Category Archives: Farming

Noisy Geese!

March 14, 2019 Munchkin

We are starting to notice a pattern with the geese. This morning, they were very, very noisy…they sounded like they were picking fights with each other. When this happens, it looks like some of the girls want to lay and are jostling for nesting space. There are three designated (designated by the goosies of course) spaces near the house. During these noisy days, we have to continually watch these spaces because the girls are liable to sit on top of each other. The other day, I found two females squashed up on the same nest…we have coined this “goosie pile-up!!” We have attempted to make more nesting locations for the geese with nice bedding material and roofing but the girls won’t have any of it. It looks like we are fully into goosie laying time. Here is a picture of a broody goose sitting on nothing; we have to put her in a cage for a week to break her broodiness…I have tried less than seven days but they always go back to their nesting spot.

There is another nesting spot closer towards the pond area which is a bit more isolated. There are different problems with this area: possums!! On top of the chaos of breeding season, we have egg thieving possums too! The cages are out and we have caught five in two days. They are quite cute!

Anyway, despite the morning rains for the last week the place is still drying up. This is the pond…it is getting quite low. It usually goes right up to the edge.

The ducks still go to the pond every morning like clockwork.

However, the geese are hanging around the house making noise and making trouble. Gnome said,

“I guess that’s why we love ’em…”

Amusing, Belize, Construction, Farming

Morning Rains.

March 12, 2019 Munchkin

We have been having morning heavy showers since Thursday. It rains so much that all the basins fill up and by about 10am the sun comes out in its full glory. This may sound pleasant but it actually feels really uncomfortable. It has happened again today! I will probably run in and out of showers to do stuff. Last week, we took advantage of the rains and planted our basil plants in all the tyres.

Since the mower is out of order, Gnome has been working on the well in the old coop. This coop has been converted into a nursery and contains all our planting beds. To get through the dry (seems like it is a wet dry season this year!) Gnome thought that he would replace the submersible pump, attach solar panels and voilà…we would be able to water our plants with a hosepipe.

(At this point, I need to pause to laugh…or even cry…you will not believe the obstacles that we have come up against!!)

First of all, whilst Gnome was pulling the entire pipe up from the well, the last 15 foot section fell into the well…the whole length of the pipe consisted of three pipes screwed end to end to make a 45 feet length. Gnome exclaimed:

“…I can’t believe the last section just fell off…it was screwed tightly when I put the pipe down!”

Okay, so now we have a 15 foot pipe stuck down the bottom of a well! Gnome has tried hooking, roping, praying and singing…so far, no success. Any ideas, anyone?

And that’s not all of it. The submersible pump is the perfect rinky-dink low wattage for our slow-trickling shallow well. It only needs a 100 Watt solar panel. When Gnome did a test run of the pump, he could not get it to work and had to take it apart. He was glad that he did it because he found that one of the springs was misaligned and wasn’t pushing the brush. Okay, then he got it working…then what happened?

The submersible pump didn’t fit down the 3 inch well casing!! Arrrghhh!! This one Gnome managed to figure out…he used a sanding drum to shave a 1/4inch all around and sanded down the screws.

There you go! That’s what has been happening. Frustrating but we are trying to keep a sense of humour!

Belize, Farming

Is It Going to Rain?

March 7, 2019 Munchkin

It is grey and overcast so we could get some rain this morning. While we are waiting for the weather to determine our day, I thought I might write something. Here is a picture of a big rain that we had last Thursday. Gnome had placed a whole line of basins along the back part of our house to catch rain off the roof. Here is a picture of the geese having fun around the water basins:

The basins also act as a barricade to prevent the geese from jumping and flying (yes! The younger ones can fly so we will have to clip their wings) onto planting tyres placed around the edge of the house. They are starting to learn that there are tasty titbits like dandelion greens growing in the tyres.

What have we been up to? We have been taking advantage of the hot, dry weather; Gnome is clearing and cutting down trees and since there is no place to store so much wood, he started making charcoal again.

