The Short, Sweet Life of a Pineapple

I noticed today how orange in colour Ani the pineapple had become and there was the distinct scent of ripe pineapple in the air. Although Ani was not very large as pineapples seem to go, there was no doubt she was ready to be harvested.

I first started posting pictures of Ani some months ago when one of the pineapple tops I had planted started to show a tiny, tiny pineapple growing up from the middle of the leaves. This was a big thrill to me, a person from Canada where all the pineapples are imported, probably from here.

You'd think it would be hard to harvest a pineapple that actually been given a proper name but I have to say it was not ... and, although small in size, that was one juicy, sweet pineapple and the freshest one I have ever tasted!

Prior to harvesting

Yum!

I'm now preparing Ani's top for planting and it's possible that the "mother" pineapple will send out little pups.

 

 

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My Pineapple - Week ????

I've lost track of how many weeks Little Ani has been growing, but here's the latest photo of her. Look at the nice, big topknot!

 

 

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My Pineapple - Week 8

I missed posting Week 7 when I found out it can take up to six months for a pineapple to mature. So I've decided to post photos just once a month from now on.

Very good information can be found on growing your own pineapples on the Dole web page.

Here is Ani at Week 8:

 

 

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My Pineapple - Week 4

This is like watching paint dry.

 

 

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My Pineapple - Week 1

Each time I buy a fresh pineapple, I cut off the top. Then I scrape away any flesh at the cut point, remove about an inch or so of the bottom leaves, and put it outside on a window ledge so the base can thoroughly dry. After about a week, roots can be seen winding around the bottom stem and the area is nice and dry with no rot.

I then put the pineapple top into about an inch of water and the roots plump up nicely. There does not seem to be any urgency in planting the top as long as the water level is maintained.

Some pineapple tops that were planted in the green, or rainy, season were lost to rot but others did okay. They don't like a lot of wet. Today I planted three more tops.

Ta da! This week I noticed a tiny pineapple emerging from one of the first tops I planted .... this is quite amazing to me, a person brought up in northern climates. Pineapple came in cans or imported whole, so they were pricey. I used to look for Costa Rican pineapples in the Vancouver, B.C., area markets once we knew we were moving here. Now here we are, right where those same pineapples originate.

So, every Friday I will post a photo of our baby pineapple and we'll watch how it progresses.

Week 1

 

 

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Whodunnit?

Last week, I bought a lovely fresh Costa Rican pineapple. I left it outside overnight on the patio table as I did not want to attract fruit flies into the house.

The next morning, this is all that was left of it:

 Pineapple juice and pieces all over the place! Had to hose everything down so ants wouldn't be attracted.

There were chunks of pineapple peel all over the place. I found the green leaf top under the orange tree.
I did the same thing the following week and the same thing happened. Our neighbours have seen a opposum at their house so maybe that is who our thief is. One of these nights, I'm going to sit up with my camera and see who the thief is.