Category Archives: Farming

What’s Gnome Doing?

December 5, 2020 Munchkin

What is Gnome doing? He is always trying his hand at something new. This time, he is working on breeding black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens, if you are into Latin naming) for their grubs in order to feed the ducks. In our experience, ducks seem like to eat high protein foods including bugs, larvae, small frogs, frog spawn and small fish. They will preferentially eat these over vegetable scraps, grains and plant material. Since we have them fenced in now and they can’t go ranging far and wide, Gnome has decided to try breeding black soldier flies.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of these flies…basically they are long and black with big, beady black eyes (Yes I know, what a terrible description…if you are interested, please go look it up!!). The females like to lay around composting areas (this is perfect for getting rid of kitchen scraps and plant material);they can lay around 200 to 600 eggs at one time. Once hatched, the larvae drop into the compost and start to eat it up. Within about a week, there are fresh larvae and pupae to be harvested for food. The larvae are the ones still wriggling around and the pupae are the cocoons…technically it doesn’t matter to the ducks…they are happy to eat both. I suppose the pupa are bigger so you might want to wait longer to collect these big, fat juicy grubs. This was Gnome’s first attempt at a black soldier fly breeding area. It was made out of an old plastic container:

The container was designed so that the pupae and larvae would crawl towards the pointy end and fall into a harvesting bucket. Here are some pictures of the juicy duckie tit-bits:

This first design was a bit too small to hold all our compost, so he made a new container out of wood:

The compost is placed in the middle. When the grubs are ready, they start crawling towards the sides…this container allowed them to move to either end…and then drop into a bucket.

The sand is placed in the bin to allow the grubs to have a good grip as they move to the end holes. Without the sand, they are prone to slipping back down into the middle area and then have to start the slow crawl back to the ends…believe me, it was quite tedious watching them slide back down and start again!! This size of breeding bin gives you about 1lb of grubs when it is working well. It works optimally in dry weather. Despite it having a protective roof, when it rains heavily, water can get into it and drown the grubs. Approximately 1lb of these grubs can feed about 3 to 4 ducks adequately. We have 10 ducks so Gnome is looking to build two more of these to supply all the protein that our ducks need. So, still no rest for Gnome…two more containers to build!

The ducks love these grubs and like to pick through them in a container of sand:

Belize, Farming, Food, Pets, Plants

Just a Quickie!

November 30, 2020 Munchkin

It’s just a short one today because we are both really tired. Shock…horror…it hasn’t rained for three days and it is actually drying up. Gnome ran out today to try to chop the brush, that has grown up with the rains, in the goosie coup. I am trying scrub the walls inside the house…with the non-stop rains for two months straight…there is mould everywhere.

Alas, there is so much work to do!! And you know what…this year, we never finished a whole round of mowing…and, not because of the usual machinery failure but because we have had so much rain. I can’t remember the number of times we have had to stop halfway and start all over again.

Anyway, this is a quick catch up on farm activities. Here are a few pictures from the farm. This is our giant loofah; we have been eating the young fruit as vegetables.

We have a found a different type of sorrel which produces early; it flowered in September and we are harvesting right now; we are drinking sorrel tea every morning. It is high in Vitamin C and apparently good for hypertension.

This is our usual Belizean sorrel which is harvested at Christmas time…see how different they look…

This is a snake that we saw eating a frog. It was so intent on digesting that he allowed me to do a photo shoot:

Oh, and one last picture…what’s that…another one!! Could not resist it…another boy!! More about this crazy scamp next time…

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Love In A Time Of Covid.

November 22, 2020 Munchkin 1 Comment

Love in a Time of COVID: Epic love and adventure set in the treacherous, wild jungles of Belize. Medicine Man meets Medicine Woman. This is a story of struggle and emancipation; the battle against the ravaging storms pummelling across Central America. A compelling true story of Explosive love and passion….now screening at a cinema near you!

Hello there!! Did I get your attention? Did I get my ‘foot through the door’ to get you to click on this blog post! I thought the explosive love would get you!! Okay, now that you are here…I have a few pictures on the farm for you to ‘ooooh’ and ‘aaahhh!’ over.

This is jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) which is also known as Chinese red date. Here in Belize, they call it Chiney plum. I have seen a few trees in people’s yards but it isn’t commonly grown. You definitely won’t find this kind of stuff in Punta Gorda market. We have four trees in total and this year, they are blooming like there is no tomorrow. When eaten green, they have the texture and taste of crunchy apples; when ripe (soft and yellow), they taste like pears. We also have a round variety:

This second variety is actually more acidic tasting and remind me of tiny pocket-sized crab apples. Since it was such a bountiful harvest (and were flooded in from Hurricane Eta), we did a canning marathon. Gnome peeled and I pared; as we processed, we dunked the cut fruit into water mixed with lemon juice (3.33oz lemon juice per gallon of water). This was for preservation purposes whilst preparing in a humid, tropical environment and it helped prevent oxidation of the fruit. After two days of sweating profusely over buckets of jujube in the jungle (is this the romantic, epic part??!!) we ended up with 48 of these jars in all.

