Life (for a cork stopper) after olive oil!

Beautiful Umbria, Italy is home to fabulous olive oils and wines. Olive trees grow throughout the magnificent country side of Umbria. These fine wines and olive oil bottles are stoppered with natural cork. Umbria celebrates these excellent wines and olive oils by displaying their corks both inside the bottle and, once the bottle is finished, outside. 

A large jug of olive oil is sealed with a natural cork stopper.

Olive oil is stoppered with this cork pourer. The bottle is displayed in a holder  made of re-used wine & olive oil corks.

 

 

This entrance to a restaurant in Umbria is made of hanging sparkling wine corks. Note the other containers - all made with re-used corks.

A close-up of the hanging entrance curtain. What a creative way to re-use cork stoppers.

Cork in Sculpture

The versatility of cork truly is remarkable. Many know it for bulletin boards, wine stoppers and even cork flooring however did you know this naturally sustainable material was used in the 1880s & 1890s in famous sculptures by artist Edgar Degas? X-rays of these sculptures show pieces of cork in the base and, in some sculptures, wine corks were used in the head of horses. Wax would then cover the cork but the cork itself helps with the support, texture and shape the artist wanted to achieve.

 

 These sculptures are on display at the National Museum of Art in Washington, D.C.

The Guam Kingfishers at the Albuquerque Biological Park (Pictures)

The Albuquerque Biological Park created a special nest log for its Guam Kingfishers. These birds require soft, rotten logs in order to excavate a nest so finding the "right" log can be a challenge for zoos (more about this). The "log" the Albuquerque Biological Park created uses cork which the birds can easily excavate. In the below image you can see the cork was installed in the open fronted plywood box. The hole in the upper left is the entrance to the cavity that the birds excavated.

The cork log nests were a huge success with an egg already hatched (and the baby growing up) and a new egg in the nest! The below image is of the baby Guam Kingfisher at 13 days old.

 

Take a look at our other posts about the Guam Kingfishers at the Albuquerque Biological Park. 

• Harvested cork also helps preserve endangered species

• The Guam Kingfishers at the Albuquerque Biological Park (continued).

 Thanks again to Peter Shannon, Curator of Birds at the Albuquerque Biological Park in New Mexico for sharing this information and these images with us. 

An adult Guam Kingfisher.

Old establishments supplying cork stoppers

This photo was recently taken in northern Portugal of an establishment which provides locals with their stopper needs. The translation is "House of Cork Stoppers". It is interesting to note this establishment was founded in 1850 - right around when Jelinek Cork Group was founded. Portugal today continues to be by far the largest supplier of the 14 billion natural wine corks used in the world every year. Corticeira Jelinek Portugal SA, also located in northern Portugal not far from the establishment Casa Das Rolhas, contributes to this impressive number. The Jelinek Cork Group of companies continue to supply cork stoppers to both large and small wineries throughout the world.

Hand-crafted Salt & Pepper Shakers (with cork!) support cancer research

Hector from Hector's Hobbies in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada has been hard at work creating and selling unique salt & pepper shakers for cancer research. At eighty-seven years of age, Hector was ready to stop making the shakers but as he continues to receive orders, he's decided to keep on making them. Each salt and pepper shaker is hand-crafted and contains a small cork on the bottom to hold in the contents. So cool and such a great way to re-use materials and support cancer research.

Cork oak tree seedlings

Cork oak trees are a remarkable tree and require specific climates in order to flourish. Recently, Jelinek Cork USA acquired some cork oak saplings to plant in gardens around Savannah, Georgia. Cork oaks grow primarily in Portugal, Spain and other Mediterranean regions. Though these trees can also grow in other regions, their bark typically does not produce the same high quality of cork as found on the trees in the Mediterranean. Learn more about cork oak trees.

So we will follow the growth of these baby cork oak seedlings and see how they flourish.

Day 1: Many cork oak seedlings arrive. The little trunk is forming from the acorn.

Day 2: The seedlings are planted in pots inside and gardens outside. The plants outside need to be covered with wire to prevent deer, squirrels and rabbits from eating the acorns and the growth.

The seedlings are given plenty of water and the sunlight from the warm southern sun will help them grow.

Stay tuned for updates as the trees begin to grow ...

The Guam Kingfishers at the Albuquerque Biological Park (continued).

We were thrilled to learn this fabulous news today - the Albuquerque Biological Park has been successful in hatching Guam Kingfishers in their cork nest logs! This is great news for this highly endangered species. If you have been following this blog, you have seen our previous post. If not, take a look at it for details on the species and the importance of their nests including the material (cork) used to construct their nesting log: Harvested cork also helps preserve endangered species.

Thanks again to Peter Shannon, Curator of Birds at the Albuquerque Biological Park in New Mexico for sharing this news with us.