ProDottiCulture by Dr Lois Walpole
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Dr Lois Walpole has created the grown home, when on display in May of 2003 at Kew gardens in England. At the world Expo 2005 in Japan Lois had finished coat hanger on display and also did a planting of a willow wine rack.
Quote from web site “After several years of experimentation on willows in France and in the nursery at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew this train of thought has resulted in the exhibition, grown home, which is currently on display at Kew. Initially grown home was scheduled to close in September 2003 but its popularity with the visiting public means that it is to remain for at least a further year, which provides the opportunity to continue developing the techniques and for some of the products to get to a stage where they can be harvested. A chair planted on the birth of a child that will be ready by the time the child is old enough to use it has an place in both the life of the grower and that of the child that cannot be obtained through purchasing a chair. A Salix viminalis coat hanger was harvested at grown home on May 21st. A small crowd watched as the grafted hanger was sawn from the two-year-old plant and peeled to reveal the dazzling white sapwood. It was an exciting moment and an important milestone in the ongoing research that is grown home, providing the tangible proof that a functional product can be grown. Grown home is all about sustainable product manufacture and provides an easily understood model for the ideal product life-cycle. Planted, nurtured, harvested, used and finally composted all in one location these wooden products have used no fossil fuels in their production and have had only a beneficial effect on the environment in which they are ‘manufactured’, particularly so when grown in an urban environment. It is surprising, when you consider how long a history the cultivation of plants has, that so little work has been done in the field of grown products and that no name has been given to this activity, I have therefore christened it ‘Prodotticulture’ a term that I hope will become part of the language. I am very grateful to Kew particularly Peter Crane, Tony Kirkham and Simon Cole and his team for their support of this work so far. Next year we should be able to harvest at least 5 products and in ten years time – who knows what may be possible? ” |
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