Starting the Banana Trees!
The Thailand Black Stem
banana seeds arrived yesterday! After a quick examination of the 10 small
grape-sized, hard-as-steel seeds, I placed them in a bowl of warm spring water
to soak for a few days.
The
Thailand Black Stem banana seeds arrived yesterday! I was ridiculously excited.
After a quick examination of the 10 small grape-sized, hard-as-steel seeds, I
placed them in a bowl of warm spring water to soak for a few days.
The
instructions say to soak the seeds for 24 hours before planting. I know this
won’t be enough. These seeds are very, very thick skinned. On Sunday, I’ll
plant them up in a light, well-draining soil, and place them on a heat mat for
germination.
It
looks like the young banana trees will arrive today. I’m a bit anxious about
what kind of shape they’ll be in. I may be deep into damage control for several
weeks. Today, I’m visiting the local nursery for some fresh potting soil and
pots. Cross your fingers. What an adventure!
Last
night, we brought all the citrus into the house for winter. The nights are too
cold now for citrus to survive. So I’m bracing myself for the leaf drop that
will happen once the citrus realize that summer is over. It looks like the lime
tree is free from mealybugs, but I’ll spray it a few more times for good
measure. The lemons on the lemon tree might not come to maturity in the house. We
may have to take the loss. I just hope they’ll all survive winter in the house.
Today’s
lunch is a toasted tomato sandwich using one of the last vine-ripe tomatoes
from the food garden. Sad times. There’s several green tomatoes still, but
they’ll probably not ripen up on the plants. I’ll likely bring them indoors to
‘ripen’. It’s a poor substitute for still-warm-from-the-sun, vine-ripened
tomatoes. I’ll soon be counting down the days until next summer.
My
husband’s birthday is this weekend, so we have lots of fun plans. Looking
forward to some fellowship with family and friends, time on the boat, good
food, and his very special birthday cake.
Live
in peace.
