I saw this article also and got excited to think that maybe more types of bamboo would be available at a lower price. But I went to their website and searched for all the bamboo and most of what they are tissue-cloning is best for the Northwest and not my Zone 10 Southeast. Guess I'll have to keep looking for bamboo the way I have been, nursery by nursery.

8b!=8a. Since I'm not an idiot, I never said that sugar cane can't be processed without slaves. I implied that no sane person would CHOOSE to process sugar cane BY HAND unless that person had a level of desperation not likely to be found in a first-world country. Got a few extra mules and a whole lotta free energy (like a big pile of brush to burn)? Knock yourself out. Below is a link with info about how sugar cane is processed. For each stage, there is a low-tech tool that was used historically. You just MIGHT be able to find some rotting away in some Florida barn. You can try agricultural antique stores. You can also try making your own. In some (really miserable) parts of the world, sugar cane IS still processed partly by hand--the milling, for example, is done with something like a hand-crank mangle. (I've seen videos. I'd take hand processing of rubber over it any day.) So what you could do is grow the cane (if it grows in your area and you supply it with enough water), harvest it by hand, chop up the canes, run them through a mangle from Lehman's, strain it in a hand strainer, figure out a supplier for food-grade clarification materials and clarify it, boil is down until it's super-saturated (days????) (repeating last two steps as needed...), throw a handful of sugar into it, and BAM! There you go. Raw sugar, with all molasses included. Here is a link that might be useful: Have fun!

There are 2 common types of sugar cane grown in FL gardens, the green ones & the 'red' ones (actually closer to burgundy). I have the 'red' ones & they were hit bad by the many frosty days of last winter & rainless days of this summer. In our front yard, we are trying to build hedge of sugarcane-bamboo-sugarcane-bamboo. I scatter some Blackcow around them now & then & handwater when there's little rain. I also cut up their dried leaves & mulch them with it. The leaves have jagged edges so be careful if you have children & always use gloves when handling. Grandma use to tie gunny(hemp) strings around them in groups, then move the string upwards to hold all the leaves high up, over the children's head level. In tropical parts of Asia, we can get the juice freshly squeezed, chilled with ice. It is so refreshing & nice (& cheap!). I am looking for a small, manual cane roller-crusher but haven't had much luck. I know they make them in Brazil but they cost $$$.

I'm looking for a couple of starts (stalks) of ribbon cane, the variegated red and green variety. If anyone has any, or can point me to a place (other than eBay) that may sell it, I'd be very appreciative. I need to get it in the ground ASAP! Thanks!