Category Archives: Farming

Vanilla Pods!

May 6, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Back.View

A few weeks ago, Gnome started pollinating the vanilla. It was pretty hard work because he had to climb a ladder to get to the flowering vines.

We were actually asked if the scent of the flowers were like vanilla. When I went to check the first time, I didn’t think that they smelt of anything. With subsequent sniffs, I think they have a faint sweetish scent similar to honeysuckle.

Anyway, the pollinating has worked and we have pods forming! Oooooh…look at that…we are so pleased!

We will have to wait for the pods to mature…takes about 6 months; indications are when they turn pale start to split at the end. They get to about 15cm in length. Harvesting still requires a lot of attention because each pod ripens in its own time so this is another job to add onto the daily list! Phew…farming is actually a lot of work!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Not So Dry!

May 5, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Back.View

Yippee!! We had a good rain last night which filled up half of the tank. And now it’s raining again so we should have the tank completely filled. Good thing Gnome sorted this out:

We were so worried because the dry days seemed never-ending (it always feels like that every year). At least now our poor shriveled tobacco plants will start growing again:

And the pond might start filling up…look…it has been reduced to a single puddle!

Hopefully with this extra bit of rain, our mangoes will get fat and juicy.

All the fruit trees on the farm will benefit from this splendid rain…what a relief!

Amusing, Belize, Construction, Farming

Munchkin And Gnome Update.

May 4, 2016 Munchkin

We are still here! Lately the daily RealFeel of 50C (115F) has been absolutely awful. We have been up at 3am doing our stuff in the cool of the morning (still RealFeel 30C/86F). The heat has frazzled my brain and the inspiration to write just wasn’t there!

Gnome has been charging on full speed and managed to set up the water tank for the imminent (well, we hope) rains. This is the new look tank in Belize called Best Tank:

I think that these tanks are made within the country so they have stopped importing the Rotoplast type.

I mentioned to Gnome:

“Hmmmm…I don’t really like the colour of these new tanks. Quite bland.”

Munchkin.Sitting.Down

Gnome replied with:

“My dear, are you going back to your Ikea days when you wanted everything in spring green stripes or pastel blue? I’m afraid that we don’t live like that anymore.”

Gnome.Embarassed

Amusing, Belize, Farming

Officially Crepuscular!

April 27, 2016 Munchkin

Together.Pointing Hello There!! We are officially Crepuscular!! I have been temporarily away from the keyboard, because it has been sooooo unbelievably hot. I can’t even sit next to the computer because anything that generates heat exacerbates the sweat fest. You are probably wondering what Crepuscular means….

Crepuscular (animals) are those that are active during the periods of dawn and dusk.

Basically, right now in Belize it is so hot (Real Feel of 45C or 113F!!) that we have to get up at the crack of dawn to run about do the farm duties. At dusk, it starts to cool down a little and again, we pack in our activities at this time of the day.

Anyway, Gnome came across the word “crepuscular” when he was looking at possible “farm animals” that he would never be allowed to bring into the country that could possibly help him farm more elegantly. Yes sometimes the pragmatic Gnome does let loose his imagination to fantasize (a little).

This was our conversation:

Munchkin: “I am guessing it’s a monkey to climb trees or maybe one of those big bulls for ploughing the fields…”

Munchkin.Bossie

Gnome: “Not quite. I would like a coconut crab actually.”

Gnome.at.Desk

Munchkin: “…a crab??”

Munchkin.Funny.Look.Yet.Another

Gnome: “Yes, these crabs are huge…about a metre (3 feet) wide. They collect coconuts on the ground, cut through the coconuts with their claws and then they climb up the coconut palm to drop the coconuts down to break the shell. I need a coconut sheller and these would be perfect!”

Munchkin: “Mmmmm…are they good to eat?”

Gnome: “Yes…but that’s not the point…”

Munchkin: “Ok, I’m in! Let’s get an import license for coconut crabs!”

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Pets

Thank-you Zazen Duckies!

April 11, 2016 Munchkin

Food.Munchkin More harvests from the farm…the ducks have been laying so we have been eating lovely eggs. Here in Belize, the shop bought eggs are really, really bad…they are runny and the yolks are anaemic. You can’t even make a proper custard with them…believe me, I have tried and I ended up with a yellow snot that won’t thicken. Thanks to our Zazen duckies for their contribution to the farm!

Look at the lovely fresh eggs…

I’d love an egg mold to make flower-shaped eggs like these…

I asked Gnome to make me one and he replied with,

“…add it to the list dearest…you might get it in a couple of years time if you’re lucky.”

And I said,

“Oh.”

Munchkin.Funny.Shot

Oh what a shame!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Bananas, Bamboo and More Harvests…

April 9, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Back.View After the big rain, everything has started to pick up again. We have bananas coming out of our ears; we have been making banana flour. Also, just eating them ripe and green. Dogs, cat, piggies and duckies have obligingly helped us out with the bountiful harvest.

