Bamboo 🌱

[nelsonic]

Feels like a glaring omission that babmoo is not mentioned anywhere in this repo ... phase-three/issues?q=bamboo 🔍 🤷‍♂️

Let's fix that!!

What?

Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, but it probably comes from the Dutch or Portuguese language, which originally borrowed it from Malay or Kannada. wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo

Nitrogen Fixing Air-freshening Carbon Sink

Babmoo is an excellent photosynthesizer, converting CO₂ into Oxygen and is a net carbon sink over its' growing cycle/lifetime. see: nature.com/articles/nindia.2021.46

Many Uses

There are many practical uses for babmoo, here are our Top 5:

1. Evergreen privacy living barrier / fence / hedge
2. Canes for supporting growing trees
3. Building material e.g. for decking, pergolas, tree houses, scaffolding, etc.
4. Food: edible shoots
5. Paper, Fabric and other derived products!

Won't it spread and take over?

There is a misconception that babmoo "takes over" any area if given the chance. Yes, it grows fast and spreads if there is space, fertile soil and abundant water. But it will take years if not decades to "take over" and create a babmoo forest.

With planning, segmentation and root-blocking we can easily confine the babmoo to a well-defined area. And since we intend to harvest several canes each year to use around the land.

How?

How to Grow, Maintain and Control Bamboo | Our Japanese Garden Escape: https://youtu.be/v9LwbriCRgE

Todo

• [ ] Research which species are allowed and available in PT
• [ ] Source at least 10 varieties including small, medium and giant (if we can grow more varieties especially edibles, we should totally add more!)
• [ ] Plan the areas where we want to grow the different varieties
• [ ] Prepare the area with barriers to prevent over-spreading
• [ ] Plant!

[nelsonic]

For a great overview of how Bamboo is already used in eastern architecture and how innovative European architects are using it in future buildings, watch:

Bamboo--the Tradition of the Future: https://youtu.be/tKcyrlysQwA

[nelsonic]

BAMBOO GALORE!! FULL TOUR of over 30 Varieties @ Sandhill Farm: https://youtu.be/1SKCrG-3kEc

[nelsonic]

Magical houses, made of bamboo | Elora Hardy: https://youtu.be/kK_UjBmHqQw [TED Talk]

[nelsonic]

TP made from Bamboo: The Good Roll: wiping out non sustainable practices in toilet paper production: https://youtu.be/fxveBumsRmo

[nelsonic]

Preserving Bamboo so it lasts much longer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc7G5eN4N3g&t=175s

6% borax 4% boric acid 90% water

Make Bamboo last for decades: https://youtu.be/Aghf4j9ly8A

[nelsonic]

Boric Acid ("Ácido Borico") can be purchased in a bulk sack for €79 (+€3,89 shipping) = €83 for 25kg = €3.32/kg

This is a totally reasonable price considering that it can make hundreds of bamboo canes we can use for many purposes. 💭

[iteles]

The only thing that isn't mentioned so far in this issue is researching how we can keep the bamboo non-dense ('thin' didn't feel like the right word) to avoid them becoming a home for rodents and other pests 👌🏻

[nelsonic]

@iteles I’m not even slightly concerned about rodents/“pests”. When we have Bamboo we will 100% have a cat. 🐈 But perhaps the best person to axsk is Ricardo (Landim caretaker) if there are rats in the bamboo near the water tank. I certainly haven’t seen any signs of them. 💭

[iteles]

There are plenty of mice in Landim and a few rats too, hard to pinpoint where from - but they have dogs that catch them on the regular.

[nelsonic]

“Plenty of mice” 🐁… In the bamboo? 🤷‍♂️ Or just because it’s a wedding venue and people drop food which doesn’t get fully cleaned up … 💭 Mice are an essential element in a forest/farm ecosystem and they ensure you will have Owls! 🦉 The question is: does the Bamboo create a “infestation” problem because no predators (the dogs) can reach the rodents…? 🤔 I’d still have a Cat (or two!) if I were Landim. 🐈‍⬛ They are muuuch better at hunting/catching/killing mice/rats than dogs! 🐕