Generally, I do the lighter jobs around the farm which involve maintenance and keeping all plants and animals alive and healthy. We are slap bang in the midst of goosie breeding season and have found three nesting spots so far. The younger geese are nesting close to the house and not trying to hide their locations from us. The older geese, that we did not rear from a young age, can go off very far and are sneaky and surreptitious with there egg laying activities. They are the ones that we have to keep an eye on. Here is a picture of the “Squeakies”…they are definitely No.1 on the list for sneakiness…they know when they are being watched and are capable of throwing you off the trail…

Squeakies! Where are you laying your eggs?!

I will leave you with a picture of a praying mantis that looks like a leaf. Amazing…

It really is a praying mantis…

That’s all for now…

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

March Already!!

March 5, 2019 Munchkin

March Already…what happened to January and February? Is it just me… is time going faster and faster? Anyway, we can’t turn back the time so we must proceed and keep on going. Since the mower is waiting for a part to coming whizzing its way to Belize in a few months, Gnome has decided to chain-saw and clean up the area behind our house. This is an “after” picture…look! You can actually see the mountain to the back…

What other things can I show you? We have basil coming out of our ears right now. We have about forty of these…some in pots and some in tyres around the house. I guess we need to get more tomatoes going because we like basil with tomatoes:

Oh, and this one is catnip grown especially for our lovely, lazy cat. I have read that cats go crazy for catnip. Well, not our cat!! I’ve tried giving him a few leaves and he just looks up at me like he is saying, “I don’t eat greens…where’s the meat?!”

Gnome has been chopping down some coconut palms to give more space for our mangoes and avocados. We have been eating coconut heart of palm almost everyday…there is so much of it. In my opinion, the heart of palms all taste quite similar. The commercialised one is usually from the peach palm and the main one that is eaten in Belize is the cohune palm. They all have a crunchy texture and sweet taste.

Gnome has a new modified method of baking bread: in a cast iron pot surrounded by coals in a sand pit. We both love this crusty bread and it tastes so much better than oven-baked bread.

Anyway, wishing you all a good day!!

Belize, Farming, Plants

The Usual!!

March 1, 2019 Munchkin

Well, what’s the usual? Life, environment and the usual getting in the way of farm work. The first “usual thing” was that Gnome got ready to start on his big mow around the 20 cleared acres and he was gone only for half an hour before he had trundle back to the house. A cable broke on the mower and he tried to Belize-rig it without any success. So, the mower is down!

We are back to this again…Ha-Ha!!

What else? Gnome changed tactic and decided that yesterday would be a good day for chain-sawing since the weather report stated “Nice Day.” At 6am there was a huge rain that continued all morning. Our plans had been thwarted by the Gods yet again! Did they mean “Nice Rainy Day?”

Anyway, that’s the Munchkin and Gnome usual. And here are the usual round of pictures:

This is a cutting from a voluntary tomato that just appeared in one of our tyres a couple of months ago. It is the local tomato variety but they seem to be a lot sweeter than the bought produce.

The rue (it is called ruda in Belize) is thriving. They like a dry environment similar to rosemary and sage. I also bagged some curry plant seedlings in black bags seen to the front of the picture.

This is a wild passionflower with produces a strong resin. It is used medicinally rather than for culinary purposes:

The black pepper plants are growing well in tyres…taking out new leaves:

The jackass bitters are flowering everywhere at this time of the year. This is a very popular medicinal herb of Belize which is used to treat external ulcers and sores and internal parasites.

Okay, we will tentatively attempt some farm work today!!

Amusing, Farming

Hot and Dry!

February 24, 2019 Munchkin

Yes, this exactly how I feel. It has been hot and dry! So what has been happening. We have been stuck on the farm for the whole week because our truck is getting fixed up. The rear bumper is “rotten bad” and the side panels have been flapping out for a long time. We left our truck in Belmopan on Monday and took the chicken bus back to PG; it was a six hour journey which felt like it would never end! The music was on full blast for the entire time…luckily towards the end the music mellowed out into easy listening Spanish folk songs.

Anyway, we don’t mind being on the farm with no wheels. We like being here and there are lots of things to be done. I have taken a few pictures around the farm so you can see what is happening.

