Research & Development
When students aren't busy making any of our other products, you can find them hard at work researching new non-timber forest products. Check out some of the products we have been developing the last couple of years.
What’s New?
As our production season ramps up for the year, our students are preparing and brainstorming ideas for some new and unique non-timber forest products:
Natural dyes
Fungi based dye
Salves and Candles
Herb-scented beeswax candles
Petal-decorated beeswax candles
Wood-carved products
Woodburning-decorated utensils
Ebonized/roasted wooden utensils
Unique-shaped wooden tools
Wood-turned figurines
Previously researched products:
Natural dyes
Using Hemlock bark, we were able to dye bandanas to sell at our open house!
Our students used the natural pigment of Hemlock combined with the dying properties of different mordants to color fabrics. Some of these dyed pieces were then screen printed or tie-dyed with natural-tannin solutions for a unique look on each product!
Beeswax Salves
After researching local herbology and botanism, some students were able to use infused oils and beeswax to make salves with different purposes. Here are some of the different salves that we have made:
All-Purpose
Insect Repellent
Muscle Relief
Pine products
We have two white pine products under development:
Pine needle tea
When soaked in water needles from eastern white pine trees create a sweet tea worth sipping on.
Pine syrup
After soaking pine needles in water, creating a tea, pine syrup is made by adding sugar to the tea until it reaches 67 brix.
Mushrooms
We are experimenting with two species of mushroom: oyster and shiitake. Our oyster mushrooms are grown in a specialized fungus room. We harvest and dry these mushrooms and have sold them in the past. We also are experimenting with several shiitake mushroom logs that are inoculated with spawn at our sugar bush. Stay tuned for progress surrounding our mushroom operation and follow our blog for more updates!
Recipe book
Several generations of South Hill Forest Products students have contributed to our recipe book. To see some of the recipes we've been testing with our products, check out our blog. We hope to have this book printed and ready to share with our customers within the next couple years.
Baskets
We make two types of baskets:
Pine Bark Baskets
After stripping white pine branches of their bark, pine baskets are made by bending bark and tying it together with fibers.
Ash Log Baskets
After soaking logs in water, ash baskets are made by weaving together log fibers, creating a basket.