We are going to get a ton of jackfruit this year. I can count at least 30 fruit on one tree only. These “big babies” can get to about 22lbs (10kgs) in weight; if you have never seen one before, they look like big alien pods once they ripen.

Ripe Jackfruit: Big Babies!!

We have a huge patch of Snake Plant (also known as Mother In Law’s Tongue and St. George’s Sword). I am not actually sure what they are called locally in Belize. Apparently, the plants have some traditional medicinal value; mashed up snake plant is put into chicken drinking water as a natural antibiotic. Incidentally, it is quite funny that, once upon a time, I used to buy these as pot plants from Ikea to decorate my living room!

Close Up Mother In Law's Tongue. — Close Up Mother In Law’s Tongue.

This is a slender bamboo often called “fish-pole.” The diameter of this particular type is only about 1 inch (2.5cm).

They split very easily:

We are going to dry a whole bunch of these to make tiles or blinds? Something useful anyway. I am sure that the artistic ones out there can automatically see the potential!

Belize, Farming, Plants

It's Time To Pollinate Vanilla!

April 7, 2016 Munchkin 3 Comments

Together The vanilla vines are flowering and it’s time to pollinate. The flowers are really beautiful; we have grown the plants up our coconut trees. In our experience, the flowers open in early morning and start closing by about 10am so there is small window of opportunity to pollinate. In past years, we tried to leave it to the stingless bees (meliponia) to do this labour-intensive work for us but we have only managed to get about 2 to 4 pods a plant. If hand pollinated correctly, each plant can produce about 50 to 100 vanilla pods.

We are hoping to get a few more vanilla pods this year so Gnome has been carrying the ladder from vine to vine to pollinate.

It’s a rather delicate operation whilst trying to balance yourself on a ladder too…another Gnome job to add to his lengthy curriculum vitae.

The vanilla will be flowering for for the next 2 to 4 weeks. So, we’ll be up early every day messing around with the vanilla for a while. What Fun. 🙂

Oh and another Gnome Haiku describing this experience:

his aluminium

wings shudder with strain while bees

bathe in yellow pollen

Belize, Construction, Farming

Water Update!

April 1, 2016 Munchkin

The Magic of Mayor Gnome. — The Magic of Gnome.

This is a Friday night so I don’t suppose I need to write anything of great consequence. However, this is important to us since we have managed to solve our water issues on the farm. Hooray!! The smaller tubing worked for the compressed air and the air-lift pump works great. Thanks to Gnome for Belize Rigging…it helps to have brains on a farm…it makes all the difference in finding elegant solutions.

Amusing, Belize, Farming

In The Midst Of Dry Season.

March 29, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Fury The heat is Punishing; It’s stifling hot and we are suffering in the midst of dry season in Belize. I’m not whining for nothing…it has been a real feel of 117F (47C)! Phew!! The Piggies are whining in Paradise too…with squeals, squawks and prolonged weeeeeeeeeees! Mmmm…maybe we should do a Piggie Haircut Day…anyone for a mow-hawk!! It’s not a joke by the way, we do shave their hair as an annual event..

On the farm, we are having issues with water scarcity. We haven’t had any rains for four weeks now. We have a shallow well which is being pumped up by an air-compressor (using the air-lift method). If you have any inclination to read about our Water Saga (actually quite an entertaining read!) then please click on the following pages: Pump Vs Frog and Gnome Premonitions.

Anyway, today Gnome decided to change the tubing which connects the compressor to the bottom of the well. The air goes down the tubing and displaces the water which shoots up out of a PVC pipe. The well hasn’t been filling up quick enough so we figured that we needed to draw up the water slower with a smaller tube. So, today we both got hot and sweaty to pull all the piping up to make the necessary changes.

Our hope is that there will be a continuous draw of water rather that spits and spurts. Anyway, let’s hope this will work otherwise there will be more Gnome tweaking. 😉

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food

No Such Thing As Easy…

March 18, 2016 Munchkin

Together.Pointing It has been soooo hot and dry lately…as they say here in Belize, “The heat punish me.” The other morning, Gnome left the house and said that he was going to mow around the farm. He was gone for a fair bit and I didn’t hear the motor starting so I went to look for him. Well, he certainly wasn’t mowing because the cat had nicely settled down for the day!

I did finally find him with the fruit picker getting some sapodillas down. It was only 8am and we were both sweating profusely. I looked at him all hot and bothered and I said,

“Let’s do something easier today!”

And so we picked a basket of pigeon pea together and podded them. We thought it would be easier!!

Podding this amount took two hours!! Pea Sheller Jr (handmade in the USA) doesn’t work…we tried! We have to do it by hand:

Each pea you see represents one drop of sweat!! This one is definitely not for sale. It beats mowing in the dry season but not by far!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary