Bananas.org - Bonjour

Bonjour, and greetings from La Ciotat!

I'm Micha, German, and I'm currently living in a small city at the mediterranean coast in southern France.

"tell us about your life", you ask me... ok, and I try to make it short...

My life has always been a bit nomadic. Spent almost two years in the USA, long time ago, when everything was much easier... Did a lot of travelling in Latin America, Asia, Africa. Had my own little business in northern Germany, but after ten years of struggling I had to close it. Thought that if I had to do miserable jobs for the rest of my life I'd rather do them where the sun shines. Somehow ended up in Barcelona, Spain. Wasn't bad, but never really felt at ease there. After almost nine years I decided to try another new start in France. Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - I didn't know what was waiting for me... and sometimes in weird dreams I become dictator and change this country's name to 'Absurdistan'. Anyway, after almost two years things start to get moving...

At the moment - for six months already - I'm living on a (very) small sailing boat in the 'vieux port' of La Ciotat. Was initially some kind of emergency exit. Got a lousy part-time job with a non-profit-organisation and I never could pay the elevated rents in this part of France. But it simply is great, and I feel a kind of freedom that will make it hard to return to a still place to live at. Ok, no need to worry for the moment, because in the near future my financial situation won't change... I hope to start my own business again next year... and here's where bananas slowly enter the stage...

On my last journey almost three years ago - three months from Dar-es-Salaam to Cape Town - I also spent some time in Namibia and was completely stunned by it's desert vegetation. I thought that I wanted to have these plants around me for the rest of my life. As moving to Namibia wasn't an option, there was only one way left: growing them on my own. It started with a handful of succulents and some Jacarandas, but quickly grew into a business idea.

For two years now I grow plants, under rather difficult conditions. First only succulents and a few southern African flowering plants and trees, then slowly I began expanding my focus and the plant selection. I know, it's against the law of "specialization", but I don't want to become a provider for supermarkets and gardening centers. The tropical plants will be only one part of my business, and I'm looking for one or two associates to start this agricultural/horticultural project.

Anyway, I started recently with Bromelias and - here they are - bananas. I actually had bought some seeds one year ago, but as I already mentioned, the conditions under which I lived and worked were quite difficult. Around 20 Strelitzias are the result. Not a big deal, but it's learning by doing, and this year it's different. I ordered larger quantities (for me, that means 100 per variety), and I'm quite content. Almost 50 % germination rate for Strelitzia reginae and S. nicolae. Little more than 10 % for Ensete ventricosum, but I know that the seeds were not really fresh, and so far I had the trays with the grains out in the open. Slowly but steady the temperature starts descending, particularly at night. So I think of employing my small propagator.

As there's no electricity where I have my plants, it has to be on the boat... No other option, although I don't really know yet where to put the propagator. As I already said, it's not precisely the yacht of a Russian or Microsoft multi-millionaire. Anyway, I'd give my last shirt for my plants, so I should find them a bit of space, even if it means another restriction for me...

Monday I'm going to order more grains, in larger quantities, Musas and maybe some more Ensete ventricosum. Then my bank account will be empty again, and I don't really know yet where to find the space for maybe 400 or 500 grains... But if you start thinking about the problems first, then you never get anywhere...

:bunchonanas: