Urban Farmstead

When I planted this banana two years ago, along with 50+ other tropical and subtropical plants in my Northern California food forest (zone 9b), it was very much an experiment. I knew there was a chance that they would survive and possibly fruit here, but it wasn’t a sure thing. What I never would have expected is a rack of bananas this massive and for the fruit to taste so phenomenal. To be honest, I would’ve been stoked with a dozen bananas that tasted almost as good as what I could buy in the store. So to say this experience has exceeded my expectation would be an understatement. This banana plant was a gift from a friend who didn’t know the name of the variety. After talking with people who have been growing bananas for a lot longer than I have it sounds like this is most likely a Tall Nam Wah banana. #gardening #garden #homegrown #bananas#homestead #permaculture #foodforest #plants

The banana is not a tree, technically it’s a giant herb. It grows, it flowers, it fruits, it dies, and as long as you leave a pup (new sprout) the cycle will continue. Most people harvest the fruit by chopping down the entire tree with a machete, however this was not an ideal method in this space, so I used a ladder to harvest, then immediately chopped it from the top down, which also worked. #banana #harvest #permaculture #plants #garden #gardening #foodforest

Can you guess how many bananas I harvested on this rack? For more information about these bananas that I grew in my backyard food forest in Sacramento,CA see my last post where I explained my process, show the harvest and the tasting. #foodforest #permaculture #homegrown #bananas #garden #gardening #plants