CRAFTSTEADING - Use Plants to Make Anything

Plant Oils, Waxes and Wicks for Alternative Lighting: Many plants you can grow in your garden can be used to provide lighting. Some of these plants produce a wax or an oil that can be made into candles, some yield an oil that can be burnt to produce a bright flame, and others can be used as wicks for candles or lamps. SHOW NOTES Oil rich plants you can grow in your garden Brassica napus – Colza, Oilseed Rape: A hardy annual plant native to the Mediterranean, growing to about four feet tall (just over a metre). The seed contains up to 45% of an edible semi-drying oil that is used for lighting, as a lubricant, in soap making, and as a vegetable wax substitute. Carthamus tinctorius - Safflower: Grows well in a poor, dry soil in a sunny position. The seeds are oil rich and the flower petals are sometimes used as a substitute for saffron. Fagus sylvatica - Beech: A hardy, deciduous tree. You can press a semi-drying oil from the seed and use it as a fuel for lighting, as a lubricant, or for polishing wood. Glaucium flavum - Horned Poppy: Another hardy perennial. This plant grows in any good garden soil. The oil from its seeds is used as a lighting fuel, and burns cleanly. You can also use the oil in soap-making. Guizotia abyssinica - Ramtil: This hardy annual requires a tropical climate but it has been known to grow in temperate zones. It needs to grow in well-fertilised soil. You can extract a drying oil from the seeds and use it as a lighting fuel or in soap-making. Lallemantia iberica: Dragon's Head: This is a plant in the mint family that grows to about half a metre (one and a half feet). The seed contains up to 30% of a drying oil that you can use for lighting, as a varnish, in paints, as a lubricant as a wood preservative, or as an ingredient of oil-based paints, furniture polishes, printer's inks and soap. Sinapis alba - White Mustard: The seed contains up to 35% of a semi-drying oil that you can use as a lubricant or for lighting. Other wax yielding plants Aleurites moluccanus, the Candlenut, is a flowering tree that’s also known as Candleberry. Some people even string the seeds together and light them, like a string of little candles.  Ceroxylon alpinum, the Andean Wax Palm, also known as the Andean wax palm. A wax obtained from the trunk is used for making candles.  Euphorbia antisyphilitica, the Candelilla or wax plant. A shrubby little plant with thickly clustered, almost leafless stems covered in wax that you can obtain by simmering the stems, especially in winter, and skimming the wax off the water.  Some members of the Rhus genus have seeds that you can squeeze oil from. At normal temperatures the oil goes semi-soft like tallow, and you can shape it into candles. They include: Rhus chinensis, Chinese Gall, or Chinese sumac.  Rhus succedanea, the Wax Tree and Rhus trichocarpa, Bristly Fruit Sumac.  Santalum acuminatum - Quandong. You can press oil out of the seeds as use it as a lighting fuel.  Sapium sebiferum - Chinese Tallow Tree. The seed is coated with a wax that you can use to make candles and soap, or as a lighting fuel.  Stipa tenacissima and Lygeum spartum, Esparto Grass. You can extract a hard, useful vegetable wax from it.  Copernicia prunifera, Brazilian Wax Palm, Carnauba Palm, Carnauba Wax. The undersides of the leaves are coated with a very useful wax, and you can express oil from the seeds. Saccharum officinarum, Sugarcane, Purple Sugar Cane. Amazingly, you can get wax from sugar cane.  Copernicia alba, Caranday Palm, or Caranda Palm. You can obtain a high quality wax from the leaves, and use it in polishes or for lighting. Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com and search for Craftsteading on YouTube.

How to find, preserve and enhance nature’s colors when you make stuff out of plants.  How can you make multi colored cordage?  Can you stop the colored patterns on gourds from disappearing when you dry them?  How can you preserve the beautiful emerald green of freshly cut bamboo? And if you can't preserve it, can you replace it?  How can you weave willow baskets of many colors, without using dyes?  Find out the answers to these questions in this episode.  See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Can colors be experienced through a podcast? It’s great listening to podcasts and radio and audio-books because you can use your imagination to visualize everything. One small drawback, however, is that it’s hard to evoke colors with sound. And colors are a joyful part of Craftsteading.  People with sound-color synaesthesia see colors when they're listening to music. They actually hear colorful music. If you're not among those people, you can still learn to associate colors with sounds, just as Sir Isaac Newton did in the 17th century. Oh, and by the way, did you know that there's no such thing as pink light?  Ermagersh . . . . . ! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

