Palm Work

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Palm trees are a type of grass and they have to be trimmed regularly. At least twice a year men climb the date palms to cut off the older fronds. These are then hauled into the villages, often either by camel or if there is broader access, by mule and wagon. In the village, people do the initial processing by trimming off the softer leaves and then drying the rib that supports them. Later the ribs will be cut and made into furniture, boxes, or used in walls. The soft leaves may be shredded for upholstery material, woven into baskets, or mats, and so on.

Things To Do With Rice Straw

Apologies for not posting more but I broke my right hand two weeks ago and that has seriously slowed down my photography and typing. Casts hit a lot of extra keys.

We grow a lot of good rice in Egypt and the stems can be used for these beautiful thatched umbrellas and brooms.


photos by Feeney

When Was The Last Time You Saw One Of These?

When I was a kid my father kept all his scraps of lumber in a huge box and we had access to hammers and nails. We built all sorts of things from battleships to float in a wading pool to forts and vehicles. One of the things that I truly appreciate living in the villages is the fact that kids here still build their toys most of the time. A swing may be constructed from a rope and a chunk of plywood tied to a tree. All sorts of wagons and carts abound. Great for the imagination.

One Of The Many Uses Of The Palm

Date palms are useful in virtually any form. We eat the fruit in early autumn for the fresh crisp dates, but dried or fermented they are available all year round. The fiber of the frond can be used to make mats and baskets while the wooden rib can be split and formed to make furniture like this garden sofa. They don't last forever but they are comfortable and inexpensive. Just ask Geo.

Brushing Things Aside

It isn't easy to keep things clean when you live in the middle of the world's biggest sandbox. We are surrounded by desert in Cairo and it blows in with every breeze. We have the normal plastic brooms, but also make some interesting local ones. These are garden brooms made from the stems of the dates that are harvested every fall.

From Bag To Rope

While out riding the other day we encountered one of the elderly fellaheen sitting making rope out of strips of feed bags. Many people sell the whole bags to recyclers and the plastic recyclers will take torn ones, but this is the first time I've seen them turned into rope.

The Cleanup Crew

The stalks are those of last summer's okra crop. They are allowed to get quite tall and woody and cut down after the harvest of the last pods which will supply next summer's seed. The sheep will trim off all the leftover leaves and twigs after which they will be left to dry to be used for firewood for the farmers to boil their tea water over while working in the fields.

Textures of Glass

Muski glass is famous in Egypt. It is glass made from recycled glass that is blown by hand into drinking glasses, vases, plates and so on, or molded into beads and sheets. It is named for Muski Street, one of the main roads near Khan el Khalili. I don't know whether they favour blue because it is an easy colour to create or whether because the blue of the glass is supposed to bring good luck. Either way, it's lovely

The Top Cart

Nothing like walking Manhattan's relatively pristine streets to make you miss Cairo's slightly off kilter lunacy. This bicyle-driven cart belongs to a Robe Vecchia man...a buyer of used items. They drive through the streets calling out "Robe Vecchia" which actually means "old clothes" in Italian, although it is a rare cart that has clothes in it. This particular bicycle cart was newly painted and decorated with its own license plate...a rather boastful number that would probably cause a snicker from one of the drivers of the cars parked to the right.

Every Colour in The World

Egypt is a big fan of recycling. There are men who drive around the cities and villages calling out "Roba vecchia", which in Italian means old clothes, but they are not looking for old clothes at all. They will take broken machines, metal that will be weighed out for purchase, almost anything that you want to get rid of. Even the trash here is picked over and the glass is recycled, the paper, the plastic, the metal and so on. Then in the case of the glass, it goes to the glass blowers' district where they melt it and re-use it to make glassware in lovely colours. A lot of this is sold in Khan el Khalili which is an old market area that encompasses many city blocks in Old Cairo. It's a major tourist destination but it is not just for tourists. Cairenes go there to buy brass, glass, herbs, and other items needed in the house.