How a Junk-Filled Lot Brought the First Renewable Fence to Small-Town, Missouri

[The following testimonial was sent to us by Cali Bamboo customer and former Project of the Month contestant, Jackson Brock Wommack from Richland, MO.]

I moved to the Missouri Ozark mountains eight years ago after inheriting our 124-year-old, 392-acre farm (I’m fourth generation) to care for my sister and now 91-year-old mother.  The 14 room Victorian mansion (Mom’s place) and my own home across the street were outside of town.  Now the town has grown around our homes.  Richland has a current population of more than 1,800 souls!

There is a very strong patriotic pride in the Ozarks that “No one can tell me what to do with my property.  This is America!”  Planning and zoning in town is ruled by wishful thinking and a magic wand.  So when the neighboring 90-foot lot was zoned “commercial” with no stipulations on use, I hit the roof.  And on the other neighboring lot, there is more in the yard than in the house (lawn mowers, old cars, etc.).  After coming back down to earth I decided that a good fence makes for good neighbors.

The job required height — eight feet tall, to be exact.  The big box stores and fencing companies maxed-out at six feet, were all plank timber, and frankly, looked like every other fence in the Ozarks.  As an artist and historic home restorer, the fence had to be something beautiful and different.  I searched the Internet for renewables (recycled barn siding), and then on a hunch searched for bamboo.

Wow.  It was a third of the cost per foot, fully renewable (being a grass species) and looked original and beautiful.  Why Cali Bamboo?  I was fully impressed by the quality of manufacturing as well as the stated stress levels  — capable of withstanding F3 tornados. (Joplin, MO is just about 100 miles down the road, and straight-line winds are a four season event around here.)

Wommack writes: "The bamboo is replacing a livestock fence I installed when I first moved in eight years ago to protect the dogs. In two of the eight-foot sections deck railing was used so the dogs would get to keep their views. It was an on the fly decision, but its effect is truly a stunner."

This project turned my angst at City Hall into a thing of beauty that has transformed the neighborhood.  Simply put, it’s a unique product with remarkable linear beauty and strength.  It may be the only bamboo fence within a 200-mile radius.  Folks are constantly stopping at the door to ask about the product and take pictures.

Thanks for the chance to bring a bit of pride and a morale boost to this tired little town in the Ozarks.

Sincerely,

Jackson Brock Wommack

Moe Jarrar, a 2nd year student at the New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego, used sturdy Moso bamboo poles to build the frame for his team's temporary home away from home.

Few camping trips yield as much innovation as the one five students from San Diego’s New School of Architecture and Design took on April 13th. The team of 2nd year design students journeyed to the hills of San Luis Obispo to compete against 50 other schools at Cal Poly’s annual open-air festival, Design Village.

The yearly competition challenges groups of two to six students to create avant-garde, interactive structures capable of housing team members for the two-night stay. Structures are judged for sustainability, craftsmanship, and how well they exemplify that year’s theme.

In light of the growing need for adaptable architecture, the village’s 2012 theme was Metamorphosis. Dwellings had to be capable of physically transforming during the competition and serve a useful purpose once disassembled back home.

In keeping with this morphing theme, the NSAD team devised a structure made of three, offset triangular rooms that transformed into a two room structure for sleeping in, with two triangles joining to form a larger diamond-shaped space. After the festival, the structure was broken down into panels which the team gave to friends for shelving, room dividers and even a bed headboard.

The NSAD team's bamboo dwelling featured a modular design that morphed to form a larger sleeping room at night. Floors were raised two feet off the ground, which was lucky considering the muddy San Luis Obispo hillside.

Beyond its transforming capabilities, the design boasts an impressive sustainability factor. From the walls to the windows, every inch is composed of bamboo – the rapid-growing, renewable woody grass that also happens to be an ultra-durable building material.

“It is one of the easiest materials to work with because of how strong it is and how light it is — and it looks good too!” says 23-year-old Moe Jarrar, a member of the NSAD student team. “Actually, it ended up being stronger than we expected; we had planned to use more bracing and didn’t need to.”

The structure’s main framework was constructed using 75 cured Moso bamboo poles, provided by Cali Bamboo. Thinner, raw bamboo stalks (collected from the yard of a couple who were trying to get rid of the persistent plant) were woven to create walls and a floor. Bamboo windows (that actually let in light) were even created by mixing ground bamboo chips with resin. Jarrar says the sturdy structure remained steadfast throughout the weekend and was 100% liveable. “It whistled because of the paneling, but it was kind of a nice whistle.”

