Did you know that bamboo is medicinal, renewable, and rich in silica that’s good for you and the plants in your garden? We didn’t either, until now.
It’s not every day that we get to talk to bamboo cultivators in Florida, especially the sparkly Shanti Pierce who speaks passionately about her business, This Bamboo Life. Not only does she use Barreto equipment on her regenerative bamboo farm, she swears they are some of the most durable and preferred pieces of equipment that she brings to her property.
Shanti has lived and worked in various countries across the globe, currently residing in Orlando, Florida where she landed when her career brought her to work on Disney’s Animal Kingdom Imagineering team as their Bamboo and Ornamental Grass Specialist. It was her job to craft spaces in the kingdom that were both aesthetic and functional.
She now runs her own bamboo business installing living fences, making wellness products, and educating others on bamboo and its many uses. She is the current President of the Florida American Bamboo Society, Facilitator of the Bamboo Art Contest, and President of the Florida Permaculture Convergence.
Bamboo is an incredibly fast growing and flexible plant (did you know it’s actually a grass?), and its resilience makes it a popular option for windbreaks in Florida and other hurricane-prone states. She refers to bamboo as a “working plant,” one that can be everything from ornamental to food for humans and animals.
“People grow bamboo for privacy,” she says, and they’re also great protection when planted to shield structures or crops like smaller annuals and food forests. They’re essentially ‘hurricane-proof,’ she said, as they bend but do not break. “I’ve had customers send me photos saying their bamboo protected structures that would have otherwise been blown away during a big storm.”
Shanti teaches classes that educate people on bamboo and its many uses in agroforestry, homesteading, permaculture, and beyond. With bamboo, you can make teas, crafts, salves, animal feed, construction materials, garden mulch, and more. With this fast growing and versatile plant, the opportunities are endless.
It’s incredibly useful, and it requires a little TLC to keep operating at its peak. Like any plant left to grow unchecked, bamboo will spread. This means removing rhizomes when they stretch past their desired location. This management strategy usually includes a combination of stump grinding and wood chipping. Stump grinders, like the Barreto 30SG, can grind up to six inches below the surface of the ground, effectively removing rhizomes and roots, while wood chippers like the Barreto 3107C efficiently mulch the bamboo stalks for use in the garden later.
Shanti advises cutting the bulk of the material close to the ground first, running that material through the chipper. “Take the stump grinder and grind the root system out,” she says. “Once grinding, the majority of roots are within the first two feet of the surface. You do have to get down enough to get it, and sometimes it grows back, but this should effectively knock back the growth. Bamboo is either a ‘Runner’ or a ‘Clumper’ variety.”
“When grinding runners, you have to follow them as they kind of spread out - grind, and feel when you hit it, then keep going.” Clumpers have a massive trunk system, almost like grinding a full tree stump.
Since bamboo is straight, it is quickly and easily fed into a woodchipper for processing. Chipping is faster and less effort than hauling away the material.
She says she is always encouraging people to use the chipper. “Use that material on garden beds. It has a high mineral content, and it’s especially high in the essential mineral silica which is really good for growing food.” She simply chips the material back into the spot she wants it to go - feeding her banana trees and more.
In central Florida, most of the ornamental bamboo she is dealing with are 2-3 inches wide. The Barreto chipper can process material up to 7 inches wide, and its blades chip the material instead of smashing or shredding it. She says the Barreto design works a lot better for bamboo than the other brands she’s tried. She said palms are a similar consistency, and these can cause trouble for other designs that primarily shred or smash the material.
Shanti said she’s used other brands through the years, but says, “Honestly I like the Barretos, I think they are tougher. The engines never fail. They never leave me hanging when other companies have in the past.”
“The Barreto stump grinder is very maneuverable,” she says. She was able to get right up against the slab of her barn to remove some close growing bamboos from the building. The compact grinder allowed her to get such close access. That, she said, and the Barreto equipment is extremely easy to clear and clean.
“In Florida we use a lot of bamboo; outside of Florida, people are primarily removing bamboo after a 1960’s era government program promoted planting bamboo for erosion control. Fast forward to today and they are a problem because they planted runners that now need maintenance or removal. Your tools are the perfect solution.”
It’s easy to see how Shanti’s passion for biodynamic farming has changed her community and the world for the better. Not only does bamboo provide 10x the amount of silica as horsetail, silica is an important mineral that strengthens plants and enhances growth and flexibility for humans’ hair, skin, nails, cardiovascular systems, and more.
She rents from her local rental company, Rental World, and she strives for the mindset of being open and doing things in new ways. She teaches, grows, and empowers, and we are grateful to have taken a deep dive into the marvelous world of bamboo with her.
Greg Barreto started this equipment business in his garage over 40 years ago, and Shanti says, “Please tell him THANK YOU! He didn't know that he would completely influence my life in a positive way with his equipment.”
Well, our deepest thanks to her for taking the time to educate us and share her experience with our equipment. Be sure to follow along with her work at This Bamboo Life and her other permaculture resources at Bamboo Leaf Tea online and on social media.