These fascinating candles are made from plum wood rescued from Niagara region orchards. Each candle includes five glass tealight holders inset into the wood.
Canada's Niagara Region is famous for its fruit farms. Long before it became a renowned wine region, the Niagara peninsula, just southeast of Toronto, was famous for its stone-fruit orchards. The gentle climate unique to this region supported many thousands of acres of orchards growing cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines and apples.
Farmers actively manage their orchards, which often involves removing unhealthy or unproductive trees, or sometimes even removing entire orchards to switch to another crop.
Most of the time the removed trees are burned in the fields and their ashes nourish the next crop.
We work with local land owners and farmers to salvage the wood from these trees. Hidden in these trees is often a beautiful and colourful wood that we use to make candles and charcuterie platters. The wood from these carefully pruned trees often features a colourful and swirling grain. The trunk and branches are usually heavily twisted or curved.
We dry the wood in our own kiln, plane it smooth and finish it with tung oil to bring out the colour and grain. Every candle is unique, and sometimes planing off 1/4 of an inch reveals a completely different design.
This is a photo of the candle that we will be sending to you.