What is the "new" fabric of choice? Bamboo of course!

Readers will of course know that I am 'besotted' with bamboo - it is such a sustainable product, and we can easily ditch many items made of plastic, timber, and expensive fabric when we discover the possibilities with bamboo.  It has been slow coming, well, perhaps I should say, slower than I would like, but almost every day I discover how many new products are making into mainstream retailing.


The large retailers have office, kitchen, laundry and other house hold items in bamboo - and these are regularly featured in the catalogues that are stuffed into our letterboxes on a regular basis.


Today, while on the hunt for some advertising products I visited 1300epromo at Manly (Qld) and while I found what I was looking for, my eyes caught a display of bamboo work socks.  I am now sitting at the computer wearing a pair of these socks - they are long, black comfortable socks (warm too, but I know on a summer's day, they are also cool!), which I will get a lot of wear out of. These are 92% bamboo, and are 'awesome'.


When I was chatting with Tammy Taylor of 1300epromo, she told me that they also stock bamboo polo shirts - and she showed me some - 50% bamboo, and 50% viscose - in navy and black.  Either would make a great gift too - and with Father's Day not far away, it might be a good place to go to get something a little different.  Even if the Dad in your life shies away from 'socks and jocks' for Father's Day or other gifts, I am sure he will be thrilled with the bamboo socks or a polo shirts.


The blurb on the socks packaging says

 organic fibre construction using naturally antibacteral fabric which eliminates foot odour.

  superior wicking (dry and cool feet) 

promotes foot health

ultra fine fibre for more comfort and blister protection

antistatic natural fibre

For those who live in the Bayside South (Wynnum Manly Tingalpa area) , the show room is not far from the Manly Railway Station, and they have a huge range of promotional material and uniforms.

For more information about 1300epromo, contact (07) 1300 377 666 or visit their website.

More Bamboo Products

More and more bamboo products are turning up in stores everywhere.  Just look in the 'junk mail' that appears in your letter box and you will see almost weekly that there are more items making it to the market, which is good.

If you are interested in sustainability, and keen to use 'natural' products or products not made from precious trees, look at the options with bamboo products.  It is such a renewable product and much  better than plastic or anything 'man made' - it should be better for everyone.

This week I found a wide range of products in Howards - from items for the home/office, items for the bathroom.  I am a great fan of Howards stores as they have such amazing storage ideas, and let's face it, we weem to be overloading our homes with so much "stuff" that storage ideas are very important.

Bamboo on House and Garden

Better Homes and Gardens featured bamboo a couple of years ago.  This is the video of that segment of the show.  This is a good segment, and for those who are still fearful of bamboo, this should be of interest as it is a respected gardening program.

Now is the Hour for Bamboo Power.

I found this video - enjoy!

Find more videos like this on video.filestube.com.

Bamboo Panties

The first bamboo ladies panties I found were at Target - plain, no frills, but bamboo and very comfortable and without the extra fancy bits, dried easily and were great for travelling.  Just not so attractive - practical, but not pretty.

However I found that BigW had more fancy ones, and they work just as well.  When you look for these in the stores, look for the green sticker (see on picture above), which indicate they are bamboo.  

There are other knickers on the shelves that look the same as these, but may not be bamboo.  You might have to look at the label  or the information at the inside back of the product to check that it is indeed bamboo.

They are a little more expensive than the ones in Target, but are comfortable and easy to wash and dry.  Still good for travelling.

Bamboo Keyboard and Mouse

I find it very interesting that there are regular advertisements in magazines and newspapers for innovative bamboo products and yesterday's Courier Mail's magazine QWeekend has on page 9, at the bottom a great little photo of a bamboo keyboard and mouse.

They are available from PureBamboo - at a cost says the advertisement of $119.  You can buy online at the website.

You will find on their website an amazing array of new products.  It is just awesome.

Tomorrow I am headed north to Australia Bamboo at Belli Park.  I can feel more photographs coming.................

Bamboo Books

I have a growing collection of books on bamboo - not just on growing bamboo, but novels with "bamboo"  in the title.

One is "So Far from the Bamboo Grove" - which I have written in another blog  Diary of a House  Sitter and Traveller.  I will write about the latest books on this site, as I read them.

