Soaking willow rods

I had planned since the start of the year to make some willow baskets, but I never got around to it!

I wanted to make a wide shopping basket to have when going out to the veg garden to pick produce for the evening meal.

I also had hoped to make a large turf basket to replace our current one that sits by the solid fuel range.

I received a bundle of rods from friends last week. 

They need to be soaked for a week in water before they are soft enough to work with. 

The longest rods are easily ten foot, so as you can imagine I was having difficulty  finding somewhere large enough to soak them.

But then it dawned on me, there is a pond in the field behind our cottage.

Perfect!

After wadding into the middle of the muddy pond barefoot, I dropped the bundle of rods into the water.

They should be ready tomorrow, although I should have weighted them down with a large stone so that they would be fully submerged.

Tomorrow will tell, I guess!!