Category Archives: Farming

Belize, Farming, Philosophy, Saving Money

Pump Versus Frog.

May 29, 2015 Munchkin

The rains have stopped and we have had some good dry days. We eventually realised that our procrastination time was coming to an end when the water was slowly going down in the tanks and the frogs had laid enough spawn in our buckets to start a frog farm.

It was time to pull up the well-pump and face reality and deal with it. So, yesterday Gnome cleared the well-pump area which was overgrown with lots of green climbing stuff.

He pulled the 50 feet of pipe to bring the submersible pump up. Hoping that the pump was just full of gunk, we ran the pump inside the water tank. It groaned and creaked with each electricity jolt but refused to start up.

On closer inspection of the one-way valve, Gnome noticed that there was a “biological black rotting that slimed out past the valve.” Those were his technical terms and he thought that it was most likely a frog, snake or bunch of slugs which had got caught and mashed up in the intake.

The next thing that we need to do is to open up the pump and clean it out and to see if there is damage to the pump mechanism. We are not sure if this can be done if the parts are all glued together. Anyway, it isn’t looking good for the pump and we are already looking for a replacement. Since we have a variable-draw pump because we have a very shallow (slow) well, the pump is extra expensive…with duty and shipping it will probably cost close to $5000 all up. Needless to say, we are now considering other less traditional types of pumps; Gnome is favouring the “air-lift” pump which will double-up as a compressed air source for the farm. Also, he is trying to save me money!!

Anyway, enough of the technical stuff. This reminds me of our good, old pioneer days when we first came to Belize….

Back in the early days, we befriended the manager at Cotton Tree Lodge who was, at that time, in the early phase of construction of the establishment. He had mentioned to us that he had bought a second-hand well-digger ( a small one which could only dig a maximum of fifty feet) but the only problem was that he could not figure out how to use it from the operating manual. Gnome was able to decipher the manual and so the manager made a proposal to us; if Gnome could dig a well for Cotton Tree Lodge then he would allow us to dig a well on our own property. We readily agreed to the exchange of services and Gnome set about digging a well at the lodge. We loved the idea of being “well-diggers”…it sounded sooo cool and appealed to our sense of adventure.

Anyway, during a short morning break, we happened to meet a visiting medical doctor from New York who was on holiday. When he found out that we were Doctors and that we were enlisted well-diggers, he was absolutely horrified. He guffawed and stammered and finally said,”Doctors, huh? Do you think this is a smart career move?” We just laughed because we were having so much fun in Belize. But all he could do was scratch his head and give us a befuddled look of dismay.

Yes, I definitely have to say that it was a smart career move. Ten years down the line, we have become independent-minded and self-sufficient. We can usually figure how to achieve a job on the farm without paying for an expert or professional. It is all about thinking out of the box and as one very well-seasoned Belizean ex-pat (a Hawaiian Gnome) once advised us,” to make it in Belize, you need to have the smarts to get ahead.”

Belize, Farming, Food, Our Products, Plants

Mayan Passion Fruit Juice.

May 28, 2015 Munchkin

The Mayan Passion Fruit (Ketchi name is Kun Batz) is still in season. It is a vine which voluntarily grows around cultivated trees and it can also exist in the rainforest of Belize.

They have beautiful flowers so can they also be grown as an ornamental:

The fruit can be eaten green like a vegetable (like cho-cho or zucchini).

If you let it ripen, you can eat the fruit pulp like a passion fruit.

The seeds and the pulp are edible and can be eaten alone or mixed with yoghurt or ice-cream. Today, I sifted out the seeds to get the pulp and the juice:

I used a total of eight fruit and towards the end, added a cup of water to the remaining seeds to try to extract the last of the pulp. I was able to make a quart of juice from this method. When I tasted it I felt that it was sweet enough that no sugar was required. Compare this with normal passion fruit which is quite acidic which requires sweetening in order to enhance the taste. This is Kun Batz juice with a sprig of mint:

The Kun Batz juice is divine!! The taste of the juice is a combination of pineapple, banana and canteloupe melon with mild exotic hints of passion fruit. It is unique in that it has a mildly sour taste but it is sweet enough that no sugar is needed.

I have a whole lot of fresh seeds to sell so check out The Apothecary. To my knowledge, nobody is cultivating this bush fruit so if you are into rare and exotic plants, then this a definitely one to add to the list!

Planting Instructions:

Passiflora seeds have a hard shell so pr-treat the seeds before planting; Soak the seeds for 24-48 hours in warm to the touch water, just prior to planting. Once pretreated, plant seeds 1/2-1″ deep in moist, sterile soil. Keep soil temperature consistent at about 70-85F. Cool soils will significantly delay seed germination time.

Estimated germination time under optimal conditions: 6 weeks to 6 months.

Plant spacing for this vine is 10 feet (3 metres) apart and can grow to about 20 feet tall. Will start fruiting in about 12 months.

Belize, Farming, Philosophy

House Visitors.

May 26, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone. We just spent the last two days chilling out and relaxing. We still have the same ongoing problems…yes, life goes on but we decided just to take a break from our usual mad running around. Pause to think about life.

It was partly due to this; it was raining buckets. When the weather decides not to co-operate with outside activities, it is best to co-operate with reality and do nothing. We are learning.

Also, we had a visiting froggie that looked like he was contemplating life and so we thought to follow his example. Sometimes slowing down can be a good thing.

Aside from the froggie, we have had another house visitor…a bat. He just hung (ha-ha) around for a day or so and then left.

It reminds me of the time when we first moved onto this farm; the wooden house was just one big room and a whole army of vampire bats had taken residency on the ceiling. So, on our first night in this house, we bravely (or stupidly?) slept on a mattress perched on wooden boards (rather precariously, I might say) in the midst of a house with the to and fro fluttering of about a hundred vampire bats. They squeaked, chirped and swooped all around us…it felt like a scene from a horror movie. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep very well on our first night and still to this very day I wonder why we did it…was it an initiation into ascetic living perhaps or learning to live with all creatures? Anyway, ten years on, we have house rules…only visitors…and we don’t mind the odd rat snake, tarantula or bat but the rules are that they can not take up residency in our house. So far, so good…everything seems to be co-operating.

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Another Day in Paradise.

May 22, 2015 Munchkin

This morning (Thursday), we woke up to the distant rumbling of thunder. I suddenly remembered that I had written in the previous evening’s blog that I wanted it to rain. Well, what I should have said was that I intended it to rain at night to fill up our water tanks and that I wanted it to be dry and breezy in the morning for Gnome to fix the water pump. Since our plans were thwarted by the elements, we both agreed whole-heartedly to try to sleep in a bit more and managed to fall asleep again. “Sleeping in” is an extremely rare event for us but we felt the duress of the water shortage and needed a bit more time to come to terms with the situation. All morning wake-up calls were ignored as mad doggie “bow-wowed” and goosie honked to try to get our attention. We finally got up as the orchestra of animals and birds elevated to a crashing crescendo.

I opened up the back door to let the breeze in the house and saw the cat frolicking about in the back-yard eating and playing with a dead frog. He was the only one that did not make any noise. Since we were late he decided to do his own cat thing. As soon as he saw me, he casually walked into the house licking his chops and paws. He brushed passed me and went into the kitchen to chew on a piece of lemongrass to, presumably, freshen his breath after eating dead frog.

Meanwhile the rumbling of thunder sounded a lot nearer and the sky lit up with a lightning strike. The clouds were a dark, slate grey looming over our house. The plans of Munchkin and Gnome aften go astray….we were most upset with the whole situation. I bleated and lamented shaking my finger like a mad Chinese woman. Gnome gesticulated wildly in a well, hot Latino way. If you were a fly on the wall, you would have thought we were doing the “Hokey Cokey” at each other.

Meanwhile…the cat sprang up on a chair and started kneading the cushion in preparation for a whole day of relaxation…ahhh time to sleep.

More madness ensued as I complained about washing clothes with buckets filled with tadpoles. The tadpoles actually stuck to the clothes. I was most vexed with this tadpole-sticking situation…

Meanwhile…the cat finally noticed the commotion and mildly looked in our direction as if to “lend a kind ear” but then shrugged his shoulders and decided he didn’t want the cushion and settled down on the floor.

The rain clouds gathered and we knew all the yelling in the world would not change the inevitable. After the morning cup of tea, we hauled buckets of water (tadpole free) into the house.
Meanwhile…the cat was doing this:

The rain started with a gust of wind, a mild pitter patter and then it was a deluge. Gnome looked at me with a winning smile and told me that it wasn’t all bad. The water tank would be filled up with the heavy rains and he promised me that he would fix the pump problem. It was just not going to be Today! I smiled back at him and realised that everything was alright. These are the challenges of life and we have to get through it together.

Meanwhile…the cat was doing this:

Not a care in the world!

Belize, Farming

Arrrgh! Water Shortage!!

May 20, 2015 Munchkin

Internet has been unreliable with it coming on and off. Most times it is actually off and then there are times when it comes back on …for about 60 seconds when late emails filter through. This provides slim opportunity to post up our blog. Gnome says I should still persevere with the daily chronicles and then post them all up en masse when the Internet is back to normal.

Anyway, life goes on and we are doing our usual Munchkin and Gnome stuff. The most important piece of news that is definitely affecting us is that the well pump is down. This means that we can’t pump water for showers, washing dishes and clothes. Yes…this is a major problem!! Right now, we are using the water from our back-up rainwater tank and using every drop of water judiciously. We also have 5 gallon water buckets placed around the house to opportunistically catch rainwater; they have tadpoles in them but in this drought every bit of water is necessary. It is funny how we take water for granted and now that we have a water shortage it accentuates our appreciation.

Tomorrow Gnome is going to pull up the submersible well-pump which is a feat in itself. We are hoping that it the problem is a simple blockage due to gunk. Otherwise, we will have to order a new pump from the States because it is a special pump with variable draw, which is not available in Belize. Arrrgh!!! Even thinking about the logistics of bringing something in from the States urgently puts me into a frenzy of anxiety. Can we get the pump before we run out of water?

Meanwhile, let there be plenty of Rain!!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

Fruits in Season.

May 18, 2015 Munchkin

Hi There! Just something short and sweet…pictures from the farm. We find that the farm just keeps on producing and doing its own thing. Even although we have taken a few days from farm work it doesn’t stop it all from growing up…aagghhh…the bush and the grass are all coming back with the rains! Anyway, here are some things that make us feel that it is all worth it in the end.

Mulberry is in season; you would naturally consider this as a temperate fruit but it actually grows in Belize very well. The yields are very high…the only thing is that you have to pick them early morning before all the birds get them.

The bees are polinating the African oil palm. Again, this is a favourite with wild animals so you have to grab them while you can. The palm nuts are actually really nice boiled in soups and stews. Oh, and another thing, the dog likes them too. So much competition…we don’t mind sharing but the problem is that the rest of the other critters have no concept of leaving a few behind for us!

This is a nice specimen of wild mushroom. They are Lepiota sp. unfortunately, not edible.

These yellow fruit are called abiu. They have a clear, whitish pulp with some similarity to the texture of persimmon. A tasty fruit which can only be picked once there is a tinge of yellow on the outer shell. The birds seem to be able to eat them green so we tend to lose a lot of them to our little friends. Here is a nice picture of two surprisingly intact specimens:

It is mango season and the trees in Toledo are totally loaded. We are lamenting over this because when we initially started planting fruit trees on our farm, ten years ago, we were so excited about planting weird and exotic trees that we completely overlooked the common back-yard mango. So, now we have no mangoes on our farm and they are actually our favourite fruit. We are making up for it this year by planting seedlings but it is going to be quite a wait to have our own farm-fresh mango…about 5 years! Here is a picture of mangoes on a tree (not on our farm).

Oh, and this is an unusual fruit called velvet apple. They are furry red balls with a yellow/orange pulp which we have actually never tasted before. They have a very nice peachy smell to them. This picture was taken from a friend’s farm; they look like Christmas decorations:

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Now is the time to stuff yourself silly with mangoes until July…then it will be avocado season! Lots of wonderful fruit to look forward to.

Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Our Products, Soap

Munchkin and Gnome are Still Here!

