All posts by Munchkin

Amusing, Belize

More Work and Floods!!

Hello!  It is a lovely, sunny day and there have been no night rains for two days.  We are crossing our fingers and hoping that we get another run of dry days.  If we do, Gnome will be digging…digging holes for fence posts  to fence the geese out of our house area; the geese are getting messy, rowdy and noisy and our previous unfinished walls (tyres and concrete blocks) have not worked since they can jump. There will also be more digging for grey water ponds to the back for a banana and plantain area.  Once the ground is dry, we will have to mow again with the brush-mower; however, we do have a slight problem because the v-belt has broken.  I am sure if we lived anywhere else, this would not be an issue but finding a 50 inch belt in Toledo is proving difficult…we went to the Farmstore last week…they had v-belts sizes in 62″ or 67″ or 102″ AND there was the usual palava!!  This time, there were no lengths written on the v-belt packaging and we had to try measuring loops with a straight ruler.  Needless to say, we never found the right size and Gnome walked out of store muttering something about “Belize-Rigging again.”

Oh and I have to tell you about Saturday morning!!  It was our town day so we had a leisurely morning at home and didn’t think anything at all about the continuous rains the night before.  Well, it does rain most of the time!  When we got to the Jacinto junction which joins onto the Highway to Punta Gorda, there was a parked truck, lots of people and the dory was out!!  Yes, we were flooded at the junction once again!  The water looked deep so we decided to wait.  After a while, a young guy drove down in a Missionary bus and offered to drive in front of us and as he said, “…part the waters…”  We thought that it sounded like a good idea so we followed…

There were a few issues….arghhh!!  Firstly, the bus went as slow as a snail across the water and instead of “parting the water” it was pushing water towards our truck causing a lot of resistance.  Usually, Gnome can control the acceleration to get out of the water quickly but this time, we were forced to go at a sluggish pace.   There were some crazy moments with deep forward and sidey-way  dippy movements.  It was sooo Scary!!  I was praying all the way through but I still felt confident because Gnome looked like he was handling it in his usual cool, debonair manner.

It was a bit of “touch and go” at moments but we managed to pull through.  I think there was a lesson in that…never go behind a bus in a flood!!  I said to Gnome…

“…wow, you were sooo cool!!”

Gnome replied,

“…what??? My leg was shaking all the way!!!”

(Well, I guess I was looking at his face…not his leg!!  Ha-Ha  🙂    )

 

Belize, Farming, Food

Rain!!!

It has been pouring down everyday since Sunday and we have been stuck indoors.  Thank goodness, we got our planting done on Saturday…for the first time we seem to be synchronising with the weather.  We are starting to plant new fruit trees in rows…I know…how about that for a novel, organised orchard!  In the past we have planted our fruit trees in a haphazard sort of way: “how about there…in that space!” and now that the trees have grown, we are finding that they are in the wrong place, too close to the house, too close together, blocking the path, blocking the driveway, etc, etc.  You name the planting mistake…we have done it!!

So many trees everywhere!!

Bushy Yard.

Anyway, we live and learn!  Well, the last few days have been all day rains so there has been no hope of continuing with projects right now.

Nevertheless, we can’t complain about the continuous food on the farm.  It is canistel time again:

Canistel.

More Peach Palms:

Peach Palm.

Peanut Butter Fruit; these are just starting:

Peanut Butter Fruit.

Okay, I will write again soon!

Belize, Soap

Making Soap!

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It is that time of the year to make soap.  This time we have decided to go for the Chocolate Swirls (and blobs) with clay from the Bladen area.

Clays of Bladen.

The clay comes in different colours: reds, pinks, purples, yellows and whites.  It is really quite beautiful to go to the Bladen area to ogle at the colours but once you step out of the car to start digging, that’s a different story…the usual hot, sweaty work!

Lovely Colour:

Raw Clay.

Gnome is the designated digger of clay:

Clay Digging in Belize.

