Five years ago I wrote:

Over the last few years I’ve started a lot of hobby projects and I haven’t finished a single one of them.

A lot has changed since then. Now I finish projects. Sometimes it takes a while, but I do finish them. Some of them even get written up on this blog. Most of the projects last weeks or months, with the occasional one stretching to over a year. This post is about a project I’ve just started that will last a decade or two.

This is a windowsill propagator with twelve paulownia seeds in it. The tiny seeds are almost invisible. They need careful nurturing for six to twelve weeks before they germinate, at which point they go nuclear and become the fastest growing tree in the world. It isn’t unusual for a paulownia tree to grow two metres in a year.

Paulownia wood is light, it’s strong and it absorbs less salt water than most other types of wood, so it’s perfect for making water craft. As Tom Wegener says:

“This wood was sincerely made by god for surfing.”

And because it grows so quickly it’s one of the most sustainable woods there is. The first SUP paddle I made is made of paulownia, as is the SUP paddle I’ve just finished shaping.

According to various websites that disagree on the details - and reference no primary sources - it was customary in China (or Japan - CITATION NEEDED!) for a family to sow a paulownia seed when they had a daughter. By the time the daughter was of marriagable age the tree would be big enough to fell and turn into furniture for the newlyweds’ home.

I recently had a daughter, so I’ve sown those paulownia seeds in the picture. When she’s of a marriagable age I’m going to cut one of the trees down, mill it and make a SUP, a surfboard or a canoe for her. Or all three if it’s truly massive. Or none if she hates the water.