And, Yes! We were surprised with the peachy colour too! We are not sure why… Gnome reckons that it might be a ph indicator for the lemon juice (???not sure). Anyway, once canned, they taste like canned pears rather than apples. We have made pie and eaten some with vanilla ice-cream. Oh, and we made a simple boozy dessert by drizzling our cacao elixir over it. Overall, it is a winner and definitely worth the time and energy in these isolating COVID times. After all, money can’t buy this kind of love and passion!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Still Working!

May 5, 2020 Munchkin

Oh we are so tired but very satisfied with all the work that we have done this year; I think we actually did start on the 1st of January and we have worked like busy little bees during this COVID-19 quarantine. The curfew has really made us stay in, stop doing any frivolous activities and get down to the business of working. No distractions and nothing to procrastinate over!

I have always and forever had a big bag of seeds in the freezer (you know the one…seeds for planting next year or when we are ready…or when it is time!!). Well, in the last two months I have planted every single seed…yeah, even the weird and unusual ones. Because our “dry season garden” worked really well to keep us going with fresh greens and vegetables, we have decided to make more gardens. So this is the first garden which has green beans, bitter gourd (serosi) and okra. Gnome has re-tilled it and started another round of okra.

We had a second garden planted about two months ago for tomatoes and aubergines. Unfortunately, all my tomatoes died (fungus and rotting stems). My tomatoes are sometimes a hit and miss. The aubergines are still alive…I have baby purple striated, little orange bobble ones and some other mystery from Italy. This is the second garden; you can also see the trellises in the background which will be for climbing fruits and vegetables…so far, we have loofah and sweet granadilla.

Gnome has just finished tilling and digging a third garden. This is for pumpkins, melons, spinach greens, a bit of peanut and onions.

In the last few days, I have started the following seedlings: dandelion, amaranth, fennel, another three different types of aubergine and I can’t remember what else. When I excitedly told Gnome that I had started 24 new vegetable seedlings…he looked at me and said,

“…oh, will have to start digging a fourth garden…”

Actually, he looked more like this:

Okay, the rains have started early this year…what a relief! Will try to write again soon with more planting pictures.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Happy Easter!

April 12, 2020 Munchkin

A Happy Easter to y’al! Oh my goodness…so much has happened in Belize (and Worldwide) in the space of only a month with regards to the coronavirus. The whole of Belize has been placed under lock-down in the last few days; we are in strict quarantine for 14 days to limit movement and traffic. It is very quiet all around; quiet in Punta Gorda:

Anyway, life on the farm is the usual since the animals and plants have no knowledge of the coronavirus. I am very grateful for the following things that has helped us through these changing times: the first thing is the definitely the water situation…I am so glad that our well is up and running. With the extra water over dry season, we have been able to provide water for the animals and to keep our vegetable garden growing. Normally during the dry season, we have no water for plant irrigation and we have very few greens to eat. This year we set up a drip irrigation system and we have had wonderful harvests. Yes you have guessed it: I am very grateful for the vegetable garden!!

We have had a great harvest of bitter gourd (serosi). This is actually our favourite vegetable! The Belizeans eat it in a specific way (after thinking about it, I have never seen a Belizean dish with serosi so I have no idea how they prepare this vegetable…they do however talk a lot about eating it!) and apparently it lowers blood sugar naturally.

We eat it “Munchkin Way.” I have been stuffing them lately since we have so many; two each for lunch and two again for dinner! When you have limited ingredients, you have to get creative!

Bitter Gourd stuffed with Minced Beef and Shiitake Mushrooms.

Yesterday, I stuffed them with rice and ham ; rice was cooked in coconut milk first:

I feel that since we put so much energy into growing our own food, I can only honour the food by cooking yummy, yummy stuff. More stuffing…this time tomatoes:

Oh, and Goosie for Easter. This is our own rosemary which is growing very well in a bucket.

Goosie roasted in coals:

I hope you enjoyed our food pictures. Keep Well Everyone!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants, Uncategorized

On The Farm

March 30, 2020 Munchkin

Hi Everyone! Yes we are at home on the farm staying out of trouble and heeding the quarantine recommendations for the Coronavirus pandemic. Belize has closed all its borders and the International Airport has been shut down. We only go into Punta Gorda once a week anyway and within the space of one week, there was so much difference. A couple of weeks ago, it was “business as usual” and village buses into town were packed full. When we drove in last Friday, it was like a ghost town; there were one or two cars and no buses (so we actually found parking!). A handful of restaurants were open but only offering take-out and supermarkets and banks were only allowing five people in at a time. People were wearing masks. It was such a stark contrast to the usual hustle and bustle of the town, that it felt eerie and surreal like a science fiction movie.

