Page Updated: July 23rd, 2009 For me, the art of crafting these items
wasn't taught to me or learned from any resources. It was just developed out of
necessity and I learned as I've gone along. As in life's other ventures, my skills
have been called intangibles or inherent.
As I go along with experimenting in making different items I've developed tricks and learned some of the most interesting things by accident. Regarding the cultivation and procurement of the bamboo culms I have been coached by one of the finest men I know, who propagates the plants from his back yard. He has been in the business of growing bamboo longer than I've been alive and is a wealth of knowledge that one could only dream of having access to. I call him a Blessing.
Bamboo is technically a grass, but is used as lumber. It is the fastest growing plant of size on this planet sometimes growing 4 feet in 24 hours. One culm we cut had just received a heavy rain and in the fibers of it's walls, we saw a waxy fluid boiling upward like a geyser and crystallizing into a green substance. This substance is naturally pushed upward, thickening the walls and increasing it's height. That was probably the most amazing feat I've witnessed by a plant.
With our population increasing exponentially and resources being strained globally, alternative and renewable resources will continue to be explored. Bamboo has won the heart of several cultures, being regarded as distant kin. Hopefully it's strength and renewable capacity will continue to be known and shared so that we may increase demand for it which will retard the obliteration of forests that we use for lumber instead. This vision is not only feasible, it is likely to become reality as we deplete other slower developing resources. We need a resource that grows as fast as we do, such as, bamboo.
Heading to harvest...  Wrestling and hacking...   After a little sweating, with Roy Rogers...  We were able to swing harvesting twice that week. It took me over a week to recover enough strength to get on to something else. Bambooah handcrafted items are made possible by the kindness of Roy Rogers, who donates the bamboo we use. It comes from his nursery in Tampa and if you'd like to inquire about growing live bamboo plants, he's definitely the person to talk to. He can be reached via email at: jrogers3@tampabay.rr.com |