Banana Farm

Banana Farm - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

Video Taken From- http://www.metacafe.com/watch/554068/banana_farm/

Bananas

There are actually two different types of bananas; the sweet banana and the plantain. The fruit banana is the sweet, tasty banana we use in smoothies while the plantain is a cooking banana which can also be referred to as the meal, vegetable of even horse banana. Plantains are drier, more starch and also have a lower water content than your normal eating banana.

Bananas grow on a tree which is similar looking to a palm tree, so much that sometimes they are referred to as the banana palm; however the tree they grow on is actually known as a perennial herb. After fruiting it dies back and then prepares itself by producing new growth so it can be ready for another generation of fruit.

Bananas are actually not grown as simply as by seed. It goes back to the two varieties they crossed in Africa. The two varieties they crossed were known as the Musa baalbisiana and the Musa acuminata. These were full of seeds; hard and unappetizing where as the bananas we eat today are soft and sweet.

Bananas are generally grown in the hot tropics where the average temperature is about 27ºC as well as a minimum of 75mm of rainfall per month. It is necessary for the soil to have really good drainage because otherwise the roots of the plant will rot. When the banana plant grows new shoots, which are referred to as suckers, pups, or ratoons, from the shallow rootstocks or rhizomes, they continue to grow new plants for generations for the next few decades. It takes the plant to approximately 9 months to reach its mature height of about 4.6-9metres although some will even reach a height of 12metres. The stems are about 30.5cm thick and when they begin to grow flower shoots these shoots develop into the banana fruit.

When you see bananas growing they look as if they are growing upside down because they are connected to the bunch by their stems and the tips point upwards. This is because bananas are negative geotropisms. This means that when they are grown they are not pulled down by gravity like most other fruits. The trees sometimes have to be supported when they are fruiting because as the fruits become more mature and heavier the tree becomes less able to handle the weight as it is not thick and woody like other trees.

There are approximately 300 'species' of bananas however only 20 of these are used commercially. Bananas are only fully mature approximately 3 months after flowering. Each tree produces about 15 'hands' (rows) each of these hands will produce about 20 bananas which means that a bunch will bring 200 'fingers' (bananas). The average bunch of bananas weighs in around 35-50kilograms. Bananas are harvested in two-man teams. One of the men will hit the bunch with a machete and the other will catch the bunch that falls on his shoulders, he would then use a hook to put the bunch of bananas on a conveyor type cable that would run all over the plantation. If bananas aren't harvested at the perfect green stage the will not be smooth, soft and sweet but rather floury.

Every plantation has a packing station which is where the bananas are graded for quality. The bananas that are poor quality go to local markets to be sold and can also be pureed to use as feed for animals. Afterward the bananas are cut into separate hands (rows) where they are then taken to a water bath and washed so that their natural latex rubber substance that can stain clothes as well as the bananas ("bleeding").

Many countries grow bananas as an export however there are also those that grow them for their own use. Brazil, China, India, and Thailand are examples of countries that grow them as a local food source and don't really export. The main exporters are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, the Philippines, Panama, and Guatemala. Believe it or not 80% of the bananas grown are the plaintain which is the type used for cooking. In some cultures plantains are a major part of people's diet and they are often prepared in a variety of different ways just like the potato. Most people only know of the planatain form when they are banana chips which are dried and then fried. In some parts of East Africa plaintains are also used for brewing beer. There is a unique type of banana grown in Kenya and Brazil and it is called the 'Apple Banana'. The flavor of this fruit is very much like that of an apple. This variety is small and measures only 3-4inches. Another different variety is the "Lady's Finger" this type is small, very creamy, sweet and soft and it is grown in Thailand, Malaysia and Colombia. The red banana is recognized by its reddish brown skin. The banana inside is also a reddish color with a sweet 'satin' like texture. This type of banana grows in most of the regions that bananas thrive in.

Images taken from- http://wideangle.aminus3.com/image/2008-06-24.html, http://www.transfairusa.org/content/resources/image_gallery.php?s=banana, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banana_farm.jpg and http://scienceblogs.com/shiftingbaselines/2008/04/green_living_in_galapagos.php

Strawberries

Strawberries are able to grow in most climates. There is some kind of strawberry growing season in almost every country. Although they do tend to grow better in cool conditions that don't have a lot of excess water. It is best for strawberries to grow with a fair bit of moisture however after they have been established too much moisture can spoil them. Strawberry plants are able to grow on farms, in greenhouses, in gardens and they will also grow in containers. Container growing is really popular because there is a lot less work involved than growing them in a garden and maintaing the garden. They are able to grow in anything that has suitable soil and proper drainage. This means they can grow in old tires, regular gardening pots and of course strawberry pots.

When growing strawberries some people like to use hanging pots while others may like to rather use traditional stationary containers. It is also important to find the right type of soil and the texture of the right soil would be of quite a sandy composition which would help to provide the right drainage. If there is too much standing water this could cause the plant to go moldy and in turn ruin the fruit. The best pH level of the soil for the plant would be a pH of 5.5-6.5. In order to protect a strawberry plant the soil should have organic soil-compost and fertilizer or organic soil mixed in with your natural garden dirt.

Strawberries need a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily and are best planted in the early spring or fall when the weather is still cool. This means the strawberry plant will be able to use the cool of the spring months to produce the best fruit.

Pictures taken from- http://woollywotnots.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/dscf19522.jpg
and http://www.edibleportland.com/2007/06/

Strawbanki

Ingredients:

-1 cup of frozen strawberries (i like to buy fresh strawberries and then freeze them)

-1 Kiwi (freeze if preferred icy cold)

-1 Banana (freeze if preferred icy cold)

-1 cup of strawberry yogurt

-1/4 cup of fruit juice

Note: If no frozen fruit is used it would be a good idea to add some ice.

Method:
Throw it all into a blender and... blend!

Image and recipe from flickr.com

The Origin...

Smoothies are delicious. They are tantalisingly thick, blended, chilled and occasionally sweetened drink made from fresh fruit or even vegetables sometimes people even use chocolate. As well as fruit people put crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or syrup(to add some sweetness), yogurt or even frozen yogurt although some smoothies are just 100% fruit. Another tasty addition could be muesli. Personally I think that the best smoothies contain frozen fruits, yogurt and fruit juice, this is how I make my smoothies. Smoothies are similar to both milkshakes and slushies. They're like slushies because they often contain ice and/or frozen fruit and they are like milkshakes because they are creamy like milkshakes. However milkshakes contain ice-cream and smoothies usually don't or at least not the healthy ones smoothies can contain milk although I prefer to use yogurt and fruit juice. Health-conscious people are who smoothies are usually marketed towards and are very popular with people who are on health kicks or diets. Restaurants sometimes add things in like soy milk, whey powder, green tea, herbal supplements or nutritional supplement mixes. Smoothies first became available in the USA during the late 1960s. This was when ice cream vendors and the health stores began to sell them. Smoothies became available at all the mainstream cafès and coffee shops by the 1990s and today they are also available at supermarkets.

The Definition...

"A person who has a winningly polished manner: He's such a smoothie he could charm the stripes off a tiger." or in my case... "A thick beverage of fruit pureed in a blender with ice and milk, yogurt, or juice."

Introduction

Jess is my name. My blog is about smoothies, smoothie companies and where they come from-geographically.