All posts by Munchkin

What Is Gnome Doing?

Gnome

Gnome is always doing, fixing, repairing and figuring out anything from plumbing, electrical wiring, solar to mowing. Plus he’s the soap-maker and coconut oil presser. Oh, and a Doctor too. To add to his endless repertoire, he also draws (pen and ink) and he is a tattooist. I have probably missed many, many things but he basically tries to do everything. This goes along with our self-sufficient life-style and he likes to learn new things. However, the bottom line is that somebody has to do the work!!

Gnome…you have to do the work because somebody has to do it!

So, just to update you on a few of his projects. We have been for sometime trying to breed soldier fly larvae as a protein source for our duckies. We watched some u-tube videos and came up with a few of our own breeding contraptions. This is a ‘Black Fly Love Cage’ where hatching takes place and then they are supposed to breed and lay more eggs. The love cage is for the procurement of eggs. Well, this one didn’t work despite Gnome’s best efforts. We caught flies inside and they didn’t breed…or they just sneaked out somehow!!

Soldier Fly Love Cage

This was another attempt to breed and feed the pupae. Sturdy piece of work but rain got into it!

Black Soldier Fly Breeding Bin.

Well, after all these efforts, you will not believe worked in the end. Just a simple plastic container filled with fermenting food stuffs; the large plastic tub is set on jars on the 4 corners and is placed on a metal tray filled with sand.

Black Flies Galore!

Once the larvae are mature, they crawl out of the plastic box and drop into the tray of sand …they crawl round and round in circles until they find a card-board ramp (made by Gnome) and inevitably travel through the entirety of the ramp to fall down into a collection container with smooth walls.

Black Soldier Fly Grubs.

So, there you go. The black fly project was a success after all but there was a lot of sweat, tears and failures!

Gnome has given me the option to cook on coals…yes, we have coals…lots and lots of it because we have plenty of wood to burn…

Our own charcoal

And he has equipped me with a coal stove which is modeled from a blast furnace project that is for forging knives! He said that the fact that I got first dibs on the blast furnace for cooking meant that he loved me dearly….

Charcoal Blast Furnace For Munchkin Cooking.

As you can imagine, the fire that comes out of this is very strong…so it’s good for soup making and steaming food. Oh, and great for a real, authentic stir fry! You just have to watch your eyebrows so they don’t get singed with the blast of heat…just joking…but it is HOT!

I have plenty of other projects to talk about but let’s leave it at that for now. Here is a tattoo that Gnome designed (with collaboration with da Munchkin). The arm belongs to a friend who has since left Belize (for Scotland incidentally) and wanted to take a reminder of Belize.

Ixchel Tattoo

This is a picture of Ixchel, Goddess of Medicine in Mayan culture. This is the outline…I can’t find a picture of the completed tattoo. But, look at the smoothness of the lines. One pass only and this is Gnome’s first tattoo. Well Done!!

Happy 42nd Independence Day, Belize!!

Belize Flag.

The celebrations started last night and we heard the fireworks in Punta Gorda go off at 9pm. We are 16 miles away from town so they must have been very loud in town! A quiet day today for us. Wishing Everyone in Belize a Great Independence Day!

We will be lounging about in the lounge today!

A Rainy Day

Raining Again!

We were poised to work this morning since the rains have been stopping us from getting outside…and there is so much work to catch up with. We heard the distant sound of thunder as we awoke…hmmm rather ominous but pretended to ignore it! At 7am we ran out and Gnome got the mower out quick smart…at the same time there was a huge clap of thunder. More signs!! We both ran around and tried to get as much done as possible and sure enough at 8am, the rain came pouring down.

We came into the house both drenched. This happens all the time…the weather just doing its thing and we have to go with it. We have been doing this for about twenty years now…this is the story of our lives! Anyway, the grass keeps growing, the bush is encroaching and the weeds need weeding. Jolly good…we are right into the swing of rainy season in Belize!

Let’s talk about what we are harvesting right now. We have (at long, long last) started getting mangoes. Mango season in Belize is July but our season seems to be later and extending through to September. In fact, all our crops always seem to be behind a couple of months!! Since Gnome is the more technical one, I asked him why all our crops were late and out of sync with the rest of the country. This is what he said:

No Idea!

Oh, okay, thank you Gnome for your valued input!! Let’s just talk about the mangoes then…these are the best and our favourite. They are giant slipper mangoes that can weigh anything from 2 to 5lbs. The flesh is a chunky, smooth with no fibres and the taste is absolutely mango. We were given the seed by a Taiwanese horticulturist about 4 years ago and now it has started bearing very generously. This one is a keeper.

Big Mango.
Delicious!

About 4 years ago, we also bought a whole lot of ‘grafted mangoes’ from a nursery. The variety is Tommy Atkins and we were told at the time that the grafted mangoes would bear at about 1 year. Nothing happened until now and all the trees make variations of the Tommy Atkins fruit so we think that these were not grafted after all and they were just grown from seed. Tommy Atkins Mangoes are a beautiful blue-purple and then ripen to a dark red colour. Our fruits are varied…some are large, round and very fibrous and others are slimmer looking and there are ones that taste like sour pineapple! I was disappointed at first but there is no way of knowing what you end up with until it starts bearing…by that time, the merchant has legged it with your hard earned cash!

Tommy Atkins Mangoes

Our breadfruit trees are bearing and not only are they ‘out of season’, they are also consistently small. Most breadfruit are the size of soccer balls…ours are more like baseballs. We have tried all sorts of things like mulching and fertilising…they are still teeny weeny tiny!! That’s okay, they are still tasty and edible…

Little Breadfruit

In my twenty years in Belize, the only way that I have seen this cooked is fried like french fries. They are peeled (or not), the central core is removed (sometimes not) and they are cut into about 1/2 inch slices and fried in oil. It’s very nice and tasty but if you have a bearing tree, you can’t keep up with eating fried breadfruit all the time…you will end up feeling like a greasy lump! This is what I do: I gather the harvest and prepare them in batches. The fruit is peeled, cored and cut into cubes. Then par-boiled for 6 minutes, drained in a collard and once cooled, stored in quart bags in the freezer.

Cubed Breadfruit

So, when you want to eat breadfruit, take out a bag of frozen breadfruit and thaw it. You can put them in stews, soups, stir fries…anything you like. It is also very nice cooked in coconut milk with garlic and chili pepper. Just be imaginative…they basically taste like potato so just use them in any recipe that you would otherwise use potato. It is very versatile and yes indeed, you can even fry it in oil from the frozen form!

Okay, that is it for now. It’s sunny again and Gnome has just ran out with the mower. It is amazing what magic he can do in one hour!! Go For It, Gnome!!

Ready for Gnome Magic!

The Golden Goosie Egg STORY.

Hello From M & G!!

Hello Again! As you know from last time, I haven’t written blog posts for quite a while. This is what actually happened that sparked off interest and wonderment again. I like to make pickles and have all sorts of jars of indescribable food things next to my bedside (coolest place in the house). I always had this inner cultural fascination to make the perfect salted egg…I managed (kinda) with duck eggs. Please note that only the Asian readers might have a clue about what I am raving on about. To achieve a perfect salted egg, the yolk has to become golden orange/yellow and oily. If you have had a mooncake with the duck egg yolk, you might know. Anyway, I haven’t been able to achieve this same effect with a goose egg…probably because they are so big so it is hard for the salt to penetrate through the whole thing.

Salted Duck Eggs.

