Java Blue banana next to Kru banana.
Java Blue banana alongside Kru banana. You can see that the Java Blue banana is larger and more stout.
Java Blue banana next to Kru banana. You can see that the Kru banana has a more yellow flesh than the Java Blue banana.
Half the bananas from the Cavendish bunch I cut down this week.
Cavendish bananas hanging upside down by the penducle rather than the rachis. These are only half the bananas from the bunch, the others were cut off.
Red bananas harvested from the side of the Espiritu Santo River down below the property.
A bunch of Kru bananas from the forest.
Java Blue, or Ice Cream, bananas from the banana forest.
A bunch of Niño bananas I got from the festival.
Mangoes I got from the festival.
Esther buying passion fruit plants from another vendor.
Bananas plants for sell.
Juan bagging up trees for Esther and JImmy.
Fruits at the Huertos Casero festival.
Fruits and vegetables at the Huertos Casero festival.
Cavendish bananas for sale at the Huertos Casero Festival.
Esther and Jimmy choosing trees for the farm from Juan’s stand.
Niño bananas and orchids on a vendor’s table at the Huertos Casero Festival.
Papayas from Ray and Gwens/
Passion fruits from Ray and Gwen’s next to passion flowers. Not all passion flowers produce fruit.
Jaboticaba, a fruit very similar to a grape, on Ray and Gwen’s property.
Jamaican cherry next to Jamaican cherry blossom on Ray and Gwen’s farm.
Guava from fruit forest.
Jackfruit tree in fruit forest.
Blue grapes at Wildane. Blue grapes have a larger seed than most grapes, and pulp-like flesh. They slightly have a flavor that is reminiscent of artificial grape flavoring.
Transplanted spinach under trellis; as the spinach grows it will climb up the trellis.
Trellis in fruit forest.
Spinach ready for transplanting. Spinach is used in the fruit forest as a ground cover to smother weeds.
A few of the chickens on his property that are used for meat and eggs.
A few of the piglets on Roy’s farm. All of his pigs are black haired, and he has about 20 on the property.
A few of the many pets Roy has on his farm.
View of El Yunque Rainforest from Roy’s farm. Roy is a friend of Esther and Jimmy. He raises pigs, goats, and chickens, and has countless crops. Roy often exchanges things like his pigs and eggs from his chicken for plants and trees from Wildane.
This is the corm of a banana plant. You can tell it is the corm because the sprout is growing vertically from a singular node.
This is the rhizome of a banana plant. You can tell it is the rhizome because the sprout is growing horizontally. This is one node that separated from multiple others for replanting elsewhere.
“Cigar” leaf.
A bunch of ripe apple bananas in the forest.
Esther walking amongst banana plants damaged from wind storm.
Another view of damaged banana plants.
Female flowers emerging from inflorescence and developing fruit.
Niño bananas hanging to ripe at friend Roy’s property.
Purple ornamental bananas at Wildane.
Cavendish banana alongside apple banana.
Cavendish banana (left) and apple banana (right). You can see that the Cavendish has a thicker skin and more yellow flesh, while the apple banana has a thinner skin and white flesh.
Cavendish banana (left) alongside apple banana (right). Both are held at the same height. You can tell that the Cavendish longer and more curved while the apple banana is short and stout.
Blossom on a guava tree from the fruit forest.
Papaya tree in fruit forest.
Sword sucker growing from base of banana plant.
New banana tree growing from the base of a dead banana tree.
Water sucker growing from base of banana plant. Notice that it is further away from the mother plant as compared to the sword sucker.
Inside of inflorescence peeled back to show male flowers.
Fall inflorescence amongst decomposing banana leaves on forest floor.
Close up of an banana inflorescence. The “bud” or pod-part holds the male organs.
A bunch of bananas in the banana forest.
Me attempting to crack open a coconut.
Planted cacao seeds.
Sprouted cacao seeds.
The bananas I harvested hanging to continue ripening.
My first bundle of bananas. I cut these down myself!
Ready-to-pick Cavendish bananas.
Bilimbi curry.
Bilimbi Smoothie
Ingredients for bilimbi smoothie (a banana was also added at the last minute).
Bowl of harvested Bilimbi.
Miracle fruit from fruit forest. Perfect remedy for the sourness of the bilimbi fruit.
Bilimbi fruit, also called tree sorrel. Bilimbi is like an apple warhead candy in fruit form.
In exchange for 100 fruit tree saplings, Esther and Jimmy were given a whole pig by their neighbor and friend Roy. This is a leg of the pig cooked in banana leaves.
Pork leg wrapped in banana leaves.
Tree bags full of transplanted Corazon and Madro plants.
Transplanted miracle berries.
Banana tree saplings from left to right: Mysore, Mona Lisa, Dwarf Brazilian, Rino.
Karina, a fellow volunteer, sitting next to “daughter” banana trees that we uprooted for relocation.
Uprooted “daughter” trees.
More photos of uprooted banana trees.
Tamarind harvested near a beach in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. They are currently trying to grow tamarind at Wildane, but are having slight difficulties.
Pomarosa fruit, also called a rose apple. These are from a neighboring farm; the ones that grow on Wildane are a pinkish color.
Acerola cherry from fruit forest. Acerola cherries are packed with tons of Vitamin C.
Blackberry jam fruit from trees on the hillside by the river. Tastes just like blackberry jam!
Passion fruit from the fruit tree forest. This was my first time trying it.
Another picture of an apple banana.
This is the first banana I tried in Puerto Rico. It is an apple banana that was harvested from one of the trees in the banana forest.
A bunch of unripe bananas in the banana forest.