Anyone who lives here, knows the score – if you grow bananas, you watch them develop with trepidation knowing that yours are not the only eyes on them.
How tempting would that be if you were an iguana? I’m sure they have hypersensitive scent glands and strike three seconds before they ripen. I have heard that bananas can explode if not picked in time. Is this true? Does anyone know?
Anyhow, if I were an iguana, this is what I’d see. . .
So – Just before leaving for Ottawa last week, I was faced with a dilemma – I could harvest the bunch I’d been nurturing for the past 6 months – but if I cut them from the plant too soon, they might ripen before my return and be ruined. On the other hand, they were hanging real low and I was afraid that this might be seen as me not caring for/wanting them. They were in a semi-public space – hanging into the driveway – on our property but visible from the street. Being a risk-taker, I opted to wait, reasoning that no one had grabbed them yet and I would only be gone a week. Here’s what they looked like about a month ago.
Here’s what greeted me when I returned. It was too heartbreaking to go near so my friend Danny volunteered to hold up the broken end.
I was furious so I asked my neighbor if he took them, thinking that we didn’t want them. He claimed that no, he didn’t take them and to prove it, he graciously offered me this bunch on his property.
And as if that wasn’t enough neighborly love, he said I could have the little stubbies hanging up top. I think these ripen to red and are super sweet.
So soon it will be banana bread, muffins, pudding because I am truly terrified of what happens when bananas go bad.