To salt eggs, there are two methods: one is immersion of eggs into salt solution or the second is to tightly pack eggs in salt, ash and spices. The first method did not work for the goose eggs and the salt couldn’t get into the yolk area to do its magical thing. I had to throw this experiment away which was an awful waste of eggs!! And the second technique? I have had the gallon jar sitting there for 2 years. Since I can be a bit of an Eeyore, I thought that since the first method didn’t work…why would the second? Terrible, terrible logic but there you go!! I lamented over this jar, hugged it and talked to it for 2 years and finally, I had enough of looking at a ‘failed experiment’ that I loathed to throw out.

Daily Lamentations of a Munchkin

The other day, I decided that I really should dispose of this jar of eggs and be done with all the anguish and suffering! As an after thought, I cracked open one goose egg just to see the result. This is what I got:

Salted Goose Egg Yolk

It looks right and it smells right and it is very Chinesy!! It actually worked!! I got my Golden Goose Egg! I cried out for joy and showed Gnome my success. He said:

…well, it just needed time…the Chinese do call these century eggs…at least you didn’t have to wait 100 years!!’

Century Eggs

So, the moral of my story is:

Don’t give up on the quest for the Golden Egg!

or

Don’t lament at a jar of pickled eggs for 2 years and suffer needlessly for no reason!

Surprise! We are Still Here!!

Munchkin and Gnome

Well, I will sheepishly say that I don’t have a great excuse why I haven’t written much this year! Except, that we have been really, really, really busy (and that I forgot to write??) . This month, I had to renew the website fees, which was a chunk of money and thought to myself:

Oh dear! Eeek!!!

Oh dear! Eeeek!! I have only written about 2 blog posts and it is September already??

For Munchkin standards, this is absolutely abysmal and I apologise profusely for my lack of consistency!! Wahhhh!! (I find that a big Wahhh after an apology usually drives the message home and also, makes me feel better).

Anyway, enough with the lamenting Munchkin and let’s talk about What’s Happening. To follow-up on my last post where I had some lovely goosie hatchlings on Easter Sunday, my babies have grown up a fair bit. They are about 5 to 6 months now and I have divided them into two flocks. The first flock are vigorous and healthy: the ‘ruff tuff’ group that can weather through a stormy night in Belize without a single feather getting out of place. As soon as they could start eating grass, they were out in the pasture eating like there was no tomorrow. They are delightful and friendly and I always get a unanimous ‘WEEEEEEEeeeeee!!!’ when I get close to them. I love being cheered by a gaggle of geese in the morning…a good start to a busy day on the farm. These ones eat grass 24 hours a day so I have to move them around with a moveable fence. I get yelps and cheers every time I move the fence line and usually one of them gets his silly head jammed between the bars as the excitement ensues!!

The Ruff Tuff Group!

So, one of the first jobs of the day is to move the fence around amidst a cacophony of squeaks and sqwacks (not a word according to my spell check but that is the exact noise that they make) and occasional wolf whistle!

Moving the cage in the coconut pasture

The second flock needed a little bit of help right from the get go. They are sillier (or just plain stupid??) but nevertheless adorable. They didn’t get the grass thing at all. I would plonk them in a grassy pasture and there would be puzzled looks all around!! Seriously…I thought that goosies knew by instinct to eat grass!! My goosie whispering wasn’t really up to scratch so I couldn’t find a way to say: Eat the Grass!!!

Eat the Grass!!

I am not sure what to call this group...The Silly Goosie Group?? Anyway, they got themselves into all manner of troubles because they didn’t eat grass and had trouble gaining weight. As a result, after any heavy rain they were shivering and bedraggled. We had an emergency goosie hospital set up in the house (we have NO more space in the house!!) where we had to put wet silly goosies in individual plastic boxes with individual feeding bowls and water. They would over-night in the house and then they would be released back into pasture. Some required more care and needed daycare also. I was bussing wounded goosies back and forth for a couple of months and we had one busy night were we had 4 admissions…I had to improvise with an extra fish tank and a cardboard box! After a while, they started getting used to seeing me bring out a box and they would all be vying to get in!! They loved the overnights with Munchkin and Gnome watching vintage ’80’s movies!! It was like a sleepover with a bunch of rowdy kids! Once they started making too much noise, we knew that they were getting better and so out to pasture they went again…

Silly Goosie Group

Everything has settled down now and the Silly Goosie Group are out and about…they pick at the grass dis-interestingly all day until evening time when they gorge themselves on the poultry feed that I give them. They are fattening up and at this stage, it’s important for them to get to an optimum size. Don’t worry, I am not priming them up to eat…I think these are a bunch of females so they may be my future egg layers.