Bamboo Grove

I went riding on Monday (Easter Monday), heading to a reserve or park at Hemmant, which is not far from the Brisbane River - in fact, a tributary of the Brisbane River, Doughboy Creek meanders around the suburb.

I like to ride my bike on rather quiet paths - rather than a road especially at Hemmant as the main road is quite narrow with bike paths intermittently on the road.

Taking a side street to avoid the road, I found an area that I had never been to before.  Clearly there were some old houses that had been part of Hemmant landscape for many, many years, and at one place it looked like the old houses had long since been demolished or moved.

I was tempted to make my way along the 'drive way' but not keen to be found 'trespassing' either.  It was quite an attractive stand of bamboo too.

Bamboo wipes?

I was at Officeworks on Monday and bought Bamboo Wipes - just look like the familiar product that we have been using in our homes for a long time, but it is made of biodegradable bamboo.

The blurb on the back of the packet says

"The bamboo used to make these wipes has been obtained from legitimate bamboo plantations.  Bamboo itself is a very versatile resource and breaks down naturally over time.  Once the wipes are removed from the packet they will not leave a negative impact on the environment.   Bamboo is harvested chemical free and no bleach or chlorine is used in the production of these wipes.  This species of bamboo is not the type the pandas eat, so it is very panda-friendly."


I bought mine in Officeworks - and a friend bought hers in a small store in a Brisbane suburb.

Cost? - between $1.99 and $2.99

They work well.  Brilliant.

The company that markets them is an Australian company from WA, but they are made in China,
(www.bidware.com.au) though there is no mention of the bamboo wipes on their site.

More Bamboo Products

I guess in part I see more bamboo products because of my interest in bamboo.  Recently I was in Manly Post Office and as I stood in the queue I discovered a display of bamboo puzzles.

I'll have to go back and buy one or two.  They look good - great to have while travelling no doubt as they are so small.  

Bamboo Poles and more

I went for a walk through Masters, at Tingalpa the relatively new DIY entity now setting up around Australia.  I had gone to look at washing machines, but as I enjoy walking through the aisles of such places I went for a wander.

First of all, I was surprised to see racks of bamboo - poles around 6 feet, as thick as a healthy man's arm, and other smaller ones, and there were rolls of finer bamboo which I had seen before in other similar shops which are used for fencing or adding character to boring old timber fences.

As well there were other bamboo products, small fences, lattice, and lots more, as well as the bamboo outdoor torches that are used to repel insects.

I didn't buy anything, but I know where it is.  I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see it was "Made in China."

Bamboo Shark????

Clearly the Bamboo Shark has nothing to do with bamboo the plant, though I suspect they were named because they have similar markings to a variety of bamboo.

I found this video on Youtube.

Beelarong and Networks

I had driven along Wynnum Road dundreds of times and seen the sign to "Beelarong Farm" and assumed that it was a community garden, but never ventured there - ever turned left at the sign.   As it turned out I was to visit the farm,  but it was via an invitation to someone who knew someone that I did.  Networks work very well.

Another Di contacted me.  (Yes, there are many of us, and yes, we do like to call ourselves "Lady Di").  She is one of the committee of the Beelarong Farm, which is a community garden at Morningside, an inner city suburb of Brisbane.

The day I chose to go was a very wet day, and it also was the same day that I was to pick up my new Mitsubishi Lancer from Zupps at Mt Gravatt, from my new friend and super salesman Sherman!  My  old car, my late father's Daihatsu Applause was duly cleaned and emptied (yes, I had no umbrella!), and I headed off to Beelarong to meet Di and the other volunteers.  They had a bamboo that they were concerned about, and I offered to link them with information from one of the Society of Bamboo friends.

Coffee and blueberry muffins for morning tea (must remember that - Wednesday mornings at Beelarong - coffee!) and meeting the other members before the rain eased and we tip toed (so not to walk in the very wet areas) through the grass to the wonderful stand of bamboo, which could well be the variety Oldhammii.  Members are worried that it might take over - but it is the clumping variety and a very healthy specimen.

