Right Brain Exercise

The vines are everywhere! The land that's been in my husband's family for generations is full of wisteria, kudzu, honeysuckle and muscadine vines. Last year we began clearing a small area by hand to create a 'get away' camp that will also be a place we can evacuate to when hurricanes threaten. The plan is to leave it natural and disturb the area as little as possible. Our long-term goal is restoring it to it's original state - before being logged and farmed.

Growing up in Alabama, the wisteria, kudzu, honeysuckle and muscadine were like southern treasures to me. Later on I learned kudzu was invasive and harmful, but I didn't realize for a long time that honeysuckle and most of the wisteria was, too. As we talked about getting rid of the invasive vines, it felt too wasteful not to make use of them somehow and I thought of baskets. I'd never made a basket in my life, but I began reading about it and discovered these vines were perfect for making the random-weave baskets I'd always been drawn to.

This is my first basket filled with cones from the long-leaf pines and I couldn't be happier about it! My husband and I cut the vines and I made it in an afternoon. I filled it full of plants and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day. It felt a lot like being back in elementary school - "here mom, I made this for you!" I can't wait to get back up there to make more.