Friday, September 3, 2010

Quercus suber (Cork Oak)

The residency is surrounded by oak tree forests. The cork oak tree is the most significant indigenous species in Portugal that has been planted and cultivated here since antiquity. The bark is harvested for cork but if done  properly it does not kill the tree. In fact, it will grow back its bark and may be harvested again in 9 years.
Tobias Serrano was the owner of a cork processing factory that existed from 1964-2005. Here at OBRAS I met his grand daughter Carla Ramos who invited me on a tour of the remains of this factory in the neighboring town of Estremoz (say ess-trray-mosh). She shared her knowledge of the processing and the fond memories of her childhood growing up next door. The images that follow are of the machinery used for processing cork and what appears to be tools dropped and left behind by the workers on the last day of business.

The loading bay

The cutting table

One of the presses


The boiler room 
The furnace below ground boiled the water above it. The cork was lowered into the boiling water to flatten.
Carla remembers getting embers here in the morning for cooking.
The boiling bin in which was dunk the cork. 
The cork was then lifted out of the boiling water and laid on top for a second pressing.



1 comment:

  1. Hello Sonja!
    It was great to remember the photos and read your descriptions.
    We have also prepared a slide show of photos from the day you have been here.
    Enjoy: http://picasaweb.google.com/festacarla/FILMAGENSFOTOGRAFIANaFabrica#

    Carla

    ReplyDelete