Welcome Back, Welcome Back....Welcome Baaaack! May 2016

2016 Will be the Summer of Bananas!

We are well on our way...

The mild Winter and warm Spring have us running a full month and a half  ahead of where we are normally during the growing season(and that's a good thing).  Those that took our advice and trimmed the banana plants up high have been rewarded with 4-5 full sized leaves on their tallest plants.  With the bulk of the Summer a head of us good things are certainly in store.  In fact, we recently and confidently proclaimed on SIMPLY BANANAS FACEBOOK PAGE(Link), that in the year 2016 the Charleston and LowCountry area will produce more Bananas than any other year in the history of Earth!  Think about that for a moment... this a true landmark episode in our relatively short past.
The Chinese were right...
With 2016 being the year of the Monkey...it only follows that it will also be the year of Bananas.

Keep an eye on the weather...

Unfazed by the rain, these Banana Plants are out for a swim during the 1000 Year Rainstorm in October 2015.

Despite underground water tables being 2 feet above historic levels(according to the town of James Island), keep an eye out for dry summertime conditions.  Combat dry weather by watering heavily.  Remember that  healthy leaves lend themselves to healthy flowers and fruits. Banana leaves are wide and long and transpire a lot of water up from the roots.  Mulch keeps weeds from stealing water and nutrients, while holding moisture.  The mulch eventually decomposes and becomes the plant's food.  Mulch early, often, and heavily.  Grass clippings are our favorite.  Many times, you will get the benefit of someone else's lawn fertilizer in your free bag of mulch!

Naked Blooms

Sometimes one of the first items out of the stalk after the winter is a bloom.  While exciting, one must remember that banana fruits need food to grow and mature.  This food needs to come from the not just the roots, but the leaves.  Naked blooms have few or no leaves.  While it is not completely impossible for the fruits to survive and mature, a naked bloom has very little chance for success.  Just enjoy the process and hope the timing is a little better next season.

Banana Harvest Videos

We, Simply Bananas, have a YouTube Channel with different banana related videos.  Many of them are harvest videos showing successful and unsuccessful ways to get the bananas from the stem for eating.  Check it out sometime.

 

10 Years Strong! 

Way back in the infant years of Simply Bananas.

Yes--that is right.  Ten years ago I had an idea to introduce others to the fun of growing bananas here in coastal South Carolina.  It really is something special for all of us to have undertaken together.  You see, in the tropics, bananas literally grow like weeds, therefore very few folks seem to care.  However, in our zone, banana plants are not all that common, so we take a bit more pride in growing them and growing them well.  When we get a flower and eventually some fruit, we have accomplished something that is a bit on the rare and exotic side.  We have accumulated an enormous amount of friends who have taken this journey with us, helping us learn throughout the way.  Therefore, I'd like to say thanks to the feedback and cheers to our success.

The Wildly Popular "How's it Hangin'" Section

Will return very soon when have some enticing dangley bits to show.  If you are not familiar with this section, we publish photos of your bananas hanging off the plant.  Send your pictures to us here SimplyBananas1@gmail.com or add them to the Simply Bananas Facebook Social Media Page.

Some of you may recall our wildlife camera trap project we have going on in Costa Rica.  You can get updated from this link: Camera Trap/Trail Camera Update

See y'all next time! (if I don't get arrested for using the Washington Posts flood image and/or the stunning Ehrinn Cummings 2002 Sports Illustrated  image)

The Post Summer slash Fall Newsletter

 

See....they really do eat Bananas!***See below

While we were monkeying around...the summer passed us by!  Well, of course, that is perfectly normal. We head into shorter days and cooler temperatures.  We can still enjoy the bananas plants for perhaps a couple of months. 

Preparing for Winter--Around this time of year, I usually start getting email about banana protection during the cold.  My mantra...is "Mulch".  Sure, you can wrap the stem in burlap and c-7 Christmas lights, but I don't really think it is necessary. That certainly won't save the leaves from a frost and it won't prevent the trunk from freezing should we have severe cold temps.  The best thing that you can do is mulch around the base of your plants with free grass clippings or leaves.  Heavy mulching will provide protection that has been adequate here in the LowCountry. Cut brown/drooping leaves if they offend you or leave them attacthed for unsightly pseudo stem protection until Spring.  Remember...never run with a machete:

All you need to know in 45 seconds!

3+ inches or 8+centimeters of rain the last few days of September

Typically... and I say, typically--in the absence of tropical disturbances, September is one of the drier months. This September has been an exception. I have personally emptied over 4 inches of water from my rain gauge twice this September.  Even more remarkable than the rainfall is the lack of clear skies this month.  Never have I seen so few sunny days in a month's time.  What does this mean for bananas?  It means that entering the Winter the p-stems will be full of water.  Water and potentially ice can act as insulation for the core from freezing temperatures.  This, of course, is a key necessity in fruit production for our area.  Barring an extreme Winter, fruit production should rebound in the Summer of 2015.
 

