The becoming of Bucha

                 

            When I understood that this cucumber cousin     

           holds the sponge I have seen in bathrooms

            all over I decided to grow Bucha in our pergola.  

Bucha or Luffa cylindrica   was first described by 

Carl von Linné , but received the name  

from Johann Jakob Roemer.

Said and done. Bucha growing in the pergola.   

All plants  gave fruit apart from the  one that were cut 

down  by misstake (I hope) by our  Gardiner...  

When the Bucha is fully grown and ripe   

it is harvest time. 

The seed pod  just inside the green  peel is 

what we want to harvest unharmed. 

The seed pod is then cut open and washed clean

and all the seeds are removed . 

After drying in the sun and  cleaned again  the magic

 sponge material is ready to be used. 

My thought was to create a new shape  

using  pieces of the

 Bucha seed pod as well  

as well as whole  ones. 

Working at the veranda at Casa da Ilha

 I  stocked up on dried Bucha seed pods. 

By sewing the pieces of the Bucha together  with a  

green organic cotton tread I am starting to   learn  what  this

 sponge material is capable of.

I like sewing by hand and used a simple 

type of stitching that 

secures with  knots for durability. 

Sometimes sitting in the garden 

on a blanket stitching. 

A new form is slowly being born. 

A hat type of shape. 

The cut pieces of the Busha I  

will use  as well. 

No waste of any kind  preferably. 

A hat shape (or a sea urchin?) 

that I was born I  

want to   build a stand  

or  you  could call it a hanger  

attached with LED light this   Busha 

hat will become a  luminescent  

hat or we can call it a lamp. 

'

Really in love with 

this organic material 

and the possibilities 

it has.   

Bucha at sun set. 

Bucha in the morning. 

Hat is Chapéu in  Portuguese, 

could be a good name. 

Bucha - Chapéu seen from 

above or from underneath 

if you hang it in your ceiling. 

Time to cut the green thread or 

umbilical cord if  you may. 

The becoming of Bucha. 

The workshop  on the 

veranda where I  

have been cutting ,

 sewing and creating. 

I mean is it not fantastic 

what you 

can create from 

organic materia, 

right?

To create interior products with no negative 

impact on our planet is the idea. 

This is a good suggestion so far. 

Stay in touch! 

Jimmy