One of things I loved the most about my home in Largo, Florida, was the mature stand of giant bamboo along the property line in the back yard.
The previous owner had planted them, over twenty years before we bought the place, and I absolutely loved listening to them in the wind, and watching the many species of birds that took shelter among them.
One of our neighbors was from Cambodia, and a couple of times a year she would ask for permission to dig up one of the new culms just breaking the surface of the ground. These she would make into chicken and bamboo soup, which she always shared with me, and it was absolutely delicious. She also made the world's best spring rolls.
We have some native cane brakes along the river, which are clumps of a bamboo relative, and like most smaller bamboos, it is very useful for marking plants and making small cages and other like items.
I'm going to plant some closer to the house, and down by the barn, to see where it does the best. I'm also planning to plant some timber bamboo here, as there are some varieties that will handle our winters, and it will be a great backdrop for the medicinal gardens I have planned, especially the one featuring herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine.
There is even a man in Nashville who has specialized in growing bamboos since he was a kid, and he has close to one hundred varieties growing on his place, which I clearly need to visit.
One hundred varieties? Sounds amazing! I never tried eating bamboo soup but they do sound delicious! Nice idea, I wish I could have a medicinal garden too. Maybe in the future when I settle down and move somewhere away the city. Make sure to share a photo of your garden! I'd be glad to look at them. Thanks for sharing your story. @crescendoofpeace :)
lol - our garden at the moment doesn't look like much, being the middle of winter here, and as I'm a forest gardener, most of the herbs look like regular understory plants. ;-)
I do have a lot of photos I've taken since we moved here, though, and I'll be posting more of those in the coming days.
I'm hoping to put in a formal labyrinth in the near future, and edge the pathways with culinary and medicinal herbs, so that it will continue getting more beautiful and more valuable over time.
And I'd also like to put in a sort of large circular medicine wheel garden, with different large sections, each representing the traditional medicinal herbs of cultures from all over the world.
The Asian section would clearly require some bamboos. ;-)
An unyielding spear
One with nature, one with self
Pity the root rots
Good job @themadrunnah!
One of things I loved the most about my home in Largo, Florida, was the mature stand of giant bamboo along the property line in the back yard.
The previous owner had planted them, over twenty years before we bought the place, and I absolutely loved listening to them in the wind, and watching the many species of birds that took shelter among them.
One of our neighbors was from Cambodia, and a couple of times a year she would ask for permission to dig up one of the new culms just breaking the surface of the ground. These she would make into chicken and bamboo soup, which she always shared with me, and it was absolutely delicious. She also made the world's best spring rolls.
We have some native cane brakes along the river, which are clumps of a bamboo relative, and like most smaller bamboos, it is very useful for marking plants and making small cages and other like items.
I'm going to plant some closer to the house, and down by the barn, to see where it does the best. I'm also planning to plant some timber bamboo here, as there are some varieties that will handle our winters, and it will be a great backdrop for the medicinal gardens I have planned, especially the one featuring herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine.
There is even a man in Nashville who has specialized in growing bamboos since he was a kid, and he has close to one hundred varieties growing on his place, which I clearly need to visit.
One hundred varieties? Sounds amazing! I never tried eating bamboo soup but they do sound delicious! Nice idea, I wish I could have a medicinal garden too. Maybe in the future when I settle down and move somewhere away the city. Make sure to share a photo of your garden! I'd be glad to look at them. Thanks for sharing your story. @crescendoofpeace :)
lol - our garden at the moment doesn't look like much, being the middle of winter here, and as I'm a forest gardener, most of the herbs look like regular understory plants. ;-)
I do have a lot of photos I've taken since we moved here, though, and I'll be posting more of those in the coming days.
I'm hoping to put in a formal labyrinth in the near future, and edge the pathways with culinary and medicinal herbs, so that it will continue getting more beautiful and more valuable over time.
And I'd also like to put in a sort of large circular medicine wheel garden, with different large sections, each representing the traditional medicinal herbs of cultures from all over the world.
The Asian section would clearly require some bamboos. ;-)
Nice! Well, good luck with that @crescendoofpeace! I hope your garden turns out to what you've imagined. Will be surely looking at those photos!