Day 85 - There are always a number of bananas growing at the Minuwangoda house. As a youngster born at higher latitudes, I thought bananas grew on trees, but they don't.
Each banana stalk can have a single banana bud. If the flower grows, then that entire stalk will dedicate its existence to one bunch of bananas and then die. New shoots grow around that finished one and the plant grows more stalks outward in a ring around the original plant. We always cut and move the dead stalks and use them as compost. Sometimes the baby shoots, of a foot or two in height, can be transplanted in a better location.
I took out the drone today to do a little investigation on a bunch. Do you see the one banana that is ready in the photo above? Another thing about bananas is as soon as just one of the bunch ripens, wild creatures, birds, and bats will come to feast on it. They're fast. So as soon as a yellow one is spotted, a human better strike quickly!
Jay thought he noticed the yellow one from down. Yet, it was hard to tell in the sunlight as they were growing about three meters off the ground. So, I opened the case containing the DJI Mavic Mini. The photo above was proof that it was time to cut the large stalk.
On closer inspection, in the image below, it is pretty obvious that something had a snack last night. Getting this bunch was, in fact, great timing. If it had been left for another few days, much of the top of the bunch would've been eaten.
By cutting this morning, Jay got these bananas for us to eat later in the week. They ripen fast once cut. This is the third bunch that has become ready in the last few days. Sometimes, weeks can go by when we have to rely on store-purchased bananas.
