In early June 2010, I received a gift from the Morgan Conservatory: a tiny tiny kozo seedling, from Japanese stock via Tim Barrett's Iowa kozo plantation.
It thrived, and by the end of the summer, looked like this:
I sunk the pot into the garden over the winter, and in June 2011, I put it into the ground in a sunny spot in my small Chicago backyard, surrounded by a large, deep broken clay pot rim...
…which it liked:
July 2011
September 2011; the fence behind it is 8 feet tall at the curved peak.
Late September 2012, 12 feet tall. The bark looked beautiful, sturdy, healthy:
After talking with Tom Balbo at the Morgan, I decided to harvest this year:
Late November 2012
My instinct was to leave one younger shoot; afterwards, Aimee Lee told me that that is the traditional practice when harvesting dak (kozo) in Korea.
"Fat" stems above, and "lean" smaller branches below.
It all fit into my large enamel stockpot, after the branches were cut to fit the low elevation from an overhanging hood on our stove. I decided to steam indoors.
It smelled not unpleasantly like an herb tea (a medicinal one). I steamed gently for several hours, unsuccessfully, this way; the foil let too much steam escape:
Using my other large pot as a lid worked much better, as did giving it a higher flame and more water:
Stripping (on our living room floor, while sitting in a comfortable chair):
And the results, now awaiting bark-scraping. There's over a pound of fiber, but less than two. I will leave the green bark. This will become an annual event, as will making some special works with what I have grown.
Leftovers:
