Category Archives: Mushrooms

Another Week!

October 16, 2021 Munchkin

Another week has gone by and it is time to write another blog post. You won’t believe it…the computerised chores have revolutionised the place. Things are getting down both inside and outside the house…I am actually finding the time to get housework done! I was thinking about why this method is working for us…one reason is because I have relinquished the responsibility of trying to remember chores. That frees up all the mental anguish of retaining extraneous information. Also, it is impersonal. If the computer comes up with the list for the day, you either do it or you don’t. There is no need to spend extra energy explaining to the computer whether it is the right time to do something.

Anyway, it has been unbelievably hot for the last week…it feels so awful and we have had to really push ourselves to get out in the burning heat. It is getting to about 34C (93F). We still keep going because it is so lovely to see all the plants thriving. Here are some more pictures from the farm:

The akee are just starting to bear. Once the fruit gets bigger and splits, they will be ripe for harvesting. This is a very good tasting fruit with a buttery texture and taste.

Gnome has been air-layering Gnome-style…lychee plants. He stuck plant pots filled with soil around branches, These covered parts will hopefully form roots and and be removed and planted in about two to three months.

Here is a close up:

Here is a picture of some puff ball mushrooms that I found growing in the goose coop. They are edible but these ones were too old to be eaten. It’s a shame because they were large enough to make a good meal! When, I sliced them in half, they were spongy and dark inside. They are at their peak and edible when they are pristinely white inside.

And, oh I have run out farm pictures! Other things that I have been doing…I have new Chocolate Lip balm flavours! These are all White Chocolate…yum!!

And, let’s have a group picture!

Check out our Shop for more Chocolate Lip Balms. Other Chocolate flavour available are Original, Orange, Mint, Cherry and Raspberry. Oh my, it’s all busy on the farm right now!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

It’s About Time…

August 25, 2018 Munchkin

It’s about time to write again. The goosies are calling me through space and time…they’ve been squeaking and squawking at me in their usual relentless way. Oh, and the grass keeps on growing! So I must keep on writing my exciting posts about geese and grass! Lately, we have had massive rains punctuated by one or two days of sun; we are still running around the farm doing whatever is possible in this wet weather when the opportunity presents itself.

We have been very fortunate with farm harvests during this rainy season and we are very thankful for them. Plenty of akee:

We really enjoy the texture and taste of akee; it has a unique fatty, buttery taste. I would even venture to say that I prefer them to avocadoes. We also had the fortune of wild paddy straw mushrooms coming up on one of our vegetable beds.

Here is a dish of paddy straw mushrooms cooked in olive oil, Gnome pasta stuff (yay! he is still cooking) and akee. Yes, we are still eating really well off the farm:

Oh and look at this…in between this huge abundance of food, Gnome still dug up beetle larvae, brought it into the house and asked me rather politely if I would like to share some food with him,

“…eh, Munchkin….would you be willing to eat some grubs…”

He wasn’t joking. This comes from his old bush tucker days in the Northern Territory, Australia when he used to forage around and eat witchity grubs and berries (as Gnomes do). I was a bit scared about eating these wiggly things live so I said that I could coat them in egg and breadcrumbs and fry them in oil. At this point, I started looking very closely at the writhing grubs and felt (would you believe it!) sorry for them. I exclaimed,

“…it’s a bit cruel to chuck these poor things in boiling hot oil, though!”

Next thing I know, Gnome is having a conversation with me about how to practically approach this apparent mental stumbling block:

“…well, I suppose you could parboil them first…or, you could chop their heads off first…”

I bailed out at this point and said,

“…look Gnome, I would eat these in a survival situation but the truth of the matter is that we have plenty of food on the farm right now. Why don’t I give them to Duckie? “

He didn’t really have a choice because I was out of the house before he could say anything. Sure enough, Duckie had a real gourmet treat of beetle larvae…she gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow.

Belize, Food, Mushrooms, Philosophy

Mushroom Foraging.

April 30, 2017 Munchkin 2 Comments

How quickly we forget that we actually had a wet “dry season” this year and it is only in the last few days that it has been unbearably hot. I say this because, the wetter weather has given the opportunity for wild mushrooms to come up around us. Some of them are edible so that is an absolute delight to us.

