Spend an afternoon harvesting basketry willow with us while learning about regenerative agriculture and agroforestry.
Coppicing is the process of harvesting branches from trees or shrubs during the dormant season.
Many woody plants, like willows, are adapted to this routine disturbance thanks to their natural and cultural history. As wetland plants, they’ve developed a knack for readily resprouting after flooding, ice scours, and herbivory. These pressures have accompanied a long history of human management.
Coppicing provides a wide array of practical materials, from weavable branches for basketry, fencing, trellises, and other crafts to woody debris for biochar, mulch, and fodder. Annual coppicing rotations stimulate plants to grow longer, straighter branches better suited for these uses over time, creating a truly regenerative supply of locally-sourced goods.
In 2018, the Horn Farm planted over two dozen varieties of willows cultivated for basketry. Like other agroforestry systems on our landscape, these willows demonstrate a regenerative tree crop system for supplying essentials from the local landbase while sustaining–and even improving–the health of the surrounding ecosystem. While we harvest thousands of basket-weaving branches each winter, the willows spend the entire year nourishing healthier soils and retaining water. With their intact root systems, they keep sediments from washing away and mitigate erosion. Surplus branches from harvesting also have direct restoration applications. They can be tied tightly into dense brushwood bundles and laid along the edges of incised stream channels on the farm, helping to reverse decades of erosion by building up captured sediments over time.
From providing locally-based goods to restoring the land, willows represent our regenerative vision.
Glimpses from previous willow workdays, including coppicing, bundling, and learning about willow propagation.
Upcoming Workdays
All workdays begin at 1PM and wrap up between 3PM and 4PM
Sunday, January 18th
Monday, January 19th
While volunteers are welcome to arrive and depart at their leisure, we recommend that new folks arrive at the starting time so we can provide a group orientation.
Tasks will vary depending on our attendance and progress. These can include:
- Cutting willow branches with pruners and loppers (down to stump level),
- Sorting harvested branches by height and thickness,
- Bundling and tagging prepared branches, and
- Carrying branches and branch bundles.
Note: if we meet our goals and there are still volunteer days scheduled, we will cancel the remaining workdays and notify registrants.
Volunteer Groups:
Local clubs, camps, classes, churches, and professional groups – we’re always excited to welcome you for team-building and quality time on the land! If your group is interested in joining a volunteer workday or scheduling a custom time, email our volunteer coordinator at education@hornfarmcenter.org.
Groups may also check out the Horn Farm’s private tour and program packages for other ways to engage with our work.
Weaving Community:
Education and Collaboration Among the Willows
February 2024: Agroforestry Work & Learn
In collaboration with partners from the Pennsylvania DCNR, Penn State Extension, and Western PA-based Foggy Blossom Farm, we hosted an Agroforestry Work & Learn in February 2024!
This full-day workshop included demonstrations on willow coppicing and live staking, a visit to our multifunctional riparian buffer restoration space, and a special session on the craft of basket-weaving. We were grateful to host such an exciting convergence of farmers and agroforestry advocates, land stewards, artisans, and curious community members!
May 2025: Weaving into the Arts
While bundling small branch sets for experimental home crafters, we were surprised in the spring 2025 to receive a sizable request from Seattle-based nature and willow artist Sarah Kavage.
As it turns out, Sarah was seeking willow for a collaboration with the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education near Philadephia. After purchasing hundreds of selected branches from the Horn Farm, she created a series of stunning, life-size sculptural installations for an outdoor theatrical dance piece entitled TERRA: Bodies & Territories, which held eight performances over the late spring.
This was our first major contribution to community art-making with our basketry willows, made possible by hours of volunteer support from winter harvest to springtime sorting!
October 2025: Coppice Agroforestry Workshop with Dave Jacke
Traveling all the way from Massachusetts, agroforestry expert and author of Edible Forest Gardens Dave Jacke treated the Horn Farm’s staff and community to a memorable weekend-long workshop on coppicing.
With plenty of observation and hands-on demonstration in the Horn Farm’s agroforestry systems, including our willows, Jacke dug deep into the history of coppicing and the nuances of managing plants for woody resprouts–from their fundamental biology to designing scalable systems. Altogether, this workshop demonstrated the forgotten ways that communities in the past have subsisted successfully on coppicing networks, reawakening our imaginations to the local potential of coppicing and underlining the importance of regenerative agriculture for sowing a sustainable future.
