Rosebay Willowherb cordage

[Cyclingrelf]

Has anyone here made cordage out of Rosebay Willowherb? Is it similar to making nettle cordage? How do I go about it?

 

[jdlenton]

not made any myself but i believe its is exctly the same as making nettle

James

 

[Nemisis]

I found this on google but its american so different plant names I wonder if we can't somehow determine which if any are willow herb? http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1983_January_February/Making_Natural_Cordage
Dave.

 

[mark a.]

Isn't nettle cordage made with the inner core, whereas rosebay cordage uses the outer skin?

I've never tried nettle, but I have tried willowherb. Not overly successful - I could never get more than a few inches of the skin before it ripped. I did manage to make a little lanyard for my Mini Maglite which, although not 100% pretty, was rather satisfying.

 

[gregorach]

Yeah, I've had the exact same problem every time I've tried willowherb. I figure there must be some cunning technique to it...

 

[jdlenton]

nettle is done using the outer covering of the stem it takes a little practice but i can usually get the hole thing of in one piece I'll try some willow herb the next time i come across some

 

[Toddy]

Let the willowherb wilt, run your hand backwards from tip to root to remove the leaves, then gently crush the stems and pull the skin off. I don't find it as good as nettle. If it's left to weather in early autumn you can rub the fibrous stuff of the outer skin into a string too. I keep hearing how good this stuff is but I'm not impressed. I reckon I'm doing something wrong.
Funny how no-one actually shows me how to make the 'brilliant' cordage from it Lots of talking about it though.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[BobFromHolland]

never used willowherb.

Used nettle for cordage, which worked nicely.
Also poplar inner bark which worked wonderfully too. Got it off some sucker shoots (which there are plenty of).

Bob

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Not sounding very hopeful. I'll have an experiment with it later -there is loads growing in my garden. Good excuse not to pull the weeds up!

 

[Toddy]

It's a pretty plant too It just always seems so disappointing not to get anything really useful from it.
Let us know how you get on?

Cheerts,
Toddy

 

[Ralph]

It's a pretty plant too It just always seems so disappointing not to get anything really useful from it.

Thats not true. it can be used for food.
The strings rubbish though
when I tried I got about four inches at most

 

[Wayne]

Willow herb is pretty good for cordage and makes reasonably strong material not a strong as nettle though.

I have a few metres floating around somewhere, I will find it and test its breaking strain.

 

[Neanderthal]

Had a go but with little success. I found it difficult to work with and the stuff kept breaking. Glad it's not just me.

Stu

 

[Toddy]

Thats not true. it can be used for food.
The strings rubbish though
when I tried I got about four inches at most

The stuff just hits all the wrong buttons food wise. How do *you* make it edible?
I get a couple of metre of cordage from it, but it's not good stuff. I think of cordage as good stuff if I can think of a use for it; but willowherb I can only use to temporarily tie up bundles of loose stuff

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Abbe Osram]

The stuff just hits all the wrong buttons food wise. How do *you* make it edible?
I get a couple of metre of cordage from it, but it's not good stuff. I think of cordage as good stuff if I can think of a use for it; but willowherb I can only use to temporarily tie up bundles of loose stuff

Cheers,
Toddy

are you guys talking about "Rosebay Willowherb" ? If so tell me and I can give you a list of all the stuff food wise. Or is it another willowherb you are talking about?

cheers
Abbe

 

[Toddy]

Hi Abbe,
Uhuh, Roesebay willowherb. I'm told that it's dug up, boiled or roasted and eaten quite happily The old 'rules' were the front of the mouth chew; don't swallow, taste, does it bite bitter, does it inflame, does it linger...well the ones I've tried all hit the wrong, this isn't good, buttons.
How do you make it truly edible?

atb,
Mary

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hi Abbe,
Uhuh, Roesebay willowherb. I'm told that it's dug up, boiled or roasted and eaten quite happily The old 'rules' were the front of the mouth chew; don't swallow, taste, does it bite bitter, does it inflame, does it linger...well the ones I've tried all hit the wrong, this isn't good, buttons.
How do you make it truly edible?

atb,
Mary

Collect the new root babies ( lol sorry dont know the english name) the ones which are the new grown stuff. These you can even boil and eat. They are quite mild.
The root itself (Papa or Mama root LOL ....sorry again) you will have to prepare as they are quite bitter. You can reduce the bitter taste by preparing the root.
First remove the red looking stuff in the root. The white stuff you can use to make a thickener for soups. Then you air dry the root.
After that you heat up the root and roast it with 175 degrees celsius for 30 min in your oven.

Or you dump the root in a solution which sucks out the bitter taste.
The root will have to lay 2 hours in the solution you will have to exchange the water/alkali solution 3 times.

The solution you fix yourself by:
2 parts water 1 part ashes (birch is good) let the solution simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Sieve away the ashes and keep the water. That is your solution you take for the root.

The green leaves you can eat as a salat but harvest only the very young onces before they flower.

100 g root has 413.5 carbonhydrates the baby roots have 343.7 carbonhydrates

my english is quite poor to use the right cooking and botanic words, I hope you can use my babble. ;-))

cheers
Abbe

 

[Toddy]

Abbe, thank you. Now it makes sense; it isn't a goodie until it's leached. That's why it hit all the *Do Not Eat* indicators
How dry do you need to make it for air dry? Still rubbery or completely brittle?

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Abbe Osram]

Abbe, thank you. Now it makes sense; it isn't a goodie until it's leached. That's why it hit all the *Do Not Eat* indicators
How dry do you need to make it for air dry? Still rubbery or completely brittle?

Cheers,
Toddy

Hi Toddy,
I only had a salat from the leaves last summer. So I cant give you an hands on rapport on the root business yet. As we still have some snow left on the ground I bet you will be faster than me and tell me what works best. Will you?

I would try it rubbery otherwise you might get it bone dry which would not be so cool, on the other hand maybee one could get a pulver out of it and experiement with bannock type of things.

all the best to you
Abbe

 

[Cyclingrelf]

You can also eat the pith in the centre of the stems. But it's laborious getting it out - best way is probably to split the stem and use a stick to scrape it out. Nice and sweet, though.