Healthy Bamboo Shoot - yum, yum, but they are going to measure its growth.

This has grown from a small plant in a pot, to this and the photo does not capture the size - it is VERY tall.  It is the clumping variety and if harvested properly should cause no trouble, though it is shading some plants nearby, which is the issue for them.

After I departed Beelarong I set off to pick up my new car.  Wow.  It is the first new car I have had in some 30 years and it is all mine.  It is wonderful to drive, and I am still learning to use some of the features (radio, cd player etc really), but I am thrilled.

Now I have healthy wheels I can venture further to see more bamboo farms.

Bamboo Wedding Things

On Saturday afternoon I attended a wedding - I was not invited, but took my granddaughter as she knew the bride.  Actually I collected her from primary school years ago - but that is another story.  The bride's mother (with whom I worked at the time) and my daughter became friends, and my daughter and her husband were guests - and I was grandsitting (I don't like saying babysitting as they are no longer babies!).

I was bemused to see so much bamboo at the wedding, as you can see from these photographs.  It was a hot afternoon below the Kangaroo Point cliffs, and guests were handed wonderful parasols to protect them from the burning sun.

The wedding took place under the bamboo arches.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I went close to the front (I had been seeking shelter from the sun under the trees at the back of the ceremony) and saw what the frame was.

Awareness of Bamboo

I am certainly no expert, but clearly I know a lot more about bamboo, and its products than I did some months ago, and I enjoy talking about it.  I have found quite a few people who are very enthusiastic bamboo growers and users - and by growers, I mean, home growers.

I met a lady yesterday at an International Women's Day function, who has an ordinary suburban block and loves her bamboo.  I am going to see it soon I hope.

I have had business cards made - which at the moment simply give my name and contact details, as I am waiting to see if I have managed to survive/pass my Master of Arts, and then I will add my qualifications, and details of my blogs on the new cards, and yes, with the bamboo motif that I now have.

The lovely bamboo on it certainly raises interest - it is a great discussion point.  Much better than having my photo on it.

When I was doing some writing about bamboo recently I went back over my blog Adventures of an Australian English teacher, where I reported on many of my adventures in China and South Korea as an "English Teacher" and am surprised by the reports on bamboo.

The other day I found photos of a visit to Longmen and Fuyang in Zhejiang Province, not far from Shaoxing where I was based.  Longmen is an amazing historic town.  It was ancient and in some parts crumbling, but so fascinating.

At Fuyang we visited a bamboo paper making factory - and somewhere in my 'archives' I have the bamboo paper that I collected there, with a bird print on it, that I did in the room as we passed through the museum.

I wonder sometimes if I was destined to be involved with bamboo!

Using a wooden frame the bamboo pulp is collected and lifted from the vat.

The large sheets of bamboo paper are carefully placed on a stainless steel heated wall, to dry out the paper.

Amazing Bamboo Book

I visited a local library the other day - I was helping out a friend who had previously had cardiac surgery and was unable to drive.  I had a 45 minute wait so went to the library.

I found a book called "How-to Bamboo" Simple Instructions and Projects.    Now, I am not planning to make anything - I do not have any tools anyway as I am a house sitter and only take minimal stuff with me.

However, I borrowed the book, as I thought it was interesting, and I could learn something.  It is edited by Paul N Hasluck, and published by Schiffer Publishing Limited, but what I find extraordinary is that the original book was written in 1853!

It is available at Amazon.com

Erik the Bamboo Flute Maker

Listen to Erik play his wide array of flutes and saxaphones made from bamboo.  Hard to believe?  It is true.  Bamboo instruments are widely used around the world.

Bamboo Shoots

OK, I confess I normally use canned bamboo shoots, but last week I was given (a) freshly cut bamboo in a salt water solution in a container and (b) a bamboo shoot to prepare myself.

First of all, I was shown the amazing plant that it had came from.  I doubt the photo will do it justice - it is thicker than a man's arm, and strong.   It grows at a terrible fast rate and at 8 weeks is fully grown, and  6 or 7 metres tall.  Awesome.

These shoots have appeared in early February - though other species might shoot at other times of the year.

