Bamboo an alternative eco-friendly agricultural resource?

1. Bamboo absorbs CO2. Infact it releases 33% more Oxygen than the equivalent hardwood forest.

2. Bamboo is very fast growing, up to 2-3 feet/day, you can actually hear it as it extends upward! And can be harvested in 4-5 years, rather than 50-100yrs for hardwoods. It then regrows from its lateral shallow roots, without any maintenance.

3. It is a great resource for beautiful furniture or flooring, and is far less susceptible to moisture and decay. It is a great garden soil enricher and mulch I use it all the time, just shred it and add it to the compost bin or just rake it in at the end of the season ready for next spring. None of the plant is wasted.

Yummy

4. Bamboo unlike other crops does not need fertilizers or pesticides, it takes care of itself, by fixing nitrogen into the soil. Bamboo fibres are much more resilient than wood fibres and more waterproof.

5. After bamboo is harvested its roots remain in the soil to feed the next crop and will bind the soil and nutrients preventing soil erosion and rapid run off that leads to flooding down stream. It is extremely resilient to varying weather conditions such as high winds, drought,flooding,tidal surges and very low temperatures.

Let’s all plant some of this beautiful and beneficial plant in our gardens, choose one that is suitable for the size of your plot, there are many varieties to choose from Here. 

Some grow up to 100 Metres if you own a tropical Island! Use them to screen car ports or patio areas. They need plenty of light, water and feeding in the growing season, some are non invasive, but most species spreading with superficial lateral roots, even through concrete, and vary in colour from yellow or green to blue or red, some have edible young shoots and yes, it was used as a torture method in the past.