Osier likes grounds situated close to waterways. In Indre-et-Loire, some thirty hectares are dedicated to its cultivation, on the edge of the Loire and Indre rivers, and in the Villaines-les-Rochers valley.

A basket worker needs about 50 to 60 ares of osier beds to produce the necessary raw materials for his annual basketry making.

Osier has different aspects:
Undressed osier (with its bark): brown, yellow, red, green, bluish, weaved when undressed, he offers nice rustic colors.	Barked osier: it takes a nice white or ivory color adapted to the first-class or professional wickerworks.

Osier can be shaped complete (this is round osier), or splitted in three quarters and put under a blade to make it thinner and remove the medulla. Then they become the pieces of split wood used for the light basketries, the fastenings and the trimmings.

For the elements dedicated to the baskets reinforcements, the bottoms, the corners, the handles... we select varieties fastly developping that we only cut every 2 or 3 years.

Osier must be cultivated on muddy grounds of valleys close to rivers and brooks, and requires a mild and damp climate.

Osier is cut after the first winter frosts. Baled, picked over, graded, it is then put in a basin to generate new sap in spring time.

It is only skinned during May and June when the sap is rising.
The white osier then obtained can be stored for several years until it is used.

Villaines-les-Rochers is a good place for the basketry activity: the grounds are favourable as the cave dwellings are with their isothermal quality, allowing the basket workers to work under cover.
The tools used by the basket worker are simple and not many:

• A seat,
• A table to support the basket,
• A awl,
• A pruning knife,
• A mallet,
• A pruning shears,
• And a tape measure.

But the quality of the conception essentially depends on the skilled hands and a know-how.

The skinning
Each year, during May and June, the basket workers skin the osier (this time is really important for the basket work) . That is the reaon why the Cooperative organises The skinning feast on the 3^rd week-end in May.

You will be able to see the different methods of skinning, the baket workers, and on the evening, walk along the Marché Gourmand organized in the village.
This feast is open to everybody.