The one good thing about my bamboo is that I make a couple hundred dollars every spring selling it for garden stakes and tiki bars. For years I took it to the landfill. One year I put an ad on Craigslist with a good picture. Iāve not put a piece in my truck since then. I can sell it as fast as I can cut it. Still not worth the troubleā¦
Iām a bit colder than you. A neighbor of mine tore out Yellow Groove a few years back, he wouldnāt even share any. He said he would feel bad inflicting it on someone else after fighting and cursing it for so long.
Iāve had nigra in the ground for 6 years and if it had more sun it likely would have thrived, even in my climate. I potted it last year. A Yellow Groove will be going into its place (it has spent 2 years in a pot and has filled it with roots.
None of my shoots have ever been large enough for me to bother trying to peel and sample them.
I also have Arundo Donax āVariegataā in the ground. It has not been as vigorous as Iāve hoped.
Anyone growing Sasa veitchii?
Scott
Now thereās a great example of turning lemons into lemonaide 
I need to thank you for the sawsall comment! OMG, I bought a cheap reciprocating saw that works with my 18V Ryobi batteries and it is going to make my bamboo cutting soooooo much easier this summer! Like a hot knife through butter! Well, not really, but a heck of a lot better than using a machete and no more razor sharp edges! I am going to redouble my bamboo selling this summer thanks to this. Will make it a snap!
Yah the sawzall is the ticketā¦!
I use a long wood cutting blade, it helps a lot to have a helper
Lay each Cain down, away from your work area. So all you have to do is cutā¦and not get buried in cains.
Also , I find that letting them air dry for a month or soā¦
ā with the leaves on ā they dry more evenly , preventing cracking of the bottom , main Cain.
So donāt get in a hurry to cut them to length ( tomatoe stakes , etc.)
As they will often crack lengthwise if done too soonā¦
Yes and no on the hardy edible bamboo. I am in zone 4b and planted about a dozen varieties in 1999. We found no variety that keeps the above ground growth over winter, but most will come back from the roots. We visited Adam Turtle down in Tennessee who gave us some words of wisdom. phyllostachys dulcis (sweet stem bamboo) is not the hardiest of bamboos, but unlike many others it stores much of its reserves in the roots rather than the culms. It comes back strong every year, growing to 15 - 20 feet tall each year. I let a patch or two go where it wants and mow the rest off in the lawn.
Thanks. Thatās good to know. I donāt really have space to grow edible bamboo. The hardy, non edible bamboo I have serve us well as a natural screen. The grove stays green through the winter most years.
They are bitter because they contain the cyanide taxiphyllin. Thatās why they need to be processed before consumption.
Good to know , thanks
Appending this to the good bamboo discussion. We had some debate about annual spread from an established bamboo stand. I was thinking 50 feet, others said about 20. I measured. The old school bamboo I have is sending up big, thick stalks 34 feet away from the main stand. The last shoot is by my girlfriendās leg. Poodle for scale.
I am in 7a and there is a significant stand of bamboo growing invasively in a creek near me. I guess I donāt know for sure that it is edible.
I have seen an Asian couple collecting sprouts to eat, but until I see them again I canāt take that as proof that it is edible. 
its too cold for bamboo here but its invasive cousin, the japanese knotweed grows everywhere here. ive heard its edible but ive yet to try it as people are constanly spraying it or pouring oil and gas trying to kill it. i know a few patches out off the beaten path i may have to try next spring.
I think most bamboo is hardy. I have the Phyllostachys sp and it stays green almost all time over winter. It grows to about 15ā tall and the mature bamboo is only about 1" diameter. Yes, the young shoot is edible, though you do not want to wait too long. It can still be tender if young shoots grow to 2-3ā tall. I believe almost all young bamboo shoots are edible.
The real bamboo shoot for food is Phyllostachys pubescens or moso bamboo. It can grow to 70ā tall and 5" to 8" in diameter. This is the bamboo shoots sold at Asian markets. I got some of those roots from a friend, but it did not make it. It takes a long time to get established. But it is not very dense since it needs room to grow.
I also had the Pseudosasa tesselata. It has large leaf that I do not like.
Iāll be happy to dig up some roots of mine if anyone is close to me.
Does anyone know of an affordable, reputable place to buy clumping bamboo that will survive in zone 6a?