grandparent plum

When I was in Humboldt helping my sister at her farm in the Spring I had the pleasure of meeting her husband's grandparents and doing some garden work for them. One task I performed was to prune off a large branch from an old plum tree at the entrance of the garden. It seemed to have some good colors inside and I thought maybe I could get some good spoons out of it. I asked if I could take a piece, and said I would make them a spoon from it. Many months later I completed this sturdy beauty.

alder dough-stiring spoon

I spent a few days with my friends the Parypa family and made them this spoon of local alder.

While visiting them I taught them to make a sour dough bread in the style I know. It involves a lot of stirring and there was no wooden spoon to do it with. I have made spoons for a couple of the children previously, and this felt like an opportunity to honor the whole family by making a tool that would benefit them all. It also felt like a gesture of respect to the mother, who works so hard in the kitchen and deserves beautiful, well-made tools.

I got excited about showing the children the process of making a spoon from beginning to end all in one visit. We went out on a walk and cut down a small alder tree together that was in a thick stand growing next to the road. The rough shaping was done with a hatchet.