The Feather River Land Trust invites the community to create with willow during two upcoming willow workshops. Participants will be harvesting willow and weaving 27 willow panels to be used for a shade structure at the new Sierra Valley Preserve Nature Center, set to open in spring 2024.
The workshops will be led by local Sierra Valley artist Nick LaHaise, a basket weaver, green wood worker, carpenter, chef, and teacher. He is the co-founder of Hearth Folk School in Sonoma County, a traditional craft and folk skills education center.
The first workshop begins at 10 a.m. Dec. 2 at Lemon Canyon Ranch in Sierraville, where participants will harvest willow for the panels, bind them into bundles, and load the bundles into trailers. The second workshop will be held the following weekend: at 10 a.m. Dec. 9, participants will gather at the Sierra Valley Preserve to weave the willow onto custom-made steel panels.
Both events will be held rain or shine, so organizers encourage participants to be prepared with warm clothes, warm gloves, and a set of sharp long-handled, two-handed loppers. Smaller, sharp pruners and clippers will be useful too.
Warm drinks and lunch will be served at both events. During lunch, LaHaise will share more about willow and his unique art, and the group will discuss native willow types and the importance of willow habitat and meadow restoration.
Those interested can sign up for either the Dec. 2 harvesting workshop, the Dec. 9 weaving workshop, or both at https://www.frlt.org/blog/willow-workshops-sierra-valley-preserve/. Event details, including directions, will be emailed to participants upon registration.
More information about Nick LaHaise is available at https://www.willowandwoodcraft.com/. To learn about the planning and history behind the Sierra Valley Preserve Nature Center, visit https://www.frlt.org/blog/a-new-nature-center-at-the-sierra-valley-preserve/, or check out the Nature Center Progress Updates to see construction milestones so far.
Information submitted by Feather River Land Trust
