Meeting 8: Paper Mulberry

“We are called to assist the earth, to heal her wounds, and in the process heal our own.”

— Wangari Maathai

Our November meet took place in the Whole Foods parking lot on Merrimon Ave in Asheville, NC. There is a patch of paper mulberry trees growing in a seemingly under appreciated and overgrown plot between two areas for parking. LB talked about how to identify paper mulberry. She discussed and how to properly harvest to support growth for the coppiced trees and to train the branches to grow tall and straight. We foraged long straight branches, thicker ones are more ideal for the paper making process. We used pruners to cut off the small outgrowth and cut the branches at the point where they started to curve.

In a closed loop system the leaves can be collected for silk worms to eat. This tree can be a partner in papermaking and an ally for silk production.

After collecting and pruning Monika shared her latest kudzu basket and cloth creations as the fall light was leaving the sky. This was a short meeting. We also discussed next month’s Kudzu Fair and how the Invasive Fiber Study Group will display our samples and showcase what we have been up to.

See you in the weeds,

x Nica