The Banana Saga

Upon arrival at The Landing we inherited a banana circle, comprised of dwarf Cavendish banana 'trees'. Planted in a circle around a depression into which part of our greywater system drains, and into which we regularly toss green matter, compostable materials, and food scraps from our secret organic restaurant source, and where our chooks happily feed, these are happy banana plants.

We harvested one rather mediocre bunch mid-winter. The flavour was not much to brag about. I usually don't care much for Cavendish bananas. They are too bland, lacking that citrusy zing of the Lady Fingers, or the creamy texture of the Golden Cream variety.

A month or so ago, we saw bunches begin to suddenly appear. First one, then a second. Looking from below, even tho these are short trees, we could not see more. Then, overnight, another bunch, then another. Finally we had six bunches, all hanging at the same time.

Too heavy for the small trees, we had to prop some up. The first two broke the stems of the tress and had to be harvested right then. So we hung them on the back veranda and watched. Now they are getting yellow-ish. A few bananas, ahead of the others, got quite yellow and I carefully extracted them from the bunch, to try them. I was surprised to find them quite flavourful.

That was the moment when it hit me: we were about to have a glut. So many bananas, what would we do with them all? My calculations at first came to about 600. Now I am certain the total will be nearer to 750 bananas!

The first bunch to be harvested.

The second bunch.
Each has around 120 bananas on it.

As a beekeeper, and with the advent of our new top-bar hives, which are famous for producing more wax than standard (Langstroth) hives, I had designed a solar wax melting box. Seeing how well it came together, it occurred to me that it was generating heat that could serve two purposes. So, I added a top cabinet into which I made ports to admit the heated air. I also added a small port to let cool air in and a port in the top of the top section to let heated air escape, in hopes of creating air flow.

The Solar Dehydrator and Bee's Wax Melter

The bottom space is for melting and purifying bees wax.
A framework to support the aluminium pans will be added.

The interior of the top box. Shelf supports on the sides and ports in the bottom to admit heated air from below.

The first trial of the dehydrator was with Rosella flowers. I dried, very successfully, almost 200 grams of hibiscus flowers. That's dry weight, so its a lot of red dried flowers for tea.

Rosella, dried flowers

Now the dehydrator is undergoing another test: drying banana chips.

A rack full of chips, about 13 bananas worth.

Six racks full of Banana Chips. Hope they are not too thick!

Friends have suggested making banana jam, cooking the green bananas, freezing them, selling bunches, and just eating them. I think we will try a combination of all of these in the ongoing Banana Saga.

The Landing

Landing

Finally, we have landed.
It is a place for us to do 'landing', living closely connected to a place, imbuing it with our visions and values, absorbing what it has to teach us. Landing...a verb.

Years of life experience, years of searching, we have found a home.
We both have many years experience living on land, close to the cycles of nature. We also have years when we did not live as close, did not have gardens and chooks, or even paid much attention to the waxing and waning of the moon, the changes in seasons.
Now, we are back on land, land of our own.

It is not a big block of land, but is quite enough. Even tho we are on only 1.7 acres, it takes a lot of organisation, effort, and work to keep it in a healthy state. A healthy state means, to us, that the land continues to develop better and better soil, that the plants and animals with whom we share this place can find their own means of thriving, and that we have, as humans, a healthy, safe, and productive space in which to live.

Permaculture is important to us as a design system. Its principles include care of the earth, care for humans, and the return of surplus. Landing, as we embrace it, means taking very seriously all three of these principles. To achieve them, we think carefully about what we observe in nature and include our understandings in our ongoing participation with life in this place.

Amanda grew up in rural communities in the Darling Downs area of central Queensland. Surrounded by great expanses of cropland, the greatest concentration of wildlife was birds. Her understanding of birds of all kinds and her love of them continues. Her sensitivities toward rural lives has given her an open regard and respect for the lives and work of the agricultural community. With over 25 years living on an organic farm, raising her own family, working alongside her partner and close friends, producing avocados, lychees, pawpaws, meat animals and more, she has a depth of experience unlike many of our more urban friends.

Scott grew up on the move, in Central America, Europe, and North America. Travel was a big part of his youth. He was part of the alternative culture that embraced the idea of 'back to the land' in the 70s, and he eagerly studied and lived an alternative lifestyle. Co-operative living, organic gardening, ecological building design, renewable energy systems, and many other aspects of the 'change generation' were at the core of his experience. As a natural teacher, Scott has shared his experiences with many students, including teaching an Introduction to Permaculture course at the Santa Fe Community College for several years. Moving to Australia in the 90s, he began the search for a home, a place to land. After meeting and joining lives with Amanda, the search continued. And finally, a place to land was secured.


Welcome to The Landing!