We finally got the chance to use the soap-cutter which was presented to us as a gift from our friends, Erin and Jim.  In simple words, Jim can make things and put them together…a bit of gnomishness there methinks.  Anyway, when he heard that Gnome was cutting each single soap with wire (like cheese) he set himself the task of making a soap-cutter for us.  Oh, and we are soooo pleased…it does the job and eases our pain and sweat!!  This is Great.  Thank-you Erin and Jim for this wonderful gift!!

Soap Cutter.

And this is what we have been making:

Clay Swirls.
Chocolate Soaps.
More Soaps.
Clay and Chocolate Swirls.

Okay, have a great long weekend!!

Belize, Farming

Farm Update.

Hello Everyone, I haven’t written for a while just because I have been too tired!  Despite rain and mud and puddles, we are charging through like little troopers trying to get things done.  The last time I wrote, we had about 10 days of glorious, dry weather.  Straight after that, we had heavy rains.  As soon as the first night rain started Gnome exclaimed (in his sleep): “…the peanuts…the peanuts…we must harvest the peanuts…”

And so we did…the next day of course…not in the middle of the night!  The following day happened to be a dryish, sunny day so we had the weather on our side.  Panda helped out too and we managed to collect the peanut in about 4 hours.  The peanuts were washed and laid out to dry in a sheltered area.  Well, thank goodness we did the harvesting because after that we had torrential rain for days…we would have lost the crop if we waited!  Here are some pictures:

Peanut Harvest.

Oooh Peanuts:

Drying Peanuts.

In the last week or so, we have had heavy evening rains and dry days.  Because our coconut area is on higher ground, we have managed to clear up the place; I went through and collected fallen coconuts(400!!).  I have placed them in a shaded area to allow them to sprout.  Panda (he’s been a very helpful trooper) cut and removed dead fronds and laid them in mulch piles.  Then Gnome went through and bush-hogged the place.  With all this co-ordinated work, we cleaned up the coconut area in about 2 1/2 days which is a record time for us!!

Coconuts.

Anyway, we are on a roll here and the next place to clean up is the back space with the sapodilla trees.  This may prove difficult because the area is really wet and boggy; we will probably start by cleaning the fence line because the bush is encroaching on the territory.  We are trying to get the sapodillas back on track since they have been neglected for about two years due to machinery failure.  They used to look like this:

Sapodilla Trees.

Oh, and we have had more machinery problems which have held a few projects back…this time it is the chainsaw which is giving the headaches.  We took it to the Farmstore in town to get it fixed and got the usual palava:

“..not sure which part needs to be replaced…will order part but can’t find part in Belize…maybe try to get part in Guatemala??  Or States???  Anyway… might take until December to get part from States…do you want to Belize rig it?? “

Anyway, these were the conversations that we were having for the last 2 weeks.  Don’t get me wrong…this is not a complaint…this is what happens in Belize and these are the things that we have to live with.  Anyway, we have the chainsaw back (not fixed) and Gnome says he will take it apart and see what he can do.  No guarantees of course.  Arrrrgh….we have so many trees to cut down!!

Gnome Magic.

Okay, so we will keep on going… 🙂  Here’s another picture of our peanuts. 🙂

Peanuts!!
Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Food…

Hello!  We have had about 10 days straight of dry, sunny weather and we have been working our little butts off!  Today, we are sooo tired that we have decided to take the day off.  This is how we look at the end of the day: Oh, so knackered, just want to sleep…

Tired!!

Please note that the Cat has not been physically working and looks like this all the time!!

Anyway, I have managed to wrestle back control over the trees in the yard and the pond area.  They have been cleaned up, mulched and fertilised and now on a maintenance schedule.  The next battle is the orchard at the back which was overgrown for two years because of machinery failure.  Now that Gnome has brought the grass/bush back down, I have been piling up all the debris and branches.  A big thank-you to Panda for helping out with this bit!  This was the orchard…very bushy.  Now, it has really opened up.   The orchard mostly consisted of sapodilla trees but from cleaning up, it looks like we may have lost about 6 out of 20 of the trees.  We will probably replace with a variety of fruit trees including golden plum, mango and rambutan.  This is a picture of “before”…don’t have “after” yet…

Bush.

