing and Harvesting. My excitement meter read “giddy” and then proceeded to spike when Carol invited me to join her. I was honored, mildly terrified, and delighted all at once.
I spent two glorious days in the Willow with Roots workshop with Carol, Jenny, Jenny’s daughter Issy, and their friend Martha. It was equal parts serious weaving education, fun with a lovely group of women, and real talk about life and business. The project was a beautiful tray featuring the famous Jenny Crisp border, a technique that somehow transforms plain rods into a rim so elegant you’ll be tempted to frame it rather than fill it. I still can’t believe I was able to create what I did. Her tutelage is gentle, reassuring, confident, and very specific. I loved that Jenny went so far as to discuss hand movement and position: not just telling you where your weaving rod should go, but showing the most effective way of getting it there. She has a unique ability to honor your own abilities and then stretch you to do something new. I need about 200 more tries to get good, but thanks to her, I think I’m on the right track. My tray is a bit squished from the small bag and flight home, but survived and will live as a visual memory of the amazing time I had with that incredible group of women.
If there was a travel lesson here beyond the obvious (that willow/basketry people are delightful), it’s this: plan your trip, but leave room for joyful collisions. Had I not chatted with Carol I would have had a nice, solitary stroll through willow fields, which would’ve been fine, but touring, learning, and laughing together made the trip richer. Being flexible meant I could take advantage of some unbelievable opportunities.
Now back in Toledo, WA, with dry rods from Northwest Willow calling my name, I’ve got new techniques to try and a border style to practice until my hands remember Jenny’s rhythm. And next spring break? I may book another trip to the UK, but this time I’ll bring the big suitcase.