Thursday 4 September 2014

Cutting Cork


Cork Oak Trees.
Last week men came to remove the bark from the cork oak trees, which will be made into all manner of things.We have many such trees on our land, and some are situated on the slope just behind our driveway where you can see the balustrade.
    

Some are really tall, and I could only photograph the middle of this one. Cork oak are protected, and no tree is cut down.The stripping only takes place every 9 or 10 yrs, and is a highly specialized procedure. It is done by teams of men, useing only axes, as no viable mechanical method has yet been invented to do the job effectively.
  


Some of them lean over our driveway.
 

Another tall Cork Tree. This one is a huge tree.
 

This one is just plain sexy!:=)
 

There were about twenty men removing the cork, and large piles of it dotted the landscape when they had finished. It is used in flooring and insulation, as well as bottle stoppers for wine bottles, and many other things. I have a pair of cork wedged heeled sandles and girls, I can tell you they are so comfortable,it's like walking on air!
  

I love the look and feel of it, and saved some to put by our fireplace.
 
Cork oak landscapes store carbon, reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The trees store cabon in order to regenerate their bark, and a harvested cork tree absorbs up to five times more than  one that isn't.Their acorns provide food for the many squirrels and other creatures in the forest.
GOOD FENCES

29 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

wow! fascinating! so glad they can regenerate the bark, again, without detriment to their health - and actually helps the environment, more!

thanks for this very informative and interesting post! and love your sexy tree and fence, too. :)

Amy Burzese said...

Very interesting!

Bob Bushell said...

Very pleasant story of the Cork trees. I didn't know that.

Debby Ray said...

Wow...beautiful and unique tree photos!

Ida said...

Wow one just never knows what they will learn when they pop in to someone's blog. This was fascinating. I so enjoyed your photos and seeing the trees (and the fence too).

Bas. said...

Wat mooi om dit eens te zien,wat een werk.

susan jane said...

always interesting when they remove the cork. love Sue

Mike Attwood said...

Thats interesting. I thought that if you stripped the bark from a tree it died, Learn something new every day.

EG CameraGirl said...

How interesting it looks when removed from the tree.

21 Wits said...

Genius really, excellent captures of it all too!

Janie said...

Well Howdy! So surprised you would even recognize my blog let alone remember me. Thank you. Loving your cork post here. I have seen bowls and items made out of cork in wineries near my home in Sonoma. Never seen a cork tree, appreciate your information. They are beautiful trees! AND I read your profile. Your first camera came after you couldn’t paint due to your back! What a trade off, I think you have the best of both worlds. My wish is you CAN go back to painting someday. Did you injure your back in an accident?

Nick Morgan said...

What beautiful big cork oak trees. I remember them cutting the bark on the cork oaks when we were on holiday in Portugal and big stacks of bark at the side of the roads. It is great that the trees are so respected and they appear to benefit from having the cork cut from them.

Ela said...

Very interesting informations !
Greetings

LV said...

Thank you so much for this informative post. Never have I heard of such a thing.

A Colorful World said...

That is so fascinating! I understand cork is hard to come by now, and most wine corks aren't made from real cork anymore. I am glad they are protected trees.

Lasse said...

Fantastic, have never seen this before. Very interesting !! And the sexyone is best :-))

Phil Slade said...

I remember watching a TV programme about the cork trees of Portugal and how unique and wildlife friendly they are. How wonderful to have your very own.

hmuxo said...

Such an interesting post!!! Thank you for sharing! and wonderful photos!!! love the sexy photo.LOL
I would never have known where cork comes from!!

Hootin Anni said...

Wow....this is most interesting. Such a beautiful tree too. Love the shape of them.

And enjoyed your finch family in the post below.

BumbleVee said...

We saw cork oaks when on holiday in Portugal... and, now I see how it is actually harvested.....thanks for the great pics!
I bought some cork and silver jewellery there .... we saw some here and there, but finally I bought at a little boutique in Entroncamento where our friends live ....

I wish I could go every year ..... but, it just can't happen....I love Portugal....

Noushka said...

Quite an interesting thing this cork collecting.
It is done in France too in different places.
The bark has to be a certain thickness before being removed.
Lovely footage here.
Enjoy your weekend

Silenciosamente ouvindo... said...

Maravilhosas estas suas fotos de
corte da cortiça virgem.Durante
muitos anos trabalhei num escri-
tório de uma empresa da indústria
corticeira e lá fazia-se muita
coisa em cortiça. Sei um bocadinho
sobre o que se pode fazer com cortiça.
Desejo muito que esteja bem.
Bom fim de semana.
Bj.
Irene Alves

karmnik54 said...

Fajny kolor ma to drzewo:)

orchid0324 said...

Such very interesting post about the Cork Oak♪♪♪ We don't see them here in my area and I only knew the product for the bottle of wine p:-) But surprised that my husband told me it is also used with his saxophone. Haha, I haven't noticed until reading your post.
Oh very productive and useful bark. I learned something new, Sonija (^_^)v

Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

Teresa said...

Son bellos los alcornoques. Por mí tierra Extremadura hay muchísimos. Besitos.

Stewart M said...

Interesting post. This kind of landscape wide agriculture is good for all sorts of wildlife.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonjia!

Quite an interesting and well documented account you give here about the life of a cork tree.These ones resembling unusually slender and tall - anda sexy too...

Have a good rest of Sunday!

Vitor

Helma said...

I think this is really special to see. In the Netherlands we do not have a cork trees so these photos are really great for me to see:-)
Really beautiful!

Maria said...

This is so educational!

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