Bamboo Shoots June 26, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Food, Gardens, Permaculture , trackbackWhat edible perennial is guaranteed slug-proof, completely hardy in Ireland, grows into an elegant screen, can be used as a climbing support for your beans and also will feed your pet Pandas?
The answer to this can only be bamboo, one of the most exciting and beautiful plants you could grow.
But isn’t bamboo invasive? This is the most common concern, but in fact there are hundreds of varieties of bamboo each with widely varying growth habits: some indeed have highly invasive habits that send out runners sometimes meters away from the original clump, and quickly colonise a whole garden. These are to be avoided!
I first got interested in bamboo when working in a specialist nursery in Shropshire, nearly 20 years ago now, called Jungle Giants and the bamboos i am still growing were propogated from plants I got there and brought with me when I first moved to Ireland in 1992.
The variety I grow is phyllostachys bisettii which is a well-behaved clump-forming bamboo that sends up new shoots in the early summer. After 6 years, a sm,all clump I planted here in Derryduff has now become quite an impressive specimen about 4m across with this year’s shoots reaching nearly 3m50 high. So it is quite a large plant that, if left to its own devices, will take up a good bit of space if you only have a small garden; on the other hand, you can easily control its spread by harvesting the canes when up to 40-50cms high to eat.
left: Phyllostachys Bisettii shoots ready to go in a stir-fry
Though slightly bitter when raw, they are quite palatable, but the bitterness disappears on cooking; mixed with other veggies in a stir-fry is great. Peel off the outer sheath of the shoot. Oddly, I found that alternate segments of the larger shoots were too fibrous to eat, other segments still tender. As a pest and disease-free perennial edible, they have great potential as a food source here. Actually, most kinds are edible, though i have only tried the phyllostachys species, easily identifiable by the groove down one side of the stem. p.dulcis the “sweet shoot bamboo” is supposedly tastier, I havn’t yet tried it.
I have also this year begun harvesting the canes for bean supports,
selling some and using some myself. These are always useful in any garden, and I made an attractive trellis
below left: bamboo shoots with clump and trellis in the background
just by weaving the canes in and out, as a support for runner beans, machua and raspberries. They can also be used in a more conventional wig-wam or pyramid support. Why import garden canes from China when they grow so well here?
Bamboos are a useful addition to the Forest Garden. In their natural habitat, growing high in the Hymalayas as well as tropical forests, they form an understory to larger trees, so are well-adapted to the shade and are very happy in the rainy cloudy irish climate.
Bamboos are easily propagated by rhizome division- just cut through a clump if necessary brutally with a spade or even axe. They will not grow from cuttings- you need part of the rhizome which grow under the ground for success, the more the better. Bamboos require deep, rich soil, they do not like water-logging, and respond dramatically to liberal additions of manure- the more the better!
Just a couple of miles from my home in Derryduff is the unique Bamboo Park near Glengariff. Here they grow truly astonishing giant varieties that can send up drain-pipe-sized shoots a meter high within a single day- has to be seen to be believed! Bamboos of this kind (I dont know the variety, sorry) are used as building materials, scaffolding and hundreds of other uses in their native Asia and they could be a hugely valuable resource here as well.
The only book I have is the fascinating “The Book of Bamboo” by David Farrelly packed with information on cultivation, propagation, uses, folklore, history.
Comments»
Nice one Graham. I visited Stam’s Nurseries up in Cappoquin about 7 years ago and although the ‘ald fella’ was a bit of a misery, he has a beautiful site and knows his onions. I also agree with you about the potential of bamboo and said as much to Rob Hopkins at the time. More bamboo ’stuff’ please.
Regards, Mick
I’m told that many of the more vigorous bamboos can be restrained by planting them within an almost buried tractor tyre.
Thanks for the nice arcticles.