I peeled off the leafy bits after I cut the root in half, and then peeled back the rough tough looking outer pieces, put them in a saucepan after I rinsed them and covered them with water.  then onto the stove with some salt to boil for about 10 minutes.  I'm told it is best to boil them twice so - after the first boiling I discarded the 'old' water and fresh water, they boiled again.

Then I cut some of it it into slices so that I can add it quickly to my cooking and put it in the refrigerator in a plastic container with salted water.

Community Gardens

These are set up to give people an opportunity to learn appreciate organic food.  There are groups everywhere, who work together to grow fruit and vegetables and other organic plants.  One such groups vision is 'to help create a sense of community through encouraging and promoting the growing and sharing of organic food."

It reminds me that as a child we grew all sorts of fruit and vegetables in our own back garden in Adelaide.  Organic?  Probably my parents used some simple chemicals but post war there was not the plethora of bottles of this and that to attack the myriad of bugs and diseases that can attack one's crops.

I still like to grow things but as a house sitter I get very little opportunity though I do cart with me some herbs, some bamboo, and a fig tree in a pot which this year produced just two figs.

I have learned that the community gardens are enthusiastic about bamboo, and often have workshops regarding some aspect of it.  Northey Street City Farm has a number of workshops on featuring bamboo in the next few days.  You can source information about them here.   I remember when Northey Street was full of houses on both sides of the road, and with heavy rain the area flooded.  Eventually the houses were removed from the area, and later on the community garden was created.

Our local community garden is Wynnum Manly Community Gardens Group, Inc and their website is here.

Again supporting and keeping in touch with these organisation can help you find out more about growing bamboo and other sustainable foods.

Bamboo Art

Bamboo has a popular focus for artists, particularly in China over the years.  A quick search on the internet will reveal thousands of drawings - some feature the strong 'pole' of the bamboo plant, and other feature the leaves.

Just do any Google search on 'bamboo art' 'drawing bamboo' and so forth and you will find a plethora of websites with information.

Here's one that teaches how to draw bamboo.

Video and more..............

Firstly I want to report on other retailers that have recently promoted bamboo products.  I note that Aldi in their last catalogue have a cutlery tray on special this coming week - I think starting on 22nd February.  I shall have a look for it - not that I am in the market for such an item right now.

However, I found this video - which in part explains the attitude many people have to bamboo as a low class product - his story and the awarding of such prestige recognition for his work, is worth watching.

More Bamboo Featured

In my pile of catalogues and flyers left in the letter box yesterday was a Target flyer - with a whole page of bamboo products at reduced prices.
hamper
There was a towel ladder, laundry , waste paper bin, duckboard, and range of storage boxes  (On page 9).  On page 11 there is a 'Bamboo butterfly laundry hamper" and on page 12, there are some kitchen items including a bamboo turntable with a utensil jar.

I'm sure there are more products in Target made of bamboo.

Bamboo Products on the Market

I notice this week that there are a few more bamboo products on the market or being advertised in catalogues.

Bamboo towels in Pillowtalk, Bamboo kitchen items in K-Mart and Bamboo display stands in Officeworks.

Good to see. 

John Gray and his Green Projects

One person I would have loved to have met in Bali is John Hardy - he is the creator of The Green School and the Green Village in Bali.

I did visit The Green Village - but not the school.  It is No 1 on my agenda for my next visit to Bali.

Listen to what John Gray has to say.

What's Up? by John Hardy from Qi GLOBAL on Vimeo.

Religious Ceremony and Bamboo

Quite amazingly I arrived in Bali, Indonesia, at the time of a big festival of the Hindu's - called Galungan and it has significant association with bamboo.

The streets are lined with bamboo poles, called peniors, highly decorated bamboo poles - with that they call 'flying dragon tails'.

The long bamboo poles are harvested and their tapering points are kept as they are a feature of the penior.

It is the tradition that the male members of the family decorate the penoir, though some families prefer to purchase peniors already decorated.  The women of the household would be busy preparing the food offerings for the holy festival.

The undecorated bamboo pole is called a janur, and the men will select one that they can decorate well, as it is very competitive to have the best penoir,

The decorations of the pole are made with coconut leaves and fashioned into intricate additions to the pole.

