Grow bananas! it’s easy as 1, 2, 3. Dig a hole, put fertilizer/organic material in and plop the banana keiki in the ground. Its that simple. If you live in Hawaii with a back yard just do it. It’s healthy, great for food security, already in natural packaging so it’s easy to share and people love it when they get bananas!
Plant a variety that has bunchy top resistance like namwah, or popoulu which is da kine I planted today. Make sure the keiki is a sword which has pointy leaves when it’s small. One with a nice root ball. Swords grow better and produces fruit much faster. The suckers have more roundish leaves. But by all means plant any banana you can get.
The popoulu I planted today is a starch banana (or cooking plantain). When it ripens you can eat it like a normal banana. Julia and I like to eat it green and unripe because you can cook it like a potato. Our all time favorite, most easiest and quickest way to eat it is making fritters like hash browns. All you do is peel the plantain skin off with a knife, grate it, and fry it in a pan with a good amount of oil. The more oil you use the more crispy it gets. Press it down after you flip it over and when both sides are golden-ish sprinkle on some salt on top while its hot.
Make it fancy by throwing on some cheese, or sliced tomato, green onions, or even a sunny side up egg!!! mmmmmmm…… Green bananas do have a subtle banana flavor to it, but its perfect with spicy food, curries and coconut based savory foods.
Originally posted on 2021-05-03, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.