Your willow will have been handled 20 times or more before it reaches you. It is a very labour intensive crop but we enjoy what
we do; we hope you will appreciate the time taken to produce a quality product.
 Preparing for planting
Early spring is the optimum time for
planting willows. Firstly the ground should be prepared, on a large scale as we do it's not practical to put down matting, so
the ground is ploughed to eliminate grass and weeds and to loosen the topsoil. Lines are set out for us to use as a guide. Setts
are cut into length in preparation of the following days planting. We always plant by hand; the take up rate is considerably
higher than using machinery.
 A few weeks later
The newly planted setts begin to shoot. During the weeks after planting, the ground should be weeded and watered to allow the setts
to establish. A new willow bed can take up to 3 years to fully establish and produce a quality crop of rods. During the growing months
the willows are regularly checked and weeded.
 Cutting
Willows are cut during their dormant season, from November onwards. Some of our beds are still cut by hand using a hook but the
majority now are machine cut. After cutting, the bundles are hauled home by tractor for processing. They are stacked to dry naturally
outside before storing in the sheds.
 Sorting
The age-old tradition of grading the rods by their length into foot sizes is still undertaken today. Bundles of willow taken straight
from the fields are placed into a barrel and pulled out by hand to separate them into the different sizes.
 Boiling
To produce Buff, sorted wads of willow are placed in the boiler. The willow needs approx 8 hours boiling and Steamed Willow requires
only a few hours. Brown willow does not go through this process at all.
 Stripping
To produce the characteristic smooth, pine coloured rod that is known as Buff Willow, the bark has to be removed after the boiling
process. To achieve this, the boiled willow rods are placed into a machine or pulled through a brake by hand. Steamed Willow misses
this process and keeps its bark, it is then dried outside. White Willow is stripped of its bark when in full leaf to produce the
stark white rod. It has to be stripped, dried and stored within just a few hours. These processes are still really hard physical work.
 Drying
This process is vitally important to stop the rods from going mouldy. After the bark has been removed, the rods need to be dried
before they can be tied into bundles for despatch to our customers.
 Tying
The dried rods are placed into a tying-machine to achieve the uniform size that is a Traditional Somerset Bundle. The dimensions
are 1 foot in diameter and 3 foot 1-2 inch in circumference. Each bundle is carefully tied with a Rose Knot. The bundles are then ready
for despatch.
Your willow will have been handled 20 times or more before it reaches you. It is a very labour intensive crop but we enjoy what we
do; we hope you will appreciate the time taken to produce a quality product.
Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our products.
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