Hi again.
And here we are in a new room. Let's hope we'll have a lot of good conversations in here.
We came from:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1335741/#new
Enjoy.
Sylvain.
THE COCONUT WIRELESS CHAT THREAD NO. 6
I've been pretty busy at work and at home this year. Been stuck at paint desk at work instead of garden so that limits my outside time at work but I've moved a ton of stuff around this year. And I caught some compost on sale at work dirt cheap (gotta love garden humor) so bought 25 to throw in my veggie bed for next spring.
Time goes by so much faster when you are busy, so glad to hear that you are "sticking" to it! Ha-ha!
I love your humor....dirt cheap.....funny!
It's good to hear from you! Your ball team did very well against the Astros. I thought about you while watching the game.
Hope you are doing well!
Yesterday was very busy for me. I volunteered at the quarterly health screening for veterans who are mostly unable to see a primary physician . there were several VA reps to answer and offer benefits. We do Vitals and H/P and we have several MDs who will examine and do referrals as needed.
We saw 30 clients.
We also give breakfast and lunch. All our services are voluntary.
Jeanne,
I will give a recipe soon.
Belle
This message was edited Oct 20, 2015 8:04 AM
I have watched or listened to all of our post season games. Could only listen yesterday since I was at work but they played it over the intercom so it made up for us being there instead of being at home like all the other smart people. lol
Oh Boy!!! Am I ever glad to see my friends again. Been spending too much time on Facebook. Not enough filters on their posts. This is such a happy place.
Seeing this thread revive is indeed a very nice thing.
I gave up on Facebook and any other social media 3 years ago and never looked back. I also gave up on threads here in DG where the atmosphere was, how do I put this nicely... oppressive and bordering on toxic.
This is a nice quiet place without a topic, or a maven watching over every line and reading meanings into everything. I am sure you'd all agree it should remain that way.
As I type this, my snake Lucy is giving me the eye. She didn't want to come out and play last night and I might get me a snake fix later on tonight. She's such a good baby!
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
Happy birthday, LouC. Lots of love, joy, friends and laughter in the next year.
I send you a virtual cake.
Aloha, Princess.
Sylvain, a.k.a. Eiwamanamana
Happy Birthday, LouC. kb
Happy birthday LouC!
Katiebear, where are you compared to the hurricane? Prayers!
I'm in the middle of the Baja (the penninsula that looks like Florida's twin). We are not in the path but hurricanes are unpredictable so we are keeping a close watch. With luck, we'll get a gentle rain from it.
Thanks for asking,
katie
Good....I was worried about you! Glad you are OK!
Happy B-day Lou C
Belle
Happy Birthday LouC!!!!
Katiebear, glad you aren't in the eye of the hurricane.
Jean,
here is the fried banana recipe:
eggroll wrapper
brown sugar
canned jack fruit
semi ripe cooking banana
Separate wrappers, lay half sliced banana add sliced jack fruit and sprinkle brown sugar
wrap like doing egg rolls
Fry
Best eaten while warm
I make several and freeze them
Enjoy!!!
Belle
Yay, there's life again! I've been on Facebook too much Jeanne, I tried to "like" your banana photo lol.
Plants are happy to be wet here!
This photo I took a few weeks ago. The butterfly is not a Monarch, but look alike Viceroy or one of the other look a likes.
I just fry my bananas/plantains in palm oil. Delish
rjudd, your butterfly looks very much like a male Queen (Danaus gilippus). This is my first foray into the Coconut Chat room. Hello everyone. I wonder how we can get more of the other people from around the tropical world involved in the chat? This is the only garden website i've found that actually has a Tropical Zone Gardening forum and i wish it could be more inclusive. I would love to hear comments from the Middle East, Africa, Thailand, and on and on. I think it would greatly enrich these conversations to have more participants from around the world. How can we coax them to come?
Here is a photo of your butterfly's twin, recently eclosed in my garden with 13 siblings. I think it is a twin, what do you think? Beverly
Oh,what a wonderful exchange. I have blocked a few on my FB page and I hope that effectively took me off of their pages. If I were to do a little investigation think I would probably find that those I correspond with most often are either DGers or long lost friends that I am glad we can connect again. I'm very selective about who I "friend".
You guys are making me wish I could grow bananas up here. Edible, not ornamental. lol
I walked away from FaceBook 3 or 4 years ago when my account got hacked twice. I never looked back. I get requests from friends and acquaintances to join them on Facebook, or on LinkedIn, or whatever. I don't think so. Been there, done that. I stick with DG and that's good enough for me. I have used FaceBook in the beginning to trace some college friends, who had had no contact with me for 35 years. They were not interested in rekindling our acquaince and after thinking all this through, neither did I. Such is life. When someone disappears from your life for nearly 4 decades, you just drifted away, why fight it?
