Curing bamboo

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DH has begged me to beseech the forum oracles - how he should cure bamboo to make it that nice, pretty, strong, uncracked stuff that you can buy in stores(as opposed to the dirty gray, splintery, cracked useless stuff that he gets when he tries it)? Any help would be appreciated, but we're unfortunately out of sacrificial bulls to speed the process with.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), October 03, 2001

Answers

I suspect the species used has as much importance as the curing method.

From my book:

For a comprehensive look at bamboo, including uses worldwide, see The Book of Bamboo by David Far-relly, available from Ecology Action, 5798 Ridge-wood Road, Willits, CA 95490. Another source of books on bamboo is Endangered Species, P.O. Box 1830, Tustin, CA 92681-1830. Two they don’t carry are Bamboo on the Farm: Increase Farm In-come by Growing Bamboo, available from Bamboo Press, 322 North 82nd Street, Seattle, WA 98103 and Bamboo as a Cash Crop, available from New World Publishing, 3085 Sheridan Street, Placerville, CA 95667. A newsletter is Temperate Bamboo Quarterly, 30 Myers Road, Summertown, TN 38483- 9768.

Volume 21, Number 2 of Farm Show (800-834-9665) includes an item on a farmer who says he may be the only commercial bamboo farmer in North America. He sells all of the production from his current three acre plot for $2 per pound and expects to still sell everything he produces when he expands to six acres. For additional information on ‘bamboo farming’ contact the Oregon Bamboo Company, 278 Taylor Street, Myrtle Creek, OR 97457 (541-863-6834).

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 03, 2001.


I agree with Ken, get the "Book of Bamboo". It covers all aspects of using bamboo for almost everything.

Contact some of the suppliers you find and ask questions. This year I purchased a few plants and am looking forward to having them spread. Bamboo is a wonderful resource with many many uses.

Best wishes.

j

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), October 03, 2001.


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