Category Archives: Farming

Cor Blimey!! It’s Hot and Humid!

June 11, 2015 Munchkin 2 Comments

Now that the rains have come, the humidity has shot up to 100%. It is muggy and wet and it feels like you are inhaling wet air. Every movement on the farm causes profuse sweating. Yes, I know I was complaining about dry season…but this is even worse because nothing ever dries up and we are wading in puddles. The up side is that the duckies are very happy splashing about in water and incessantly quacking. Poor Gnome attempted to clean up some coconuts and over-heated; he actually had to lie down under the shade of the coconuts from heat exhaustion.

To add to our list of worries, the cat has been severely traumatised. He did not appear all day yesterday and finally turned up in the evening looking very scared and bewildered. He was not physically injured but he was obviously shaken up. So, we carried him into the house and it took him an hour to get settled down. He was hyper-alert and kept on surveying his surroundings as if, at any moment, a giant monster would pounce on him. At night, I tried the usual routine with him and turfed him out of the front door. He would have none of it and started walking backwards (he actually moon-walked!) back into the house slowly and deliberately.

We are not sure what happened to our cat but from our observations, it looks like he might have been chased and he probably spent a night and day up on a tree.

We need to get our cat back on track. Meanwhile Doctor’s orders are plenty of TLC until he starts behaving normally again…like this:

Belize, Farming, Mushrooms

Another Lepiota in Belize.

June 10, 2015 Munchkin 2 Comments

Hello Everyone, we are continuing with the mushroom theme since the rains are bringing a huge abundance of them onto our farm and the Toledo region of Belize. Interestingly enough, many of them fall into the category of the Lepiota sp…also commonly known as the parasol mushrooms.

Here are some pictures from the farm:

Lepiota mushrooms are notoriously difficult to identify and many of them are poisonous, whilst others are edible and delectable. Although we are pretty adventurous with our eating, we have decided not to chance it with these mushrooms since it would be pretty embarrassing for two doctors, in the bush, to come to an early demise due to mushroom mis-adventure.

This particular Lepiota is more distinctive as it has green spores. This one is Chlorophyllum molybdites; unfortunately, inedible and can cause gastro-intestinal upset.

Chlorophyllum molybdites.: distinctive green spores.

Even although we can’t eat any of these, we still have a passion for mushrooms and love to take pictures of them.

By the way, we know that we are back in the Toledo region of Belize (been out of town last few days) when we have to stop the car to let the little piggies cross:

Belize, Farming

Post Flood Flies Freak Out!!

June 6, 2015 Munchkin

The aftermath of official Flood Flies Day is a scene of horror and devastation. There are a few live crawling insects here and there in a background of millions of wings. Not only are they are they on the table-tops, cupboards and floor but they have managed to crawl into every single crevice imaginable. There are wings stuck to food, water, jars, inside boxes and just about everything! They have left no stone unturned in their mass awakening and have truly done their job in destroying all hope of homely, pristine comfort. Instead they have created a chaotic, maddening mess.

And…I am FREAKING OUT!!!

Look at these pictures!!!

Gnome is casually ignoring my nervous twitch and passing it off as amorous winking in his direction (he should be so lucky).

I am trying to reclaim my territories bit by bit and it is a real battle. To add to all this, there was a power-cut at 10am this morning. I had a picture in my head of all the 1000 Watt vacuum cleaners going off at the same time and all the women in Punta Gorda having a massive Post Flood Flies Freak Out (PFFFO!).

This event makes you think that man’s dominance over the environment is precarious at best.

Amusing, Belize, Farming

Official Flood Flies Day!!

June 5, 2015 Munchkin

There are millions of them and I am not exaggerating. They are swarming and surrounding our house and getting into every nook and cranny to invade us. This is the biggest Flood Flies day we have seen and we have been here every year for the last 10 years.

They keep on coming:

As I write, they are crawling all over us, down the shirts and down the trousers. Ugghh…I dislike (using a very light term) that creepy crawly feeling. There are masses collecting around all the lights, flying amock and dropping their wings.

I am worried about the mess of wings in the morning.

All Gnome is worried about is the mass of protein that he did not catch this time to eat.

What a funny world we live in…each to his own worry!

This is the nuptial flight of the termites which like to eat wood and cellulose. I take back my words, in a previous post, when I said that this day only occurred in May. It can occur in June too! Beware of termites if you live in a wooden house (like we do); they can literally eat you out of house and home.

Ok…ready to go to bed!!

Belize, Farming, Food

Miso Pumpkin Bake.

