Mini bananas in resident’s garden
These cute fruits are between five and seven centimetres long, whereas a regular banana is between 20 and 22 centimetres long.
FOR Pomona resident Liami Dippenaar, regular bananas were the only kind she knew until she discovered a wild tree growing in her garden.
And from this tree grew some bananas, which were substantially smaller than regular bananas.
These cute fruits are between five and seven centimetres long, whereas a regular banana is between 20 and 22 centimetres long.
They are called Chiquita bananas and are a naturally smaller, sweeter variety of our regular banana and contains no fat, cholesterol or sodium.
“It is the first time ever they turned yellow and are edible, so we are definitely going to make some banana bread. It might be because of the heat waves that we had this summer because normally they will stay green the whole summer and turn black immediately when the first frost of winter hits,” said Dippenaar.
Dippenaar has planted out the tree and at the moment three of the trees are carrying bananas.
They have named their mini bananas Proudly Pomona.
If you happen to have Chiquita bananas in your garden, here is a easy and delicious Chiquita-wrapped mini-banana recipe:
Ingredients:
6 whole Chiquita bananas
1 pack of croissant dough
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup of your own choice of sauce such as peanut butter, chopped almonds, cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips, syrup etc.
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 160°C. Peel Chiquita bananas, place in bowl and coat with honey. Roll out croissant dough and spread sauce or topping on it. Place Chiquita bananas on the wide end of the croissant dough and roll. Place rolls on baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or dipping sauce of your choice.
