The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. - Genesis 2:15
Gardening is a wonderful thing. Not only is it a great way to work up a sweat and get some dirt under your fingernails, but it is a great way to gain a “hands on” appreciation for God’s awesome creation.
With the occasional help of our 4 girls, my wife and I have been trying to get our small yard into shape by planting an assortment of interesting plants and bushes. One specimen in particular has this Indiana-raised blogger thrilled: a banana tree.
Banana Trivia – The variety of banana that Americans are most familiar with is the Cavendish.
For a number of months, our banana plant (technically not a tree, as I’ve learned) was just a big, leafy stalk in the ground that didn’t generate much interest. Within the past few weeks, however, it has become our most watched plant. We are finally seeing fruit! I am in awe each day as we observe the process. And our girls are tickled to be able to go out and see the fruit’s development progress as they anticipate the first bites of “their” bananas.
Since our kids are enjoying this so much, I thought your homeschooled children might also. For the remainder of this post I’ll be sharing some banana facts and photos for you to view and use if you wish to teach your kids about this amazing fruit. A few adults may learn a thing or two also. I did!
Banana Trivia – The Price Look Up number used to ring up the common banana in a grocery check-out system is 4011.
Yes, We Have No…
Perhaps no other fruit is as well-known as the banana. Songs have been written about them, entertainers have used them as comedic props and bananas permeate our language in ways that seemingly have nothing to do with the fruit itself (i.e. “My kids are driving me bananas.”). Bananas are used for food, paper production, textiles, ornamental plants and even disposable dishware!
Believed to have originated from the tropical forests of Asia, bananas are the world’s 4th largest fruit crop. They are easily grown in the humid, tropical regions of the world where hurricanes are not a common threat. India currently leads the world in banana production with nearly 20% of the world’s output. Brazil is a distant second with 11.5%
Banana plants are herbaceous perennials that rapidly raise up stalks, called pseudostems, from rhizomes that grow underground. These pseudostems form a trunk that consist of concentric layers of leaf sheaths. The fruit of the banana grows from a stem called an inflorescence. The flowers found on the inflorescence are covered by purple bracts that shed as the flower grows.
Under each bract are the flowers that will eventually form into the fruit we know as a banana (which is technically a berry). After a stalk produces its cluster of fruit, it will die. New growth continues from a secondary stalk, called a sucker, which will eventually produce the next crop of fruit.
Banana Trivia – Bananas are healthy and a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Magnesium, as well as a very good source of Vitamin B6.
I hope you found this post ap”peel”ing. There are many more facts to learn about the banana, but what I hope you take away most from this post is that there are potential homechooling lessons all around us – even in our own backyards.
