Last month was Sac Open Studios - it was my first time registering as a participant and I was eager to connect with local folks and feel a bit more grounded here in Sacramento. But unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts I had to fly to DC the same weekend and so was absent from Open Studios, which meant that my studio was open but I was not there. It felt like a wasted opportunity, but I still had faith that something good would come from it - and sure enough, something really good manifested this past week.
A local artist named Esme had visited my studio and bought some hanji while I was out of town. After I returned from DC, Esme reached out again to buy more hanji, so I got to meet her in person. We chatted for maybe 5 minutes, during which time I shared how it would be a dream to find alternative, native plant material to make paper. She mentioned that she knew somebody who works at a local farm that grows milkweed for seed, and said she would put us in touch via email. A couple weeks later, I was driving to Winters to meet with Julia, an ecologist at Heathrow Farms.
Julia holding cut-up plant fiber with seeds mixed in with sticks and grass. This mix needed to be processed through their machinery to separate out the seeds, which are then sold for ecological restoration projects across the state.
Julia kindly showed me the production facility at Heathrow Farms, where they sell seeds to local restoration projects across the state of California. It was fascinating to see all these machines which were basically like giant mechanized sieves that separated out the seed from the chafe. The very kind farmers turned the machine on so I could see it in action.
Julia showing me milkweed stems that had been cut up for compost - she thought this is what I wanted to use for papermaking.
Julia found some milkweed stalks that had been cut up for compost and thought that this was what I wanted to use for papermaking. I had brought a sample of a dak branch which helped her to see that I wanted the stalk intact. Meanwhile we visited another part of the farm, and came across a beautiful fluffy field of milkweed floss that another farmer was processing for seed.
Mountains of fluffy milkweed floss
Julia jumping in a field of milkweed floss - she couldn’t help herself
Then we hopped in my car and drove down the road to another part of the farm so Julia could show me the milkweed field. I was prepared to just snap a few pics and maybe take one small sample home. But upon arrival, Julia realized that the milkweed had already been processed - the seed pods were removed and what was left was a field of stalks, which were no longer of use to the farm.
Me, giddy with excitement, holding a sickle in front of the milkweed field
Julia called the farm manager and found out that they were going to clear out the field that afternoon, and said I could go ahead and take as many stalks as I wanted. I was totally unprepared to spend the morning harvesting milkweed, so we drove back to the farm headquarters and I borrowed gloves and a sickle, and got some water. Thankfully I had packed a hat and sunglasses and a banana for sustenance. I also had brought Aimee’s zine, Making Milkweed Paper, which I was referencing with religious fervor all morning.
I felt so much gratitude for being out in that field, and marveled at how the universe granted my wish. My friend Lisa always reminds me that it’s important to set your intentions, and that the universe conspires to make your dreams come true.
It was super hot that day, and I worked for about 2 hours before calling it quits. After gathering all the stalks, I glanced out at the field which looked like I hadn’t even touched it. Here’s a photo of my haul when I got home:
I’ve been working through the following two resources, along with text messages from various papermaking friends (Michelle, Aimee, Radha) who have given me tips on how to process all of this material. Though I’ve participated in past dak harvests at Oakdale (the papermaking production facility at Iowa) I’ve never actually steamed dak or any other bast fiber myself, so I am grateful for any advice I can get.
I also wasn’t planning to be harvesting and processing all of this plant material this week. But I am super grateful to Hedgerow Farms for so generously sharing this bounty, and excited for future collaboration with the farm. This year will be very experimental and I will test to see how all of this pans out, and if all goes well it would be great to coordinate with the farm next year and organize a proper harvest and hopefully involve more folks in the process. Meanwhile I’ll post again to share how all of this gets processed this week and hopefully made into paper; stay tuned.