15 August 2008

Renewable Resources

We build a great deal of our garden structures with bamboo. A few folks have wanted to know where we get it all from. I know I have mentioned that we collect it from the backyard, but I don't believe we have ever put a photo to it.

The photo below is just part of the 2,500 square foot area of bamboo forest that we have on this property. The great thing about this stuff is that it aggressively regenerates, which means that you can collect poles until your heart's content and it will never go away. The bad part about it is that it aggressively regenerates, and if you don't keep a choppin', then your yard will be good for nothing more than a panda retreat or the set for a Rambo sequel.


This next photo is what a typical harvest will look like. This pile turned into a batch of more than 50 eleven-foot poles. My mom and Dan hauled it all across the state for their own backyard happenings. I think on their last visit they took well over a hundred poles of the same length. I'm serious, once you plant this stuff, it will never go away. If you're a gardener and can use it, it's great; but if not, well...

5 comments:

Katie said...

I've been thinking alot about bamboo lately, especially since my beans want to climb over the 6' fence! I wish I had 11' bamboo poles...

Anonymous said...

What kind of bamboo is this? We could definitely find a use for a lot of poles.

Unknown said...

Wow - makes me want to grow bamboo! I'm just afraid it will escape into the tobacco field behind my house!

Anonymous said...

Very cool! I wish my neighbors' bamboo was like that. (Instead it's just unstoppable low shoots that poke into my yard and spoil my turnip bed.)

Unknown said...

Katie,
To be quite honest, I don't even think eleven footers would be enough. It sounds like you've got some some beans, like we do, that just keep growing and growing. Gardening always amazes me.

Robin,
I'm not sure what variety it is. Our landlord planted it here over 20 years ago and he doesn't remember what it is or where he got it from. I think that when Meg and I move on from here that we will probably look for a larger yet less aggressive variety.

Bobbi,
Yeah, you should always be mindful of what's around this stuff before you plant it. There are containment precautions that you can take too prevent over spreading, or you can just plant a variety that bunches. I would vote for the later.

Jenny,
Man that's a drag. The only thing that I've heard that can prevent that, other than dynamite or moving, is a concrete wall buried about three feet.