Just to give you a bit of a background on the adventures of M & G:

We started foraging in Scotland about 2 decades ago; we had so much fun running into the woods to find chanterelles, boletes and all manner of yummy mushrooms. We even collected enoki in the local park for breakfast every day. We still remember the time that we would secretly go into parks at 4am in the morning to tap maple trees. Oh, and we also collected and made nettle soup, dandelion salad and lots of wild greens. Outside of work (hospital, accident and emergency and all that stuff), we started calling ourselves “Munchkin and Gnome” as a personal joke. It was a conscious way of “making light of ourselves” outside our serious medical doctor demeanour.

We think that it is important not to feel self important and that’s why we call ourselves Munchkin and Gnome. Plus we think it’s funny!!

Anyway, let’s go back to the present and show you some pictures of mushrooms that we have found on our farm.

This one started off promising and we had to wait for it to open up in order to identify it properly. It ended up being the green spored parasol Chlorophyllum molybdites. It is not edible because it causes gastro-intestinal upset although David Arora, well-known mycologist with very good books, does state that some people can eat it without any stomach upset. We haven’t tried it but occasionally, Gnome will see a whole load of these and say,

“…hmmm….should we try them…what do you think?”

I usually give him a funny look and say that I don’t want to:

“We’re not starving, my dear.”

It opens up to look like this; it has green spores which is the key to its proper identification.

This fungus looks like a type of mold. It doesn’t look edible but interesting to look at if you are into fungus and molds like us.

This one we found eating into an old tree stump. Honey mushroom, Armillariella mellea. Edible!! Very tasty. After proper identification (we examine, take spores and go through identification keys in an obsessive sort of way) we identified it and then took a test sample to eat. Whenever we find a new mushroom that we manage to identify as edible, I take only one mushroom and cook it up (usually just sautéd in oil). We both share this tiny little morsel and wait 24 hours. If we feel fine after that, we proceed to cooking up a larger portion. We are doctors after all and we so we still have to behave responsibly with foraging and all.

If you stumble across any mushrooms in Belize, Gnome would be happy to assist in identification. We would need the following information:

Pictures of the mushroom showing the top, the underside (gills) and from all angles.
Please make a Spore Print. Omit Step 5 ie. don’t spray with hairspray!!
Make a note of where you found it and where it was growing.

Note that our identification efforts are geared towards determining edibility. This is for eating and no profit. Be prepared to send us the spore print if the mushroom turns out to be edible.

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

Everything But The Cat!

December 8, 2016 Munchkin

Every morning, one of the first things that I do is to harvest food for the day and usually just enough for the day so it stays fresh…no need to be shoving anything in the fridge. Actually we only have a tiny fridge for pharmaceuticals…no veggies, fruit and condiments allowed! Morning harvest:

The leafy greens are chaya and to the front are some carambola (starfruit). The round yellow fruit, at the back are sour peach. The banana leaf has some wild mushroom (Schiziphylum commune). So, Gnome asked me:

“What do we have to eat?”

I replied and pointed to the table of offerings:

“Everything but the cat!”

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

New Pictures.

August 8, 2016 Munchkin

Here are some new pictures from the farm taken by Gnome! He has made improvements in leaps and bounds in his photography…his former pictures used to be blurry and out of focus. Hmmm…maybe it is because he changed his glasses?!

This is Redhead (Hamelia patens) which is known for its natural medicinal properties; The flowers, leaves and stems are boiled in water and skin conditions such as wounds, sores, rash and insect bites are bathed in the decoction. Furthermore, the oral consumption of the decoction of the flowers and leaves is supposed to relieve menstrual cramps.

The berries from this plant are also edible…get them before the birds!

Ear mushrooms (Auricularia auricular); these wild mushrooms are edible and much loved by Asians. Great in stews and stir-frys.

A beautiful ornamental. These produce seedpods that resemble woody roses.