May 14, 2015 Munchkin

Yes we are still here!! A few people have been wondering what has happened to us so I would to reassure everyone that we are absolutely fine. It is transition time from dry to wet season at the moment and with this change, brings early morning rains. As a few of you will know from our previous posts, this has really messed up our farm routine. So, instead of staying at home and feeling sorry for ourselves, we have rearranged our whole farm routine to fit with the weather change. Changing things around a bit isn’t so bad actually as it makes life a bit less predictable.

From our observation, the rains start around 7am and then by 11am, the sun starts coming out…this is horrible because the atmosphere is heavy with humidity and you can’t sweat to cool down. Anyway, by about 3pm, the ground has nicely dried up again and so we have moved our farm work to late afternoon. Gnome is still able to clean up and continue with the brush-mowing while I keep up with maintenance. This work then runs into animal feeding time and so by the time I get into the house, I don’t feel like writing a chronicle of the day. Just to change the routine a bit, we have been going to bed even earlier…about 7pm because we have both been in the mood for reading before sleeping. I am reading Mark Twain and Gnome is reading C.S. Lewis (the lesser known science fiction novels). We both like to read the Classics though I have caught Gnome on occasion reading trashy novels…he just laughs and calls me a literary snob!

Munchkin and Gnome are still doing their stuff…

We made another batch of Chocolate Artisan Soap:

We also prepared Chinese Fermented Black Beans; Needs to get more smelly and fermented…we will give it 12 months to do its thing:

Gnome is making brown rice koji for brewing and miso-making:

And here is a Toledo Firefly…you usually just see a mass of green lights in the dark:

And the cat is up to his usual tricks again, running after lizards in the house. The is a savvy lizard hiding on Gnome’s foot…this one got away:

Slinky on Gnome's Foot. — Slinky on Gnome’s Foot.

Ok everyone, have a good night and hopefully I can be more organised with writing the daily posts!

Belize, Blog, Farming, Food, Pets, Plants

Far From The Madding Crowd.

May 5, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! Goosie is recovering very well from his traumatic doggy attack and was released from Farm-ICU today. He made some quiet honks through-out the day and then sounded a loud HONK in the afternoon and drew me his usual dastardly-look to tell me that he was back in action. To top it all off, our missing duckie suddenly reappeared, as if by magic, tonight for feeding time. We had no idea where she had been for the last 24 hours…we tried doing doggy sniffing and patrol all round the farm perimeter today looking for signs of her…and then she just pitched up for food tonight! No questions asked, we quickly ushered her into the coup. Wow…we are so pleased that everything has ended well and all our duckies and goosie are safe.

New things on our farm:

Gnome only uttered one word, “melomel.”

The Kun Batz (Ketchi Mayan name for Belize wild passionfruit) has ripened to an edible fruit and tastes like a cross between a lemon and water-melon…very good!

An unusual wild green pod growing, which we had been watching for 9 months, suddenly exploded. The dried pod looks like a nice ornamental for displaying (soap, maybe?!).

We are going to germinate the seeds because the vessel looks really pretty; it is boat-shaped and could be lacquered to make it last.

We are glad that we can share the highs and lows of our farm life in this Blog!

Belize, Farming, Pets

Wild Goosie Chase Saves Duckies!!

May 4, 2015 Munchkin

In the heat of the lazy afternoon fowl-play was afoot as we heard the sudden beating of wings and then a HONK that sounded like a shreek and then then the crash of mad chasing under the house. I ran out and caught a glimpse of a dog pouncing on my poor goosie as it fought back valiantly with its wings and beak. As soon as the stray dog caught a whiff of me, it scarpered quick smart off the property. Goosie was left in a state with blood on his neck and a severe hurt look on his face; he refused to look at me in the eye and beat a hasty retreat towards the shade of the coconuts.

After all this pandemonium, we suddenly realised that the goosie’s duckie buddies (white duck and two brown girls) were missing.

