Bananas!

      This morning we harvested bananas! When Ming Wei told me the plan, I pictured us picking each yellow banana one by one off of the tree. I was way off. We drove a pickup truck out to the cluster of banana trees (this is inaccurate - bananas are actually giant weeds in the grass family, so I guess you just call them banana plants...) and Bobby got out the machete. Ming Wei pointed out the ripe bunches (which were mostly green with a few turning yellow) and we cut down the entire stalk. Each stalk only produces once, so you can cut down the whole thing instead of attempting to climb to get at the fruit. Bobby hacked at the stalk with the machete while Ming Wei and I waited under the giant plant. "As I cut, the stalk will slowly fall towards you and you should catch it and ease it to the ground. It will be really heavy," Bobby told us. Before I knew it, a mass of over 40 bananas were falling towards my face. I tuned my head and put my arms up, and we just barely kept the bananas from smashing to the ground.
      We cut off the bunch and Bobby cut the stalk into chunks which we put around the base of the plant. They will decompose and provide nutrients for the rest of the stalks.
      We ate the two yellow-ish ones right away...not your typical Dole banana. Their a bit tart with an orangish interior. Very tasty. The rest are hanging from the side of the house and will begin to tun yellow in a few days. I'm not exactly sure what four of us will do with 40 ripe bananas...mash em up and make bread I guess! Although Yan once at 30 in two days...Bobby had to stash some in his sock drawer to make sure he got at least a couple. I'm up against a serious banana lover...