Anyway, back on the farm, it is definitely not eerie and surreal. Lots of things are happening and we are pleased with the progress. It is probably because our attentions are not divided by other things…business has ground to a halt and we are not seeing many routine patients or people. The garden is coming along very well…we started this at the beginning of the year. This is a before and after picture:

The “after” picture is still an old picture. Right now, we are harvesting lots of vegetables…I am very pleased with these green beans; they are really sweet and tender.

More vegetable harvests:

We are eating a lot of food harvested from the farm which is great since this is the reason why we do this. The duckies are happy and laying eggs. This is a picture of our fine-feathered duckies… they are gregarious and friendly:

Lovely Duckie Eggs:

Oh and guess what we have started feeding our duckies!! Yes, we have been busy bees. We have been breeding soldier flies and feeding the pupae to the duckies. This is the container that Gnome came up with; kitchen scraps and leaf litter are dumped at one end to feed the larvae; the pupae then climb up the clean end and drop into a container filled with soil and sand.

That is all for now. Keep safe everyone!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food

All is Well!

March 8, 2020 Munchkin

It seems that I only write when it rains! It is raining and it has been raining all weekend. The last few weeks have been awful…hot, hot, hot and dry and insufferable…during these times, it is best to get out on the farm and work instead of complaining incessantly about the weather. I don’t seem to be writing so much because we are always busy (on the farm, processing food, seeing patients and making products) and there is not enough energy and inspiration left to write a blog post.

So, I will try to do some catch up this time. We have had a terrible drought this year and our November corn crop failed as a result of this dryness. We did however have some voluntary sorghum grow beautifully in this climate and we think that we might be switching over to sorghum during the dry times. Anyway, water has been a major issue because we need it for crop irrigation, animals and our personal consumption. We have been recycling all our grey water for plants and have been conserving water as much as possible. This still wasn’t enough because we were down to about 2 and a half full tanks of rain water to last us through dry season. Because of this, we decided to re-visit the well situation. Last year, we accidentally got a 20 foot piece of plastic pipe stuck down the bottom of our 50 foot well. Gnome tried all kinds of ingenious ways to get the pipe back up but to no avail. We finally abandoned the whole project because we just had too many other things to do on the farm. This year, it became a priority to find an extra water source because of the lack of rain. Guess what Gnome made…this funny grabbing contraption:

This weird looking thing took Gnome a few hours to make…he used sandpaper to slope the edge of the pipe and then he drove nails into it like so. You wouldn’t believe that this would work, would you??? Anyway, with hope and prayers, Gnome lowered the contraption down with about 40 feet of thin bamboo attached to it and…CLUNK…it worked!! He managed to grab and lock onto the lost pipe and hoisted everything up. I wasn’t there to witness but I heard a VERY LOUD YAY!!! Gnome had not asked me to come over because he was doing a test run, thinking to himself that it would need adjustment and modification…he was totally amazed when it worked first time round. Well done Gnome!!

Alls well that ends well!! We have a slow filling shallow well but it helps to have a secondary source of water. Anyway, that is the major thing that happened on our farm. The rest is the usual Munchkin and Gnome stuff. We had a good harvest of Habanero peppers which I have been drying in the sun:

We went through a sausage making frenzy for about three months. Here are a few pictures; below are sausages made of vegan friendly collagen (the rest of the sausage is not vegan friendly):

We found the collagen hard to manipulate and it was hard to twist the links:

Since the twisting didn’t work well, we also canned the sausage meat into cylinders…they can then be sliced and eaten..

Oh and last but not least, our lovely goosies are laying beautiful, yummy eggs!! Thank-you Goosies!!

Belize, Farming, Plants

We Have Rain!

February 19, 2020 Munchkin

The day after I wrote my last blog post, complaining about the lack of rain, it started raining! It’s just raining bits…not that much but it is still something…we are all relieved including the animals and plants. Anyway I promised you some new pictures…

This is the new goosie area…they have a nice view of the mountains:

Since the goosies are fenced in we are enjoying the freedom of planting a new garden without worrying about them tearing up all the plants. Gnome has tilled a little garden next to the house for vegetables:

This is actually an old picture because the seedlings have been planted.

We planted green beans, okra and bitter gourd…we have a very nice variety of round bitter gourd:

We have planted tobacco in between the vegetables:

The plants are all looking great with the rains so I will post a more recent picture of the garden next time. Oh, we also have another little tomato and aubergine garden too!! Aaaahhhh….the freedom of open gardens and fenced in geese!!