Amusing, Belize, Food, Mushrooms

On Eating Hericium Erinaceus…

February 13, 2016 Munchkin

Red.Bean.Munchkin I wasn’t sure how to title this post because this particular mushroom has so many names including: Lion’s Mane Mushroom, Bearded Tooth Mushroom, Satyr’s Beard, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom and Pom Pom mushroom. In Asian cuisine, it is known as Monkey Head Mushroom. I have never found this particular mushroom in the wild but luckily for us you can obtain it in the dried form from the Taiwanese Supermarket in Belize City. For a long time I had avoided these mushrooms because I did not know how to prepare them for cooking. The Chinese person at the supermarket would look about me dubiously (because I kinda look like a Chinese person but act like a “white person”) and shake her head at me,

“…you know how to cook? If you don’t do it right, it taste bitter…”

Well, this time, the Chinese person in me broke through and I was determined to try these tasty treats!

This is what it looks like once it is soaked in water.

Soaking.Lion.Manes.Mushroom

I did some research on the preparation and basically you just need to soak the dried mushroom in water for about an hour until it gets soft. During this time, you keep on changing the water until it turns clear.

After that you can cut it up into pieces and cook it anyway which way you want…sauted in butter, Chinese-style, in soups and stews, etc, etc.

I’ll be posting up some new recipes with Hericium erinaceus over the next few weeks so watch this space. I did my first test cook by sautéing it in cacao butter with onions and garlic:

Sauted Lion's Mane. — Sauted Lion’s Mane.

The verdict:

“It’s tasty! It tastes like chicken!!”

Yum.Yum.Gnome

I replied by saying,

“Oh, but…on the Internet, they say it tastes like “beef!”

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Pets, Philosophy

Wee Wee Ant Fungus.

February 10, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Hair.Flowing

The Wee Wee ants (or leaf cutter ants) are one of the most annoying things to any person wishing to grow their own plants and trees in Belize. These pesky ants come out in formidable numbers harvesting vegetation (leaves, flowers and cut grass) as a nutritional substrate for their fungus. They come out in such huge numbers, they are even capable of defoliating a tree in one night. We know this because it happens on our farm! One day, our tree is looking magnificent…the next day, it is totally destroyed!!

These ants usually form mounds above ground which lead down to their underground cities. I call them “cities” because these nests can grow to 100 ft (30m) across with smaller radiating mounds growing to about 260ft (80m) and can house eight million ants. Amazing!!

These wee wee ants cultivate a fungus by feeding it with fresh cut plant material (ie. all our lovely plants and trees). Furthermore, these ants carry a bacterium which protects the fungi from pests and molds. This is a really nice symbiotic relationship…sometimes you wish that us humans could form a better mutualistic relatiionship with the planet in the same way as these ants! The fungus is used to feed the ant larvae.

I asked Gnome,

“Why can’t humans behave properly like the ants and live in balance with the Earth?”

Gnome was in no mood for “love and light” and said:

Gnome.Angry.Look

“…because most of them are idiots!!”

Even though these ants are a real pest on our farm, I can’t help but admire them for their diligent activities.

The other day, we actually found a leaf-cutter colony above ground because it was hidden in a particularly overgrown area.

This is the fungus. We tasted a bit of it and it was quite sweet and mushroom-like. We are thinking of cultivating it to eat and like all this stuff, it probably has medicinal properties. The duckies certainly liked the mushroom as you can see them chomping it down:

Another Gnome project to add to the never-ending list!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms, Plants

Plants and Mushrooms On The Farm.

December 22, 2015 Munchkin

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.Boots

The morning started off with a torrential rain which filled up our tanks. Yay…this means that we can continue to have long hot showers and keep on using the washing machine. We are thankful for small blessings! After the rains, we walked together with a wheel-barrow of seedlings to plant out (gosh…this is Munchkin and Gnome romancing!).

We planted out Carob seedlings. We are especially excited about these because these can be a nutritional chocolate alternative and the seeds are a source of guar gum. We planted these on high ground because they are not supposed to like “wet feet.”

We also planted some good varieties of mangoes…I know that this sounds rather mundane for the tropics but on our farm we have NO mango trees! This also happens to be our favourite fruit so we are trying to catch up. When we first came to Belize ten years we spent all our time planting unusual edible tropical fruits and forgot about the ubiquitous mango.

Freshly Mowed Field Ready For Mango Planting.

