Ever since I was a child bamboo has been in existence I have seen my entire life.... We probably seen it everywhere, In products, furniture, and even for building homes. What never came to my thought was...
" what exactly is bamboo? where does it grow? how has it been used in total natural form by human throughout our history? "
I am sometimes in a realization of how stupid and clueless I am on not knowing things I have seen and used a million times that I take for granted. One of these materials in this wonderful mysterious earth we live in.... is Bamboo.
I wanted to know more about Bamboo... so with the help of my wife we have decided to go on a field trip to the country side of Taiwan where bamboo is grown and resourced naturally through its local people. Not visiting a factory with machines... no.... I wanted to see how we as human beings use it in a natural way. So let me give our readers a show and tell of what I have discovered and learned. :)
Our instructor explaining how bamboo grows and what type to choose when cutting them down for use.
Teaching us how to cut bamboo through example.
After the lecture it was time for us to give a chance to cut down a bamboo tree. As tall as they are its amazing how easy it is to it down. As you see the photo... even a child can cut down a bamboo tree that is high as a two to three floored building.
I also gave it a shot at cutting down one with a very small chain saw... it was surprisingly so easy. As the tree is cut off it doesn't fall down like a regular tree as we see in TV... rather it just kinda stays in place cause the surrounding bamboo tree branches are keeping it in position since the bamboo itself is so light. To bring it down we need to grab the tree with our hands and push it down to the ground. Amazingly safe... I seen on YouTube where people get fucked cutting off a tree when it comes smashing down to the ground. I realized for bamboo... this is never the case.
After chopping down the tree from the bamboo forest we needed to bring it back to base to begin processing the material for whatever we can make with simple hand tools.
My son learning how to remove the branches off the bamboo tree in order to make clean use of the trunk. As you see in the photo he is grabbing the branches in one hand and preparing to knock it off with the tool.
As you can see with the tool he can just knock off the branches with ease. The cool part is that the edge this tool is not sharp... its just a rounded edge used to knock off the branches, not cutting them with like a knife. So easy a child can even do it. :)
After the branches were cut it was time to saw off the trunk into more practical sizes to make them into something useful.
It is absolutely mind boggling to see how ultra clean it is inside the bamboo trunk... so clean that you can't even see a speck of dirt or debris of any kind.
All the basic things you need for eating a good meal outdoors when you didn't bring any cups, forks, plates... Its all there in the bamboo. We as humans just make them into a tool. Thank you mother nature. :)
This was a first.... throughout my entire life.... I have always bought utensils made with shit plastic that is not very good at decomposing itself. Now I learned... If I ever do have an outdoor bbq or somethin and if I see bamboo around me... Now I know what I am gonna do. Saving the environment one chopstick at a time. I love nature and I sure do love bamboo. :)
Eating bamboo with bamboo chopsticks.... cant get any better than this. :) You got your food and your tools at the same fuckin time. Absolutely genius.
Hold up.... you got some rice but need to find a way to cook it outdoors? Put it inside the bamboo and cover it with some leaves (preferably banana leaves) and tie it up up in the heat.
Boom.... now you got some cooked rice. How freakin cool is that?
In the end... this was a great trip to remember. Great for myself to learn how to be more eco friendly in a realistic way, and also for kids since my son was having a blast. I recommend it for those who want to just do something simple outdoors in Taiwan. I will ad a link below if anyone is interested.
Love our earth guys... we only have one.
This looks fun and rewarding. The bamboo you got there are thinner and grow singly. Ours here tend to be grouped in clusters. I like the part where you made your own chopsticks like, that was probably one of the most satisfying parts of concluding the day's activities.
I definitely have to agree!
Thanks adamada~ yes exactly. While I was eating I was like.... daym!! I really made this chopstick and cup from a bamboo forest I just cut 10 mins ago??? It was very satisfying indeed. Best of all.... after we eat we can just throw it back to the forest to decompose back into the soil and throwing it away is actually a good thing for other bamboos to grow. Isnt that crazy??? hahahaha
It's refreshing to even hear it from you. I can imagine as I grew up in the rural mountains where I'm surrounded by bamboo but we don't eat from chopsticks or cook on them. I knew you could but never really thought about it more until reading this post. Cool story bro~!
This was a fun activity. Your son is lucky to have experienced it with the family!
