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  • From: Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>
  • To: nafex@egroups.com
  • Subject: [nafex] Growing Bananas
  • Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 01:59:49 -0500

Joel:

We lived on the island of Saipan from 1980-83, and I grew the most
beautiful bananas ever seen on the island using pickup loads of fresh
chicken manure from the Joeten egg farm. Starting with shoots of
Williams, the little apple flavored finger bananas, and a red banana
from Ponape, I had mature stalks of fruit ready to hang in exactly 18
months. These were full-size trees, 20 ft. tall, not dwarfs. I put
chicken manure on in massive quantities; a ring 6 ft. in dia. and 6 in.
deep. This was on a pure coral cap, with practically zero organic
content. It stunk at first, but soon settled down with the rain and
warm weather (it was always warm there), and the bananas loved it. Also
built a 20X30 garden right on the surface of the coral with 6" of
chicken manure, and was soon growing beautiful tomatoes and the best
crop of cantaloupes I have ever grown before or since. I learned that
once the sharp edges started to disappear on the maturing bananas I had
to get them off or they would split.

Chicken manure is one of my all-time favorite substances, and if
there were any egg farms around where I live now, I would be hauling it
regularly.

I had a second banana crop coming along which was destroyed by a
typhoon shortly before we left Saipan. Also grew mature papayas out
there --- from seed --- in 18 months.

For minnesota del: I lived in Bolivia for 3 years (85-88), and used to
drive across the altiplano about every 10 days from La Paz to
Cochabamba, then down to the Chapare valley. I like charque too, but
I'm pretty sure it was beef. The indians on the altiplano used to tell
me not to eat Llamas (cameloids) because it would be bad for my tummy.
What I did eat quite a lot of (but never too enthusiastically) was
chuno, the naturally freeze-dried potatoes of the highlands.

Best Rgds, Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA


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