When complete the pole is erected along the main street, and as part of it is a little 'box' about 6 feet from the ground, again created by coconut leaves, and into this box on a daily basis food and other offerings are placed.  This altar is decorated to resemble the dragon's head.

From the Bali Events calendar

Hari Raya Galungan, This is the most important holiday symbolizing the victory of Virtue (Dharma) upon Evil (Adharma). The holiday is specialized by the fitting of 'penjor', a tall bamboo pole splendidly decorated with woven young coconut leaves, fruit, cakes and flowers, on the right side of every house entrance. People are attired in their finest clothes and jewels this day.

Bali Bamboo

I can think of no other place but Bali to research the best of bamboo, and so I set off on Feb 1st, 2012, to see what I could learn.

After surviving the maze of traffic, (human and machine) at Denpasar airport, along with several other passengers, I was transported to my hotel supposedly in Legian, but more Kuta I suspect.  Along the way though I could see how bamboo was used.

There were fences, and barriers made with bamboo - surprisingly rather fragile barriers surrounded some holes in the footpath - not quite the safely barriers we must have in Oz.

I could see many examples of bamboo using in building, but to me mostly it was used to help prop up cement, or other building materials.

Of course bamboo was growing everywhere - from the fine stalked bamboo to the very thick - it seems to grow everywhere.  Anywhere.

When we reached my hotel, the Jayakarta Hotel, I was slightly amused that the room I was given was the closest room to two stands of bamboo! Strange!  There was no other stand of bamboo in the whole complex.

Bamboo holding up the floor

There were several building sites similar to the above.  I suspect in time the bamboo pillars will be replaced by brick or other material.

Interesting Video about Bamboo

Who knows what?

I surmise that there are three groups of people in relation to bamboo

Group 1 - Knows little or nothing about bamboo, and what little they know is negative, perhaps about bamboo growing rampant in a family member's garden or similar.
Group 2 - Who have some knowledge, limited, but are more aware about bamboo (the plant or grass) and can name a small number of items made from it.  This group usually has no knowledge of bamboo fabric, or the scientific data about its environmental advantages over timber.
Group 3 - This is a small group but they have already discovered the benefits of bamboo items - some know of the benefits of using bamboo in the home and do so with a wide variety of products made of bamboo, some swear by the value of bamboo sheets, towels and other household items, and some are extremely passionate about bamboo.

I have been extremely pleased that I have been able to educate many people already in the short space of time that I have been researching bamboo, and I know already that some are purchasing bamboo fabric towels and sheets.  I am happy to recommend PureZone for these items.

When in Adelaide recently speaking with my sister about my research, she looked at me askance as she had little knowledge of the range of items available, and she started to make fun of me in a manner that was disbelieving of what I told her.

Bamboo fabric 'puff' for the bathroom

I visited PureZone at DFO near the Adelaide Airport and bought her a towel and teatowels and presented them to her as I was about to leave for Brisbane.  She felt the fabric, and her expression said it all.  She was already impressed and keen to find out how they felt in use.

I await her response with enthusiasm.  I am sure she will love them.

I was surprised to find a guy - a single (or at least he is now) bloke, who was a great advocate for bamboo towels and sheets.  "Wouldn't use anything else."  I've known him for years and he was not one that I would have thought would have spoken enthusiastically about such things.

I continue to educate, and research.

How is bamboo fabric made?

I have been asked this question many times, and to be honest I didn't know. I have heard comments that chemicals are used in the process - as they are with other fabrics, cotton, viscose, hemp, linen etc.  Anyway, I found several articles which help to explain the process.

One of websites with information is of course Wikipedia.  Click here to read the entry.

I found another site where there is a list of fashion designers, who are now using bamboo fabric in their fashions.  This list included some I did not know, but Oscar de la Renta was one I did.  Check here for a very interesting article about bamboo fabric and its manufacture, from the Organic Clothing Blog.

Please read the full article on the Organic Clothing Blog, but I take the liberty of adding this information that was on the site.