What a wonderful experience you have had, especially because you teach your son the love for the land which needs us more every day.
Bamboo has always seemed to be a very noble plant, because it is strong, beautiful, grow tall, and is very flexible, but at the same time resistant, it is a very strong plant, we can compare it as a fighter person who learns every day To be better.
I love your family photos, it has a very nice publication.
Good vibes.
A fighter perso who learns every day~ I love the way how you describe bamboo. Absolutely correct. :) Thank you.
You have good idea to recycle bamboo make a thing is greatfull
I absolutely agree bamboo is phenomenal and definitely never tried to cut a branch or a piece of bamboo with a really nice knife.
Yep my super expensive one of a kind knife has a dent to the blade trying to cut bamboo the wrong way.
By the way you can also just use one of the sections and poke a hole in the top section insert underneath the water and allow the water to fill it up and place it directly onto the fire as the bamboo will not burn with the water inside. You can actually then boil the water and purify it for drinking.
So not only can you cook food you can also clean your water and build a shelter with it.
Bamboo is actually phenomenal. Thank you very much for your post.
Holy shot~~~ purify water with bamboo? That is one heck of a genius know-how. Thats wisdom bro. Thanks~ As for the branches of the bamboo, I thoughy its cutting them off but its not what we think it is.... its actually knocking them off with a rounded edge metal machete on one edge and a sharp edge on the other side to cut the whole bark if needed. and best part is...... its not labor intensive as like cutting a whole tree. :) I appreciate your comment~
Thank you for your post.
Oh man thats so cool! I have used Bamboo for my early solitary bee homes but thats pretty cool you can cook with it.. And even make some chop sticks with it.
Still dont want it growing anywhere near me though.. haha
good post man!
Why not? they look relaxing to look at while swaying on a windy day. You'd only hate them in clusters and when they mature (they creak loud). Also fun if you want to own a katana and just pretend to train around them?
Cause once they get established they are really hard to get rid of. Maybe when I own many acres I can have some in a corner I dont mind. But having them close to home your just asking for them to overrun your house.
They do look nice, and I do like hanging out in Bamboo forests but if I had to remove it, that just pure hell.
Hah I got to try that with a sword sometime.
I see, I never looked at it that way. I lived in the rural mountains and didn't see having bamboo surrounding your house was a bad thing other than having a storm brewing near. They have a lot of use case for furniture, coal, and food source from the shoots so removing them wasn't a chore but treated as a livelihood.
Delicious bamboo shoots... not sure if all bamboo species are good to eat though.
Good luck on creating that bamboo forest, you can probably open a small place to get the same experience for tourists wanting to try making their own chopsticks and cook on bamboo too.
Thanks Solo~~~ I really didnt expect much from this trip in the beginning, but as I start to see and feel and make it from the raw..... I was mindblown on how useful bamboo can offer to us both functionally as tools and equally tasty as food. Its like.... for example... metal.... great function... but you cant eat metal! hahahahaha!
I need to eat some, I have never ate any bamboo. But yeah I see bamboo used as scaffolding for buildings in Asian countries. So yeah it for sure has many utilities.
Solo, when I see you again my wife will cook you a dish of bamboo. Its amazingly healthy and taste great. I promise you the next time we meet. :)
Sounds good man.. looking forward to that.
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Amazing experience for kids. The bamboo forest is beautiful too.
Wow. This is really interesting
Yes~ Things that are always in front of us when we look deeply into it. It seems we always find something new. Its so weird and fascinating in a way.... Thanks for your appreciation. :)
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Bamboo shoot!! I wish I saw this post earlier!! I miss Taiwan so much!! Next time, please please pin it on pinmapple so I don't miss it again.
Hi~~~ Sure I will pin it on pinmapple as well. It seems I am still trying to figure this blogging structure. and thanks for your comment!~~~
amazing i know some use a well like making cups out of it lol
testing :) @tipu curate 2
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It so great trip, and we got more education here
Always something to learn when we try to find it. :) Thanks
I have always been searching for an article like this to teach me about certain things I did not have the privilege to learn when I was little, thank you for this.
Nice content
Absolutely, and thank you for the kind compliments. I will do my best to share good knowledge I discovered in this world of wonders. I realize its always right in front of us. :)
the journey is so interesting and full of challenges