GARDEN OF THE MONTH: GOING BANANAS
 This time our Garden of the Month landed us up in Yigo on a banana farm. We were invited by Mr. Albert Valejo, a 77 year old farmer who has been managing the 25 acre property for over 20 years.
In addition to bananas, when we asked what else he farms, Mr. Valejo proudly says, “anything that grows.” He isn’t kidding. From papayas and mangoes to pineapples and sugarcane...this farm is seriously one big bowl of fresh fruit cocktail. But when it comes to his banana plantation...Mr. Valejo’s got everything from Chiquita and Hawaiian to various cooking bananas, his most prized bunch being his purple bananas. At 12 years of age, they produce year round. Nearby he’s started to grow some purple papaya trees. Because Mr. Valejo says he farms for fun, he’s willing to give away his bananas to whomever has the time to cut them down and pick them up. This is also the case when it comes to the bamboo shoots that he says vendors harvest on his farm every week.
Just in case YOU’RE considering growing bananas…Mr. Valejo learned from experience not to plant them five feet apart because they expand – so be sure they’re at least ten feet apart. Another thing we learned is that you can even eat the heart of the banana from the cooking or Palauan bunches.
Edible and memorable…farming on Guam is like the gift that keeps on giving.
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At his pineapple patch which is more than ten years old. Mr. Valejo says you’ll know when they’re ready once they start to turn yellow. He also shared his secret when it comes to fertilizing pineapples, “At the third stem from the bottom, you shoot some commercial fertilizer in there. I use triple sixteen.” So far he claims the trick has earned him perfect pineapples year round.
Finally we were taken to see a beautiful monkey pod tree. But it wasn’t just any tree as he explained that it was planted by his late son in law Commander William McCool, an astronaut from Guam who died in 2003 when his crew perished during entry 16 minutes before scheduled landing. Proving that even a farm can have sentimental value…the tree is now 16 years old.
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