Our Bamboo Forest

Behind the garage is a sort of raised garden thingy. We aren't really sure what it's for, and none of our neighbors have ever seen anything there but the bamboo forest that currently takes it over.

When we first moved in, this is what the "garden" looked like.

There was also quite a bit of trash thrown back there by the previous owners. Our neighbor told us they weren't sure what was growing back there, but the other owners had chopped it down several times while living here and it always grew back.

Well no wonder it kept growing back: it's bamboo!
Husband did a little research and found out bamboo is one of the fastest growing and multiplying plants there is. Another thing he found out is that bamboo can generate quite the revenue. I'm not so sure about that, though. I don't know the source because he was reading through several websites, but one said you can sell 1/4 acre of bamboo for about $90,000. I know that bamboo is an invaluable resource. It's considered "green" because it can grow in so many climates, and because of how fast it grows. "Renewable" is one of those words that I often hear when talking about bamboo. I'm just not so sure I believe the price per acre we saw quoted. I wish I had saved that website so I could site my source.

So, now you ask, "Why would you want to get rid of such a great resource as bamboo?" (And even if you don't ask that) I answer, "Because I want a vegetable garden and the 'raised garden' is the best place to put one". I don't think I'll get to have my veggie garden this year, though. We have to wait and watch to make sure no more bamboo grows. If it does, which is likely because I'm sure Husband didn't get *all* the roots out, we have to pluck it as soon as we see it. Also, we have a big fat woodchuck living back there who will clean my garden out in one fell swoop. Another reason we needed to chop down the forest: home to too many critters we didn't want around.

Here is what we started with last week on Friday. Lots of big, tall, green bamboo. I kept telling Louisa she could finally have that panda she's always wanted.

This is what it looked like after Husband chopped it all down.

And here's the garden now, more or less. Three days and two broken shovels later.Yes, there's Drew stacking wood. The wood was in the garage and taking up too much room. I couldn't park my truck in the garage as it was, so we moved the wood. As stated in a previous post, apparently we're going to need this wood come winter.