Growing Bamboo on Gardening Australia

I do not have much information myself on growing bamboo - though I do have some growing in my home, and was very interested to hear the ABC program Gardening Australia today, and a segment on growing bamboo with presener Josh Byrne in Western Australia.

There are many growers of bamboo in Western Australia and the story featured is about one near Albany, on the south coast.

You can watch the program and read the fact sheet here.  I note he speaks of four Australian native bamboos but most of the material I have read gives different numbers.  This article written in 2007 talks about 3 native species which grow in the Northern Territory and Queensland.

This article also talks about 3 native species.

I recall when visiting Geikie Gorge in Western Australia last year that the indigenous guide who took us on the dusk tour through the amazing gorge and he told us that the "bamboo" in the photograph below was a native bamboo.  I have been told by bamboo people, that it is not a bamboo, but a grass.

Is this a native bamboo?

View of Geike Gorge with "bamboo" beside the rock face.

Australia Zoo and Bamboo.

It had been a while since I had visited Australia Zoo, and I had not been out to the Asia section until a couple of weeks ago - in the pouring rain, and I did not take my camer.  However, I was back there last week, but my photography efforts were hampered somewhat as I had to grandchildren to keep an eye on.  They darted all over the place like a f...  (rhymes with dart).

There are quite a few stands of amazing bamboo, especially around the tiger exhibit.

This is in the tiger area, but where we were sitting the reflection from the glass made photography too difficult.

Popularity of Bamboo Growing in Bali

I found this article - reminding me of my journey to Bali last year and my visit to The Green Village.  How I would love to go back again.

Check here to read the article.

International Chinese Film Festival

The International Chinese Film Festival 2013 will be held between 12th -19th October at Event Cinemas George Street in Sydney and 18th-22nd October in Melbourne.

This is awesome really - high in the bamboo this amazing fight.  Enjoy.

More Bamboo

My fishing tackle box is missing one important tool - well, if you call a chopping board a tool.  I had been hunting around shops recently looking for a smallish board - something that I can use to chop my bait.  I'd seen small plastic boards, but I hadn't found the size I wanted (at the right price!) until at Choice at Wynnum Plaza .  Actually I wasn't looking for a board on this occasion, but as luck would have it I found one.

A bamboo one - the right size and at the right price.  So next time I go fishing, I will have with my my bamboo chopping/bait board.  

From Wambamboo

I received an email today from Wambamboo with information about a new light that they have designed.

Ken Gration is the designer - and the information he has on his website about the reasons he uses bamboo needs to be read by everyone.

Growing Interest in Bamboo Products

One of the things I have noticed recently is the increase in products made from bamboo in a wide range of retail outlets - from the major retailers to the community markets.

There are several outlets at Eumundi Markets (Queensland)  - some not so easy to spot.  (Look for the clothing made from bamboo products - ladies fashions, so you may have to ask if there is no sign!)

I am surprised how many products are in K-Mart these days - just click on the link and search for "bamboo" and a number of items will come up.  Ikea at Logan and other Idea stores have some products - I have seen bamboo bowls there.

Coles and Woolworths stores also have a collection of items - kitchen utensils particularly.  Also don't forget to add some bamboo shoots (sadly they are only in cans in the supermarkets) to your stir fried vegetables and seek other recipes to use them.

Target, Big-W, Spotlight, some of the bedding specialists have a range of items - look for bamboo fabric chothes (ladies undies in Target and Big W), and so it goes.

Several years ago it would be impossible to find anything.  There are plenty of stores on line for bamboo products too.  Do a Google search and see what you can find - made from this wonderful sustainable, safe product.

Don't forget Howards either.

Eumundi Markets

I always love visiting the markets and am thrilled that I live not too far away from them now, so I expect to visit them more often.  This really is the place to find bamboo products (indeed there is much here about environment safe products) - and it is in the midst of quite a lot of bamboo growing properties as one can see driving into Eumundi.  There are great stands of bamboo on a hillside on the left as one leaves the highway.

My two Chinese guests are hard to satisfy and I was hoping that a stroll around Eumundi would take an hour or two, but it was short lived as they were keen to move on.

However, I did manage to find some great bamboo wares, and bamboo clothing though I have had to resolve to return to take a closer look at them.

One stall had a great display of bamboo bowls.  I spoke with the gent behind the counter briefly - and we shared stories of our love of bamboo products.

Great Towel

I set out researching beds - as I am about to move into a new abode and as I have almost nil furniture, I have been doing quite a bit of looking around.

At Aspley, as well as a number of bed shops, I found Howards Storage World - one of my favourite shops, though I doubt I am one of their best customers.  I dream mostly when I am there - clearly if one is 'transient' like me, I have little need for some of their wonderful items.

They do have quite a selection of items made from bamboo - from cutting boards, to kitchen items.  I bought this bamboo towel, which is rather neat with the magnet in the corner, and I am using it at the house sit.  (I just love bamboo towels, and they are great in the kitchen.)  The guy behind the counter learning about my interest in bamboo also a not needed bamboo box, which the towel is sitting in for the photo.

I also purchased a canister for my coffee.

These and other great bamboo products are at Howard's Storage World - they have shops in many shopping centres.

My Bamboo Journey Continues

Sorry, dear readers, that I have not posted here for a while.  I have been travelling around Australia and not able to keep up with all of my writing commitments.   While travelling around Australia I visited two great bamboo farms, which I will detail in another post or two, but mean while, I would like to
comment on the increasing availability of bamboo products on the market in Australia.

Products created with bamboo seem to be bobbing up all over the place and I see in Spotlight, Howards, Kitchen Plus, Robin's Kitchen, K-Mart, Target, etc.  The products range from ietms for the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom - just seek and ye shall find.

One item I found on my journey (actually in Perth, Western Australia) were make up brushes with bamboo handles.

I actually cannot remember the precise store I bought this from, but it was one of the stores that has cosmetics in the front of the store and hair dressing at the back.  It is a lovely brush to use, and I shall be looking for others to add to my collection later.

Another item that was given to me was this cup - made of bamboo too.  I shall have to find the photo.

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.