Tropical Iguana visiting the Simply Bananas stand in Marion Square

Season 8 was really Great--Simply Bananas has now completed 8 seasons at the Charleston Farmer's Market, one of the top farmers markets in the country.  We always enjoy 'talking bananas' with everyone who stops by.  Thank you for making season 8 so fine, and we'll see you in April for season nine!




This Space Intentionally Left Blank






A dramatic pause...








.. for the incredibly anti-climactic How's It Hangin' Section!

'Wild' Orinocos from abandoned house on Edisto's Big Bay Creek

 

Ben's Bananas from Downtown Charleston

Ornamental Bordelon from here on James Island

Well, that will do it for this edition. Remember that if you have questions or concerns about bananas, I am easy to contact.
You can reach me on the Simply Bananas Facebook Page,
by the comment box below, or via email.

***This photo is from our Trail Camera Project in Costa Rica.  
See more pictures by clicking here:
Rainforest Animals on Trail Cams.

All About Pups...The Late-May-/Slash/-Early-June-Summer-Blog-posting!

Lou Ferrigno, as "The Incredible Hulk", Friday nights on CBS...circa 1978.

Oh...How times have changed!--Remember a few weeks ago when those gnarly green nubs that were poking out of last years smelly banana stumps?  Now what have we got?  Big Green Monsters!  The energy from the 2013's big plants is now funneled into explosive growth.  We'll continue to see this for another few months if we get decent rainfall.  Things will be looking up from the bananas point of view.

Pup-mania-- Calls, emails, random passers-by at the Charleston Farmers Market, etc., all with the same question, "Why are my banana plants pullulating* so much this Spring?"   Banana plants don't really 'know' the seasons.  All they know is that something, somehow, removed the growing portion of the plant.  In the tropics, it could be eaten by an animal or a fallen tree may have broken the banana plant in half.  The results are the same: Send out new growth.  This could be a replacement stem and/or new growth in the form of pups. 

Don't Forget--to Water.  May has been pretty dry.

Should the Zombie Apocalypse come to fruition, sooner rather than later, rest assured that your banana plants can be the key to your survival.  In addition to the great fruit that you may get, if conditions are right, there are many uses for the banana plant itself.  Many of these uses can be seen in this very interesting video:

Pup Chow--If you watched the video above, you may have seen the part about eating the inner core of the stem( at the 9:57 mark).  Here is a Thai recipe that looks like a delicious way to use some of those excess pups.  Eat those pups! Step by Step recipe.

When you get full of those delicious pups for dinner, consider transplanting some.  It is an easy project.  Place a shovel between the mother plant and the pup and dig straight down.  You should see the pup loosen.  Dig around the remaining sides and the pup should pop right up.  Trim the leaves in half and transplant in a desired location.
 
If you have ever wondered how they get those bananas from very tall plants, check out this video.  You can see it is a very smooth operation when done by skilled hands.

  

The How's it Hangin' section:  We got nothin'...yet.
When you get a flower or fruit, send some pictures our way and we'll post them up in our very next blog! 

*pullulating-definition

The 'Man-I'm-Glad-It's-Officially-Spring', Update:

                   

        So...What are you going to do... What can you do?

Don't just sit there and feed your bananas to the goat!

My Gosh, man, where have you been?--Well, when the LowCountry got cold, we went south.  We left Charleston on January 7 for a scheduled Winter excursion to Central America.  On the day we left, it was 21°f at our house and I knew the plants were in for a big hit.  It was not cold enough for a fatal blow, but deep damage was certain.  As Winter dragged on, I could only hand wring from afar as our 'tropical' plants were battered again and again by cold wet weather. 

I certainly believe--that this year mirrors the Winter of 2011.  My records indicate that we had cold weather well into April.  In fact, our Saba finally put out a tiny new sprig on APRIL 20, that Spring!  On our FaceBook page, I documented the phoenix-like return of the Saba Banana with "The Wednesday Afternoon Saba Report" photo album.  Here is another link: Click Me!
We just need a few 80° days to get things going.  If history repeats itself, I suspect we'll some green above ground in then next month.  Everybody relax.

So what can you do now--If you have not done so, cut away the dead parts of the plant.  I needed to cut most of mine away before I got any indication of life inside of the trunk(psuedostem).  After a normal Winter, I would not suggest such butchery.  A rotting core can spread downwards and kill what's is left of that stem.  Cut away the stink and the mush. 
Here is how I did it a few weeks ago:

 
What was I doing in Costa Rica?--Well, there was research to be done.  You may recall our camera-trap project that we initiated in the jungle last July.  We set out 12 motion activated cameras and let them snap away for 6 months.  We are in the process of cataloging our findings from the over 12,000 images.  Here is more of what we found: CLICK ME!

One night, the Kinkajou came for a banana snack.

How's it Hangin' Section
Obviously, there won't be much to see...but I ran outside and shot a few pictures. 

The Saba, working hard on a leaf.

