Maybe you’ve been tossing your lemon peels into your homemade cleaning spray for years. It’s a great way to get a second use out of those lemons before composting. But what about banana peels? Is it possible to reuse them somehow before tossing them in the compost?

Absolutely.

In fact, those banana peels can serve many purposes in your garden. Quite honestly you can just chop up the little devils and put them directly into your soil. Just not too often. With the amount of bananas my household goes through, our entire backyard would be a banana compost at this point. So then what?

Try making some banana peel tea. And before you get grossed out, it’s not for us to drink. Don’t worry. It’s for our plants.

Soaking banana peels in water leaches the nutrients out of the peels and when used to water your garden, they give your plants a happy nutrient boost.

And making banana peel tea couldn’t be easier. Well, I guess it could be easier if you make someone else do it.

 

Ingredients:

• Banana peels (I usually go through about 3-5 at a time)
• Water
• Jar with lid (I use a 32 oz mason jar)

 

Directions:

Place banana peels in the jar and fill to the top with tap water.

Seal, and allow to steep for 24-48 hours.

When ready, strain the liquid from the peels, and use the liquid to water your plants. I used a straining lid (normally used for sprouting) and watered my orange tree directly from the jar.

NOW you can compost the banana peels. But yay, we got a lovely second use out of them that benefited our garden.

 

 

Note: I haven’t run any tests, I’m not even a scientist, and I cannot confirm just how much of the nutrients are going into the water, and thus into the soil. However, I only use this recipe and my  garden compost for my plants, and have never had to buy any commercial fertilizer.