Beyond being “liveable” the end result was also impressive — particularly in the eyes of Cal Poly judges. The NSAD “Bamboo Team” claimed 4th Place and honorable mention among the 51 teams competing. Another NSAD team won the “most adaptable” project award.

Fame and glory aside, Jarrar says the Design Village experience also gave students some exceptional college memories.

“It was freezing, freezing outside of the structure, and on the day we carried it up there — all uphill, 0.8 miles — it was storming and really muddy. We laid the floor panels down first and then used the 10-foot bamboo poles to create the type of structure you would carry a pharaoh in on. That’s how we carried in our project as well as two other teams’ structures.”

“All in all,” he says, speaking of the less-than-ideal weather, “I think it made the experience way more epic and fun.”

Tom Turgeon is living a 12-year-old’s dream.

As the owner of Boise Bows and Arrows, Turgeon is a master bowyer and wilderness survival expert — specialties that spawned from a youth spent in the Idaho woods.

“I started making my own bows when I was seven because I wasn’t allowed to have one,” he says, speaking over the phone with Cali Bamboo. As his skills developed, the craftsman began teaching others how to make bows and arrows, and it became a paying hobby. He now travels all over the country, leading workshops on long bow building and arrowsmithing.

With Americans still in the grips of Hunger Games mania, interest in archery (the defense of choice for the book’s heroine) is growing. Turgeon has taken notice. “The North Carolina Department of Tourism contacted me. That’s where the movie was filmed. And news stations have called checking for facts on what arrows can actually do.”

Turgeon teaches a long bow-building workshop for veterans with the Warrior and Family Support Center at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX

While kids clamor for the chance to test their adventure skills in the wild, ala Katniss Everdeen in the blockbuster film, Turgeon has his sights on a different set of students. After a retired Lieutenant Colonel took a bow building class and recommended him to the Wounded Warrior Project, Turgeon found himself on the road bound for San Antonio, TX. He now leads workshops for Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans at multiple support centers.

“One of my soldiers yesterday in my class was looking at the wood — at what he had created — and said, ‘You just opened up a whole new world for me.’

“He lost a leg in a bombing in Afghanistan and will eventually walk again, but it’s going to take a long time in rehab. This is something he can do in the meantime, and it takes their minds off the very difficult rehab. Some of these guys do physical therapy for eight hours a day, and by the time they come to my class they are wiped out. But in class they start smiling, and by 6 p.m. you’d never know they were injured. They are true warriors… a word that’s really overused.”

The veterans’ enthusiasm for the long bow workshop speaks to the simple yet powerful draw of a sport that has been around for over 11,000 years. As Turgeon puts it, “What’s more basic than a stick and a string? The

Native Americans survived on that for millenniums. We didn’t always have gunpowder. [...] Archery is relatively inexpensive and it gets you outside.”

Turgeon’s appreciation for sustainability carries over into the actual construction of the bows themselves, which are all backed with Cali Bamboo slats.

“I’m not saying I’m a simple guy but I like the basics — the philosophy of waste not, want not,” he says. “Bamboo is a very renewable resource — you can cut it today and it will grow back in a month. [Bamboo] is very forgiving — especially for new craftsmen. It is very strong and flexible, and the strength is lineal, so it can bend and then go back to its original shape.”

When asked why he has stuck with Cali Bamboo, Turgeon laughs and recommends taking a listen to the various calls he’s made to his sales rep over the years.

“I’m very, very happy with not only Clark, but with the shipping department and the support you get there. I’ve often called with rush orders five minutes after 5 p.m., and even when Clark’s out for the day, someone else will answer and help me out.”

For a man adept at using natural resources to teach, inspire and survive, bamboo hits right on target.

Learn more about Boise Bows and Arrows here.

This contemporary bamboo pole bench (created by University of Wisconsin-Madison's art department) is a sample of some unique Cali Bamboo projects now gracing the idea boards of Pinterest.

If you have not yet discovered the newest creative outlet/online addiction, allow us to introduce you to Pinterest. For those of you already savvy to this collective of obsessed pinners, you now have a friend in Cali Bamboo.

The site allows you to create virtual cork boards that essentially gather all the great ideas you’ve encountered on the internet in one place. Members “pin” all sorts of inspiring images and share new recipes, interior designs, fashion tips, product reviews, artwork, vacation destinations, photography… just about anything to stoke the imagination. We’ve just posted our first pins, highlighting some of the extra avant-garde projects our customers have completed with bamboo flooring, plywood, fencing, decking, and other green products. Click here to check it out!