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Jackie Heinricher with BooShoot Gardens toured The State of Alabama recently....I hope her trip was a success, I've been trying to promote bamboo here in the South for 3-years now with not much success.....Maybe her standing in the Horticulture world can help push it along...I sure hope so.....GREAT JOB JACKIE!!!!!

Here is the Link:
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100617/NEWS01/6170312/Shoot-for-the-sky-Experts-hope-bamboo-can-help-grown-Black-Belt-s-economy

Shoot for the sky: Experts hope bamboo can help grown Black Belt's economy
BY SEBASTIAN KITCHEN • script • JUNE 17, 2010

The United States is the largest consumer of bamboo, which is used for everything from clothing and towels to hardwood floors, but none of it is produced here. The founder of a company that produces the plants traveled to the Black Belt region of Alabama this week to look at the possibility of growing bamboo commercially, creating jobs in a struggling region.

Jackie Heinricher, who started Booshoot Gardens LLC of Mount Vernon, Wash., toured Alabama from Monday through Wednesday talking to farmers, community leaders and university officials.

For four years, she has been working with officials in the Mississippi Delta trying to bring together farmers who could grow bamboo along with buyers, processors and those who could sell the products made from the plant or its fibers.

"It could also change a way of life for people in the Black Belt and the delta of Mississippi," said Tom Tartt, the mayor of Livingston and an administrator at the University of West Alabama. " ... This is a product we can grow here, and produce it, and bring jobs to this part of the state."

Heinricher said bamboo's popularity has shot up in the last three or four years.

She stopped in Montgomery on Wednesday to talk to area officials. She spoke to them near a table covered with socks, shirts, and sheets -- all made from bamboo.

Heinricher believes the Black Belt is an ideal location to grow the bamboo. While there are 1,200 species of bamboo, the moso can grow 100 feet in height and 18 inches in diameter and can be harvested annually. Bamboo is not invasive and is often confused with the Japanese knotweed, according to the company.

Martha Folsom, wife of Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., joined Heinricher for her tour of the state.
Martha Folsom said the bamboo is a unique economic development opportunity. The Black Belt includes 18 counties in central Alabama with rich, dark soil that once flourished with cotton production, but that now struggles economically. They are some of the poorest counties in the state and it is one of the poorest regions in the nation.

Heinricher signed an agreement with the University of West Alabama. She is working on an agreement with the University of Alabama, and spoke with officials at Auburn University during her trip here. The universities will work with Booshoot to test the growth of the product here.

Tartt said he was skeptical about the bamboo until meeting with Folsom and Heinricher.

He said the bamboo is a remarkable product that presents a remarkable opportunity.

Heinricher already has talked to companies interested in incorporating bamboo into their product lines. Some business giants including Target and 3M already include the plant in products.

She wants to bring together a supply chain from the farmer growing the bamboo to the company selling the products.

Starbucks is even looking to use bamboo for its cups, Heinricher said.

She said the product can be used for everything from shirts to railroad ties.

Martha Stewart honored Heinricher as a visionary entrepreneur for her work with bamboo. Heinricher worked with scientists at her company to develop the science to grow the bamboo by tissue cultures in test tubes, which allows the plant to be mass produced domestically and compete internationally in the production of pulp, paper, textile, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and hardwoods.

Booshoot is the largest supplier of bamboo plants in the world, according to the company, and is able to supply companies more than one million plants a year.

Bamboo, which is the fastest-growing plant in the world, is also more environmentally friendly than trees, pulling in more carbon dioxide and releasing more oxygen, according to Heinricher. The plants also do not require pesticides and do not require irrigation.

Bamboo is renewable and is not a food source, she said.

Statistics: Posted by BamaBamboo - Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:08 pm - Replies 11 - Views 154

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