Category Archives: Plants

Belize, Farming, Plants

It's Time To Pollinate Vanilla!

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TogetherThe vanilla vines are flowering and it’s time to pollinate.  The flowers are really beautiful; we have grown the plants up our coconut trees.  In our experience, the flowers open in early morning and start closing by about 10am so there is small window of opportunity to pollinate.  In past years, we tried to leave it to the stingless bees (meliponia) to do this labour-intensive work for us but we have only managed to get about 2 to 4 pods a plant.  If hand pollinated correctly, each plant can produce about 50 to 100 vanilla pods.

Vanilla Flower
Vanilla Flower
Vanilla Flowering.
Vanilla Flowering.
Vanilla Flower Raceme.
Vanilla Flower Raceme.

We are hoping to get a few more vanilla pods this year so Gnome has been carrying the ladder from vine to vine to pollinate.

Ladder For Pollinating Vanilla.
Ladder For Pollinating Vanilla.

It’s a rather delicate operation whilst trying to balance yourself on a ladder too…another Gnome job to add to his lengthy curriculum vitae.

Vanilla Flower.
Vanilla Flower.
Keep On Pollinating Gnome.
Keep On Pollinating Gnome.

The vanilla will be flowering for for the next 2 to 4 weeks.  So, we’ll be up early every day messing around with the vanilla for a while.  What Fun. 🙂

Oh and another Gnome Haiku describing this experience:

his aluminium

wings shudder with strain while bees

bathe in yellow pollen

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Everything Is Blooming!

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New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.BootsHello There!!  More farm pictures for you all to see and the promise of wonderful exotic fruit in the next few months.  The mango trees are blooming all over Toledo so it looks like it will be another wonderful “stuff-your-face-with-mango-season” this year.  Our running joke on the farm is that we never started planting mango until a few years ago…which was pretty silly of us since it is our favourite fruit!  Anyway, we have our first blooming mango tree!!

Flowering Mango On The Farm.
Flowering Mango On The Farm.

We have three jackfruit trees flowering this year…they should grow into giant sized monsters and we will have a bumper crop in July.

Jackfruit Flowers.
Jackfruit Flowers.

The cashews are starting too.  By the way, we noticed that we have mountains to the south side which block a few hours of morning sunlight and so our trees flower about a month later than others  in Toledo.

Flowering Cashew Tree.
Flowering Cashew Tree.

These are our cinnamon trees looking very formidable at one year. Also there is a tall ylang-ylang tree in the middle with a lemon tree to the right.  I wanted to sneak this picture in to show you how good we have been at keeping the grass down this year!  Ooooh…look at that!

Cleaned Cinnamon Trees.
Cleaned Cinnamon Trees.
Amusing, Belize, Food, Our Products, Plants, Soap

What’s Happening?

Munchkin.Sitting.DownHello Everyone!!  I have not been so regular with writing  the Blog lately due to…the weather of all things!  It has been dull with thick grey clouds which block the sunlight.  When it gets like that I just feel, “Ugh!” and Gnome reacts with, “Oh, dear!!”  and then we start a fine merry-go-round of ranting and complaining!

Munchkin.Another.Funny.Shot

Thank goodness the sun is out today and the mood has lifted.  I feel more inspired to write about our usual Munchkin and Gnome activities.

We have been making a marathon run of soap.  This takes the whole day with mixing and pouring in the morning and cutting (Gnome) and polishing (Munchkin) in the evening.  It is a good activity to do when you want to stay out of trouble!

Our Soap.
Our Soap.

Gnome started a mini project to grow watercress:

Hydroponic Watercress.
Hydroponic Watercress.
Preparing Watercress Cuttings.
Preparing Watercress Cuttings.

And I made lotus paste mochi balls today!

Lotus Paste Mochi Balls.
Lotus Paste Mochi Balls.

Yum!!  These were the mochi balls that I had promised Gnome for Chinese New Year which he didn’t get because I decided, rather inconveniently, to go on a diet plonk in the middle of Chinese celebrations.  I am feeling a bit happier about my weight so I made the belated mochi balls to celebrate a good day together!

Belize, Food, Plants

Pacaya Season Ending Soon.

Food.MunchkinHello Everyone!!  We’ve really enjoyed them this year.  Pacaya Palm are the inflorescences of Chamaedorea tepijilote.  Below are my gallery of pictures:

Fresh Pacaya From Market.
Fresh Pacaya From Market.

You just need to peel and then boil them for up to 20 minutes:

Boiling Pacaya.
Boiling Pacaya.

And this is how we ate them this year.

Mmmm…dipped in egg and deep-fried (Thank-you Isabel for the tip).

Deep-Fried Pacaya.
Deep-Fried Pacaya.

Cooked with Chinese Pork Soup:

Chinese Pork Soup with Pacaya.
Chinese Pork Soup with Pacaya.

The extra bits make a great garnish for my baked lentil and shitake mushroom dish:

Pacaya Garnish.
Pacaya Garnish.

More Pictures:

Peeled Pacaya
Peeled Pacaya

Sheer simplicity with a dollop of our own peach palm miso:

Pacaya with Peach Palm Miso.
Pacaya with Peach Palm Miso.
Belize, Food, Plants

Pacaya in Season!

