April 09, 2008

basket weaving material


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Now, I am certainly no expert on the Native Indians who made a home in this paradise we know today as Marin County, but I'm pretty sure they would have found this particular plant useful for their tightly-woven baskets.   Near this same spot (Roy's Redwoods, near San Geronimo) a friend showed me a ground-hugging plant called "soap-root".   We dug it out of the ground, crushed it's roots in our hands, added some water (from the nearby bucolic creek) and presto, we had a soapy lather with which to wash our hands.   Worked great!



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4 comments:

photowannabe said...

You are a regular pioneer Don. I love learning nature things like this.

Tomate Farcie said...

Now that's cool! Who knew! Great story :)

Texas Travelers said...

I love stories (and photos) of uses of native materials. I like the story of the soap-root.

Thanks for sharing.

Troy

Melinda said...

thats awesome! i'll have to remember that if i'm ever out in the backcountryish areas of cali. thanks for sharing

 
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