HARVESTING CORK

MANY PEOPLE THINK OF CORK AS JUST A WINE STOPPER.  LITTLE DO THEY KNOW OF THE PLETHORIC BENEFITS OF THIS PHENOMENAL MATERIAL.  NOT ONLY DOES CORK SUPPORT THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY HARVESTING METHODS IN THE WORLD, IT IS PERFECT AS A YOGA / EXERCISE MAT. 

THERE ARE TWO SPECIES OF CORK OAK TREES – QUERCUS SUBER AND QUERCUS VARIABILIS.  THE QUERCUS SUBER IS TYPICALLY FOUND IN SPAIN, PORTUGAL, FRANCE, ITALY, ALGERIA, MOROCCO AND TUNISIA WHILE THE QUERCUS VARIABILIS (CHINESE CORK OAK) IS TYPICALLY FOUND IN CHINA, TAIWAN, KOREA AND JAPAN.  CORK OAK TREES HAVE A LIFETIME OF OVER 200 YEARS.  AFTER THE FIRST 25 YEARS, THE BARK OF THE CORK TREE IS ELIGIBLE TO BE STRIPPED EVERY 9 YEARS – KIND OF LIKE SHEARING SHEEP. THIS HARVESTING METHOD IS USUALLY PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.​​