• Bamboo grows rapidly and naturally without any pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.
• Bamboo clothing (both mechanically and chemically manufactured) is 100% biodegradable and can be completely decomposed in the soil by micro-organisms and sunlight without decomposing into any pollutants such as methane gas which is commonly produced as a by-product of decomposition in landfills and dumps.
• Growing bamboo improves soil quality and helps rebuild eroded soil. The extensive root system of bamboo holds soil together, prevents soil erosion, and retains water in the watershed.
• Bamboo grows naturally without the need for agricultural tending and large diesel exhaust-spewing tractors to plant seeds and cultivate the soil.
• Bamboo plantations are large factories for photosynthesis which reduces greenhouse gases. Bamboo plants absorb about 5 times the amount of carbon dioxide (a primary greenhouse gas) and produces about 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees.
• Bamboo fabrics and clothing can be manufactured and produced without any chemical additives although eco-certification such as Oeko-Tex is necessary to insure that the manufacturing and finishing processes are healthy.
• Currently, there are no known genetically modified organisms (GMO) variants of bamboo. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Yes, I agree - that I hope genetically modified is not a term that we come to know as associated with bamboo.

Readers' Feedback Welcome

Actually I would love to hear from anyone about their experiences with bamboo products.  Negative or Positive.

I hear stories from people whose family members have had bamboo growing rampantly - some even part of the mean killing machine in an effort to get the 'weed' removed from the garden.  That is of course by the sounds of the stories, the 'running' bamboo, which sends rhizomes just under the surface of the soil in all directions.  The rhizomes can be a bit difficult to remove - even leaving a little bit will be enough for the plant to regenerate.

I must say, apart from 'liking' the bamboo plant, I didn't take much notice of it until my discovery of bamboo undies.  I'm off to get some more this week - 30% off ladies underwear at Target in the next couple of days.  Whoo hoo!  A bargain!!

Any comments, questions, stories?  Use the comment box.  All spam, unwanted material is moderated and deleted.  So don't bother putting advertisements for anything in the comments - I'll delete it, however, if you have some bamboo products for sale, let me know.  I may be interested in featuring them in this blog.

Bamboo Sheets

I felt rather guilty that I had not tried bed sheets made from bamboo.  I did buy some from PureZone a few weeks ago, but planned to use them when I returned to the house sit after my jaunt to Bali, but my box of linen is in the shipping container, and with the heavy rains and flooding, I chose to forget collecting those items for the moment.  The unopened pack with queen size bed bamboo bed sheets, and two pillow cases was at the house sit where I am staying for a week before my travels.

I had intended to rinse the sheets before I used them but with continual heavy rains here in Brisbane, that was not an option, so I opened the pack, and put them straight onto the bed.  I fell in love with them immediately - the feel of them is unlike any bed sheet I have touched before, and I was looking forward to climbing into bed last night.

And so it was, late last night after a few chores were done, and I'd almost fallen asleep in front of the tennis I climbed between my new bamboo sheets. Honestly, they are wonderful.  Whether it was the sheets or the fact that I was back in a familiar bed, or that I was pretty tired, but I slept fitfully.  I think I am falling in love - with my bamboo sheets.

Is this a native bamboo?

Is this bamboo native to Australia?  I don't know, so I will have to check with someone who knows more about it than me.  This bamboo was growing in Dongara, Western Australia.  It seems to be a 'running bamboo' and has spread throughout this particular vacant lot.

I saw quite a lot of bamboo around some parts of WA - and it appeared to be a similar (or the same) variety.  There was some around parts of Perth.  I note that there are quite a few bamboo nurseries in WA too.

I was interested too to see bamboo as a feature in the foyer/atrium of the Burswood Casino in Perth. (see photos below)

My new bamboo sheets.

I visited DFO last week near the Brisbane Airport to see if there were any bamboo products available there. I was interested in what Adairs had, as a friend told me he bought bamboo sheets from one of their stores.  The DFO store was the closest store to me and I was taking someone to the airport, so it seemed the thing to do.

Adairs do stock some bamboo products, but on the day did not have what I wanted. As I walked out of Adairs I saw another opposite that sold bed linen etc, so I called in there.

Wow, what at pleasant surprise!!!  The store is PureZone - and they have a wide range of products that are more environmentally friendly than one usually sees in stores.