Meanwhile, Gnome has been preparing the veranda for electricity and plumbing.  We are moving the sink out of the house (not enough space) with a view to moving the kitchen out too (not enough space!).  To add to all these plans within plans, we have decided (work in process and will take a couple of years to establish) to have two cooking areas.  We will have a cooking area on the veranda with dedicated charcoal stoves…mostly set up for Gnome for Italian slow-cooking, wine-making and whatever he feels like cooking up.  At some stage,  I will have an outside Munchkin kitchen with a fire/coal pit so I will do most of the cooking over coals.  There will be a dedicated sheltered sitting area outside for this and a little kitchen-bunker made from used tyres.  🙂  That’s the plan…

Anyway, the farm keeps on producing and each season brings something different to the kitchen table.  We have a blackberry bearing right now; very difficult to harvest because the tree is so tall so I have to wait for the berries to fall to the ground.  I tried thrashing the branches about with a big stick but I got too tired.  If I can collect enough, I will get Gnome to make some wine:

Blackberry

It is also the season for peach-palm.  The geese love these and actually wait underneath the palms for the fruit to fall and when this happens, this sets off a rugby-type game that they play.  It’s fun to watch amidst the goosie shrieks and carrying-on.  Run Goosie Run!!

Peach Palm

We are eating them too.  I cut them in half, remove the centre seed and boil them for about 45 minutes.  Since, I do this in large batches, the cooked fruit is stored in the freezer ready for stews and soups.

Boiled Peach Palm.

Oh and the malabar spinach looks very healthy and has taken over a whole bed:

Malabar Spinach.

Aubergines (eggplants) are starting to produce; Pantry Cat is also looking after the vegetables…he keeps the iguanas away during the day…good boy, remember to wake up if you hear any stealthy crunch-crunch noises!!

Cat Guarding Eggplant.
Belize, Farming

Hope.

Hope is a good thing.  I had made the decision to leave my duckies alone this year and not bother them about laying and nesting.  I opened the coop and told them that they were free to walk around and do whatever pleased them.  I then quickly stuck a greenhouse in the coop…thinking: aha, since you are not going to be around, I will move my tiny plant nursery off the veranda into your big, spacious coop!!

Greenhouse in Duck Coop.

Anyway, guess what happens next?  A few days later, Gnome spotted a duck emerging surreptitiously from under a wood pile.  He said,

“Quick Munchkin…check that space out…”

I quickly got down on my hands and knees to peer into a tiny, squashed-up space under a wood pile and this is what I found:

Secret Duckie Nest.

They are laying and starting a nest.  Yes…there is hope.  😉

Belize, Farming

Duckie Exchange.

We have been a bit unlucky with duckies this year.  We had about 6 girls initially and one by one we lost them through some pesky possums early in the year.  I managed to incubate a few eggs and had a few duckies to mother…sadly, none of them survived either…some were too weak and I actually stood on one too.  I know, I know, I was so devastated that I couldn’t even write that in a post!  Ducklings have a very erratic way of walking ie. they don’t walk in a straight line AND Munchkins have an erratic way of walking…so, put the two together and it might be a recipe for disaster!  Oh dear, no duckies this year:

Duckie.

Anyway, we have ended up with a lone surviving duck and three drakes.  The last two months, we attempted to isolate the female with one drake in the coop.  They had the whole infinity pond to themselves and access to all- they- can eat corn and protein buffet.  Despite all this pampering, duckie was not laying any eggs (or was there a snake getting them, I am not sure?).  We felt that she was lonely and unhappy and needed some female company to perk up.  To add to all this stress, during this confinement period, the drake kept on escaping through invisible holes in the coop to chase after the other two drakes!  Yes, oh what fun!!  It just wasn’t working out at all…

Duckies.

So, we decided to seek out our Duckie Exchange guy in Punta Gorda.  We have known this guy for as long as we have had duckies…so, probably about 14 years.  He owns ducks and occasionally, he goes through difficult duckie times like ours; when this happens he usually seeks us out for a pair of duckies to start again.  Over the years, we have sought each other out in duckie dearth times.  This time it was our turn.  He said that he was happy to spare a a few for us even although he had suffered quite a loss recently.  That was really nice of him.  Whilst talking, he told us that he had lost his only male goose to the dog.  As he told us, his single female goose walked by…she was so tame and cute and she had a funny, limping gait.  He explained to us that when she was a gosling, a crab nipped off all her toes so that was why she walked in a teeter-totter sort of way.  Anyway, we thanked him for his help and said that we would return to pick up the ducks.

Afterwards, Gnome and I talked and agreed that since we had always helped each other out, we would give the guy a male goose in exchange for the duckies.  It is coming up to goosie breeding season again and the fights will start with the September solstice.  There is one particular male goosie that gets the brunt of it all and we end up throwing him into the duck coop for protection.  I am not sure why the other males go for him because he is very fine-looking and he is a fighter too. Gnome and I agreed that he would probably be happier in a new home despite our reluctance to let go of our beloved goosie.

Anyway, that Duckie-Goosie exchange took place about two weeks ago.  Every time, we are in town, we slow down in front of the house to catch a glimpse of our dear goosie.  He looks a lot happier walking proudly  about with his new lady and it looks like he is the new boss of the yard!  Oh I know, we are suckers for happy endings…let us also hope for a happy ending for the duckies because we want more of these little cuties!!

Duckie
Belize, Food

Munchkin’s Journey Ration.

Gnome has charged me with the task of making a journey ration (cake) in the old-fashioned sense of the word.  He is looking for a  staple that can be used for journeys or simply as a food ration.  It must be balanced with carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.  Also, it should be storable at room temperature and have a reasonably long shelf life.  Taste is also an important criteria!  Oh, and I have to try to use ingredients that I can find in Belize or better still, food that is harvested from our farm.

Since we have had a few rainy days, I have had time to experiment: I am using the Italian Panforte as a basis for my recipe.  Nowadays, Panforte is eaten at Christmas time and can contain almonds, citrus peel, dried fruits and spices tightly packed and bound together with a mixture of flour (very little) and honey.  Traditionally, panforte was used as a “journey cake” for soldiers during long marches.

Since I don’t have an oven any-more, I have had to start the recipe from scratch and find a way to cook it on a cast iron skillet over a charcoal stove.  The first challenge is to get a basic recipe that actually works using this baking modality.

The first batch contained the following: Toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dried jackfruit, lime peel with cassava starch, honey, jackfruit wine and brown sugar to bind.  I flavoured it with clove and cinnamon. Here is a picture; they look very Christmasy!

Munchkin Journey Ration.

So far, so good.  The rations baked well and were very tasty.  I calculated these basic rations to be about 350 kcals each so on an active day, we would need to consume 6 of these and on a sedentary day, 3 of them.  Now that I have the basic recipe, I will be working on the following additions and modifications:

  1. Extra protein possibly in the form of beef jerky/ ground ora pro nobis leaves.
  2.  Vitamins and minerals from dried, ground chaya leaves.
  3. Addition of a variety of dried fruits from the farm (suriname cherry, mango, pineapple, sapodilla and whatever I can get my hands on!)
  4. Addition of a variety of citrus peel from the farm including lemon, calamondin and grapefruit for taste.
  5. More exotic nut or nut-like food that we grow eg. cashew nuts, malabar chestnut and even coconuts.
  6.  Cacao beans (nibs)!
  7. Oooohhh, I am sure I will think of more things! It starts to get very fun and exciting to boldly go into the creative unknown!

