Collecting & Preparing Pine Needles for Basket Making

In this video I share my process of collecting, cleaning, drying, and storing pine needles in preparation for basket making. The reason they should be cleaned is you never know if an animal has urinated on the needles being picked up from the ground plus they could have bugs. I only pick from freshly fallen needles after a recent wind or rain storm. I do not pick from the bottom as they will have lain a while and may have mold growing on them.

Sometimes I gather needles from freshly fallen branches. In that case the needles will be green and will need to dry out. I pluck them from the branches and lay out on my front porch in shallow layers to dry. The needles will not remain green. They will turn to a rust-brown or a light brown color as they dry.

You can also purchase needles online from those who sell them. I do not sell needles. Not all sellers do a great job of cleaning, drying, and bundling them so you may need to clean purchased needles from some buyers. The further south needles come from the longer they will be. Depending on the type of tree I can find needles from 4", 6" 9" and up to 12" in South Carolina. Florida Long Leaf Needles can be 15" - 22" long.

Do not bundle needles until they are completely dry so mold will not grow on them. Store in paper or cardboard boxes not plastic especially if you live in humid climates because they may collect moisture and begin to grow mold.