As I write this article, it is still the “Rainy Season” up here in Pasuquin. This season usually runs from sometime around May or June to sometime during the “ber” months. One just can’t put a finger on a definite period – like seven days in a week – to define this season. (I was going to use a month for an example but, you know, 30, 31, 28, or 29 days doesn’t really make my point.) Rainy season starts when the rains start, and ends when the rains end, more or less.
Technically, the season is rooted in such things like tropical convection zones, monsoonal conditions, tropical depressions, and so on. All I care to know is whether I’ll need my payong (payong) [umbrella] when I go out. Sometimes the rains are monsoon-like: A constant, consistent rainfall that hardly varies at all for hours on end. Most common are afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Occasionally, a tropical depression develops into a tropical storm that builds into a typhoon. That means a lot of very mean rain and very high winds, plus chances for thunderstorms and funnel clouds/waterspouts.
We felt the last round of storms – those that caused the horrific flooding in Manila and surrounding areas – as gusty winds and one Friday night’s worth of very mean downpours and thunderstorms. The next morning, rice fields revealed that a few microbursts of wind and rain flattened the crop in some small areas. Sort of like “crop circles” but definitely storm related. Other than that, not much damage accompanied the driving rains.
September 24, 2009
The Thursday before the storm, I was alone. Baket ko (Asawa ko) [My wife] Emy was in Manila with some relatives picking up a used car and bringing it back up north. While they were fortunately making their way north, I celebrated my 60th birthday by discovering a curious growth on one of our banana trees.
There was a purplish growth or pod coming out from the top leaves. I hadn’t noticed it before but there it was. This definitely was not another leaf to grow and unfurl, as did a number of leaves before it. Nature was providing me a birthday present. The tree was producing a blossom – I was going to be a daddy to a bunch of bananas!
As I looked at it, I thought, “Here’s a way to chase any rainy season-induced blues away. I’ll document its growth with pictures. A picture a day – that should keep me busy for the rest of the rainy season, however long that may be. I’ll add some comments and have a logbook or a (ho-hum) journal. (In my youth I developed a severe dislike for journals – those were things that the “snooty kids” would make for extra credit in school.)
My goal will be to put together an interesting article, while beating back those blues. Hopefully readers will enjoy this little log.
09/24/09 – First noticed a blossom appearing on one of our banana trees. Will try to keep a runnng log on its progress for as long as I dare.
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Septermber 25, 2009
09/25/09 - I almost forgot that I was going to take pictures of the banana tree each day. Around 3:30 PM, I pulled out my digital camera and walked out to the tree. I was amazed at the speed of development. This blossom was definitely coming out of the leaves and would soon “make its turn” and start showing some signs of the fruit once “petals” started to open up and fall off. I thought that it’s only Friday – better not expect too much right away.
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September 26, 2009
09/26/09 - Overnight was quite a storm – Tropical Storm Ketsana (Ondoy) to be exact. Thunder, lightning, wind gusts and very heavy downpour. During the night, I didn’t really expect the blossom to be there when daylight broke. I was sure the storm would have claimed it as its victim. I was quite surprised (and relieved) to see the storm’s effects. Like some form of natural mid-wife, the storm helped the blossom “make its turn.” That was quick but I’m sure, storm induced. Could this occur at such a quick pace on its own?
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September 27, 2009
09/27/09 - The blossom is showing signs of continued growth and it is drooping further. I can’t believe the speed of nature. I only first noticed this miracle of life a few days ago. Already it has progressed along quite well and quite quickly. I can see a pedal or two starting to pull away from the blossom. There will be layer after layer of pedals. Beneath each pedal will be a “hand” of about 12-20 “fingers” or bananas. I’ve also noticed that most of the growth and movement occurs overnight, so far.
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September 28, 2009
09/28/09 - The outer pedals of the blossom started to pull away from the blossom today. In only four days, this blossom went from barely peaking through the other leaves to growing thick and having its outer pedals pull away. Along with being thicker, I’m starting to detect some “ripples” along the pedals. Could those be the baby bananas, waiting for the pedal to pull away and fall off? I wonder when I’ll find out the answer. The day-to-day changes are amazing.
