Banana Circles

Since it only rains on our farm for a maximum of 5 months a year, it is important that we manage the rainwater in the best possible way. When it rains, it can rain really hard (think of it as if you would get six hours of thunderstorms in the US), and we need to look at how to get that water into the ground instead of just letting it run off. Besides water retention trenches and ponds, banana circles are a good option.

A banana circle is basically a hole in the ground (about 2m in diameter and 1m deep) filled with compost material and planted all around with bananas and other plants and mulched thickly. We make these banana circles wherever water collects or runs off. This keeps it in place and creates a kind of "bubble" of moisture in the soil. The compost material and mulch reduces evaporation and enriches the soil around the hole with nutrients so that the bananas grow well.

We also use the banana circles to reuse the waste water from our staff showers. The soapy water normally is so not suitable for watering plants, but the decomposition processes in the compost heap also break down soap residues etc. so that the water becomes reusable.

As you can see in the photo, the bananas are very happy about this treatment.... ;-)