Fields of slender willow growing in arrow-straight rows in southern Lewis County reflect light, strength and resilience, much like the woman who now raises the crop for herself and other weavers.
Sarah Todd, 39, grows 24 varieties of willow for basketry, primarily salix purpurea, a shrub or small tree native to Europe that has variations in the color of its bark, ranging from yellow to red, green, purple and brown. She has 2 acres of willow in current cultivation and another 4 acres soon to be planted as part of her Northwest Willow operation.
“My farm, even though it’s still in its infancy, is one of the largest in the Northwest that is selling commercially grown willow,” Todd said. “The U.S. doesn’t have a main commercial grower. For those who have needed willow for basketry, they’ve had to grow their own or try to find a site and forage for it.”
In Great Britain, willow is cultivated as a staple crop with many commercial growers. It was during a trip to England in early 2022 that Todd had a life-changing experience.
“I was on the trip with my mom. I wasn’t happy in my marriage, and it was also the first time I’d ever been away from my three kids,” Todd said. “While there, we took a one-day willow basket-making class, which I hadn’t done before, but that completely engaged me. It changed my entire future. I walked out of the class as if I was finally coming out of a fog. I realized I could be strong and I could make choices.”
Todd, originally from Longview, divorced shortly thereafter and purchased her 9 acres in October 2022 with the acreage specifically suited to growing willow for basket weaving. Not one to sit still, that December her new home was gutted for restoration for herself and her children.
By February 2023, she had established her first willow fields.
Todd’s three sons are active on the willow farm. Teddy, 9, helps with planting, and Ernie, 7, has become an expert in sorting cut willow rods by height. Like his brothers, Alex, 4, stays busy riding his rigs in the fields and spending time in the brightly lit home studio building while their mother weaves baskets.
Willow is harvested during the winter when the sap is down and the wood dormant. The crop reaches its many peak years beginning in its fifth year, when one can harvest 20-30 willow rods per plant, often between 4 to 12 feet in height.
Once cut, willow rods must dry for several months and then be rehydrated before they can be used for basketry. For her own art, Todd adheres to traditional methods of basketry and often incorporates a wooden base. Her baskets are meant to be used in harvests or for serving purposes such as charcuterie boards.
Weaving with willow takes considerable hand strength, augmented by hand tools such as awl-like bodkins in various sizes, special rapping irons, and curved or straight-nosed clippers known as secateurs.
“The tools are hard to get. Unless you know a blacksmith, you have to buy them in Great Britain, or make them yourself,” Todd said.
Last year, she learned of an 80-year-old maker of these tools in Ohio. She called to ask about purchasing wholesale and learned that after decades of operation the tool maker had health issues and his family wasn’t interested in taking his place.
He offered to sell the entire business and provide an overview of his operation and techniques. Within two weeks, Todd and her father flew out and purchased the business with its established reputation and contacts.
“Otherwise, this would have been the end of one of the few known quality makers of the tools needed to even be able to do our craft on a grand scale,” Todd said. “We feel so fortunate that the timing was right, and we’ve had customers tell us they had bought their first tools years ago from that maker.”
Her father, Kam Todd, who taught machining at Longview Community College for many years, hand-turns stainless steel to various forms. Sarah hand-turns the wood handles and does other cutting, grinding and manipulating of the tools. To date the bodkins and other one-of-a-kind tools they’ve created have been shipped to 40 states and three other countries.
In her first year of selling willow, Todd sold out within 10 days. Returning to England this past spring, she took a class from Jenny Crisp, a renowned master weaver of willow, and also visited Musgrove Willows farm in Somerset, England, which at 200 acres is the largest grower in Great Britain and the only producer of buff noir willow in the world.
Todd’s passion for her art form and positive outlook continue to shape her calling. She formed a collaboration with Jack Musgrove, a fourth generation willow grower, to introduce cut, stripped and boiled or steamed willow rods from Musgrove Willows in buff and white to her customers.
Because the willow will have no bark on it, the rods will need to soak for only an hour prior to basket-making, rather than the usual one to two weeks. Todd’s initial order of 2,000 pounds of Musgrove willow is en route this week via Atlantic freighter.
Todd is a member of the Northwest Basket Weavers Association and the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild. She has taken several classes through the guilds to further her art, such as creating a traditional Welsh Cyntell basket, and also teaches basketry at various times during the year.
“I really value being a member of the guilds. The weaving community is so small but so rich in knowledge and in sharing. I like knowing and promoting that they offer so many classes for people,” she said, adding, “I want to continue to grow my farm and my business. I want people to actually use my baskets as that’s what they’re created for, and for people to embrace beautiful things that are made locally.”
“As for myself, I still can’t believe I did it,” Todd said. “I reframed my life and feel that all of this was meant to be. My boys are thriving and happy, and I’m happy.”
She is also a member of ARTrails of Southwest Washington and will have her home studio at 330 Rogers Road outside Toledo open to the public during the annual two weekends’ studios tour held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on September 19-20 and 26-27.
Visitors will be able to view the various types of willow being grown, as well as completed baskets, willow ornaments, and the various tools used in the art form. Todd’s baskets can also be seen at Gallery 505 in Toledo.
For more information about the willow farm and business, see www.NorthwestWillow.com. To learn more about the upcoming ARTrails studio tours, the full guide is available at www.artrailsofsww.org.
