BNSullivan.jpg "Banana flower with new fruit")
Banana (Musa sp.)
Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii
Our banana trees are flowering, and some are beginning to fruit. Right now, the newly formed green bananas are only about three inches (8 cm) long. Once they have grown to their full size, they will begin to turn yellow. We like to eat them before they over-ripen, so when the fruit is about half-yellow, a 'hand' at a time will be cut from the tree.
We love having bananas fresh from the garden. The only problem is that so many seem to ripen at once, yielding more than we can eat before they spoil. When faced with an oversupply, we share them with neighbors, sometimes trading the bananas for types of fruits we don't grow.
4 comments:
How cool! Must be nice to pick your own bananas. :-) I've got an apricot tree but never get to them before the birds do. :-(
I've never seen a Banana flower. They are really pretty. I would love a tree of my own, but I can see you could get overwhelmed with bananas. I would prpbably make dried chips.
B.
What a gorgeous color green they are! Is that the flower in the middle? It is huge!
The actual flower is the purplish thingie, and yes, Kathy, they are quite large. The little bananas form at the base of the flower in bunches called 'hands'. After awhile, as the bananas get bigger, the whole thing droops downward from the weight. You cut each 'hand' with a machete or other large knife.
@2Sweet - I'll trade you some bananas for some apricots. ;-}
@ Becky - Never tried drying them as chips, but I do freeze some to use later for banana bread. They get very mushy as they thaw, but they have to be mashed for banana bread anyway, so that works!
Bobbie
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