first small ice cream fruit
 

I have some ripe bananas for the first time! They're tiny, but they taste good.
They're off the first bunch on my ice cream banana. I probably should have picked them a week ago, but they still taste good. I didn't notice they were ripening, I've been so busy all week.
Not too bad for Indiana, what do you think?

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!:bananas_b

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Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

Congrats Sandy!

I must be frank and say home grown bananas hardly ever look as beautiful as the ones at the supermarket, usually being some off color but man do they taste 10x better.

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

no, they're not beautiful. They were dead ripe when I picked them and they have calcium from our hard water on the outside, and they're small--but they are tree picked bananas, and that's all that matters to me. The next bunch that will ripen, the bananas on it got bigger than these. I never thought I'd see this day!

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Congratulations! Queen of the cold growers!

Did they taste like ice cream?

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All right, kudos to you!!

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Well they tasted like bananas, only creamier in texture and milder banana flavor and very sweet. I don't doubt that the flavor would have maybe been different if they'd been grown in ideal conditions, not a greenhouse that was set on 55 during fall, going down to 45 in January when I saw my LP budget was being exceeded. We overwintered in a different greenhouse this year 26x36 instead of 20x20, and although I did have better looking plants and easier to take care of because they were less crowded, it sure did suck the LP gas. Anyway, Steve from McCoy's LP is happy!
I will have more large bananas to sell this spring than usual because I didn't have to cut back so many. Our local customers will be happy. Or anyone that doesn't mind paying shipping or wants to make a road trip.
Next year, we're overwintering in a special new greenhouse we're putting up right now. 30x30 A-frame with 14 feet tall center, and it's going to have 3 layers of poly with inflation fans for dead air space in between layers and infared plastic on the inner layer. So hopefully that LP problem won't be as bad next year. And it's close to the garage and flowerbed where I usually have my large banana and alocasia placed, so it'll be easier to move them in. I hate to think about fall and winter already!

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

So cool Sandy. You give us northerners some hope!

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

Very cool

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Woooohooo! How exciting.:woohoonaner::woohoonaner:

None of my fruit made it through the winter but it flowered really late last year.

Re: first small ice cream fruit
 

Indiana Banana has a ring to it. Congratulations:08: How do the bananas compare to the average store bought variety? Is it the ice cream that is suppose to have a hint of vanilla taste to it?