Category Archives: Farming

Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Curing Tobacco.

Gnome.Straight.SmileIt is always  interesting when you talk about tobacco.  Our present society frowns quite heavily upon this poor plant.  It is even worse when you are a doctor…I think you are supposed to be very strongly opposed to anything to do with it, unless you happen to be using it to spray on your plants (which we also do).  Unfortunately, I seem to have missed this collective meeting of humanity and continue to forge a relationship with this beautiful plant even though everybody seems to disapprove.

Tobacco Harvest.
Tobacco Harvest.

Munchkin was kind enough to collect the harvest for me on a previous post and started the initial browning of it.  Our particular style of browning involves sticking all the leaves in a cardboard box and letting everything ferment (ie. start to rot) and turn from green to yellow to brown.  Everyday the leaves have to be turned and aerated so they don’t frankly rot.  As the leaves yellow and brown, they are removed from the rest and laid out to dry, like so…

Tobacco leaves that have lost enough green to be air dried.
Tobacco leaves that have lost enough green to be air-dried.

The weather has been quite cold and damp and the drying probably isn’t going to go that well (which means that we might be using it as plant spray) but I’m going to give it a go anyway and see what happens.  If I get lucky and it works out I’ll tell you what happens next…

Munchkin has written a Tobacco Article here…

Remember, tobacco products are bad for you…my doctor told me so!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

The Wart of Evil.

Gnome.Straight.Smile

Our pet Gander has, over the past year, been growing a pedunculated polyp from the side of its face, just above its beak.  It looks like so…

Our Gander Growing a Wart of Evil.
Our Gander Growing a Wart of Evil.

Over this period, we have found him to have become more bossy, angry and violent, pecking and honking at the dogs, the cat, the ducks, stray children…everybody actually!  As a result, we affectionately called his growing protrusion the “Wart of Evil,” and invented a little ritual where we would rub the wart three times with our left thumb and then with our right thumb whenever we had one of those days that didn’t seem to go right (you know, those crappy days when no matter what you try and do everything goes to pot!).

Well, today we decided to start the process of removal for this evil emanation and with one of us holding the gander, the other used some dental floss to tie it off so that it will dry up and drop off in a few days.  We used the same technique which is used to castrate animals with a strong rubber band.  It is much nicer and less painful than trying to snip it off with scissors or a knife as once the circulation is cut off it goes numb and starts to drop off.

In a few days the “Wart of Evil” should be in such a condition that we should be able to cut it off without hurting the goose.  Our plan is to pickle it in rum and turn it into the well known protective charm called “The Wart Against Evil (TM)!”   It will be available for purchase in the Talismonger section of our shop once it has been tested and we are sure of its effectiveness.

Be safe from Evil!

Belize, Farming

Chocolate All Around For Our Plants!

Munchkin.Face.Dark

We put chocolate waste products around our plants and trees, on the farm, as organic fertiliser.

Chocolate "Trash" in Wheel Barrow.
Chocolate “Trash” in Wheel Barrow.

There is a small, but thriving, chocolate-making place in Punta Gorda which supplies us with all their waste products from making chocolate.  The waste is highly nutritious and has a high nitrogen content.  It takes about 2 to 3 months for the trash to break down to release the fertiliser.  The chocolate is so potent that it kills all the weeds around our plants so it also helps with weed control.

So, Chocolate All Around For Our Plants; Nothing but the best!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Pets

Can The Piggies Do It?

Avatar.GnomeIt has been forty-eight hours since the piggies took up residence in their new home and it doesn’t seem like any of them have figured out how to get to the delicious food that is growing just under their feet!  I had promised myself that I would give them a week before doing anything more but I just was not able to resist…

So, this morning, I started by making the hole to the ramp bigger…like so…

Ramp With Enlarged Hole.
Ramp With Enlarged Hole.

Next, I tried to tempt the piggies with a bit of juicy produce to give them some incentive…

Tempting Piggies to Go Down the Ramp.
Tempting Piggies to Go Down the Ramp.

And here is one of them almost getting the idea…

Almost there...you can do it!
Almost there…you can do it!

That particular piggie managed to get all the way down and is now chomping away in paradise.  Unfortunately, none of the others managed to figure it out.  Both Munchkin and I have decided that I will have to make more ramps, say like five more…

Cheers…

Belize, Construction, Farming, Pets

Piggies Have a New Home!

Gnome.Straight.Smile

I’m playing catch-up today…the Internet connection failed for twenty-four hours (this is not that unusual where we are) but it is back again this morning (aaaah, couldn’t check Stats for a whole day…this is way too addictive!!!).

Managed to finish the Guinea Pig Cage after five days of work.  The finished cage picture is going to go under this paragraph but I couldn’t get a good picture this morning since the sun is in the way right now, so I’m going to plug it in later when I can get a better one.  It shows all the welded wire in place, the piggies themselves and the two sheets of roofing; one metal for shade and one out of plastic to let some sunlight in (so they don’t become Vitamin D deficient!).

The Famous Turtle-Blancanoux-Bel-Campo-Wild-Orchid Hotel/Spa/Resort for the Discerning Piggie in its full glory ($2000 per night!).
The Famous Turtle-Blancanoux-Bel-Campo-Wild-Orchid-Eco-Agro-Tourist-Rainforest-Canopy Hotel/Spa/Resort for the Discerning Piggie in its full glory ($2000 per night!).

