I love my new urban ag family at the East Bay Urban Agriculture Alliance. While we gather to organize resources to promote urban farming and to educate, most importantly, we gather to share wisdom of how to cultivate and manage livestock. The group attracts expertise in a number of areas- hunting, cultivating, composting, cooking, and much more. This month’s golden nugget was learning that one can make a rooting solution from the bark of a curly willow branch.
 
Apparently the bark lets off a rooting hormone that can be used to propagate. How cool is that. I have been soaking my branches in water to prompt roots of their own as I’d like to grow a willow (thought they get up to 30′ so I’ll have to be careful about where it goes). However, I’ve also been using the water the branches are sitting in to water a Curry Pata plant I have (the leaves of a curry pata are used in Indian cooking – super delicious) recently transplanted.
 
After some reading, I have learned that one can brew a stronger tea by chopping the branches into 1′ pieces, covering them with boiling hot water and letting them sit overnight. You can then strain the water into a jar, cover and place in the fridge for up to two weeks.
 
Tis the season to get going with propagation so this lesson was perfectly timed!