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Dunbar Gardens in Mount Vernon, Washington

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Chickadees glean the willows

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Steve Lospalluto
Black-capped Chickadees glean the basket willows for insects.

Black-capped Chickadees glean the basket willows for insects.

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This entry was posted in Birds on the farm and tagged chickadee by Steve Lospalluto. Bookmark the permalink.

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Dunbar Gardens

16586 Dunbar Road Mount Vernon, WA 98273
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growing willows #farmtobasket at #dunbargardens in the #skagitvalley with @willowbasketmaker Katherine Lewis
Here are a few recent Irish potato baskets that Ka Here are a few recent Irish potato baskets that Katherine made. These are one of her favorite baskets to work with the variety of willow colors we grow. This traditional form is also a good reminder of our connections to the land and the seasons. Happy summer solstice. The large one in the last photo is headed to a Northwest Designer Craftartists exhibit at the Lynnwood Event Center June 30-December 12. . #willowbaskets #irishpotatobasket #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #dunbargardens #farmtobasket #skagitvalley #basketry #willowweaving #nbomember
Heads up! Registration for Willow Fest Northwest @ Heads up! Registration for Willow Fest Northwest @willowfestnorthwest will open on Sunday, June 15 at noon. This new event is sponsored by the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild and the Northwest Basketry Weavers Guild and their members will have first crack at the classes. Three great instructors - Maria Bullock, Carol Horvath and Katherine Lewis. Three day classes November 7-9, 2025 in Woodinville, WA. Katherine will be teaching this large oval basket. Her class is for people with experience in stake and strand willow basketry. It will be a great opportunity to practice some very useful skills. There is a frame base woven on a prepared hoop and learning to cut scalloms and tie them on. The side weave will use English randing and might help weavers learn how to use some of the larger willows that tend to grow here in western WA and OR. The border is a useful 5 rod behind 2. Finally there will be roped handles which are great for these utility type baskets. More details can be found on the CBBG website at basketryguild.org. A small group has worked hard to make this event happen. . #willowbaskets #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #dunbargardens #willowfestnorthwest #nbomember #columbiabasinbasketryguild #nwbasketweavers #willowweaving
Quick view of some willows on the farm. Hakuro Nis Quick view of some willows on the farm. Hakuro Nishiki, Blue Streak, Mount Aso, Fanny’s White, Richartii, Irette, Dark Dicks, Leicestershire Dicks, Nancy Saunders, Goldstones, Pescara, Blackskin, Britzensis and the living willow hut of Eugene. #dunbargardens #basketrywillow #salix #skagitvalley
Early June and the willows are growing fast. Here Early June and the willows are growing fast. Here are a couple of short videos of the living willow fence and archway in our garden. It starts to grow into a green wall in the summer. It was originally planted in 2018. There is also a woven tree of Blue Streak willow that you can see next to it. In the 3rd photo you can see the circular form I’m trying to add on one end this year. Varieties in the fence are Irette, Purpurea x daphnoides, Harrison’s B, Golden and Continental Purple. Fourth photo is a view of some of the willows in the field. Last photo shows a few new cuttings I planted a few weeks back; a bit late but they’re going. I hope everyone who purchased willow cuttings is having good luck with them. Let me know if there were any problems. Always happy to hear positive comments too! . #basketrywillow #livingwillowstructures #salix #willowcuttings #dunbargardens #skagitvalley
Throwback to spring 2013 when Katherine was featur Throwback to spring 2013 when Katherine was featured in the National Basketry Organization quarterly magazine. Of course back then many of the artists wrote their own profile articles as well as providing the photos. Former President and editor of the quarterly review Michael Davis did a nice job laying out the images. The cover image was quite out of the ordinary for the NBO. Katherine writes about her early efforts and people she learned from in the article. There is even a caturday image if you swipe to the end to see one of our favorite photos of our now gone basket cat Spike. . #willowbaskets #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #dunbargardens #farmtobasket #nbomember #nationalbasketryorganization
Happy Mother’s Day with some photos of a Rufous Happy Mother’s Day with some photos of a Rufous Hummingbird nest in 2006. From 2001-2007 there was a Rufous Hummingbird that nested in one of our barns. She found a piece of chain that was hanging about 10 feet high and 20 feet into the barn where she built her small nest. There is a large door on the barn that we used to keep open during much of the year. It was such an unusual location that we guessed that it must have been the same bird each year. Photos were taken with our first digital camera, a small Pentax. I could quickly climb up a ladder next to the nest when the mother left to forage. In case you don’t know, the female does everything from building the nest to feeding her young so there is only one adult coming and going. The two eggs were laid on May 4 and 6. They hatched on May 22. They fledged on June 13. In 2007 there was a final nesting. Two weeks after hatching the mother disappeared. We ended up taking the two chicks to a wildlife rehab center. The last photo shows Katherine with the two juvenile birds after they came back to be released. Though we quickly learned that we would have to feed them for another 10 days as if we were their mothers. As soon as they were able to forage for themselves they didn’t land on us any longer. We see fewer Rufous Hummingbirds which are migratory these days. The Anna’s Hummingbirds are now year round residents and more common at our farm.
Katherine has been making some garden baskets. . # Katherine has been making some garden baskets. . #willowbaskets #gardenbasket #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #farmtogarden #dunbargardens #skagitvalley #skagitgrown #skagitmade #basketsmadetobeused
New growth on the living willow structures. The wo New growth on the living willow structures. The woven fence and archway were planted in March 2018. I probably need to prune the archway a bit more but it’s hard to resist those swaying purple rods. The second one is my Continental Purple pop up canopy planted in 2022. Final is the willow hut planted way back in 2011. . #livingwillowstructures #salix #dunbargardens #skagitvalley
This willow bark basket by Katherine is in an exhi This willow bark basket by Katherine is in an exhibit of work by Northwest Designer Craftartists at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum through June 29. Everyone is invited to an opening this Saturday April 26 from 3-7pm. There is free admission, refreshments and there should a number of artists. . #willowbasket #willowbark #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #dunbargardens #skagitvalley #qfamuseum #nwdesignercraftartists #nbomember #basketry #contemporarycraft
Another willow bark tray Katherine made this winte Another willow bark tray Katherine made this winter. Several varieties of willow harvested on the farm are included with bark from Salix daphnoides, fragilis and purpurea. This one is about 16 inches in diameter. . #willowbark #willowbasket #willowbasketmaker #katherinelewis #dunbargardens #farmtobasket #basketry #nbomember
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