So we're off to a good start! The bamboo forest has been encroaching on our pasture and we've been cutting and piling it up. My wheels started turning and I decided to put an ad in the FB Marketplace to see if I could find people wanting free bamboo and the messages have not stopped coming! First to come was a family that just moved here from California who are homesteading and want bamboo fences and arches.
The whole family came, except for mom, and dad put the kids to work and they did a great job. They were here for a few hours and will come from time to time as more bamboo is needed.
Harold was the next to come and only needed about a dozen thick poles to cut in half. He told me he went on a hunting trip to Scotland and they used racks made of pipe to dry their animals on. Not really something I wanted my bamboo used for, but what can you do. He was going to make his version of what he saw in Scotland. I told Baby to cover her ears.
After hours of work, doesn't look like much, but the kids trimmed all the side branches which makes it look like a lot less. This man Tshuavibploojsiab asked to come get bamboo shoots in spring.
So aside from wanting to clean up the pasture, I eventually want to move this project to the bamboo forest behind the farmhouse. It needs a lot of work, more than I expected when we took our walk today.
This is the first time in the six years we have lived here that we have gone onto the four acres of forest that we own. It was a nice day to explore!
The colors are beautiful ranging from dark green, to powder blue to gold. Sizes range from skinny to very thick depending on age.
Forest bathing is nothing new, a practice that has been going on in Japan called shinrin-yoku for quite some time, and I posted a link below for you to read up on it, just click on the link.
Forest bathing in the USA may be fairly new, and it is very hard to find a bamboo forest here in NC, and that is where my idea comes in. I am a member of Conserving Carolina, and forest bathing is becoming more popular than hiking where you have to earn it. With bathing, you just walk and soak it all in, stop and listen and relax.
I have to say that just our walk today was soothing and my breathing changed just standing and listening. The bamboo in the wind, a bird chirping here and there, but the muffled sound inside the forest is very peaceful and I will be returning often!
I'm thinking once the boathouse sells, we renovate the farmhouse, we can advertise to people wanting to forest bathe. We will switch from Airbnb to Hipcamp where there are lots of outdoorsy people looking for unique places like this! The could be a lot of fun! Two videos below give you a glimpse of what is to be!
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