I purchased a bath towel and some tea towels - all made with bamboo.  Fantastic products.  I also ordered a queensize bed sheet set, which I have since picked up, and bought more tea towels for gifts.

I also called into the Sheridan store - but the lady there told me that they had no bamboo products in their store.  Perhaps at one of their bigger stores she suggested.

Teatowel made of Bamboo from PureZone.

I can recommend Adairs, and PureZone for bamboo sheets, towels, and tea towels.

Growing Bamboo

There is quite a stigma in Australia about bamboo.  It seems many people have a fear of growing this grass. So many stories about rampant uncontrollable bamboo growth, and digging it out and trying (often in vain it appears) to remove it from one's garden.

I don't know how it happened, but it appears that the most 'popular' bamboo grown over the years is the running bamboo - that, especially when it finds itself in a suitable place to grow, runs rampant and infiltrates gardens and area where it was not wanted.

Few people I speak with have heard of 'clumping' bamboo - that bamboo which grows in clumps and while it can increase the number of 'poles' in the plant, if it is grown with adequate space, it should not cause a problem.

Clearly one needs to chat with someone familiar with bamboo growing to determine the correct type of plant to grow.

There are a number of books on bamboo growing too - available from libraries, or from nurseries featuring bamboo.

I can recommend The Bamboo Handbook, written by Durnford Dart, who is regarded as Australia's Mr Bamboo, and whose bamboo farm is at Belli Park, on the road between Eumundi and Kenilworth, Queensland.

There is a list of bamboo nurseries from the Bamboo Society of Australia website.

Durnford Dart's book is available through Amazon. com

The book - laying on my bamboo towel.

I've never grown it!

I am an inveterate gardener, but have never had a bamboo plant in any of the gardens that I have tended in my travels - living in various states of Australia and overseas, though I do recall at one stage pulling out a rampant bamboo plant in one of the houses.  Somewhere.  I can't recall where exactly, but at that time I probably had little information about it - regarded it as a terrible weed (it is a grass, after all!), and that was that.

However, on reflection, I do know that I have run my fingers over bamboo poles and sensed the smooth and comfortable feel of the pole.  I did not know that bamboo would eventually become a passion though.  It sort of grew on me.  The passion I mean.

I do have one lonely plant - the nursery said that she hoped I had a big garden.  Well, I don't, and I am not sure where it will find a home, but for the moment is happy in a 9 inch plastic pot.

I have grown in the past, what is called a 'lucky bamboo' but I am advised that it really isn't a bamboo - but the name was devised by a clever marketing person.

Saving the environment has been of interest to me - though I have not participated in any movement, but have quietly and deliberately tried to use environmentally friendly products, I recycle many things, and I shun polluting activities.

However, I have lived in one of the most polluted countries.  China.  It was rare to see the sun, the skies would be filled with dirty smokey 'stuff' or as many Chinese would try to convince me - 'fog'.

I wonder how bad the country would be if it were not for the prolific growth of bamboo which helps to oxygenate the air, and absorbs carbon dioxide.

It was in China, that I saw bamboo growing - as I said earlier I was 'surrounded' by it.  The accommodation for foreign teachers was in a corner of the campus, with a 'river' or canal on two sides, and bamboo grew prolifically in this part of the campus.  In part to prevent us from falling into the polluted canal, and to hide the factories across the canal.

It was here that I learned about the rapid growth of bamboo, and on my travels around the country learned so much about it.

My Journey

Who would have dreamed that finding undies in the Ladies Underwear section of a Target store several years ago would lead me on an amazing adventure discovering the wonders of bamboo - and even to work on a publication about it.

This blog will detail some of my learning, writing, photographs and the meeting of extra ordinary people who have a passion for this much maligned grass.

The passion seemed to creep up on me.  After purchasing the undies and loving them, I sourced other products and was soon wearing socks and a t-shirt made of bamboo - bamboo and viscose with cotton etc.

About that time I went to China, as an "English Teacher" at a university in a city called Shaoxing.  Here I was literally surrounded by bamboo, and discovered the huge array of bamboo products in the stores in the city.

My passion built up momentum.