CookieCows

Hi,

My husband and I have a family farm in south, central Kentucky. We're fortunate to have our grown children and grandchildren as our neighbors on the property. We started out 22 years ago newly married in Oregon with my husband climbing the corporate ladder with a data processing company. Every new project and promotion transfered us to another data center further from our home until we realized that "our home" was where we were living. At the pinnacle of my husband's career he was working in Atlanta, making gobs of money and traveling to foriegn countries when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. So scratch the gobs of money and fast paced lifestyle! We gathered our resources together and bought enough land 5 hours north of Atlanta that would accomedate other family members also if they wanted to join us and started raising Belted Galloway cattle which is a naturally low fat beef cow.

We're not experts by a long shot and lean heavily on the real farmers surrounding us that seem to just know what and when to do it. When it comes to gardening ... well, we really struggle to put it mildly. BUT... (yes I'm getting around to bananas) we have two adorable Meyer lemon trees that have spent the last 3 winters in our bath tub that sits by a south facing window and they do great with lots of fruit. They are my babies. I love them. Now I have been reading about banana trees and I want one which is why I am joining this banana group! I'm getting ready to order one from someplace online and feel that I'm close to done with my pre-purchase studying. The thoughts of picking our own bananas is so exciting ... oh my gosh... who knows what could be next!!

Looking forward to having banana friends!
Deb (CookieCows)

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mskitty38583

welcome! welcome!! welcome!!! i lived in sandersville ga for a few years.( 1-1/2 hr. s.e. of macon) love the lemons in the tub. make sure when you order your nana that you get what you ordered. or youll be like me and think you have a red iholene and then your banana tree has identity crisis'. mediahound has bananas that he sells (they are awesome), and many members have pups that they sell.(take a tour through the gallery and see the nanas that people have started from seed or pups). the bananas that i have bought from members on this forum have been amazing!! talk to some of the members to find out where they got theirs, the reputation of the grower, and how happy they were with the service. happy nanas means happy nana parents.

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WELCOME TO THE GATOR NATION

CookieCows

Thank you for the wonderful banana welcome Mskitty!!!!!! I can't wait to get my banana plant! Thank you for the advice! I'd much rather get a plant from a fellow banana member over a big online nursery anyway! You're a hop, skip and a jump from us MsKitty! We drive down HWY111 every 3 months for appts. in Atlanta.

I'll be doing my banana tree/plant ordering hopefully this week. Are they plants or trees? My lemon trees are going to have to make room in the bathroom for the new babies. As soon as my order comes in I'll take photos of them in the tub with the lemons! LOL

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mskitty38583

you really arent that far from me. bigdog lives in knox. and randy4ut lives in cleavland. so there are a few of us in tn. i love the nanas. there is a lot of info on this forum. i try reading a few threads a day from the archives, you can never learn enough. so your nanas are going to share the tub with the lemon trees huh?? thats great. i believe,so dont quote me on this that ," banana trees are actually large bushes." take a look at the saba and tell me thats a bush. yeah right. we have the banana wiki which is a place for you to read up on lots of different nanas. when you get to the main page, in the top box is a "list of bananas" click on that and it will take you to a page where you can read about the different species,height,type of fruit ..etc. it is very helpful.( specially when your new like me) so again welcome, welcome!

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WELCOME TO THE GATOR NATION

ClevelandCATHY

Welcome cookie, I have some beautiful lemons on my tree now, and a few keylimes. I really love my citrus. You'll learn a lot here, everybody is really friendly here and willing to help.

magicgreen

Welcome

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(Started growing bananas July 2007)
(Zone 6)

CookieCows

Thank you all so much for the welcomes! I've been reading the cold hardy banana threads and looking at the photo galleries. I'm just awe struck by the majesty of what a group of banana trees look like together and the beauty it adds to the landscape! I just wanted to grow my own fruit but now I can feel myself falling into the same feeling I had when I saw my first "cookiecow".(Belted Galloways) This could easily become banana obsession. I have so much to do with Christmas preparations and my thoughts keep getting side tracked by all the banana growing information I've read so far. I opened the sliding glass door to stick my head out and see what the dogs were barking at... dogs? ... my line of vision was directed to a corner of the fence or possibly building up a raised bed over on another side as we have areas where we're sorely lacking soil and close to bedrock. The dogs had long since quit barking and were looking at me with tails wagging thinking I was actually in the moment with them but gosh darn it.. I was dreaming about what banana trees would look like in the yard.

I have to tell you that I'm abit overwhelmed by it. Once I get my pups and get going it won't be so intimidating. I would like to have a good tasting, cold hardy banana. I guess what I need help with right now is to know when the best time of year would be to buy a couple pups and where to buy them.

Your advice MsKitty to read a little every day is worth it's weight in gold!
Thanks!
Deb (CookieCows)

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CookieCows

oh sorry.... I need to post in the cold hardy banana thread instead

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magicgreen

Cookiecow thats alright. I like to go to the country in Indiana , or Kentucky and,get my manure{for my nannas}, snuggle up to the horses and goats and just be there! MG. Welcome

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(Started growing bananas July 2007)
(Zone 6)

mskitty38583

oh by the way i forgot to tell you that nanas are a VERY, VERY, VERY addictive hobby! not that i would know that or anything. i would love to eventually plant nanas in my yard, but in about 3 yrs or so , when i graduate from school i will be heading back down south to home. then i can plant all the nanas i want in the yard. 12 ft. high fence, 3 yds.per sq ft of razor wire, motion sensors at every 6 ft. and my banana guards out patrolling the fruits. sounds good to me! i dont care to share but i dont want any one ruining my trees to get at it. id have to shoot someone.. when you told us you had lemons in the tub, i knew once you got in here youd be hooked, just like the rest of us. however this drug doesnt have bad side effects! and its all natural!

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WELCOME TO THE GATOR NATION

CookieCows

MsKitty ....
you crack me up! I can just picture those Jurassic Park fences! LOLOL

Magicgreen .....
when you say you get manure from the country .. does that mean that you fertilize primarily with that? The reason why I'm asking is that my husband and I have an on going discussion over it in regards to our vegetable garden. He wants to use what the cows and horses give us and I want to give it up and use chemicals as we don't have a high sucess rate but there are other things that I'm sure are contributing to where we're having problems. If you run low on those country manure runs ... you just feel free to drive a truck down and we'll fill you up! We're just full of it!

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MediaHound

Welcome aboard Deb! You should do pretty good growing bananas with all that fertilizer!

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.