June 4, 2015 Munchkin

It has been two months since we made our Good Friday Shiro Miso; so, I reckoned it was time to try it out!

Shiro miso contains a higher white rice to bean ratio, therefore it can ferment faster and be ready to eat in 2 months. Compare this to hatcho miso which is only made of fermented beans which takes at least 12 months to mature.

I also had a huge pumpkin (14lbs/7kg) in weight, just waiting to be eaten:

So, this is what I came up with; Miso, Pumpkin and Onion Bake:

After eating this, we both agreed that the miso was ready to eat…it gave a unique umami savoury taste to the dish. What a treat and the miso and pumpkin are fresh from our farm!

Bees, Belize, Farming, Pets

A New Hive For a New Colony.

June 3, 2015 Munchkin

Ground-breaking News in the world of Stingless-bee Beekeeping: Today was a good day to check on the bees. Unfortunately my last transfer was not successful (bringing my success rate to a ridiculous 50%) and it was time to clean the dead hive and make some improvements for another transfer.

After cleaning and disinfecting the hive I added some improvements to deal with the cause(s) of this problem: parasitic fly and too much space. Number One: Seal the hive with beeswax. No excuse for this really…it has been laziness on my part.

Sealing up the Hive Parts with Bee's Wax. — Sealing up the Hive Parts with Beeswax.

And Number Two: Bypass the honey pot chamber for three to six months (maybe longer) until the bees have completely taken over the brood chamber using blocks of wood that fit together in such a way that they only leave a small passage through the honey chamber.

Blocks of Wood Bypassing the Honey Chamber.

To commemorate this simple hive, I have called it the Gnome Mark III Stingless-bee Bee Hive. The previous UTOB Hive ended up having two established colonies (again), one in the honey chamber and one in the brood chamber.

This is what I transferred into the new GM III hive today.

The rest of the Honey, Pollen and Wax were harvested for a Munchkin with a sweet tooth!

Our first small harvest of honey, pollen, wax and propolis.

May we all experience the joy of fresh stingless-bee honey! Cheers!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Emergency Mushroom Hot-Line.

June 2, 2015 Munchkin

We were quietly having our morning tea with the sound of continuous rain beating down on our roof and the rabble of the early morning birds, when we were suddenly startled by the sound of the phone going off. It was 7am…from past experience, we only received early phone calls for medical call-outs. I picked up the phone and I recognised the voice of a guy that I knew from Punta Gorda. He was obviously very agitated and addressed me formerly as “doctor.” In my mind, I was thinking,” Yup…it’s a medical call.” Then he garbled on about trying frantically to find my phone number on the Internet. I acknowledged his efforts with some sort of noise indicating encouragement as I anticipated an ailment.

And, then out of the blue he blurted out,” I think I found a Stinkhorn Mushroom!”

I blanked out. Blinked twice. Brain activity stopped for a millisecond as I processed this statement.

I glanced up at the clock…it was 7.05am. In my mind I was thinking,” This guy is phoning me at 7 in the morning to tell me that he has spotted a mushroom in town?”

I don’t think that he even realised that I was taken aback by his statement and went into a frenzy with a description about a potrusion and a net-like thing. He enthusiastically asked,”which part can you eat?” and, “how do I cook it?” and, “Oh, do the Chinese like to eat it…yes I ‘ve heard it’s rather gelatinous…”

I quickly recovered from my surprise and politely corroborated with his description of the Stinkhorn, giving him helpful pointers on the harvesting of the edible mushroom. Afterwards, I put the phone down calmly and then guffawed silently at Gnome who had heard the whole conversation.

Gnome shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, “I guess this is the emergency mushroom hot-line.”

Interestingly enough, in the last few days we have had many sightings of the Stinkhorn Mushroom on our farm. Here are some pictures of this unusual looking fungus.

If you would like to read more about this mushroom, Gnome has written an engaging and humourous essay in the library on The Stinkhorn.

Belize, Energy Saving, Farming, Saving Money

Positive Sod’s Law!

June 1, 2015 Munchkin

Gnome’s last words before he went to sleep last night were, ” I intend to work all day tomorrow.”

Activation: Positive Sod's Law. — Activation Sequence: Positive Sod’s Law.

And sure enough, it poured down today so no outside activity was possible. In a funny sort of way, we were trying out a new technique which we have coined “Positive Sod’s Law.” This utilises a statement of intention, the Sod’s Law principle and the fact that the final result is what you inadvertently wanted but managed to get through the convoluted channel of a “Sod.”

