Hand picked

Yesterday we picked our first hand of bananas.  I'll admit the harvest this time around will involve quite a bit of guesswork and a lot of internet trawling, having no experience with bananas other than the time my father harvested a huge bunch when I was a little girl.  All four of the kids managed to fit along the bunch to hold it for the photo.  If you have any tips on when to pick I'd be more than happy to hear them!

We've left the bell on this one and cut it off the other

The hand we chose was from the Lady Finger as this was the first to fruit, followed by the dwarf Ducasse.  We bagged them a few weeks ago and I've been checking on them periodically ever since.  The bags have worked so far but the only problems is that you can't quite tell the colour of the bananas.  I was becoming increasingly paranoid that they'd all ripen at once and that some of them were surely yellow already so I convinced His Tallness (aka Mr Colliwat) to do some more manly ladder climbing pirate style with a knife between his teeth and to teeter at the top of the mast and check on my precious bounty.

After much teetering, he slid the bag down the bunch and allayed my fears.  The bunch was still well and truly green but the fingers were nice and fat like the lady had been treated to a little too much cake.  Wielding his cutlass he deftly slashed the topmost hand off at the wrist with one blow.  Grabbing a banana leaf and with the knife between his teeth he swung bang down to the deck with the treasure.  (Well, maybe not but a little story's better than the mundane truth, right?)

The hand weighed in at 875g (waaaay too much cake indeed) and is now resting in the fruit bowl with a ripe banana.  Fingers crossed it will ripen before the rest of the bunch.  I love bananas but I don't think I want 30kg or more all at once and there's a limit to how many you can palm off to friends and family before they give you the finger.