New! April 2002 -
      Days of New Bamboo

 Broom

Last year a thin bamboo (they all come from the same one plant...why are some thick and some thin?) tried to grow where I didn't want it to grow, in an area that I didn't really want to disturb, so I chopped it off at about 4 feet. Later, I cut it off at ground level, and in one of those "Eureka" moments, I invented the broom. I bound the side branches together with one of those tie wraps that keep supermarket produce neat and tidy, clipped the edges even, and voila!

It's actually been quite a useful little outdoor broom, better than a whisk broom for many purposes. And it still works.

This year I'll try to make another. Let's see if I can do on purpose what I did by accident.