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September 29, 2009
09/29/09 - There it is! The first hand to come into view as the pedal that protected it moved away. It’s not even a week and I’m seeing a hand full of fingers. Later in the day, its job finished, the blossom pedal (directly being the hand in the picture) fell away from the plant. A second pedal is pulling away and, yes, beneath it is another hand. I’m beginning to wonder just how many hands and how many fingers I’ll have. A bunch, or banana stem, can weigh 30-50 kg and have up to 400 fingers, or bananas grouped approximately 12-20 fingers per hand.
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September 30, 2009
09/30/3009 - Overnight, another pedal dropped off and exposed a second hand full of fingers. Additionally, the first hand has started its own turn upward. Bananas grow “bottoms up” and each hand will turn upward toward the sky. During the afternoon, yet another pedal started to pull away from the blossom. That means three full hands are now visible. Even the second hand that appeared overnight started to make its turn to the sky. This has to be the fastest growing fruit I’ve ever seen.
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Little did I know at the end of September that some changes were in store for me, my banana plant and all those hands and fingers. There’s a storm a-brewin’ – a BIG storm.
About PaulK
Mr. Banana Hunter;
The thing about bananas that threw me was, when I found out the bunchs (I guess thats the name) grow up. Hey, I’m from Boston, how would I know. Soon you’ll have that never ending supply for Banana Splits, or on your Fruit Loops in the morning. I want to see the picture when you eat the first one, or will you sell the crop to Dole?(LOL) Now you’ve got me wanting a Banana Cream Pie!!!!
Hi Paul – thanks for the story and photos. Now I knew bananas are picked green. Then shipped to the USA. In Kansas the boxcars that we got our rolls of printing paper came from the south. First they were full of bananas then filled with rolls of good southern newsprint. The only trouble was they didn’t get rid of the BIG Hairy spiders. In the summer we got those. I hate spiders! And when one the size of a dinner plate runs across the floor – well, see ya! So Paul, have you found a big spider yet?
You sure can paint a vivid picture of the simple, native life in the province, Paul K. I can almost smell the rain and hear the thunder of the torrential downpour on the roof even in my sleep. To awaken in the morning still raining and discover your growing banana fruit and how lusher the vegetation around had become overnight as your katulong prepares your breakfast consisting of fried rice, sliced tomatoes, eggs over easy or sunny side up, tocino, spam, or sauteed corned beef and may be bagoong on the side, is a a world I probably would not trade for anything. LOL What a life in the province you must be living, Paul K. Gone are the typical financial responsibilities of yesteryears in America, as you now sit back and enjoy life to the fullest with a steady income in dollars to boot. Onli in da Pilipins, right?
Day O!
Paul;
You increase my knowledge with each article you write. Again I’ve learned something new. Day-Oh Day-Oh, daylight come, an me wan go home! Harry Belefonte would be so proud of us. I’m looking forward to part II.
Hi Paul – Unfortnately, this time there’s no six-foot, seven-foot, eight-foot bunch! Wonder if Dole or Del Monte is sending these typhoons our way? A “green” method of stifling competition using otherwise renewable wind energy.
Hi Paul,
Fascinating story and photos! It’s a good thing your wife was away for awhile or the blossom may have ended up in some stew they make down there (forgot the name now).
No problem, John. It’s all “sausage” – tastes great but you don’t want to watch them make it or see what’s put into it!
I never really looked at how a banana bunch came to be. Well I hope things work it out, as alot of people here in Hawaii are worried about the storm. My wife is getting nervous, since her family lives near the river in Laoag. I hope this storm misses them and you.
Hi Jay – I never thought about a banana bunch until, for the first time, I saw a banana blossom (the one in the article). Simply amazing!
This typhoon (Ramil/Lupit) is quite unpredictable. Pepeng’s three passes were quite predictable with slight adjustment for Mother Nature’s humor. Ondoy was a predictable, straight-in flight to Manila. This one, though, has been all over the charts.
