How to Make More Bananas

As Banana and Platano stalks grow, suckers, or chutes grow out of the base of the plant.  

  
It is not uncommon to get 6 or 8 of these coming out through the rainy season. Simply dig down next to the chute, put a shovel between the adult and the juvenile and cut it off in the roots. Dig a new hole and plant the baby. You probably could triple your orchard every year if you wanted.   

 
Here is a new one just transplanted. From here it is about 12 -16 months and you have fresh fruit. We did 20 of these yesterday in different parts of the yard.here is what happens if you do too much.  

 
I love this place!

 

Platanos for Sale?

We are getting so many Platanos now we can’t eat them all. Nice problem to have. Here is a couple of racks coming out of the pods.  

 
Delicious, healthy organic eating year round. There are so many new shutes sprouting out of the ground we are giving some away and adding to the orchard. 

  
These are really pretty too. I love this place!  

Gato y Maracuyá

This vine and trellis is Maracuyá. It is super delicious and makes the best juice.  I started it from a seedling last year. Time to add taller poles to the setup.  
This is the flower below. This turns into the fruit. The pesky cat is just a prop that follows me around the garden all day.  

I hope the fruit is as delicious as the flower is beautiful. So nice to see these trees coming around. I love this place. 

Panama Is A Verb

  
My first time in rural Panama, Not prepared for what I saw. Knowing so little about the place, I came with open eyes and grace. It struck me first the scenery, The oceans and the skies, Lush and green from coast to coast, And mountains way up high. And life is lived so simply.   

 Happier people there are none, They give and have no greed, quietly living off the land, For many a century, They share with all the things they have, plant crops and harvest too, Build homes of mud and cinder block, Is the way that they love you.

  
With what I brought to Panama, I never could repay The countless acts of kind and deed, I’ve received along the way,  My home, now full of welcome too, no sign do not disturb, Now what do I know of Panama? Panama is a verb. 
   

 Beautiful good people living the life. Thank you for making my life better though kindness Mis Hermanos

The 4 inch Lizard

Really, the only way to get a closeup of these speedy, timid lizards, is after they expire. For reasons unknown, this one had it happen to him on the rocks in my patio.  

 
No cat marks and no signs of stress, but a colorful work of art from Panama.  

 
  
Hard to get my camera to focus on the pattern. Beautiful creatures. I have another little photo project I’m working. This caterpillar has started morphing and I’m getting a series of pics and hoping to see what it becomes. This is photo 1. Wish me luck!  

 

 

Why We Plant

  If you have never tried gardening on any scale, this is a little glimpse of what it means to grow your own. These platanos were planted last year now we have too much to eat.  

 An old Chinese Proverb stated “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today”.  This below is my first maracuyá turning to fruit planted last year. 

 Having fresh fruits and vegetables floating around the house daily promotes healthy eating, and eating what you have planted and cultivated promotes personal gratitude for the abundant living we are blessed to live by.  

  
Can’t wait for the avocados! 

 

Bees Glorious Bees

  
Although all the bees of Panama are Africanas, or africanized, it is good to see them here doing there job.  This variety I have not seen til this morning in the corn. They worked hard a couple hours then disappeared.  I kept my distance as I could, for they did look a little roudy and untrustworthy. 

 
The corn this year is looking good, and another week or so should be ready.  ¡Que Bueno!  You can see in the video below they look just a little aggressive. Wild kingdom!
 

Superstitious Panama

  
Asking my neighbor today what’s up with the red squares in the fence lines of some of these farms. Apparently there are a few people in the area with very powerful “evil eye”, and the squares are to attract the gaze away from the crops.  

 
According to scources, one particular man in the area has accidentally wiped out entire fields and also killed several trees just with a gaze. He is also able to kill off bees nests and other problems merely by looking at them. So as you can see, this farm is well protected.  

 
No me des el mal ojo por favor. I love this place!

Lemon Grass

  I always imagined having a yard full of edible treats, and lemon grass is one of the best. Hardy and disease resistant, we cut out of this almost every night for our evening tea. Tea for 5 and it just keeps growing as fast as we can use it.  

 Cut it in short pieces and boil with a cinnamon stick, add cream and homemade sugar cane honey (miel) and ¡que rico!  The lemon grass here is very potent and a favorite here with the kids too. Here is our cane honey bucket.  
 You can see it gets a lot of use. Fresh and homemade in Panama. I love this place.!