We have found from our own personal experience as wannabee farmers that the best way to plant a seedling is to cut the bottom off the plant pot and set it in a shallow (6 inches) hole. This ensures that the roots are not disturbed and also you can weed-wack around it without damaging the plant.

Ooooh look our betel nut is flowering…not sure what to do with it so we will have to do some research on that one…

And, last but not least, the mushrooms are coming out with the rains. This is Turkey Tail mushroom which can be boiled up for a tea and is rich in anti-oxidants.

This is Chicken of The Woods. We are waiting for them to get bigger so that we can harvest them to eat. When you cook them up, they taste just like chicken. Yummy…can’t wait!!

What exciting things on the farm!!

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Secret Gnome Stuff: Unveiled.

July 25, 2015 Munchkin

A couple of weeks ago, Gnome was doing “Secret Gnome Stuff.” It was some sort of mound of cardboard, rotten grass and chocolate trash. He also declared that the Munchkin was not permitted to sniff around this top-secret Gnome business.

This week, it was unveiled!! Gnome had timed it perfectly to coincide with my Birthday week.

Paddy Straw Mushroom Peeking Out of Cardboard.

Da Gnome does it again…he has managed to grow a mound of paddy straw mushrooms. What a wonderful gift for a Munchkin…I feel so privileged!!

Also, Gnome is working on lacquering a gourd for me, which I will use as a water container. In the usual typical Gnome-obsessive fashion, he says that he is going to lacquer the gourd a total of fifty times to give it a perfect, finished appearance (plus he wants it to last forever!).

Also, he has decided to make a whole range of “Gnome Ware” dinner ware, made out of gourds as ongoing gifts for me. Wow…what a blessed gesture! After the water gourd, he will start on the miso bowls.

Now, that’s what I call Love!!

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Leftover Greens, Jackfruit, Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs.

July 15, 2015 Munchkin

I have a plethora of photographs, taken at opportune moments which are used for the purposes of writing posts for this Blog. I try to use up most of the photos but sometimes some are “left-over.” So, here are some pictures that can hopefully tie up some loose ends.

I still have not had the chance to add on to the Belcampo Foraging Tour (eco-lodge in Toledo, Belize) which was conducted a couple of months ago. There will be more of this coming soon. Anyway, this is a picture of hierba mora found growing wild on Belcampo grounds. This is a tasty green leafy spinach-like vegetable which is similar in taste and texture to the local callaloo.

You can also buy a bunch of the cultivated variety of hierba mora at the market in Punta Gorda. The vendors use the name “callaloo” interchangeably between this and the Amaranth sp.(true callaloo).

This is another jackfruit off-shoot. I had mentioned in my main article on this fruit that the seeds were also edible. The seeds just need to be boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes until they are tender. In this instance, I boiled the seeds and then stir fried the seeds with sliced garlic and garnished the dish with spring onion (I threw in some left over cassava). Needless to say, the meal was tasty!

And, of course, I can write ceaselessly about mushrooms! We can’t get enough of fungus and we love eating them! Last week, we had spotted a whole load of lovely oyster mushrooms in somebody’s yard in Punta Gorda. We sliced and slow cooked them in butter. We have found that this is the best way to enjoy the delicate tastes of a wild mushroom.

Oyseter.Mushrooms.Beaty — Wild Oyster Mushrooms.

A couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across these mushrooms in our coconut plantation. We identified them as of the Russula sp.; many of the mushrooms of this family can cause gastric upset but none are known to be lethal. We decided to eat a test batch of these wild mushrooms…they turned out to be very good…and no stomach upset!

One more mushroom picture! I raved on about the bamboo pith (stinkhorn) a while back because it was a revelation to me that the Chinese cultivated this particular fungus to eat. Here are some fresh specimens ready for chopping in our soup:

Cooked bamboo pith has the texture of bubbly honeycomb with the firmness of agar. There is no distinct taste. We like them!

And last but not least. Matilda’s little piggies are doing fine. They are still in the maternity ward and they have started eating grass already. Everything on Paradise Pastures seems to be pretty hunky-dory at the moment. More on the Mayor Elections over the next few weeks!

Casa Mascia Apothecary