The Forest Path - January 2020

We had just a bit of snow this month. It has been the only snow all winter, which was a welcome change after last year’s snowstorms that lasted through March. A dusting of snow sure made the forest pretty, though. Our sheep weren’t too sure about the show and Serena, the one with the black face, didn’t even want to come out of the shelter.

Winter days make for the perfect time to spend time indoors in the studio, creating beautiful colors! This is cochineal dye (comes from insect shells!) that makes a range of pink colors. This is some cotton rope being dyed that will ultimately become baskets.

Indigo dye is a bubbling, living science experiment. By dipping fiber in the dye multiple times, beautiful variegated shades of blue appear.

Nearly finished baskets headed to Cedar Dell’s online shop.

The winter session of our Homeschool Program started up this month with a wet first week. A little rain doesn’t stop us from spending lots of time in the lush, green forest! The rain is what makes it so beautiful here all year long. Even though we had a bit of snow, the weather has overall been pretty mild this winter so the forest is still full of mushrooms. The kids love to find new shapes and colors in the forest, and mushrooms make fun additions to fairy houses and other make-believe play.

A bird skull we discovered in the forest.

Lichen is the lace of the woods.

We can’t wait to see what February has in store for our farm and forest!