Bamboo!

Bamboo. Most people know what it is and find it pretty, but they do not know about how useful it can be. I was lucky enough to have a man named Joshua Doolittle come and teach me about it.

There are around 1000 different species of Bamboo. It is found around the world and is native to much of it. As a grass it grows rapidly, making it an available building material year after year. Growing the stuff requires no seeds. It spreads through its roots, which sprout chutes.

In some places bamboo is used to build entire huts and houses. I've seen pictures of bamboo boats and even bamboo blimps. Josh and I didn't build anything that spectacular. Mostly we were experimenting with the species available to us. In it's normal form the plant is very sturdy, but will bust under too much pressure, however, if you turn it into strips it becomes amazingly flexible and useful for completely different things. We used a special bamboo splitting tool, but there are several ways to do it. I can easily see how a single person could build a modest home out of bamboo without much trouble.

I'm glad I learned as much as I have about it. I think building with bamboo is a very eco-friendly alternative to wood, since it grows so fast. If you'd like to know more about bamboo the internet is full of information on it and people selling many varieties of it.

-Dain