Bananas are a tropical fruit, but even they have needs when the temperatures are as high as our last couple of summers. With no end to global warming in sight & no intention of killing myself working to keep my young bananas alive through the hellish Summer, I made it a top priority to deeply mulch the banana patch. This, again, is a case for biomimicry. The forest floor is always covered & the plants thrive without human maintenance/interference.

The 6-8 inches of ground cover I added around the bananas is comprised of plant matter sourced from/around the farm: moringa leaves, papaya leaves & fruit, canna lily leaves, coconut palms, grass, etc; shredded cardboard; tree moss & farm made compost.

Not only will the deep ground cover keep the soil cool by not allowing the sun’s rays to reach it, but it will slow evaporation from the soil; helping to keep these water loving plants happy. The shredded cardboard (as I learned in creating my worm bedding) holds moisture like a sponge, so will serve as a moisture sink in the sandy soil; as well as a carbonaceous source for the bananas & soil microbes as the cardboard breaks down. When the plant matter making up the ground cover decomposes, it will feed nitrogen to the hungry bananas. I will continue to feed them with my farm made liquid fertilizer periodically through the Summer, but the fewer tasks I need to complete in the Summer heat, the better. It was a fair amount of work, but I expect it to pay off in the coming months– hopefully in the form of fruit!

The video below is a peak into my process of getting the bananas Summer ready: