Bamboo, Bats and Plantains

3 new bamboo shoots

The new shoots that are forming in my bamboo cluster got me to pondering this unique plant. It is not a tree, but a grass. And one of the fastest growing grasses in the world. Growth rates of up to 38” per DAY have been recorded. The new shoots are called culms and emerge from the ground at their full diameter. Culms will grow to their full height in about 4 months, though it will not become hard and mature for about 2 years. 

My gorgeous clump of bamboo 50 ft tall

Bamboos flower only rarely, not on a regular cycle and the timing and mechanism are still a mystery.This stuff is not only beautiful in nature, but makes an excellent building material. My roof in Peru was 100% bamboo – beams with split bamboo above, cover in cardboard and 3” of mud. Many Kuna homes here in Panama use full or split bamboo as walls. The bamboo is not actually “split, it is rolled through two metal rollers and crushed, splitting apart very nicely.

Volunteers help Cecilio install rain collection gutters

25 Volunteers from Global Brigades came to Ipeti to help finish the Bano (composting toilet/shower/sinks) project. They did well. 35 more are coming this week. They only stay in Panama for one week, but get a lot done. Also, a great recruiting ground for Peace Corps.

Bat shit on the porch

Bat Shit. Yes, my little furry, flying friends have taken up residence out on the porch. Every night they leave presents. Looks like they are eating more than insects - lots of small fruit seeds in the poo, too.
Not much smell, but I can't imagine harvesting tons of this stuff from bat caves for fertilizer use. 
I am also trying to parse anew the expression "bat shit crazy".

My earlier post about the bat shit deposited on my porch, elicited some interesting responses, including a chilling reminder of the toxic Histoplasma fungus that resides therein. And it triggered my construction of "alternative dwelling spaces" for my flying friends.
But, the origins of the expression "bat shit crazy" have been left unanswered (in the dark, as it were) until now. Click on link for etymology......
 http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/38354/where-did-the-phrase-batsht-crazy-come-from

Plantain inflorescence - new fruit forming

This is one of the plantain plants around the cottage. You can tell by the sharp corners on the fruit. Just starting to bear fruit. You can see the various stages of fruit set. And also why they call the fruiting stem an "inflorescence".
More banana factoids......
The banana plant is not a tree, but the largest known “flowering herb”. They can only be reproduced by planting a cutting or shoot from another banana plant, since the seeds are sterile. When ready to flower, they stop producing leaves and form a flowering, fruiting stem called an inflorescence. I think the name is apt, since the colors of its parts nearly glow. As the inflorescence bud descends, sequential “hands” are exposed and set. Normally, only about 4 or 5 hands set - more than that would be difficult to carry.. Bananas are often harvested at night to avoid the heat and humidity where they are grown. So now, maybe the lyric makes more sense..... "6 hand, 7 hand, 8 hand bunch Daylight come and I wanna go home". Day-O Day-O

A new trunk of bananas, ready to harvest

My latest banana harvest shows the problem with these small bananas that ripen hand-by-hand. How would a commercial grower harvest this? The top hands would rot before market and the smallest hand is too immature. I'll eat them all except the smallest ones, since I only ship about 40 ft.