Florida KOZO BARK - FULLY SCRAPED (READY TO USE!)

We scrape and prepare the bark so you won't have to:

Because this bark has been soaked and scraped with a great deal of care, it is ready for the cook pot and requires a minimum of chiritori picking [i.e., removing fragments of unwanted exterior bark]. 

Kozo is the ‘common’ name used to describe the inner bark from the shrub/tree, Broussonetia papyrifera. For many centuries, this fiber has been used to make beautiful handmade paper [and before that, bark cloth] around the globe but especially in China, Korea, Japan, Indo-China, South Asia and the Polynesian islands.

• This plant, which is commonly cultivated as a large shrub can eventually grow into large trees. For many centuries, this fiber has been used to make beautiful handmade paper and bark cloth around the globe. See this webpage from the University of Florida for  more about the plant. 
• Our kozo harvest begins by first cutting sticks and saplings, about 1" in diameter, from kozo shrubs and young trees we find in the wild and/or cultivate from our own kozo garden in the front yard. We cut only what we need and leave the main plant and roots intact to grow more fiber for many years to come.
• Note: It's a long story but by a strangle miracle, a number of kozo plants were growing in our yard when we bought our house. At the time, I had no idea what it was and I kept pulling these "weeds," trying to get rid of them!)
• The next step in the process is to steam the bark off the woody core of the cut stalks. Once removed, the outer layers of black/brown and green bark are scraped off to get to the golden inner bark (bast fiber) which is used for paper, bark cloth and bark lace.
• MORE ABOUT KOZO BARK LAYERS: As the plant continues to grow and generates new plant cells within the inner bark (aka the bast fiber layer), the older cells slowly begin to migrate outward to become the middle green layer of bark and eventually the outermost layer of black bark. This constant regeneration of bark cells is similar to the way our bodies generate new layers of skin, with the older cells becoming our outermost layer also known as the "epidermis."

Here are a few notes we've received about our kozo:

"Your Kozo is so beautiful! It is unbelievably clean and cooks very fast.

I need some more! " (Jennifer in Connecticut)

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