This patch is getting bigger:

Everything is flowering right now. This is the cinnamon:

The suriname cherries are looking very pretty with the white flowers:

In my last post, I mentioned that we were starting our crepuscular routine which means being active during dawn and dusk so that we can work during the coolest parts of the day. I have noticed that the cat is following suit…as soon as it starts getting light in the morning at about 6.30am, he has found a cool spot to sleep until 5pm. However, I am not quite sure when he is actually active! At 5pm, he waits confidently by his dinner plate for food to be dished out to him and by 8pm he is looking for another sleep spot.

Gnome mentioned that the cat was getting fat.

This was my reply:

“…oh, he has big bones and most of it is fur!” (Ha-Ha!!)

Anyway, he does look very healthy:

Oh to have the life of a cat…

Belize, Farming

Let’S Get Crepuscular!

February 17, 2019 Munchkin

Last weekend was cloudy and wet. It was quite funny because I had been wingeing about the weather reports being all wrong and they had predicted “precipitation” last weekend. Of course, it was Sod’s law that they were actually correct for once. We were forced to stay in; here is a picture of the grey clouds with a double rainbow. In the picture, you can only see one distinctly…I assure you that I saw two!! It was not because I had double vision!!

Now, everything has abruptly dried up and it is dry, dry, dry. That means the hot, sunny Real Feel 45C (113F) days will be coming. Gnome says that we better get crepuscular soon. Crepuscular animals are those that are active only during the periods of dawn and dusk. That’s right…this means getting up at 4am and running out at 6am to get work down in the coolest part of the day. By 10am, the heat will be unbearable and we will have to run under the shade of a coconut tree to sleep and rest.

The weather was hot and sunny today so we went “off road” and drove to the back area. We collected some more wood to take to the charcoal area. Oh and we have sapodillas too…not so much this year because the sapodilla orchard was partially destroyed by an accidental fire. This will be a project for later in the year: replant sapodilla orchard. Anyway, we probably have enough to make a bucket of wine.

What else have we been doing? We have been thinning the coconut palms so we have a whole ton of water coconuts. Gnome emptied the water into a 5 gallon bucket…I think it ended up being about 50 coconuts. This is going to be wine…

Oh and I have good news. My Goosie…you know the first goosie that I looked after as Mama Goosie last year? I am such a proud parent and I don’t care that I am bragging about her…she is the most beautiful, voluptuous goosie on the farm! She has chosen a fine looking boyfriend and is laying eggs for us. I would love to see their goosie babies!! My Goosie is the grey one and the white Chiney goosie is her handsome young chap.

Okay, have a nice Sunday!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming

It’s Goosie Time!!

February 16, 2019 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! Yes, it is indeed Goosie Time and they are pecking at our boots, beating our legs with their wings and generally causing mayhem and havoc on the farm. We found our first goosie egg on Chinese New Year and then our second one on Valentines’s Day. Luckily, we had saved up the first one so that we could eat one each. The eggs were huge and the yolks were a beautiful orange colour. Gnome cooked them as a Valentine’s treat Italian-style…slow-cooked in olive oil…this method involves spooning the oil over the egg to cook it. Ooooh…very tasty…each goose egg is equivalent to three chicken eggs.

This morning, we found one of our goosies in the grey water area which Gnome had caged off. He had feasted on all the forbidden peanuts!! He had systematically ripped up all the peanuts around the ditch looking for the nuts to eat. The dastardly goose!! I had to toss him out quite unceremoniously! Whilst I was doing this, other goosies crowded round trying to find the weak spot in the cage. I was soooo mad and I shook my fist at them shouting,

“…and to think that I was going to write a dedicated Blog post on how much I love my goosies!!”

These goosies are up to no good trying to find a way in…look at them..they are plotting. Will they figure it out? They have found the mound of earth…which one is clever enough to jump in!!

Anyway, I have another goosie story which is a lot more heart-warming. A while ago, we swapped a male goosie (we had far too many and he was being bullied by other males) for some ducks. Well, today the guy who received the goosie hailed us down when we passed by his house. He was awfully excited and beckoned us to follow him,

“…come, come…I must show you something!”

He told us that his female goose had laid 2 eggs and set them successfully. Sure enough, we peered into his cage and there were two little-big goosies peeping up at us. Awwwwh!!!! The guy was so over-joyed and we were very pleased to see that our male goosie had done his job well. Apparently, he is guarding his female partner valiantly whilst she is setting again. He thanked us profusely for such a stud of a goose! When Gnome and I got back into the truck, we both said in unison:

“…we want more babies!!” (meaning of course, goosie babies!!)

Goosie Fever has started….

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Harvests.

February 8, 2019 Munchkin

The weather guess (forecast?) for today was “good day for lawn-mowing.” When we got up, it started raining and it proceeded to rain on and off until 10am. Gnome muttered to himself:

“….hmmm…not good day for lawn-mowing.”

The weather reports are becoming a joke with us and they are starting to appear like wild guesses that are about 90% wrong most of the time. We were thinking of reading tea leaves or getting a crystal ball instead…

We finally managed to get out mid-morning. Gnome dug holes and planted out the rest of the seedlings. We now have peach palm and jackfruit in the orchard area. I went harvesting today; It seems to be berry season right now on the farm.

The huckleberry plants seem to like the worst soil conditions. Last time I planted them in a prime spot on a bed with lovely dark soil and they hardly did anything, This time, I stuck them in the ground in thick, hard clay and they are thriving and producing well. Here are some fruits:

We have one miracle fruit bush and it is bearing so much this year. I have described this plant before; it contains a molecule that binds to your taste buds making sour things taste sweet. I find that I can’t use it all the time…there is only a certain amount of sour things you can consume in one day! Anyway, they are a pretty fruit:

This is all that I collected today. The green leaves are malabar spinach; they grow all year round and are our main greens at the moment. The orange fruits are Barbados gooseberry; I have started putting them in savoury dishes with pork…the acidity helps to balance and compliment the fattiness of the meat…very tasty!

Oh, lastly…we have a harvest of black peanut. We didn’t manage to get much this time round because there was a large tree shading the peanut area which stunted the growth and production. Nevertheless, we got enough to start a bigger patch and Gnome is very pleased with his black peanuts.

That’s it for tonight. Wishing you all a lovely weekend…there is supposed to be 6 hours of rain tomorrow…let’s wait and see!

Belize, Farming, Plants

Delightful Day!

February 4, 2019 Munchkin

The title of this Blog post is a bit tongue-in-cheek because Gnome looked up the weather forecast for today and it stated “Delightful Day.” What does that mean exactly? Anyway, as soon as the alarm clock went off at 6am this morning, the clouds were right on cue to let loose a down-pour. Ha-Ha!! Did they mean Delightful (Rainy) Day? We had a chuckle and promptly went back to sleep. We can’t do anything on a farm in rain and besides, we are giving Gnome the full week to recover from the neck injury. He is getting better by the way but this morning he over-stretched his neck muscles again in the nursery…he just moved a tiny plant pot! Anyway, Gnome is in charge of germinating nursery seeds so he’s got the aubergines, sage, rosemary, mint and other things started. Here is a picture of some basil seedlings that are ready for transplanting…

We are both resting and staying out of trouble so I am catching up with some recent photos from the farm. This is the view from the west side of the back veranda which used to be obscured by akee trees. Gnome has cut them all down so that we can spy on the geese looking for nesting sites: right now they look like they are exploring for possible places but there is still no sign of egg laying.

This is a picture taken about two weeks ago; we had another fun ride through coconut palms and orchard trees to move cut wood from the pond area to our charcoal making site. We even got right next to the charcoal bin…only squashed one porcupine plant on the way!! Backing out was a bit of a palaver but it was still manageable. It beats using the wheel-barrow!!

This is a the Peruvian Corn planted on Christmas Eve. They are getting taller and we have planted adzuki beans in-between the rows to add nitrogen to the soil. They are looking good:

I will keep on writing for as long as we are stuck indoors…

Casa Mascia Apothecary