And so here ends my latest blog post. I did enjoy writing it so I hope that I get into writing on a regular basis.

Happy Easter!!

Easter Goosies 2023

Happy Easter Every-one!! This morning, I really had the feeling that today would be day…I barely had my cup of tea and I ran down to the coop. And sure enough, I had new babies for Easter!! They are so cute when they are young… fluffy baby goosies. It has really made my day.

Wishing you all a Lovely Easter Sunday!!

Easter Goosies!!

Happy 2023!!

Are you ready?

Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year from Munchkin and Gnome!! Let’s have a good one. May it be filled with Peace and Happiness!

Our little Goosie also sends her greetings for 2023.

Merry Christmas From The Goosies!!
Happy Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

Munchkin and Gnome!!

Wishing Every-one a Merry Christmas from Munchkin and Gnome. Hope that you all have a lovely day filled with joy, peace and happiness!!

Also Merry Christmas from all the Goosies!!

Merry Christmas To All!!

Have a Wonderful Day!!

The Launching of the Raft!

Munchkin Goosie

Good Morning Everyone!! It has rained every day since June and it is not relenting. What a wet year it has been…we have been unable to plant any vegetables or seedlings for three months because the water table is is always high. Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining and this year the pond filled up immediately after only drying out for 2 weeks (usually it stays dry for two months of the year). We were able to re-introduce our tilapia fingerlings into the pond and after three months, the pond is teeming with small, medium and big fishes. We had such a good harvest earlier in the year and are trying to get the fish breeding optimised so we can fish all year round.

Pond View.

Earlier this year, I had been fishing with a bamboo pole with dental floss string with a fish hook attached to the end. I used fish food as bait and manage to catch about one fish every minute. It was so easy since the the pond was so well stocked up. Gnome has offered to get me real fishing gear but I am okay to stick with traditional because it works fine enough. Besides, I am tired of cramming more possessions into our tiny little house.

Since I was only able to fish on the edge of the pond, Gnome has made a raft out of bamboo stick so that I can get around the pond easier. So, here it is…The launching of the raft!! We didn’t have a spare champagne bottle during the launch so just settled for loud cheers…

Launching of the Raft!

Here are some more pictures to show you since Gnome put a lot of time, attention and effort into making it. We have put empty plastic bottles underneath the bamboo to help it float up. It is very sturdy and takes both our body weights and we can move around by paddling with a long bamboo stick. It is really quite romantic floating about on a bamboo raft on the pond.

Bamboo Raft with Plastic Bottles.

More Pictures:

There is a Gnome on the Raft!

I am really pleased with the raft and I am planning to do some fishing this weekend. It is a very nice spot out here to get away from the stress of angry, dastardly geese!!

Bamboo Raft.

There you go…we are trying to make our own Munchkin and Gnome paradise in the middle of nowhere!

Adventures with Suriname Cherry!

Today, I thought I might write a post on Suriname Cherry because it is worth writing about. The Latin name for this fruit is Eugenia uniflora and the fruit can vary from purple to red to orange coloured.

Suriname Cherry.

The fruit has a complexity of flavours that are hard to describe and compare to any cherry or berry that we are familiar with. It has a resinous taste but sumptuous and unctuous at the same time. It is truly unique and there are sweet varieties, sour varieties and ones in between. I would like to dedicate this blog post to talking about it because there isn’t much information on it on the Internet. I think that it is mostly unknown and neglected and should be recognised for its taste as much as a strawberry is recognised by all palates.

