Planting Bamboo Today

[7L Farm]

Here's my aviary:

 

[GardenerGal]

Wow! An aviary with a tree house! That's a nice setup.
Looks like bobwhites in there with chickens?

I was thinking it would be nice to keep quail in a greenhouse. Quail and geckoes both would keep the bugs under control. When I visited the Atlanta Botanical Garden, they had a huge glass conservatory of tropical and desert plants, and they kept California quail and tree frogs there to control bugs. They had regular quail feed and water for the quail, but they supplemented their diet with bugs and any weeds that came along. The native skink lizards also got in and were allowed to stay and eat bugs too. That with the tropical tree frogs kept the glass houses bug free. Great IPM (Integrated Pest Management).

 

[GardenerGal]

Thanks for the tutorial! I'll try it later when I have time. I think I did import photos on the "old" BYC, but the photo embed option was displayed more prominantly in that version, I think. Dang, why did you post that cockatoo rescue link?? Now I'm going to want to adopt...

Look at the row of options above the text where you type a reply. Go to the smiley face, then count to the fifth icon to the left of it. That's the image icon. Click it, and it will let you upload an image, OR enter the url for an image you already have uploaded somewhere.

Oh, so you're thinking about gardening and aviaries in the PNW, huh? Well, then this site might inspire you a bit. It's a rescue aviary in Washington. Most of the birds are cockatoos, and they're kept in flocks, so there isn't much chance of landscaping on or in the aviaries. But the land itself has some well-thought plantings and paths. Take a look at the pics, and be inspired. It's one of the ones I first looked at when I got the idea to start on my own outdoor planted aviary idea.

http://cockatoorescue.org/

 

[7L Farm]

Wow! An aviary with a tree house! That's a nice setup.
Looks like bobwhites in there with chickens?

I was thinking it would be nice to keep quail in a greenhouse. Quail and geckoes both would keep the bugs under control. When I visited the Atlanta Botanical Garden, they had a huge glass conservatory of tropical and desert plants, and they kept California quail and tree frogs there to control bugs. They had regular quail feed and water for the quail, but they supplemented their diet with bugs and any weeds that came along. The native skink lizards also got in and were allowed to stay and eat bugs too. That with the tropical tree frogs kept the glass houses bug free. Great IPM (Integrated Pest Management).

No, the chickens live in a separate pen right nexts door.

 

[GardenerGal]

Well, that makes sense.

It's definitely a very nice aviary with lots of room.

 

[jamesbwood]

Greetings from south Florida. I did a search for Bamboo as I am always looking for inexpensive sources and was also wondering if people were using it to build chicken tractors. . . and wound up here. I found a local guy with Black Timor in his yard and he let me dig out a culm for $20 as well as a 3 gal budda belly for $15. I may go back and get more. I just planted 3 "honey bananas" that were free from another neighbor. We have an acre and I'd eventually like to have diff types of bamboos all along the N side of the property.

 

[thaiturkey]

Bamboo makes great screening but it's worth considering as a food source too.

If you plant cuttings about three metres apart and give them plenty of food and water, you should have mature plants within two years. Once a plant has three or four thick stems, lop it three metres. Cuttings can be taken from side shoots. Strong new shoots will appear from the earth around the base and they are edible. At least the varieties here are edible. After a couple of years. allow three or four new shoots to grow to three metres before harvesting shoots for food again.

Here are some ideas for cooking with bamboo shoots:

http://www.rachelcooksthai.com/home/2012/01/stirfried-bamboo-shoots.html

And a video:

 

[GardenerGal]

Funny you should mention the food uses of bamboo. My various 'boo species are shooting now, and I am harvesting hundreds of shoots. When the shoots are still short, I cut them at the base, put them in a bag and store them in the 'fridge, husks and all. When I am ready to stir-fry or steam them, I take what I need and peel the outer husks (really the layers of sheathing) and slice the bamboo "hearts." They even are delicious raw. Slightly crunchy but not tough. A little sesame oil, a little garlic, a little soy sauce, a couple minutes of sauteeing, and it's ready.

Bamboo makes great screening but it's worth considering as a food source too.

If you plant cuttings about three metres apart and give them plenty of food and water, you should have mature plants within two years. Once a plant has three or four thick stems, lop it three metres. Cuttings can be taken from side shoots. Strong new shoots will appear from the earth around the base and they are edible. At least the varieties here are edible. After a couple of years. allow three or four new shoots to grow to three metres before harvesting shoots for food again.

Here are some ideas for cooking with bamboo shoots:

http://www.rachelcooksthai.com/home/2012/01/stirfried-bamboo-shoots.html

And a video:

 

[thaiturkey]

That's the way! They make a good balance with a spicy meal.

We are just starting to harvest from plants we planted two years ago and they sell as soon as we cut them. These are ones that shoot all the year round, unusual in our area. They come from a farm four hours from here and 200 more will be delivered for planting at the weekend.

 

[GardenerGal]

That's the way! They make a good balance with a spicy meal.

We are just starting to harvest from plants we planted two years ago and they sell as soon as we cut them. These are ones that shoot all the year round, unusual in our area. They come from a farm four hours from here and 200 more will be delivered for planting at the weekend.

It sounds like you have a bit of a plantation, there, thaiturkey. How lovely to have bamboo shoots, fresh, year 'round, and to have such a ready market in which to sell. Bamboo really is a staple food in the tropics, isn't it? Not to mention the lumber, fibre and craft materials bamboo provides as well.

We get a crop of bamboo shoots only in the spring. in my part of the world, but it is something to look forward to, like the first summer peaches.