 

Michael. my neighbor, has this new 'leaf' on his Ice Cream mat.

 

The Namwah shows a little green.

Remember, these early leaves will be shredded and ugly for the first month or so.  When you get 3 or more leaves, shredding should decline.

See you next time!

Comments are welcome.

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The Simply Bananas Late August Update

Those Long Summer Days- June Update

The Long Days of June--The Summer Solstice arrives at week's end.  These long warm days are what enables us to have tropical banana plants in our less than tropical location.  We have about 2 more hours of daylight than do the tropics this time of year and it translates into extra growth.  Spend a late afternoon or early evening wandering around your banana plants.  Check around the leaves and trunk, because you'll never know what you will find...

A Squirrel Tree Frog resting in a unopened Banana leaf!

Our Conservation Efforts--My wife, Kate, and I have kicked off a project to survey the animals on the property that we own in Costa Rica.  The information that we gather will enable us to help keep the forest as healthy as possible.   We've chosen a great crowd funding site called IndieGoGo to help us.  Crowd-funding enables individuals to make small contributions to a project.  The site accepts credit cards or PayPal easily and safely.  To find out more information about our campaign, please click on the link:
Animal and Plant Conservation in Costa Rica!
We have less than two weeks left!
Animal and Plant Conservation in Costa Rica 

Patience Pays Off--This past Saturday, I was notified a minimum of 3 times about fruiting bananas.  The mild winter seems to finally be yielding the expected results.  Barring any unforeseen storm damages, we can expect to be eating homegrown bananas 4 months from the time the plants bloomed.  You may cut the flower pod off when it is 12"-18" from the last hand of bananas.  Google a recipe on how to prepare the flowers to eat!

Leave it Be--While I do not advocate this practice all the time, I will sometimes snip a leaf off of a non-fruiting banana plant and use it in cooking.  The first step is to soften the leaf over heat.  This makes it pliable.  You then cut it into sections to wrap food or use like parchment or foil.   Here is one of our favorite recipes involving fresh Grouper.

The How's It Hangin' Section--Showing off your Bananas!

Kathy's Dwarf Namwahs from Summerville

Nicole's Nutty Goodness's Ice Cream  Bananas-- More about Nutty Goodness

Eloise's Bananas from Sullivan's Island

Ryan's Ice Creams

Ryan's Postcard-Perfect other bunch of Ice Creams

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May Day! May Day! Is it really May or Novembrrrrr? The May 2013 Update.

Well, it could be worse!

We don't have any snow...yet!--However, stranger things have happened.  Who could have guessed that our amazingly mild winter would linger into one of the Coldest Springs in history.  Not me.  We left just days after the release of the Pre-Ides of March Update for a few weeks in Costa Rica.  When we returned, I expected multiple new leaves and pups.  In reality, I had single leaves that had been heavily shredded or broken.  The cause, you ask?  Slow growth from cold temperatures and strong Spring turbulent winds.   I cannot imagine that this will last much longer than the next week or two.  Onward!  Thanks to Judy at www.bellewood-gardens.com for her awesome photo above of her thriving Basjoo Bananas......... in New Jersey!

Mucha Agua--In addition to the cold April, it seems as if it was really wet too.  Normal rainfall for April is 2.53 inches.  April 2013 has us at... 5.98 inches.  Seeing that I'm an optimist, this comes as good news because South Carolina is officially drought free.  Yip!  This is a good way to start off our growing season.

Farmers Marketssssss---Yes, thats marketsssss.  For now, I am appearing at The Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market on some Tuesdays and the Charleston Farmers Market(Marion Square) on Saturdays.  Come and get whats in season locally and whats in season in other parts of the globe(watermelons...yes) as well.  Shrimp season starts soon.

Moving Bananas--I saw this tweet the other day:

Of course it is fake(APtweets).   Nonetheless, if your banana plants languished last summer in their current location,  just dig them up and give them to a new home.  Soil/shade/sun/rain/magnetism, etc could be affecting the growth rate.  This bizarre combination is unlikely occur again on your plot of land.  @SimplyBananas1 is on Twitter. 



Cool things I seen on the internets---I saw this garden using spent banana plant trunks:

I planted basil in one old trunk and it's beginning to come up.  I'll be interested to see how it does as the Spring goes along. 


Season *8--This is the eighth year of Simply Bananas.  As a zone-buster from way back, I deeply appreciate all whom have helped us.  Its you who provide feedback to what works and what doesn't so that I can hone in on providing the best banana plants that we can grow given our circumstances.  Thanks!

The How's It Hanging Section--While nobody has sent us any pictures YET(by the way...send them to SimplyBananas1@gmail.com).  I have heard of a Basjoo(fiber banana) with the yellow flower from the folks downtown as well as a mysterious blooming edible banana deep in the forests of Snee Farms.  The best I can offer is this skinny mutant Ice Cream bud.  There is only one real leaf and may not make it.
 

Sad, I know, but don't weep. 

See ya soon--Maybe in June!
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