SINGER Freddie McGregor walked into the offices of Thursday Food last Friday, with what has got to be the most humungous plantain we’ve ever seen. It looked almost false in appearance but the texture felt like a ‘real’ plantain.

Naturally, when he invited us home to meet his neighbour Lesley Evelyn, the man behind the ‘three-finger plantain’, there was a sudden rush to Havendale.

“It’s about 19 inches,” shares Evelyn, whose yard speaks to his passion for cultivation. “And it has taken one year and two months to bear.”

The plantains, in fact, hang next door in McGregor’s yard – a yard similar to Evelyn’s – full of lush vegetation, laden fruit trees and a miniature June plum tree. Evelyn, who was himself pretty astonished at the size, used no fertilisers and points to the ash that he uses to spread around the tree.

“I guess you’d call this organic farming,” he chuckles as the slices of plantain sizzle inside the frying pan. Indeed they would… at least in the United Kingdom – a country he called home during the ’50s and ’60s. Freddie is as eager as us to try the plantains. In fact, he almost never made it back home (with the plantain). “Do you know how many people stopped and asked me about it? How many people wanted it?” he shares. We certainly can be thrilled as we are at being able to sample this larger than life fruit.

“You’ll find it a lot fluffier,” explains Evelyn. It’s sweeter too and definitely moreish. little surprise that the ‘three fingers’ are all gone. “We’ll have more next year,” beams Evelyn.

“That’s for sure,” adds Freddie, “but can you imagine an orchard bearing these wonderful size plantains? We really need to plant more and eat what we grow.”

Evelyn and McGregor are setting their own examples in Havendale. What’s in your garden? Do you have a special fruit, vegetable or ground provision? Share it with us.

Email: whyten@jamaicaobserver.com