Seed pod blog post – March 2016

Author: Lucy Rogers

One of the joys of volunteering at Good Taste – the Sheffield fair trade shop is opening the deliveries as they arrive. Over this last year our range has broadened and there has often been something new to unpack and display. In the artisan-produced fair trade market, the diversity of craft skills and ingenuity seems to be endless.

The Tilnar Art seed pod collection from Zimbabwe is an example of that ingenuity. Raina Mazwiembiri and her adult daughters travel for 7 hours to a forest where they collect the fallen seedpods of the Ulumbu trees. They then return home and craft the pods into a range of birds, adding beaks and wire legs and painting and decorating them. The results are a delightful representation of recognisable birds, from the long beaks of Avocets to the white dots of a guinea fowl, each bird no larger than a wren.

This is what I love about fair trade. I know who the artisans are. I have some insight into their lives and the benefit the trade brings them. The products reflect their local area and have a light environmental footprint. And they are delightful to give as a gift, bringing a smile to the face of my ornithologist brother.

Visit the Tilnar Art website to find out more. Also to view our collection visit our Seed pod birds and animals page. Seed pod blog post is our second blog post, go to the Cards from Africa blog page to view our first blog post.