Preparing....Hand papermaking

I like to harvest the plant fibers when the plant is done with it's cycles.  But the yucca is growing all year around even in the Mid western states.  Not blooming but still very much alive when the snow falls and piles up around and over.  I do collect the plants under belly leaves that have dried up and ready to going into the decay mode.  Cut them up in to small piece and I actually soaked them for a bit.  (well a few days) 

 I have a propane burn for this process to use outside because sometime the plants cooking bubble up and go over before I can turn the heat down...nice when it happens outside instead of the house.  I have to cook this batch about three hours.  Then drain it really well as of rinsing the Washing soda out and the impurity of the plant...which is the sugars or methylcellulose of the plant.  

It will be proably a few more days before I am able to pull sheets of paper I would like to share this with some dear art friends as of the process of making the handmade papers.