Quinta Project – making from the land

I was lucky enough to stay for two weeks at a fazenda in Portugal through WWOOF Portugal. I worked as a volunteer for several hours a day with the goats, soil, wood and plants in this rural, southern corner of the country.

During my spare time I let my hands and eyes get to know the plants and surrounding area by making cordage and weaving the local grasses. There was an occasional siesta and swim in a diminishing pond too. The area easily looked barren, the land having not received any rain for over four months. Lots of plants were golden and dried, while nearer the quinta – a country house and vegetable garden – there was green growth fed by the bore hole, compost toilet and outdoor shower.

I started with the Yucca plant (Yucca aloifolia), with its sharp, pointed leaves. Then got to know the die-back lily stems, dampening them to produce a softer twist of twine. And on our day off we walked past an abundance of Bamboo reed (Arundo donax), also known as Giant reed, Cane and Spanish reed, to turn between my fingers into something useful. Not that being a plant and storing carbon, producing food, shelter and soil for wildlife isn’t already useful. It is just that human hands have evolved to do fine work and I wanted to use these tools of mine.

I finished my stay with making a small, lidded pot from the grasses growing at the entrance of the fazenda – a gift from the land and to my hosts for a wonderful experience. The slim grasses were almost silky to work with, and working with just my hands, the plants and a needle, I made this in 8.5 hours!

I highly recommend WWOOFING – willing workers on organic farms, as a way to get to know rural practices, an area, people and culture. The food was wonderful too!

If you want to learn to make cordage I run short courses for cordage making from plants as well as make a bowl or pot from plants.