Cotton is something we all love. We clothe in it, we sleep on it and under it, we enjoy it as tablecloth and pillows, and we love to dress our windows with it. Cotton provides comfort, is versatile and performs in many ways. It can be woven or knitted into a variety of different fabrics and it has a wide industrial use in the manufacturing of a large assortment of wares as well. Cotton is present even in some banknotes. Cotton is not only a fiber but also food. The cotton seeds are fed to cattle. They are also crushed to make oil for frying, baking and salad dressing.A week ago we passed cotton fields on our way to Jerusalem and photographed the fluffy white gorgeous balls that occur when the flower matures. I showed you the beautiful cotton flowers two years ago in the month of July. The cotton blooms very briefly, after a short while the blossoms develop into pods which finally over a period of about three months ripen, then split open and reveal the cotton balls. The fields are left in the sun for more time to dry the balls and harvested before the rains start.
I picked a ball and felt the softness and the seeds in my hand. I was amazed how many hard little seeds were inside, I counted at least forty and I wondered how are they taken out? The process is called "cotton ginning", the fibers are cleaned from dirt and lint and the seeds are removed. Then the fiber can be spun into fine thread. From this all the wonderful goods labeled "100% Cotton" are created.
Photographs by Uri Eshkar.
14 comments:
Amazing and wonderfuul post, my dear Yael.
Besossssssss
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What a lovely flower! And a perfect portrait of a blossom. I never knew they are sooo lovely! Another posting of yours that I really enjoyed.
Lieeb Yael,
herzlichen Dank für die tollen Fotos und die gute Beschreibung. Baumwolle mögen wir wirklich alle.
Einen schönen Mittwochabend wünscht dir
Irmi
What a marvelous and educational post! I love feeling cotton in it's original state fore it's been treated. Such a wonderful gift from the earth.
Thank you for sharing! Never saw the flower before, it's pretty.
Isn't it pretty to hold, love it.
I love how interesting you are!! Your love of life and earth is so vibrant! I learn a lot from your little posts .. I knew what the cotton balls of fluff looked like but I had never seen the flower.. quite pretty. thanks for the share and being delightful you!!
I remember you showed us photos of cotton flowers before. It's a beautiful flower!
I found the photo of the "ripe" cotton totally fascinating, have never seen it before. Did not know the seeds were inside. What an interesting and educational post, Yael, I love it :)
Hope you are fine! Many hugs to you :)
I didn't know the cotton flowers are so beautiful. I hope it's organic cotton they are growing in Israel.
Liebe Yael,
den Puschel von der Baumwolle habe ich ja schon mal gesehen, aber die Pflanzen solch fantastische Blüten haben, ist mir total neu. Die sehen ja fast aus wie Hibiskusblüten und scheinen ja auch ziemlich groß zu sein. Ganz herrlich!
Liebe Grüße
Jutta
preciosa la flor del algodón.
besos
you + the fields of gold are always gorgeous! LOVE to you, yael! xoxoo
greetings
thank you for sharing your photos, so beautiful as they are in so many of your posts.
sending light to you and your family around your father in laws passing!
never have seen a cotton flower! So beautiful!
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