Planting Lady Finger Bananas In The Australian Summer: Making Small Steps With Our Garden

It's hot today. You can't have an idea outside without it melting away. Nevertheless, it was time to make progress with our garden and I happen to be the proud owner of a sombrero, so let's get started!

One important aspect to making progress with any long term project is to not be overly focused on hitting arbitrary deadlines. We are happy to be progress driven. Although the heat prohibited us from planting more than one plant today, that plant is happier than it was yesterday and we're closer to where we want to be.

Ok, So we were given these lady finger bananas as small shoots from a friend who couldn't get rid of them! They were growing wildly and profusely in his garden and he had taken to mowing over them with a petrol lawn mower just to reclaim some of his garden space.

...not actual friend!

It turns out that even that didn't kill them... they'd shoot up again. That's a big plus for me as it screams resilience which is a quality I rate highly when it comes to selecting plants that will reliably produce food for us.

Even in the Australian summer here with no rain for weeks, this little tree has been stuck in a pot and still looks strong and healthy all things considered. Still, it needed a bigger home.

You can see the size of the pot that this plant had become root bound in.

We use composted horse manure which turns to a lovely rich soil and in some cases some fertiliser pellets. We loosened the root system a little before planting and supplemented with some other compost which includes eggshells and other organic material.

Give the roots some space by de-compacting them prior to planting.

We actually had planned to plant two banana plants and two pawpaws also that require some space. These potted plants had actually been living down by our dam as it's a good water source during drought. Unfortunately it means they get less attention (out of sight out of mind). Being closer to the house means they'll get more regular maintenance and watering.

The plants we would have liked to have put into the ground today. That's OK, they got a water and we'll give them a home when we next have the resources to do so.

Of course it's nice to have some company when working out in nature. Our horses are great for this. We let them both into the house pad where we were working which is a bit of a treat for them.

When we were planting capsicums (bell peppers) recently one of them came right up to where we were working to check out what all the fuss was about, almost ripping the seedlings out for a bit of a nibble! They were pretty curious and interested in us today as they usually are but didn't fancy a banana brunch thankfully. Their interest was hard to hide however, despite me pulling the camera out!

Finally! All done. Time to get out of the sun. You can see the egg shells and the ground up dried horse manure that comprises part of our home made potting mix. These little battlers do so well in the confines of a pot, I'm excited to see how they'll go now that they can stretch their lets. This area is a bit rocky so we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for reading!