This is still a work in progress and I am happy to keep on experimenting whenever the mood takes me.  So far, Gnome has been pleased with my efforts…I know this because he has eaten all my ration bars!!  In addition to this, I have made 100kcal truffle rations which can be eaten in between normal meals when we need a little bit of extra energy for physical work on the farm.  This lot has been polished off too…also a winner!!

Small Food Rations.

Okay, I will keep you posted on my Munchkin Journey Rations!!

Amusing, Farming

A Job For The Cat!

I feel a tad stupid writing this post because it seems like a very obvious solution to a very obvious problem.  However, it has taken me eight years to come to this realisation.

From my knowledge of The New World, cats were introduced from the Old World by Post Columbian Contact (1490’s).  Back in the good old days, cats existed to do a job ie. keep rat populations down and that is why you had a ship’s cat or a larder cat.  As far as I know, cats did not exist at that time, exclusively for cuteness and cuddling.

Well, nowadays, cats do exist for cuteness and cuddling and we (and they) have forgotten their ancestral days of work, struggle and rat chasing!  Indeed, we have a Millennial Cat!

Okay, so I have a cat on the farm for eight years and he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants.  Sometimes, I feel that he has trained us to exist only to feed and cuddle him…I scratch my head and wonder… at what point did the tables turn on us…

(There is a rat running amok in my kitchen eating teabags…why is the cat not doing his job??)

Since it has been raining non-stop, the cat has taken to sleeping in the same spot, at the back of the house, for 23.5 hours of the day.  For the 30 minutes of awake time, he is performing cat toilet duties or persuading me to feed him.  He sleeps on a black executive chair with an extra layer of cloth for comfort:

Comfortable Cat.

Okay, so what do I do?  I can’t shout at him and I can’t talk to him…Catch the rat, you stupid lazy good-for-nothing cat!! And besides, he looks too cute to reprimand!

This is what we have done.  We have surrounded his executive chair with food that needs protecting.  The sack of corn and the dog food is beside him.  Any vegetables or fruit, of significance, are placed in his sleeping space.  Look, we have our vegetables protected by the cat!

Cat Guarding Taro.

It’s working.  No rat dares to come near any of the sacks with a fat cat guarding them.  Gnome says that if we need extra security in the kitchen, we can always wheel the executive chair in to that area.  So there you go, we now have a pantry cat!

Amusing, Belize

Super Rat!

Since I have been stuck indoors with the rains, I decided to take some time to tidy up the kitchen/pantry.  The kitchen always looks like a bomb has hit it…well, that is because I am always in the middle of cooking!  Gnome however, would (beg to differ) and say that I was just plain messy and then I would shout back at him and demand a bigger kitchen.  He would argue back and say,

“…oh, so you want a bigger mess!!”

Cheeky Bugger!!  All of this is said in jest of course and this is Munchkin and Gnome friendly banter whilst cooped inside a house on rainy days!

Anyway, the other day, while cleaning my kitchen shelves, I come across a whole trail of gnawed teabags and I followed the tea leaf trail to this…

Rat Eating Through Plastic.

I was flabbergasted when I saw this…a rat (I think) had systematically gnawed around the plastic container, like a can-opener, and stopped half-way.  It didn’t even get to the food inside!  I showed this to Gnome and he said,

“…the rat must have stopped mid-way when it ran out of caffeine!”

I pictured a caffeine-high rat running amok in the kitchen.  What a funny picture!  Anyway, after seeing the razor-sharp capabilities of an intrepid rat, I promptly put all food away in glass or metal containers.  No plastic.  I also put away the teabags.  In the evening, I had an after-thought and said to Gnome,

“…maybe I should leave one teabag out for the poor rat…he might go into withdrawal…”

Gnome’s reply,
“…you are kidding, right?”