What the Oriental Bittersweet Wanted

It was on Jan 6 when I first scraped the bark of Oriental Bittersweet to test whether dye could be extracted from it. Seeing the soft inner layer with long, thread-like fibers protruding here and there, I thought: with fibers this long and soft yet tough, couldn’t paper be made? Or even fabric?

Oriental Bittersweet is often disliked because it thrives so vigorously that it takes over other plants. Yet seeing its inside, I felt like I’d glimpsed a gentle side to this hated plant. I’m not the most spiritual person around, but it was as if the plant was telling me what it wanted to be.

I was reminded of what Justin Wexler, a local ethnoecologist who founded Wild Hudson Valley in Catskill, had told me when I asked him how, in ancient times, people knew things like the medicinal quality of plants: “Many native people will say that they sometimes learn directly from the plant or animal. So for eastern woodlands people like the Lenape, from my understanding, they live in relationship with the world around them and everything you see can be sentient. Even a rock has sentience and is capable of communicating with you and will appear to you in human form sometimes to communicate with you.”

Oriental Bittersweet vines are still soft and fresh even in bitter cold. I think the yield will be even better with newer, warmer-season growth. Foraging itself is something to figure out and practice. I had always loved seeing the attush robe traditionally made by the Ainu, the indigenous people of Northern Japan. Yet I was not familiar with their harvesting ritual. In the book Textiles of Japan (the heaviest book I’ve ever owned) it says: “when stripping the bark to make the ohyo bast fiber used for this attush robe, the Ainu would thank the tree for giving up its ‘clothes.’ Only bark from one side would be taken and, when the task was complete, offerings of grain and tobacco would be made to appease the spirit of the tree. A strip of bark would then be wrapped around the tree so that it would not lose any more of its ‘clothes’ in the wind.” When I read this, I felt ashamed of myself. I had been thinking only about taking what I wanted. Since then, I greet and thank the bittersweet when I peel their bark. (I have not quite brought myself to offer tobacco yet.)

I have gotten better at harvesting longer fibers. I use a drop-spindle to make them into threads. I taught myself how to weave a simple fabric using a frame loom.

After researching and experimenting for about two months, I still would not say I quite know what I am doing. But I did manage to weave two pieces of fabric. I will use this material as the canvas for my outdoor art installation on the Hawthorne Valley Farm’s Biodiversity Trail.

There are a few events where I’ll have a table this month. I’ll be bringing my Oriental Bittersweet fabric piece, invasive plant pigment art prints, and Birds of Hudson Valley note cards. Come say hi!

9AM-3PM at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, 246 Warren Turnpike in Falls Village, CT.

The Mad Gardeners 2026 Symposium will feature three terrific speakers: Lee Clippard, Executive Director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, will speak about the center, its native plant database and their research on wildflower meadows; Cassie Banning, the Director of Farm and Gardens at the Mt. Desert Land & Garden Preserve, will speak about the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, a 1920s collaborative design between Mrs. Rockefeller and Beatrix Farrand, and the over 160 annual varieties in its ten-thousand-square-foot border; and Madeline Hooper, creator and host of the public broadcasting series GardenFit, will lead a fun, interactive class on how to use your body to garden without causing aches and pains. For more information, please visit their website. Tickets are on sale here.

10AM-1pm at Agroforestry Resource Center, 6055 Route 23 Acra, NY.

Experience a taste of the sweet world of maple sugaring at CCE’s Agroforestry Resource Center. This event will provide participants with the opportunity to tour our own sugar shack, see a demonstration tree tapping, and taste fresh sap. Visit with Taste NY staff and local venders to purchase all things maple. A maple-inspired pancake breakfast will also be available during the event.

8AM-3:30pm at Hudson Junior High School 215 Harry Howard Ave, Hudson, NY.

Join us for a full day of learning, inspiration, and connection for gardeners of all levels. This in-person event features practical, science-based workshops, a keynote presentation, vendors, and plenty of opportunities to learn from—and connect with—fellow gardeners. Fee: $45. For more information and to register, please visit here.