I just harvested some bamboo from a yard in Falls Church. Yes, the lady who owns the house said I could take it and I don’t have any new trespassing warrants against me as far as I know.

This stuff, as lovely as it is, is a plague upon our landscape here in the DC area. And barring the use of our welfare panda population, there are few ways to really get rid of it. However, with some creative thought, we can at least have something productive come of the infestation.

My use for it? Tomato stakes. I figure I have about two weeks before my tomato plants are too big to support themselves, so I am hoping for some good hot, dry weather between now and then to dry out the stakes I cut.

If the stakes are still green when it comes time to stick them in the ground, they will sprout and grow like the weeds they are and I won’t get my security deposit back unless I get a panda or two in here to deforest the yard.

What are your creative uses for our overgrown bamboo?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Carl Weaver

Carl Weaver is a writer and brewer for RealHomebrew.com and has been making beer and wine for more than 20 years. He is also an avid photographer and writer and just finished his first book, about a trip he took to Thailand to live in Buddhist monasteries. He considers himself the last of the Renaissance men and the luckiest darned guy in the world. Follow him on Twitter.