I know of a gardener who has bananas planted in zone 5. They survive winter and come back year after year. However, the growing season is neither warm enough or long enough up there to produce bananas. Some years he gets them to bloom, but that's not the norm. Now, that's one good example of a zone pusher. When I got here, I wanted to have a gunnera (dino lettuce). Well think again, buster. Those grow in the Andes and Florida is just not gunnera country.
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
I am zone 8a. Have had banana plants for 10 or so years and only one bloom which did not produce. I leave them in ground and add mulch for the winter. I know of others that dig the root, wrap in newspaper and put in a semi warm place for the winter.
Sometime, no guarantee, one will produce. I like the look and feel but I buy bananas at the market.
Thanks Randy for "liking my bananas"! (And everyone else too!). I picked one bunch, now we have to wait for them to ripen.
Thanks Belle for the recipe!
We haven't had very many bananas for the number of trees that we have. When we did get them was when we did not cut them back. I read that they have to be 18 mos.old to produce. I wish we got more per tree, but I don't feed or water them, so I am thankful for what we get!
A friend who gets hundreds of pounds of bananas annually from her trees feeds them like crazy. At least a lb of food each month for each tree. We get a lot of rain here so that is not as outlandish as it sounds, all the rain washes the fertilizer through the soil quickly.
What food does she feed them???
Where can I get it???
She just uses 10 5 10, we have an excess of phosphorous in our soil here thus the lower middle number.
Mine are happy with MiracleGro. Actually, my water garden likes MG, too and so do my orchids. The look on the orchid enthousiasts' face at the orchid society when I tell them that: priceless.
Sylvain.
Do you have fish in that water garden? In small does MG won't hurt but it does contain heavy metals which are poisonous to fish. Newbys should be careful and err on the side of caution.
I don't have fish in the water garden. However, this year produced a bumper "crop" of tadpoles, who don't seem affected at all by MiracleGro. Sadly, it's been a tough summer for the water garden. Raccoons ripped out 3 or 4 water lilies and my prized lotus, which they ate like a candy bar. Raccoons are such destructive animals. I was really mad about the water lilies, but I was devastated about my lotus. Of course, you know this means war and I took sweet revenge upon the raccoons. The only supplier of aquatic plants around here closed at the beginning of the summer. I think there is one nursery in Homestead that stocks them. Maybe next spring, I'll replace it. I did enjoy seeing the leaves hanging above the waterline and swaying gently in the breeze. Big sigh.
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
Oh. I am so sorry, I also think raccoons are hateful and destructive animals. Most critters have a purpose but I have yet to think of one for raccoons.
Wish I could help out with another lotus but mine fell victim to some weird virus and I got rid of the last one last summer. I decided to do without until I can be sure there are no more germs around.
Oh, Ardesia, I'm so sorry to hear about your lotus. We were discussing a nursery raid trip to Homestead this afternoon and my friend also wants to go to a specialized water garden nursery just a bit south of Miami. My wife that while I'm at it, I should try to find a yellow specimen. We'll plan that for some time around February. My poor lotus, completely eaten on the concrete slab, such a shame. I nearly blew a gasket.
I'll restart the pond then. My HOA is also giving me a hard time because they see the pond as stagnating water (idiots!), even though it is filtered, treated with BT against mosquitos and oxygenated. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Take care.
Sylvain.
LOL, HOA's and raccoons both bring out the worst in me .
So sorry to hear about your damage Sylvain!
My first bunch of bananas are finally ripening.
We picked the second bunch yesterday.
Does anyone eat the blossom?
They look ready . Do not wait till they are super soft
Yes the blossoms are edible.
Google for recipes!!
Too complicated for me so I just buy the canned ones.
Belle
Thanks Vitrsna, I had quite a time trying to take the photo with wings open, was a bit flighty.
Trying to clean up after rain. New construction all round me is causing drainage problems.
Went to Halloween party last night- fun, Mad Hatter theme.
How do you know when to pick the bananas? My friend's tree has a nice clump, very green right now, and are about the size as pictured above.
I guessed! They were about the size as the ones in the stores! They were beginning to turn a lighter green.
The more yellow they turn the sweeter! We only have two left!
We have gotten so much rain today we had water in our streets. In the back it came up to two feet of the back door! Sure ready for the sun...Tomorrow, tomorrow.......no really, it's suppose to Sunshine Mon-Wed!!!
Have a great week!!!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving to All !!!!
Belle
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Sylvain.