I'm going to be at the Urban Weaver Project event "Dancing the Scotch Broom: from bloom to fibre" this Sunday at MacLean Park in Strathcona. 
In Italy, people process scotch broom in such a way that it yields fibre suitable for spinning on drop spindle or spinning wheel. It's not clear whether we'll have as much success with our local variety of broom, but we're going to give it a good shot -- and there's going to be some live music for the dancing part!
And in case it doesn't work out as we planned, we can always fall back on making some actual brooms....

Here's that little model skep that spurred so much of the 'practical/relevant' conversation for me... I made it as a gift for a person whom I consider to be both muse and patron to me. (Note: artists with patrons can afford to sidestep most of these conversations, can they not?)
I harvested the broom for this basket about two weeks ago before the leaves had come out, and worked with it while it was green. It was solid as rock at first; and though it became looser, it was still structurally sound. 
I love the dark green and the brown so much; I wonder if it will retain its colour?
The leaves and even some of the first yellow flowers are starting to come out on the broom bushes now. I've harvested a bit more, and I'm letting it cure to see how it is to work with it after it has been dried and soaked.