One last picture…Gnome seems to like growing corn. This is a good picture…not looking so good right now after the drought but still hoping for a harvest.

Belize, Farming, Food

What’s Up?

February 14, 2020 Munchkin

Hi There!! It is about time to write with some kind of update! The last time I wrote, which was ages ago, was the last time it rained. So far, no rain!! This is a really, really early dry season for us; the animals are complaining like crazy, the plants are drying up and we are suffering too! Still no sign of rain. Our tanks are half full now and we are in conservation mode; all grey water is collected for plant irrigation. We are praying for this:

Anyway, these are the inevitable problems that we come up against while trying to run a farm. There are many lessons in practicality in the life that we have chosen! Right now…we are learning another lesson…how to sort out an unruly, disorganised gaggle of geese! Most of the problem is a consequence of our lack of decision-making because we didn’t want to slaughter any of them for meat. So what happened? The free foraging geese have eaten us out of house and home and reduced our beautiful grassy farm to shrub and wasteland.

We did eventually fence them in about 3 months ago and started feeding them with coconuts, grains and cut grass. Phew, it is a lot of hard work feeding a whole bunch of geese just for the sake of keeping them alive and off our grass. We finally did decide that we had to run the farm properly and that we had to make some practical decisions. Okay, so we finally looked at how many male geese (ganders) we actually had…it isn’t that easy to distinguish the sexes because we have a bunch of chunky hybrids (Chinese/German) and from our observation, it looks like a male reaches his full size in three years…younger males can look small and dainty like females. After close scrutinisation, it looked like half of them were males!!

We felt a bit sheepish when we realised that we had been keeping so many males around…you really should only have 1 male to about 6 females. And so we made the difficult decision to slaughter the some of the males…it is hard because you get so attached to them!! Anyway, we have been slaughtering one male a day and there are five in the freezer so far. Looks like there lots more to go…

I thought that the plucking would be terrible because the last time we plucked a goose, about 10 years, it took a very long time. This time round, we are managing to pluck a goose in about 30 minutes. It isn’t so bad because we realise that by reducing the population, the girls are getting to eat more food and it is a lot quieter because there are less males fighting amongst themselves. We have come to terms with it all because it is a more honest and truthful way of obtaining our own meat. We are using every part…I am saving the feet for some sort of yummy Chinese dish, the neck skins are being saved for sausage skins and we are even rendering the goose fat. I can’t believe it…these geese are not starving…they are sooo fat that they produce a cup of fat each!! Now I can rest assured that I have been feeding them well!

Right now we are getting up at the crack of dawn to pluck the goose in the cool of the morning. The rest of the morning, we are cleaning and maintaining the farm. I am still growing my own veggies despite the water shortage…next post I will have some pictures of my beautiful aubergines! I will write soon…promise!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

The Weather.

January 9, 2020 Munchkin 2 Comments

We are always affected by the weather. The last two weeks of December was so hot that we thought that dry season had come early. We were getting quite worried because our water tanks were half full. The last few days, it has clouded over and it is drizzling a bit. C’mon…if it is going to be so dull and miserable, it should at least be pouring down. We made an attempt to go outside today but ran back in because the sogginess was no fun at all.

It is sapodilla time right now and our trees are loaded. We have been making a serious attempt to pick daily because we have competition from birds and gibnuts. Yes, those gibnuts are prancing around like they own the place! We are hoping to dry our harvest to make a date alternative for cakes.

We have been picking them green since the animals are stealing them all. It usually takes about a week for the fruit to ripen off the tree:

These are some dried sapodilla:

What else is happening? Well, we finally fenced our geese in a separate area. This is definitely a good thing because they had turned our 10 acres of lush grass and perennial peanut into dry, shrubby land. They had eaten up every single fresh blade of grass! The other annoying thing was their enormous piles of poop! Goosies…I love you but Honeymoon is over!! The downside to fencing the geese in is that we have to feed them on a daily basis. This is no mean feat because they eat a lot: we have to collect 4 big buckets of grass, chop banana trees and foliage and crack open twenty coconuts a day! Plus, they use up about 20 gallons of water daily…this is going to be a problem in dry season! Once we have done that, we don’t feel like doing any other farm work! The reality of the situation has set in and we are planning to fatten some of them up to eat. We dislike this part of farming but it seems like it is the only way to complete the cycle efficiently.

Anyway, on a lighter note, we are re-planting our perennial peanut; it will be very pretty when this stuff is covering the ground again:

Wishing you all a pleasant evening and hope that you all had a good start to the year!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Category Archives: Farming

What’s Gnome Doing?

Just a Quickie!

Love In A Time Of Covid.

Still Working!

Happy Easter!

On The Farm

All is Well!

We Have Rain!

What’s Up?

The Weather.

Everything Handmade in Belize.