This post is all about answering the question "how many bananas"? But first a few things....
This week was an epic milestone... I got my first offer to buy some P2 bananas!
Plus our friend Bruce asked Mark "how many banana plants do you have"? Mark's answer was "I have no idea" LOL. I actually had no idea either!
On Thursday Brock of Florida Fields to Forks brought my delivery of produce share and fruit share, and asked me if I have extra bananas to sell. I'll have to admit, I have been struggling for years to get past hobby banana grower and to a point where I could reliably have fruit to eat all year. With the warm winter we had 2018/2019, the bananas at P2 are doing AMAZING. We had some high winds in a storm yesterday, bringing a banana bunch to the ground so I had to go harvest this morning. When I went to pick up the banana bunch, it was VERY HEAVY. I used all my strength to lift it up into LEM's trailer and get it back to the screened in porch so it can ripen safely away from the deer and squirrels. Once I got in back, Mark and I weighed it... 35 lbs! Weeeeeeeeeeee. This bunch is from Swamp Baby, which is an offspring from Swamp King. Swamp King was once of my first bananas that I bought online. I put the bananas in several different locations at P2 as kind of a science experiment to see how they did. Poor Swampy got stuck in 100% water in a very wet location. When I rescued him a year later, he was just fine, and spent some time in the pool cage before he got a place of honor in Palm Beach. Anyhow, Swamp King's baby (Swamp Baby) has made some incredible bananas. 35 lbs!
So, how many bananas? I did a walkabout and counted this morning. Every pup counts as one. We have 200 banana plants! So yep, I think it's highly likely that I'll have some extra bananas to sell or barter very soon. The banana log will help me to know when it's time to harvest them.
I did a bit of research this morning, and wholesale prices for specialty organic bananas are about $1 a pound. Not bad!
