Rethink Your Life!
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The Work of Art and The Art of Work
Kiko Denzer on Art



Cob: Bamboo

Sojourner sojournr at missouri.org
Sat Jul 17 21:19:58 CDT 1999


H. Wayne said (see, I got the attribution correct first time, typed it
in by hand and everything, aren'tcha proud of me? <VBG>)

> Hey, have you guys thought about burning bamboo instead? 
> Or is that just an oriental thing?  I know most bamboo
> types will not grow all that far north, but then there
> are a few that can tolerate temperatures down to -20 F. 

Yup, timber bamboo springs to mind.  If you protect the bed with a thick
layer of straw, I imagine you could grow bamboo pretty far north.  It's
a giant grass, its really pretty hard to kill.

I don't know about its burning properties, I imagine the BTUs produced
would be low for the mass involved.  Again, its a grass, not as dense as
wood and tends toward hollow stems once its dried.  I imagine (but don't
know) that it would go up in a quick, hot flash, rather than the long
term burn you usually want from a wood fire.

For burning, I think coppiced woods are a better, low-impact,
high-return on investment solution.  Coppiced woods would work best in a
masonry stove type of heating situation - one where you want to heat up
a huge mass (in this case of masonry) to have it slowly release heat
back into the room over a long period of time.

Many woodstoves are actually sheet metal and little more - burning
coppiced wood in that type of stove would lead to early (earlier than
usual) warpage of the sheet metal fittings and doors, and may also lead
to increased creosote deposits in your chimney since you don't get an
efficient burn out of these types of stoves.

Obviously there are better stoves on the market, but most of them are
equipped by law now with catalytic converters that, again, from what I
have understood of their operation, would not function well burning the
smaller, hotter burning coppiced woods as opposed to slow burning split
logs.

It may be a solution for quick heat in more southern regions, though,
where heating requirements are overall less and a quick hot fire may be
just the ticket to get you over the hump of a sudden temporary drop in
temperature.

A masonry stove is no good any further south than where I live (S. MO)
because of the slow startup time and the long release of heat.  Not good
for rapid temperature changes.

> By the way, I have two kinds of bamboo started in my back
> yard now.  Bamboo is more than just useful, it grows like
> a weed . . . It is amazing what you can make with it, do
> with it, and how fast it grows.  One warning though, many
> types of bamboo can grow themselves into a weed problem. 

And right there you have hit on the crux of the matter.  Timber bamboo
(and other types as well, but coming from Ohio, that's the bamboo with
which I am most familiar since that's the one that will grow there) can
send runners out up to 20' long.

I LOVE bamboo, and will undoubtedly plant some up here eventually, but
only along my road frontage, and ONLY after I have some animals (sheep,
maybe goats - if I can contain them) to keep it et back out of the
pasture.

As with any transplanted plant, bamboo can become a major problem in an
area where it has no natural predators.  Hence my desire to provide
some.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't plant it, just means you should be careful
when you do.  Remember, kudzu was once an import that was at first seen
as a godsend . . .

I wonder what sort of insulation shredded dried bamboo might make? 
Anybody ever heard of this use for it?  Or possibly used as straw
sometimes is in cob mixtures.

Holly ;-D