Gnome heard distant quacking coming from the pond where the fowl go to swim during the day. We walked the 150 yards, in silence and fear, to the pond and noted a trail of goose feathers as we went along. When we finally got there, the dog was there drowning one of our poor ducks in the pond. As soon as the dog saw Gnome, it sprang out and bounded away. We stayed for a while in the pond area with the poor, bedraggled half-drowned duckie swimming around dizzily in circles. There was no trace of any other ducks and we scoured the pond area to no avail. Eventually, the half-dead duckie got so distressed that Gnome said that it was best to leave her alone until routine feeding time.
We headed back to the house in a forlorn state wondering about our duckies. I checked up on Goosie and he seemed okay sitting under the coconuts. All of a sudden, Gnome and I heard WakWakWak (White Duckie Male Quack) and goosie perked up and hastily bobbed his head from side to side, frantically looking for the source of the noise. As soon as white duck came into sight, Goosie gave a mild honk of relief, ruffled his feathers and slyly sidled up to his best buddy. Gnome and I felt much encouraged by this re-union.

And so we waited the long hour until feeding time. During this time, we tried to put together the events of the afternoon and realised the brave actions of our goosie. Since the goose feathers traced back from the pond to the house, it looked like the goosie took flight back to the house, luring the dog with him. Meanwhile, this gave the rest of the ducks a chance to run off to safety while goosie ran “interference” to save his buddies. Awwwhhh…what a Champ our Goosie is!!

When it was feeding time, we went back to the pond and, to our dismay, found no trace of our distressed damsel. We felt so terrible for leaving our duckie behind earlier and walked back to the house, desperately unhappy, feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders. We fed the rest of our animals and performed the rest of our evening routine. Just as the sun was coming down…it was a deep red tonight like blood spilling across the sky…we heard an insistent QuackQuackQuack outside the duck coup. Our duckie (the dizzy, swimming one) had returned and was trying to get into the coup. Oh, we were so pleased to see that she had recovered and did not look half-drowned anymore!
So far. So good. Only one duckie missing and most probably taken out by the stray dog. Goosie is alive and recuperating. Sleep tight duckies and goosie…don’t let the bad dogs bite!!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Flood Flies, Full Moon and Roasting Rice.

May 3, 2015 Munchkin

Last night, the first of the “flood flies” came. These are termite queens and fertile male termites on their “nuptial flight,” triggered by the first rains after the dry season. The purpose of this flight is to mate and form more termite colonies; these critters digest cellulose…in order words, they like to eat wooden structures including buildings and decaying wooden matter. So, you could consider them a pest or just part of the eco-system.

These flood flies start swarming in the evening, mostly around houses. They are attracted to light and will get into every nook and cranny of your house, shedding their wings as they come in. They do no bite but have a habit of crawling all over everything, including people and they just get really annoying. Before we sealed up our bedroom, we would have the flood flies crawling on us all night in bed. In the morning, the inside of the house would always be a scene of devastation with literally thousands of wings everywhere. It is a huge cleaning job; in earlier years when I was armed with only a mere broom, it would take me at least 2 weeks to clean up the whole mess. But now, I have my Eureka…thank God for that!

Anyway, I referred to them as the “First” flood flies; usually there is a test run with the first May rains before they come out en masse. Gnome says there should be a lottery for guessing the Flood Fly Day because it can happen anywhere from the the 1st of May to the 31st of May, but always in May! I am waiting with great trepidation, armed and dangerous with my trusty yellow vacuum cleaner! Gnome does not feel so negatively towards these blighters and in fact views them as a potential source of food. He says that one of these days (this means NEXT year…he does not procrastinate) he will make special nets to catch the flood flies, pack them all in a bucket and make miso out of them.

Today we were anticipating another rainy day which meant staying indoors. Gnome had already warned me to keep out of trouble since it was also the full moon and from our experience as medical doctors, the full moon was always a day for complete and utter chaos in hospital. So, Gnome urged me to keep busy and I tried…it was touch and go a few times with mood swings and chaos but we managed to get through it. By the way…we try to avoid making soap on the full moon because it never turns out right. One time, the soap over-heated and exploded into a foaming mess over the counter-top! What a clean-up…never again!

Today, in an effort to keep busy, I roasted brown rice in the oven for 3 hours….every 15 to 20 minutes I had to bring out the rice to stir it around. The brown rice was roasted to a “chocolate malt” and will be used in the flavouring of beer. This will give a chocolatey, maltiness and caramel-like taste to beer…Mmmm…yum!

So far, so good. The internet just went down for 4 hours this afternoon which isn’t too wildly chaotic! We are going to bed early!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary