Bamboo takes over yards. It's almost as bad as kudzu, but easier to make into a tipi or lean to. While waiting for the turkey to hit the table and trying to avoid eating our weight in cheese and hummus beforehand, a bunch of us "kids" wandered around the side yard and did tricks with the bamboo forest.First, folks climbed up the thick stalks like monkeys, taking turns bending them toward the ground and dropping off safely. Baby D took on a true monster, a hefty titan tangled among other poles, and nearly suffered for it when the damn thing wouldn't head groundward. With shouted encouragement, he finally wiggled it down far enough to escape harm.
After we got tired of that, we managed to rip one big bamboo clean out of the ground. We showed off a little, lifting it like a dumbbell, seeing how quickly we could swing it at each other. Soon enough, Jessie tried to ride it standing up. This did not work, let me tell you right off the bat. Sitting on it turned out better, but got the seat of my girlfriend's pants mighty dirty. How about a board, laid across the top branches? And hence the picture above, Jess riding proudly through the side yard, pulled by laughing family.
Who needs snow to have a sled?
9 comments:
Next year y'all are going to pull me around on the bamboo and someone else is going to cook the turkey.
Heck, we'll pull the turkey around, too. Think Mr. Peepers would like it?
Mr. Peeps would scratch the eyeballs out of your head. That turkey is mean. He's killed all his lady friends.
That is seriously one mean turkey.
My sister has a big 'ole patch of bamboo growing in her yard too. On Thanksgiving, every once in a while we saw a few of the kids walk by the window with a bunch of the stuff under their arms. Don't know what they were doing with it. Too cold to find out, and too much booze in the house to really care.
Maybe they were building an epic bong.
That was so much fun! And yes, I failed miserably with the riding and standing technique. But I must admit, I gave up pretty fast.
I (heart) bamboo for building everything from circus tents at White Springs to tomato stakes in the garden. My friend Barry makes lovely flutes and pan pipes from the stuff. I have a couple of secret sources and try to keep some stock on hand, but what I really want is to have my own bamboo forest.
I sought bamboo advice at a Sunday night neighborhood potluck awhile back. I figured that a nice patch of bamboo would shade the Chinese privet and give the kudzu something to grow on.
The nabe's all thought it was an ecological disaster waiting to happen and have said hell no. Here's the question. It appears that there is walking bamboo and clumping bamboo. The econabes say it's all the same thing and I had better keep my thoughts to my own self. Are they full of organic horse poop or is clumping 'boo the real deal?
No idea. Far as I know, it all acts like mint - tries to take over everything.
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