What’s in the cheapskate’s basic basketry tool kit?  What is a tension tray and why is it tense? And how can you make your own beautiful Catalan tray from foraged materials? All this and more! If you’re new to basketry you don’t have to outlay a lot of money for tools. You can buy tools online or you can use common household and workshop tools as substitutes. I tell you how to assemble a basic basketry tool set. One of the easiest basket-weaves to begin with, if you’ve never tried basketry before, is the Catalan tray or tension tray. This works well with either bought, home grown or foraged materials.  They can be made any size and from most woody materials, such as dogwood, beech, spruce, willow, larch, ivy honeysuckle or grapevine. Anything that grows long slender flexible shoots can be used. They have a round or oval frame, with two pairs of cross ribs, and numerous closely spaced weavers at right angles to the cross ribs. This is the third of the Craftsteading Basketry episodes.  See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Over thousands of years people have developed numerous different basket making styles and methods, in addition to the many colourfully named traditional styles and designs of the baskets themselves. There are 5 main basketry methods: Coiled basketry, Plaiting basketry, Twining basketry, Wicker basketry, and Splint basketry.  But what does randing, waling and scarfing mean? What is a creel, a trug or a tattie scull? Find out the answers and more, in this episode. See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

The ancient rhythms of basket weaving are so therapeutically satisfying and peaceful, you’ll want to have basket-making as your new relaxing hobby. And you end up with beautiful, useful creations to show off to your friends. Baskets can be made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend to form a shape. Plants for a Future, (PFAF) lists over 300 plants used for basketry. These include, for example, various vines, rushes, palms, reeds, bamboos, irises, willows, grasses, dogwoods, hazels, broom and heather, flax lilies, pines, firs and cottonwoods, bracken and yuccas. The wood of certain trees, such as ash or white oak, can be split into fine wooden splints. You can also use strips of the inner bark of trees to weave baskets. Suitable species include linden, cedar, birch and poplar. We recommend growing your own basketry materials in your garden, or foraging for them (ethically and sustainably) in the wild. Try making baskets with blackberry brambles, Honeysuckle, Hop (Humulus lupus), Ivy (Hedera spp), Periwinkle (Vinca spp), Roses (Rosa spp) Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) Winter flowering jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) Wisteria Akebia, Boston ivy (Parthenocissus trisupidata), morning glory. Thin whippy Garden prunings Cotoneaster Dogwood grapevine young shoots of eucalyptus (gum trees) hazel and even sweetcorn husks. See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Cornerstone dye plants Throughout history the plants that produce the best dyes include indigo, madder, woad, weld, turmeric, saffron, noni, and henna. I’m growing many of these cornerstone dye plants in my garden, and depending on your climate, you might be able to grow them too.  I'll tell you about these wonderful dye plants and some of the dyeing basics you need to know. Non-cornerstone dye plants A huge range of other plants, not usually considered dye plants, contain substances that impart colour to textiles. Some work better than others. Your colour results will be best if you use white or unbleached natural material such as cotton, linen, or wool. The colours you’ll end up with will vary greatly depending on such variables as the plants used, the time the fabric spends in the dye bath, the mordant you use and whether you do more than one dip.  I'll give you a list of colours, along with the plants that can produce those colours for you to use in your home made dye bath. See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