Suriname Cherry Flowering.
Suriname Cherries.

Anyway, I am not going to re-hash a Wikipedia page; I think it is more important to talk about what I have learned about the fruit. The fruit grows in Belize. Belizeans call it ‘cherry’ and every-one here has tasted it before. It is one of the fruits that you have to taste in someone’s yard. Just like many of the indigenous, well-loved fruits of Belize, you will never (ever!) find it at the market. That is why I always think that money can’t buy everything…you need to grow it yourself!! The plant grows into bushes so they can be trimmed into hedges. We have about eight bushes on the farm that we placed inside duck coops for the ducks to sit underneath as shade from the sun. We had a great crop this year from all the ducky fertiliser (thank-you, my lovely duckies!!). In the past, we have eaten a few now and then out of hand. We have a slightly more acidic type so eating too much causes mild gastritis. This year was a bumper crop so I felt that it was my duty to do something with it. I feel rather peevish when I let fruit just drop off the tree and go to waste.

Pipping Suriname Cherries.

After picking the suriname cherries, I processed them by pipping them with a cherry pipper. You can do it with a small sharp knife…it just depends on whether you want intact whole fruit. Since I was picking about a 2lbs (1 kg) almost every third day for about two months, I had to consider preservation methods. In my Internet searching, I only found scant information on making suriname cherry jam. In piecing together the information, I learned that the ripe fruit does not have enough pectin to make the jam gel. So, you can add extra pectin to the fruit or interestingly, you can include a few seeds, whilst doing the fruit/sugar boil thingy to make jam.

Please note that it is hard to find pectin powder envelopes off the supermarket shelves in Belize. You can probably find it in the city or some specialty health food shop. In short, you don’t have the luxury of buying pectin here.

Oh but Munchkin always likes to do her own experimentation!! I discovered that by adding unripe suriname cherries (usually more orangey colour) to the ripe fruit, this provides enough pectin to gel the jam.

So, this is Munchkin’s Easy Suriname Cherry Jam Recipe:

Take 4 cups pipped suriname cherries and add 3 cups white sugar. Add about 10 unripe suriname cherries to get the pectin. Cook until you get to gel phase. Makes about 2 pints.

This recipe presumes that you know about gel phase and that you know how to make jam. If you don’t, look up u-tube to get familiar with textures and gelling temperatures.

More Cheery Pictures.

If you don’t want to bother with the jam phase and you want a quick preserve that you can stick in the fridge, you can make a Suriname Cherry Compote.

This is what you do: take 4 cups pipped cherries and add two cups brown sugar. Cook under low/medium heat until the fruit loses its composition. About 15 minutes.

Once cooled, pour in jar and stick in fridge. Good for about 1 month and use it on yogurt, ice-cream, custard, cooked oats, breakfast cereals, etc. As a treat, I made cinnamon buns topped with suriname cherry compote. Very nice:

Suriname Cherry Rolls.

Okay, what else did I do? I found a recipe for Cherry Olives and substituted it with suriname cherries. This is good for cocktails or salads. This is what you do:

Pack a pint jar with 2 cups of pipped suriname cherries. Add to jar, 1 and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 cup mild vinegar. Fill the jar with cold water (boiled already and cooled down to room temp). Put on cover and turn upside down. Let stand in fridge for 2 weeks before using.

(This was a modified recipe from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, very ancient edition.)

Suriname Cherry Olives!!

Oh, I made a massive 1/2 gallon jar since I had so many cherries. It is August now and it is still good to eat in the fridge.

And here ends my adventures with suriname cherry for the year. The fruiting season was about February to April so it was 2 months of continuous harvesting. I have stashed away about 4 quarts of jam to have with ice-cream and as savoury, it is very good with roast pork. Looking forward to next year’s harvest!!

Yum!!

Oh, I had so much to write about today, I forgot to mention that we make a Suriname Cherry Elixir. That will be for another post!