When the time finally came to sit down and write the first of many Blog Posts to follow, I encountered no difficulty in finding a topic or three. I was born and raised in New England, and come from hardy, frugal stock with a strong work ethic and a resourcefulness born of necessity. The architect of many childhood tree houses, with furniture in rooms built with wood scraps by me as a way to live elegantly in Nature, I spent all my childhood afternoons away from the flock, walking trails in the Pine forests and gathering acorns to cook in an old coffee can (something I do not suggest you do) or building fern forts with moss floors in an attempt to be independent and live the simple life only a child could imagine.
So it came as no surprise when many people around our region reported an absolute inundation of falling pine cones this winter, as I only have to look up to my own tall pines to see the survival instinct in action. When certain species feel threatened, a call to survive ensues whereby heavy seed production takes place in order to make sure the species will multiply in the face of adversity. Consider it a line of defense. Safety in numbers. And this holds true for my glorious Kousa Cornus Kousa Dogwood tree that had a very dramatic pruning last year and has, unlike other years past, dropped what look like kernels of popcorn in a full shadow effect beneath the tree. Some seeds are starting to germinate already. In all the years I’ve lived here that has not happened. The tree feels threatened by such a loss of leaves for photosynthesis to take place that it decides to make a lot of babies with leaves of their own. Survival instinct=Nature talking. Needless to say that Nature is telling us to take action because when climate change becomes even more evident in the coming years, a relentless pile of pine cones will be the least of our concerns, I believe.
And so it is that I am excited to report that the wonderful folks at Agrawool International (makers of Sideau Agrawool) have been very busy this year already, their Booth H115 at Trendz in the NL this January was very popular and a competition was also held. Sideau Agrawool is busy working on many initiatives and their Line of Sustainable Floral Design and growing products is among the Top Sellers at NAF. We are eager to see what they have in store in the coming months.
Case of 20 Bricks Sideau Agrawool
As we enter the growing season here at headquarters, we are pleased to announce our Team of Distributors is also growing. We are happy to direct all UK clients interested in certain products we offer in the USA, including OSHUNPouch, WaterSleeve’Grande’,and Beeswaxed Hemp Twine to Helen Chambers of Evolve Flowers. Here is the direct LINK for purchases: https://www.britishflowersdirect.com/collections/eco-sundries?page=9
Welcome Aboard, Helen! Welcome to the Family!
As our company grows and our Team expands we at NAF are looking forward with an eye on addressing the needs of the future in floristry. We are Proud to announce the upcoming release of a new product in the OSHUNPouch® Line of Regenerative Floral Design mechanics called simply ‘Sympathy’ and is specially designed for casket/coffin sprays. This was long overdue as OSHUNPouch is specially designed for Sympathy and Events–two parts of floristry that create
the most waste by sheer volume generated worldwide
Finally, talking about sheer volume, the weed production going on in my own garden is bountiful, blooming, and will be a challenge to keep in check before those pretty little blooms become seeds. A gardener’s work is never done!
Kirsten VanDijk CEO + Creative Director New Age Floral
Inventor of OSHUNPouch®️