At the weekend we were demonstrating at the Cambridge Town & Country Show at Parker's Piece in the middle of Cambridge. A lady noticed several items that I'd made from
Sumach (Rhus Typhina) and said that she had just had one cut down in her garden. She turned up with a big bag of the logs on Sunday morning - lovely.
The wood is quite spectacular and outrageous...
The downside is that it has a very sticky, resinous sap which gets everywhere if you get it on your hands.
I remember reading somewhere that this was once used for a varnish of some kind.
This is what the foliage looks like...
and the fruit, or drupes, look like big furry raspberries.
Things I make from it sell very quickly but it doesn't often come my way.
5 comments:
Did you know that you can make "pink lemonade" from those berries? Some folks think they're poisonous.
I only knew that because I looked on Wiki. They were also dried, ground and used as a spice in Arabic cuisine.
Have you ever made the sumachade and if so how do you do it?
That wood is beautiful, what do you plan to do with it. Make sure you post pics of your creations. I want to see them.
How do you cope with the sap problem Robin?
I chop off the bark with an axe whilst wearing gloves!
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