I fell in love with Brazil nuts one Christmas, when they were the last remnants lingering in the kitchen. The shells are such a beautiful shape, I love the texture, and if you manage to open them carefully, the inside is beautifully smooth. I took them to the workshop to play with, made some drawings, did some rubbings, chopped them up, (ate some!), then realised I couldn’t see where they attached to the tree. So I did a little google research, and found that they are contained like orange segments in an outer shell, and that they are all WILD! Apparently the flowers are pollinated by particular species of bee of which the male has to collect scent from a particular orchid flower to be attractive to the female. That orchid only grows in undisturbed forest. So Brazil nut trees will only fruit in undisturbed forest.

This made them even more precious and special to me- I had no idea they were wild foraged nuts. It also started me off on another direction. I immediately thought of almonds, which are cultivated in vast orchards in California, in a herbicided environment , where pollinators are trucked in for the flowering season, and the trees irrigated, - the very opposite e of Brazil nuts.

I am gradually collecting nut facts and ideas, and building on this chunk of work. I have also opened my eyes to the various seeds and pods, and even buds that grow around me, and where I see fit, i’m including them in this collection.