firsts for the new year

Welcome to my blog site. This post is about the "Firsts" in my home vegetable garden, on Rota, in the Mariana Islands, CNMI, USA.

First Roma Tomato

Of the 30 Roma Tomato plants in the garden, this afternoon, was very glad to see the very first tomato. As before, pollination was a big problem, with the winds off the bay, usually blowing every day close to 10-15 mph.

To attract bees, hung bunches of sticks in the nearby tree, hoping they would live in the garden. Also praying for more bees. Without a doubt, God answers our prayers. So, if we don't ask, it's not His fault.

 First Sweet Bananas

Maybe, you're thinking, sweet bananas? Out here, in the Mariana Islands, bananas are either "for cooking" or "for eating." The ones for eating are sweet, while the others are not.

This particular one, produces Manila bananas, which are as sweet and yummy (if not sweeter) than Chiquita Bananas.

At the very start of a new bunch of bananas, a large pod thingy, grows quickly out of the main staulk of the plant, and slowly, gradually, unpacks itself, until all the bananas come out. 

Two things must be done in a timely fashion to guarantee a good harvest - 

1. Prop up the main staulk with one or two poles, to keep the banana tree from falling over (a new banana bunch is quite heavy).

2. After the new pod has unpacked all its baby bananas, the remaining purple growth, at the very bottom of the bunch, must be removed (one wack with a sharp machette).

This particular one happens to be the largest and best producer of Manila Bananas in the garden. If you want to know why, just post a comment with your question, and i'll gladly share my  observations with you.

First Swamp Spinach

Maybe you have seen a previous post where we set up new cuttings to grow Kung Xin Tsai (aka, Kongkong, or Swamp Spinach). That was about a month ago.

After doing a couple small sample harvests, decided to find two more containers to grow even more - it was so delicious quick fried on high heat, with loads of garlic, olive oil, and oyster sauce. Talk about, "Healthy and yummy!"

Looking at the Kung Xin Tsai makes my mouth water. It's Kangkong for dinner tonight (off to the back yard, with a pair of scissors)!

Hope you enjoyed the post. 

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