Instructions

1. Know the maturing process of bananas. Banana stalks take 10 to 15 months to produce the flowers that later become fruit, much like strawberries or tomatoes. The flowers eventually become bananas, technically a berry, and turn from deep green or red to a mellow yellow with a waxy exterior. This, of course, is the peel.

2. Find the bananas. Sometimes this can be difficult, if the "hands" are small and on a large banana tree. If they are growing wild there may also be vines wrapped around the tree or the bananas themselves. If the bananas on the tree are all close to ripe, cut the whole tree down and cart the whole stalk back to home base.

3. Harvest the fruit by cutting the "hands" off as they ripen. This should be done with an extremely sharp blade. Check to make sure rodents have not eaten the inside of the banana.

4. Store freshly harvested bananas in a cool, shady place. Do not cover them with a plastic bag of any kind. Bananas let off a gas which can speed up the ripening and decay process when they are covered.