So much fun and love has gone into these serving platters. The words "buy local" have been used alot lately - check out how local these boards really are.
"Provenance"
The majority of chopping or serving boards sold in retail stores in NZ are from Acacia wood - timber probably grown in Australia (or maybe from Asia, India or the middle east), the boards are made in China, and distributed by an Australian company to NZ.
The heart Rimu from this board was recovered from roofing beams in a house in Rotorua which was demolished in 2019. It is likely Rimu trees to supply the structural elements of that house were cut down from the native forests that existed in the Mamaku area. The area was home to Rimu felling companies, such as the Mountain Rimu Timber Company, which were established in the late 19th century to early 20th century. In 1913 The Auckland Rimu Timber Company built a mill at Ngongotaha to supply timber to the growing town of Rotorua. Because of excessive logging and housing construction materials shifting, Rimu was used less and less in the 1960’s for houses and in the 1970’s became a protected species.
Hayden from The Woodworkers Shed salvaged these beams from the old house and hand crafted them into this beautiful board at his workshop in Te Puna. He loves the detail of the borer boards and so do we. One of his saw blades broke when it hit the nail you can see the indent on one of these boards. It was hidden under the surface and never removed in the salvage.
Wonder Things visited the Woodworkers Shed and chose these boards specifically for a gift that was requested to thank longstanding committee members. A wood burning artist from Tauranga has hand burnt the words into these Boards
Because of the beautiful detail left by the borer (none of the wood contains active insects), we feel this board would be best suited as a serving platter rather than a chopping board.