In this episode I speak to gardening expert Kurt, of Berryman Gardens, about lavender.  Sweet-scented lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), also called English Lavender or True Lavender, is one of the world's most beloved plants. IN your garden, it attracts bees and other beneficial insects. It also makes a lovely hedge. The leaves, petals and  flowering tips can be eaten raw, used (in small quantities, because the flavour is strong) as a condiment in salads, soups, and stews. You can make a fragrant tea from the fresh or dried flowers, and add the fresh flowers to jams,  ice-creams, or vinegars as a flavouring. Some people crystallize lavender flowers to use as a delicious and beautiful purple cake topping. Essential lavender oil is often used as a food flavouring. Lavender has been shown to have a soothing and relaxing affect upon the nervous system, and it is often used in aromatherapy. You can use lavender oil on your skin as an antiseptic to help heal wounds and burns, or pour it into your bathwater for a calming bath. Its powerful antiseptic properties are said to be able to destroy many common bacteria such as typhoid, diphtheria, streptococcus and pneumococcus.  The sweet-smelling essential oil extracted from the flowers has a wide  range of uses in the home and commercially.  It is used for soap-making, perfume-making, (it's one of the ingredients in 'Eau de Cologne'), as an ingredient in detergents and cleaning products, a food flavouring and as an insect repellent in linen cupboards and wardrobes. The aromatic leaves and flowers are added to pot-pourri. You can add lavender leaves to your bathwater for a soothing bath.  After you've dried and stripped off the flower-heads you're left with the bare stems, but even these are useful. You can tie them in small bundles and burn them as  incense sticks. See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Beautiful dyes have been obtained from plants throughout human history. You can grow your own dye plants or use a wide range of other plants as a source of dye. Archaeologists have found evidence of textile dyeing dating back to the Neolithic period. In China, dyeing with plants, barks and insects has been traced back more than 5,000 years. Natural dyes are derived from three sources. These are plants, invertebrate animals such as beetles or shellfish, or minerals such as ochre, malachite and cinnabar. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. This episode's topics include the three sources of natural dyes, the accidental discovery of manufactured dyes, and the strange but true stories of Carmine and Tyrian Purple.  See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

For as long as human beings have walked the earth people have decorated themselves with jewellery. The earliest was made from natural materials such as shells, bamboo, bone, tusks, claws, teeth, wood, coral, gemstones, pearls, the fossilized resin we call amber, and seeds. I’ll explain how to  make your own botanical jewellery, and even how to grow your own beads! The Craftsteading podcast Is hosted by Sally Gardens and produced at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula.  See crafty pictures on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our amazing videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Plants for cordage  You can make useful string and twine and rope out of plant fibres.   The term cordage encompasses everything from fine string to cords to thicker ropes. All of these things begin with strands of fibre twisted or braided together in a way that gives them strength and length. You can start by making thin string, then twist lengths of this string together to make cord, then twist lengths of the cord together to make rope.   You’d be surprised how many plants have leaves or stems that contain fibres tough and long enough to be turned into useful cordage - plants that grow in your garden or in the wild, or weeds that grow by the roadside. You can grow your own fibre plants or forage for them.   You’ll never run out of cordage again!   See crafty pictures on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our amazing videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

Grow your own gourds and use them to make and decorate handy household containers, bowls, bird houses, soup ladles, dippers, scoops, musical instruments, table décor or even tiny earrings.   A gourd is the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, in the botanical family Cucurbitaceae.  If you want to grow your own gourds you can buy seeds online. They grow well in climates from warm temperate to sub-tropical to tropical. So you can grow them pretty much all over Australia as long as you plant the seeds after frost danger has passed. They are suited to cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 11. If you’re in the UK you might have to grow them in a hothouse.  All they need to grow is soil, water and sunlight (and plenty of space). The plants grow as vines, so you can either let them crawl along the ground our train them to climb supportive frames. They look greatl climbing on garden archways or tepees, or a fence or trellis. See crafty pictures on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our amazing videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com

101 ways to save money, get happy, relax and find your creativity by making stuff out of plants you grow, forage or buy. And even monetise your hobbies! Craftsteading is about self-sufficiency and handcrafts and gardening.It’s about prepping for the apocalypse or relaxing with therapeutic mindful handcrafts.Are you looking for something engrossing to take your mind off daily worries? Would you like to learn a relaxing but exciting new skill or craft? Ever wished you could find out how to thriftily make useful and beautiful things to share with your friends and family?Grow your own brooms, baskets, jewellery, containers or whatever you need. You won’t need to buy them from shops any more!There are so many happiness-inducing craft projects that start with planting a seed. For example, I’ll explain the way I’ve made containers from gourds, jewellery from seeds called Job’s tears, baskets from cattail bulrushes and brooms from sorghum. All home grown. And if you’re not into gardening , no stress, you can buy supplies from craft stores or online.  See crafty pictures on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our amazing videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com ~Thanks to Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum for "Slow Rabbit", our theme tune!~

Use plants to make anything!