Harvesting a bunch of plantains is no small feat. But it's always a joyful thing to see food springing up from the tree and ready to be harvested, it's a thing of great joy.
We have about three varieties of plantains in our farm, so the short plantains were ready for harvest, we had two huge bunches ready and I was ready to go get it and my friend offered assistance.
The plantain tree I was eyeing was right by the fence, with the bunch hanging just out of reach. After a few attempts from the ground, I realized the only way to get to it was to climb.
With a love for climbing and a good bit of determination, I decided to hop the fence to get close enough. It was tricky, balancing just right, but I managed to grab hold of the stalk and cut down the massive bunch.
The weight surprised me—it felt as heavy as a full load of firewood! And the seeds are interestingly big.
Next I was also able to get down the second bunch, much easier than the first, even though to get this second one I had to cut down the plantain tree to get the thing lower within my reach. So finally the two bunches down!
There are actually two more but we suspect it wasn't really due for harvest so we have to be back there in 1-2 weeks.
My friend helped me to cut the plantains in smaller pieces so it can easily enter the bags we had.
We packed them carefully into the bags, we had four bags full, my friend and I carried two on our head and made our way back home. We were to return to get the rest.
It took us close to 3 hours to get home with the heavy bunches on our head, we were taking some rests on our way home that's why it took up to that, though the house was far but it would take 1:30 mins to get home without the load.
We finally got home and rested and in the evening my siblings went and got the rest of the plantains.
It was a satisfying, if tiring, trek. But I loved that we have plenty of food to eat. Good work brings about good food and I'm glad that we can grow our own food!