Gathering birch bark
A beautiful morning on the Vermillion river at Tom's place.
Pictures below:
A big day, we go into the woods to gather birch bark. The bark comes from the White Birch tree. Tom searches for straight trees without low branches or large knots. He explains and shows us how the bark is peeled of. The way Tom does it the tree is damaged but will not die. You must also look closely if the bark comes of in one piece and does not split in several layers (like a book). To do so you make a small incision in the bark and see if the bark stays intact or if layers appear.
When the bark is peeled of you lay it in the sun to warm up, then slowly wrap it. Tom and Marc are sniffing the bark, it smells delightful.