The piggies seem happy but they haven’t figured out how to use the “stairway/ramp” yet, so they are staying on the second floor, and consequently eating the huge amount of grass we have to keep on collecting.  I’m going to see how long it is going to take them to figure out that they have forty square feet of delicious, high-protein perennial peanut (Arachis pintoi) twelve inches under them.

Satisfied Customers at our New Resort, enjoying the organic, farm fresh produce for dinner.
Satisfied Customers at our New Resort, enjoying the organic, farm fresh produce for dinner.

This little project that has kept me out of trouble for the best part of a week is going to go into our Bored-In-Belize-Projects under the Taj-Ma-Piggie Page.

Oh yeah, I’ve reorganized some of the pages in the Library so that they are easier to see and find:  Mushrooms have their own heading and Philosophy, About our Handmade Products and Acknowledgements are all under our Product Descriptions now.

Until later…

Belize, Farming, Plants

Tobacco Harvest.

Munchkin.Face.Dark

It was a lovely, bright and sunny morning today so I took the opportunity to harvest tobacco on the farm.

Tobacco Plant.
Tobacco Plant.

This is a picture of a young tobacco plant; when they are ready for harvest, they get to about 180cm (6ft) tall.  They have lovely smelling pink flowers which are used in the perfume industry.

Tobacco Harvest.
Tobacco Harvest.

The tobacco leaves are stored in a cardboard box and everyday, the leaves have to be aired and moved around to prevent mould.  This will have to be done for a few weeks until the leaves become brown, soft and velvety.

Gnome likes to make cigars flavoured with chocolate essential oil.

I will post more on the curing process of tobacco as we get to it.  Do you want to know more about tobacco?  Read my Tobacco Article.

Belize, Construction, Farming, Pets

Keep Going for the Piggies.

Gnome.Smiling

It has been the third day of work to try and get the Piggie Cage done.  Wasn’t as productive this time as it started to rain and there wasn’t quite enough cut lumber; I ended up trying to attach welded wire on to the front…I don’t really have the right tools to work with it (except tin-snips), which made it a painful and prolonged process of fitting.  I was grateful when it started to rain so that I had an excuse to stop.  But we must soldier on for the Piggies!!

Here is the photo for the third day of construction…

Bad Weather and Union Trouble Has Delayed Construction of the Piggie Four Seasons Hotel ($1100 per night)!
Bad Weather and Union Trouble Has Delayed Construction of the Piggie Four Seasons Hotel ($1100 per night); Riots Are Breaking Out in Piggie-opolis and the Mayor Has Been Threatened!

The saw is going to have to come out again for the fourth day and  hopefully the weather will allow further work to be done.  The cage is starting to get heavier each day and it will be interesting to see if it is as “movable” as I would like, especially once the Piggies are in it.

Happy Sunday to all.

Belize, Farming, Food

New Yummies on our Farm.

Munchkin.Eating.Bun.Smile

Today I did not know what to write about so Gnome suggested that I walk around our farm and take pictures of new yummies to harvest.

Big Bunch of Bananas.
Big Bunch of Bananas.

When these bananas are ready for harvest, we will probably do many different things with them since it is a huge bunch.  Deep-fried thinly sliced green bananas are a must!  I will also sun-dry some of the bananas, grind them up and make flour out of it.  We will, of course, enjoy some of the bananas ripe.

Sapodilla Fruit.
Sapodilla Fruit.

Sapodilla fruit have a soft flesh similar to a peach but not as smooth in texture.  There is a strong cinnammon-like flavour and they are very sweet.  Gnome has called first dibs to make sapodilla wine and we will probably eat the rest as fruit.  When they are sun-dried, they make a very good substitute for dates.  Incidentally, sapodilla trees were once cultivated in Belize for its sap which was used for the original chewing gum (or chicle).  Our trees are still too young to be tapped but watch this space in a few years for a post on home-made chewing gum!

Green Peppercorns.
Green Peppercorns.

I am waiting for the green peppercorns to turn red (have been waiting 2 months and still no colour change).  Once they change colour then they can be harvested and then processed into white pepper.  I am getting impatient so I am actually starting to pick some green peppers to add to my meals.  They are really hot at this stage.  The green peppercorns can be harvested at this time and dried into black peppercorns.

I am so pleased with the produce on our farm; it changes from week to week and I love thinking of all the exciting yummy things I can do with all this food.

Belize, Construction, Farming, Pets

Piggies Need a New Home.

Avatar.GnomeIt has started getting cold today; I suppose it is about 20C (from the usual 35-40) but it feels like it is below zero.  My feet are cold, I’ve got to wear a wooly hat and the only way to keep warm is to move around.  I can’t believe I actually am living in the Tropics.

With that aim in mind, I finally started on the new and improved, movable, self-feeding Guinea Pig Cage.  The frame is made with 1″ Nargusta reduced from a 2″ by 4″ with a table saw.  It is four feet by 10 feet and will be two floors.  I haven’t decided wether I’m going to call it the MGM Grand, or the Bellagio, or Bel Campo, or maybe the Wild Orchid…

Side View of Future Piggie Five Star Accommodation, $900 per night!
Side View of Future Piggie Five Star Accommodation, $900 per night!

Cheers and I hope you feel warmer than I do.