Columbia County community goes bananas

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By Dustin Blanchard dblanchard@nbcaugusta.com

Story Published: Oct 6, 2008 at 12:26 AM EST

Story Updated: Oct 6, 2008 at 12:26 AM EST

MARTINEZ, Ga. - While we're just starting to get into the harvest season, a new crop has one Columbia County community going bananas.

It's something you'd see in South America, but in Augusta... this tree is bananas.

Mildred Wheatley says after two years of care, it just started bearing fruit.

It's unusual to this area, except in the Wymberly neighborhood. Right next door, Katherine Smith has banana trees too.

"I just planted this a month or two ago, I brought it in a bucket from Montgomery," Smith said.

She says she was surprised how well her tree did here. She thinks it's the Augusta soil. But she's not expecting to hit pay-dirt until next year.

"We're liable to have bananas all over the place next year," she said.

So she's already making plans.

"We might just make us a banana pudding," she said. "We all love banana pudding."

The Wheatley's say the banana tree didn't take a lot of extra attention. However, when water ran low this summer, they used bathwater to keep the tree alive.

Monday, Oct 6 at 5:23 PM MIchaela wrote ...

Terry ... are you for real? Grossed out for pouring bathwater on dirt - mud is mud either way. What an idiotic comment.

Monday, Oct 6 at 4:13 PM Ed wrote ...

This is actually a story. I have banana plants that have been bearing fruit for years. What is our news media coming to?

Monday, Oct 6 at 3:35 PM Anonymous wrote ...

Bathwater is actually rich in nutrients.Plants do not absorb germs and organisms like animals and humans.They filter and purify.Cow manure (one of the richest fertilizers) is used in several plant farms.Good going with the H20 recycling and conservation, ladies!

Monday, Oct 6 at 1:42 PM Terry wrote ...

Ewww! Bathwater? I hope you are not giving bananas to anyone next year if you continue to use bathwater to water the plants. Ick! That's not a healthy habit and more than I wanted to know!

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