Nettle Cordage Skills Day; Sunday, September 21

The Silver Salmon's first outing of the Fall 2016 season was filled with learning, exploration, and connecting. The group balanced their goofy, energetic style with focused work for much of the day.

We gathered in Fairhaven Park on a misty, but warm fall morning, and spent our opening circle discussing why we should learn skills like making cordage. The girls determined that the skills are fun, cool to know, and good for survival. We also talked about the pride that comes with making something from hand and the connection we feel to earth when we get to know these natural materials really well. After our opening circle, we decided to go on the hunt for nettles in their fall form.

In fall, nettles are super tall and strong. On our our nettle quest, we found a remarkably dry lunch spot, really cool fungus, a really unique and camouflaged slug, and tons of spiders.

 In addition to this, the girls practiced, without any adult intervention, collaborative decision making on where we should go and how we should use our limited time. It was impressive to see the gals collaborating so well. They were flexible, understanding, and really tried to listen and take in all points of view.

Collaborating and compromising

After a bit more time exploring, we finally found some nettles. The girls practiced removing the nettles close to the ground without actually up-rooting them, stripping the nettles of all leaves/spines, and then keeping the nettle strand safe from bending. 

Rebecca demonstrating how to work with the nettle

Keep the nettle strand safe!!

From there, we all went to the known nettle patch to harvest enough nettles for our spring outing where we will make the cordage! Before harvesting, we talked about the one-in-twenty rule and talked about only taking what we need. We also thanked this patch for providing us with this learning opportunity. Girls broke into teams. Some girls cut the nettles, others stripped, and the final group help organize and protect these delicate strands.

At this point, it was time to learn how to actually get the fiber from the nettle! The girls learned how to gently pull the outside fiber away from the inside fiber. This outside fiber is what will eventually become the fiber for our cordage. The girls sat in a circle and meticulously worked to separate the nettles. Some were totally in to this kind of work, and others quickly tired of it!

While some girls finished the nettle processing, others climbed trees, told jokes, and made funny faces. After we finished this process, we all played an epic game of Down the Rabbit Hole in the rain. It felt good to run and be crazy after focusing for so long. 

We closed our day with an attitude of gratitude; the girls thanked nettles, the rain, and one another for this memorable day.Words of the day: Nettle Cordage, Rain, Play. To see all of our pictures from this earth skills day, click here.