Gathering grasses for baskets

Making a Bee Skep

A skep is a beehive made out of coiled grasses. this type of hive fell out of fashion when the more modern wooden ones became available. The newer hives made collecting the honey much easier.

Coiled baskets can be made with grasses, and autumn is the prime time to harvest them. Things to look for are texture, length, and color. Remove the debris from the clump, and cut the grass with scissors. Bundle them into manageable hanks. If the grasses are dried in the dark, they will retain their green color better. If dried in the sun, they fade to beautiful earth tones. I'm drying mine in the sun. Do not put the grasses directly away, without drying first, or they will mold.
We'll get back to coiled basketry later, when everthing is nice and dry.