Anyway, since the well-pump has “done broke” as they would say here in Belize, we have been on water conservation “red alert.” This simply means that we are on bucket washes.

On a typical “Red Alert Day” we use the following amounts of water:

1) Bucket washes limited to 3 x day each; 30 gallons in total (120 litres).

2) Washing Clothes; 20 gallons (80 litres).

3) Washing dishes; 10 gallons (40 litres).

4) Water for consumption; 5 gallons (20 litres).

5) Miscellaneous; 5 gallons (20 litres).

Total water used up in one day is 70 gallons (about 280 litres as an over estimation).

We have two rain water tanks that store 660 gallons so that each tank gives us about 8 to 9 days of water. This means, we can last about 2 weeks of dry weather before we start on the “Positive Sod’s Law” technique. This is assuming that we get our water tanks filled right up to the top after each rain…this is not usually the case…more the case of one full tank.

Anyway, it rained lots today and the distant rumbling of thunder, grey clouds and flood flies indicate that there is more to come.

We are anticipating the invasion of the termite queens (the nuptial flight) in the house so we are getting ready for an early night. This equates to a mass of crawling termites and wings a-plenty. Just another Manic Monday!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Fruit and Toasted Passionfruit Seeds.

May 31, 2015 Munchkin 1 Comment

Happy Sunday to you all!! We have some more fruit on our farm; luckily this time, there is an abundance so we can share with the birdies, pacas, dogs and guinea-pigs.

The mulberries are giving plenty of fruit. There is one particular tree which is half hidden in the shade of a huge African oil palm so the birdies have not spotted this one. This year, we will be able to make mulberry Elixir (liqueur).

This is wax-apple; we are into the second year of fruiting and it is producing so much. They are related to the Molly (Malay) apple but these fruits are crunchy in texture like apples. The guinea-pigs really love these ones!

The passionfruit are just starting to bear. I like to combine the pulp of this with the Mayan passionfruit (Kun Batz) to make juice. I find the Mayan variety is sweeter so that it helps to balance the acidity of this type.

With all the passionfruit juice making, I have ended up with a whole lot of seeds. As an experiment, I tried toasting them on a skillet in a similar manner to pumpkin seeds. They actually turned out to be a very tasty snack/condiment; as you toast them, the residual passionfruit pulp around the seeds caramelises to add a unique sweetness. I used the toasted seeds as a condiment on soup which worked a treat. The crunchy texture gives an extra bite to a meal:

Also, we had some as an accompaniment to cassava hash browns and steamed young pumpkin. They added an extra “sweet and sour” flavour to the dish.

Toasted Passiflora Seeds with Cassava Hash Browns.

I would definitely recommend the toasting of passionfruit seeds. It just requires 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat on a skillet. Make sure to stir it around to stop it from initially sticking. You will know when it is done when the pulp caramelises around the seeds. It is so versatile that you can choose to eat it with sweet or savoury foods.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday night!

Belize, Farming, Food

Let’s Make Noodles!

May 30, 2015 Munchkin

If you are thinking of fun things to do at home, why not make noodles? It is a great, short and satisfying project especially when you can directly benefit from it straight afterwards. Can also be a romantic thing to do together if you are so inclined to spend every waking hour together (like Munchkin and Gnome).

So, this is what we did:

We took:

2 cups of wheat flour

2 cups of rice flour

and added about 1 and 1/3 cups of water to make a dough. We Kneaded it until it was smooth and uniform in consistency:

Next, we rolled it out on a board. We used a wine bottle because it worked well and I have never seen a rolling pin for sale in Punta Gorda.

Next, we cut the the sheet of dough into strips. This is a really neat way of doing it…you take a piece of card or wood and you cut against it to get even strips. We picked this idea up from watching a Japanese Anime in which the characters were making noodles.

The cut noodles were transferred onto a clean dish cloth and sprinkled with flour to stop them from sticking:

With the quantities of flour, we were able to make 4 dough sheets in total. This amount of noodles serves 4 very hungry people or 8 conservative eaters.

At this point, you can dry them to keep or freeze them fresh. The wet noodles can be kept in the fridge for 48 hours.

To cook, place noodles in pot of boiling water and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until done. Then, serve it with anything your heart desires…pasta sauce, stir fry, whatever you want.

We then had a hearty meal of noodles cooked with char sui and tomatoes. Delicious and simple:

These noodles can be varied according to flour types, thickness of rolling out and size of strips. By varying these parameters, you can achieve different tasting noodles with varying textures and degrees of bite. We cut our noodles quite thickly so ended up with a chewy bite from the rice flour.

Casa Mascia Apothecary