Ten a Week, By Hand

Shawne Huff started making kokedamas because he couldn't stop.

The first one was an experiment a houseplant, a handful of moss, a length of twine, and a Japanese technique that's older than most of the plants in our house. Somewhere between packing the soil and wrapping the last turn of twine, it stopped being a project and became the thing he does when he wants to think about nothing at all.

Why kokedama.

A kokedama has no pot. The root ball is packed in soil, wrapped in living moss, and bound with twine; the plant supports itself. It's the opposite of how we usually keep plants: no plastic, no ceramic, no barrier between you and the root system. Just the plant, held together. The Japanese have been doing it for centuries. It takes about forty minutes to do well and no amount of practice makes it faster.

Why Tennessee.

We're in East Tennessee, in a studio that smells like wet moss most days. Everything is made here by hand and packed by us; no warehouse, no third party touching your plant between our table and your door. Kokedamas do fine anywhere indoors; they just need a soak when the moss goes light and dry. We'll tell you exactly how.

Ten a week.

That's what the two of us can make without rushing it. Some weeks fewer. When they're gone, they're gone until the next batch which is less a marketing strategy than an accurate description of what happens when one person wraps moss around roots forty minutes at a time.

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