Christmas approached and so did our first harvest. We knew that this would not be massive and decided to replant some of the willows. Most of our cuttings had taken but the few that had failed were replanted with the new growth. We planted 3 new willow beds with existing varieties, except the Dragon Willow. We already had 50 of these and could not see much use for them except to sell on as cuttings. We had enough for that! We also only used 3 of the Viminalis - Reienweide, Viminalis 'Talles' and the Sweedish'.

WE cut by hand, on garden kneelers, carefully bundling and labelling as we went. This was an 'all hands to the deck - al the family were called in and friends who were foolish enough to volunteer. Some cut, some bundled and, very importantly some provided hot drinks and food! We always tried to make it a bit festive and finished with Mulled Wine!

It was a proud moment when we finished and could survey our harvest. The colours were amazing!  I was looking forward to making something - anything with my willow!