At present (Friday, 10/23 @ 9:55AM here) we’ve had variable rainy and almost hazy/sunny periods this morning with another “shower” starting up as I type. Was in Laoag yesterday with some sunshine. The storm is now predicted to pass about 100 km North of Appari and swing to the NW toward Kaioshung, Taiwan. Of course, that could change at any time.
Websites for you to look at things:
Laoag Weather – http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/98223.html
Typhoon Info – http://www.typhoon2000.ph/
That’s a good one “whether” and “weather”. That’s why I keep coming back to read your post past and present. Informative and your sense of humor. Regards.
btw, Jay, we’ve had a “brown out a night” going on the last couple of days. Rumor has it INEC is “jumping” grids to keep curriente (curriente) [electricity] flowing. Where it flows when they jump is another modern mystery of utilities up north!
Thanks, Jun. My personal goofiness is to blame – all I have to do is change a word here or there (or in both places) and personal experience or embarrassments becomes humor.
I’ve still many, many embarrassing experiences to draw on, too!
Looking forward to Part 2.
Hey paul,
Im here in california watchin The Filipino Channel, and they had a segment about filipino marriages. It seems that if it rains on your wedding day, it’s a sign of a prosperous life. I’m thinkin the Philippines has got to be the most prosperous country on the planet
Hi Hudson – That may very well be. From personal observation, I’ve only been to one wedding during the rainy season this year and it occurred on a “dry” day. The wife left for work in Saudi Arabia a month after the wedding, and the groom will be joining her in two weeks’ time. They may be in line for prosperity, but time will tell.
Maybe if more “couples” got married here, there’d be more prosperity!
Hi Paul – As you will see in the next part, I don’t really think that I will have enough bananas to attract either Dole or Del Monte to my trees. Cagayan De Oro remains economically and fiscally safe in this regard.
I’m learning a lot about bananas – the whole stem is called a “bunch,” the group of 10-20 you see in the market is called a “hand,” and the hand is made up of “fingers.” Also, one picks them green only to ripen off the tree.
Being originally from Ohio, I thought bananas came in the color yellow and you had to eat them before they turned black.
“Come Mr. Tally-man, tally me banana”!
Hi Edward Gary Wigle – Find spiders yet? Maybe I shouldn’t say if it will make you quivver a little!
Thanks for your comments – more banana stuff coming in future articles.
Truth is, we live amongst the spider world. From the small “jumping spiders” to the large “banana spiders,” we find ourselves sidestepping the big ones while watching the small ones (they’re too quick!). Have yet to see one larger than a dinner plate, but have seen quite a few that would just about reach that size. They were all here first, though, so I adjust.
Hi John – I worry a slight bit about that “steady income” from time to time with the exchange rate fluxuations. When worries grow larger than that, I relax with a San Miguel and watch the bananas grow.
Perhaps my stories won’t be so “lush” after rainy season is over and things start to dry out heading toward the holidays. Irrigation is the way to keep things green, but the longer dry season lasts, the more water is needed and the lower the aquifer gets. Thank goodness the rainy season tends to “resupply” ground water levels. This time around, though, the “resupply” is more than enough.
Hi John – Not to worry. Here, they wair for all the fruits to show before removing the “heart” of the blossom. That they will either eat raw (sort of like an artichoke – peeling away the layers to get to the heart) in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce and patis (fish sauce), or they’ll put it into “Kari-kari” which is the stew you may be thinking of. Either way, the heart is “safe” unless something drastic happens to the plant.
Hi Paul,
You 2 x Paul cracks me up with your jokes. From the looks of your bananas you might have enough there for a banana skirt. If this were the 1920′s, you might get a call from Josephine Baker and if she were alive today she’ll want those bananas.
Nice photos and am amazed how fast they grow. I hope it won’t fall victim to the current weather condition you have there now. Good luck.
Hi Jun – Don’t know “whether” the bananas will survive the “weather”!
I’m hoping they’re “hearty” but John in Austria has covered that issue.
Yup, that was the name – thanks for reminding me. It tastes great too!