by Victoria Cosford
A piece of trivia: the banana is a herb!
Bananas are receiving a special focus at the moment due to an insidious virus called ‘bunchy top virus’. At the farmers’ market lately, the Australian Banana Growers’ Council has had a stall in a bid to educate and alert the public about it. Spread by aphids, it’s the most devastating viral disease for bananas, affecting the chlorophyll and preventing growth, and it’s long been endemic to the region. Giving away magnifying glasses, the Council’s representatives are hoping that people who grow bananas in their backyards can learn to identify – usually via dark green stripes along the leaf mid-rib – the signs of infection, then call a special hotline so that authorities can deal with it and prevent it spreading further.
Banana farmers Lance Powell of Mount Chowan, Neville Singh and Matt Everest have long been aware of the virus, though are relatively unbothered by it. ‘It’s affected our whole region for as long as I’ve been growing bananas,’ Matt tells me. ‘Not many plantations are free of it, but we’re in a lucky position – there’s hardly any.’ Lance and Neville are similarly unfazed, Neville saying he hasn’t had much experience of it either.
All three, on the contrary, have had bumper banana years. ‘I’ve never seen so many bananas in a long time’, Lance tells me. ‘It’s been a great season although it’s also been tough – because of the extreme heat.’ His workers, he says, have been ‘knocking off at lunchtime.’
Bananas aside, I ask Matt what we should be planting now – and the answer is brassicas. ‘The second week in March is the rule for this area’, he tells me. ‘Get in early with all your winter stuff.’ Plus, most brassicas like ‘a good healthy soil, boron and zinc!’
Neville Singh and Everest Farm are at New Brighton Farmers Market every Tuesday from 8am to 11am and, along with Mount Chowan, at Mullumbimby Farmers Market every Friday from 7am to 11am.
