Submitted by the Orcas Island Garden Club.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 19, at the Orcas Center when the Orcas Island Garden Club welcomes Maria Bullock to speak about cultivating willow for basket weaving.

In this presentation, Bullock will share her experience of cultivating willow specifically for basketry. She will share different approaches to growing and harvesting the plants. She will also show a range of products that she created with willow grown on Orcas Island. There will be examples of her products for sale after the meeting.

Bullock spent much of her youth in a small Polish country village where she gained an early appreciation for the craft of basket-making. She now lives on Orcas Island, on the edge of a wetland marsh on her family’s permaculture farm. On her homestead she grows, harvests and dries a variety of basketry materials. Each of these materials serves as an inspiration for her weaving. She weaves using traditional European techniques to create unique pieces that are both functional and beautiful.

The presentation begins at 10 a.m. at the Orcas Center. Bullock will present from there. For a link to the live Zoom presentation, go to the Orcas Island Garden Club website and click the link below the list of presentations. The presentation will be recorded. To watch the recorded presentation, go to the link “Recorded Presentations” under “Events” on the club website. Garden club presentations are free and open to the public.

For more about Bullock and her weaving, visit her website: https://www.swamp-sticks.com/about.