Munchkin.More.Eating

Pacaya is in season right now and is being sold in bunches at Punta Gorda Market.  Don’t miss out on this delicacy because it is only harvested for a short time.  These are the male inflorescences of the palm Chamaedorea tepejilote  and are hand-picked in the wild rainforests of Toledo.

Pacaya From Market.
Pacaya From Market.

To prepare pacaya simply make a slit lengthwise (see upper picture) to reveal the flowers which are the edible part (lower picture).

Pacaya Peeled.
Pacaya Peeled.

The Mayans at the market recommend that I chop the pacaya into pieces and cook it with egg.  I haven’t tried this yet.  I actually boil the pacaya for about 5 minutes and then I drain the water.  You can boil it for up to 20 minutes if you would like to remove the bitterness.  I like the bitter taste and I think that it is part of the whole culinary experience.

Pacaya Boiling.
Pacaya Boiling.

I’ve been eating the pacaya with a dash of soya sauce served with a bowl of miso soup.  This food has a crunchy texture with a pleasant bitterness.

Pacaya and Miso Soup.
Pacaya and Miso Soup.

I am sure you will find traditional recipes for pacaya on the Internet but if you are used to reading my Blog, you will be aware that I enjoy creating my own dishes.  Next on the list is pacaya tempura…ooooh, can’t wait!!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Plants

Sapodillas In Season!

Together.Tank.Top

Sapodillas (Manilkara zapote) are in season again and this year we have a bumper harvest.  The fruit has a very sweet caramel-honey taste.  We have been picking them every morning.  For an inexperienced picker, the ripe fruit forms a taut and shiny appearance.  At first it is difficult to spot but after picking hundreds of them you can get the hang of it.  Here is a picture of Gnome ready for action on the farm!

Gnome Armed With Fruit Picker.
Gnome Armed With Fruit Picker.
Picking Sapodilla.
Picking Sapodilla.
Picking Sapodilla!
Picking Sapodilla!

This year, we are going to sun-dry some of them.  We like to eat them with beef jerky!

Dried Sapodilla.
Dried Sapodilla.

Some more sapodilla melomel would go down nicely!

Sapodilla Melomel.
Sapodilla Melomel.

Oooooh, so many to pick and so much to make!!  We will of course eat some of them too…

Sapodilla Fruit, Ready To Eat.
Sapodilla Fruit, Ready To Eat.
Belize, Food, Plants

Dissecting The Brain!

The Brain!!
The Brain!!

If you recall in a previous article, there is a certain ground root that we coined “The Brain” because well, we thought it looked like a big brain!

Elephant Foot Yam.
Elephant Foot Yam.

Kind of…you really have to be a doctor to appreciate the brain thing.  Other names are Amorphophallus paeoniifolis or elephant foot yam.

This is what the plant looks like:

The Brain.
The Brain.

It has a characteristic spotting on the stem and it also produces a beautiful flower.  Ours hasn’t flowered yet so sorry, no picture as yet.

The good thing about this yam is that it can be harvested and stored for about 3 months.  This is great for the tropics because most ground vegetables have to be processed soon after harvest or else they go bad…take for example cassava.  Anyway, I left this brain out on the veranda for months before I found the time to sort it out.  This is how you prepare elephant foot yam:

Wear a pair of gloves whilst processing as the uncooked root contains oxalic crystals which can cause itchy dermatitis.  Firstly pare the root with a sharp knife and then cut into uniform cubes about an inch in size.  Wash thoroughly with water.

Pare and Wash Elephant Foot Yam.
Pare and Wash Elephant Foot Yam.

Next, place in a cooking pot with a teaspoon of salt.  Bring to boil and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes.  After this, add about 100g (3oz) of cream cheese to the pot and boil for another 10 minutes.  Traditionally, in Indian cuisine, curds or tamarind paste are added at this point to further remove the itchy sensation caused by the oxalic acid.  I had neither ingredient in my kitchen, so I opted to use Philadelphia Cream Cheese which seemed to work in the same way.

Processing The Brain.
Processing The Brain.

Once tender, drain off the water.  You can eat it at this point or bag it into smaller portions to store in the freezer.  The yam can be eaten as a substitute in any potato dish and there are numerous traditional recipes on the Internet; usually in the form of wet and dry curries.

Cooked Elephant Foot Yam.
Cooked Elephant Foot Yam.

This yam grows prolifically in the Tropics and so I recommend that every self-sufficient person should have a patch of this growing somewhere on their land.  This is great survival food because there is so much of it!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Fruits in Season.

Munchkin.Shouting

There is always something new to harvest on the farm.  Right now, the mulberries have just started.

Mulberry Tree.
Mulberry Tree.

I will be collecting this fruit to make our very popular Mulberry Elixir.  The final product is a beautiful dark purple colour and it has a lovely, rich berry taste.

This one is a local fruit called monkey cap.  It has the consistency of peanut butter and is much-loved by the birds.  For all bird-lovers out there, this is one to plant if want to attract all the birdies with pretty colours.  The toucans like this one.

Monkey Caps.
Monkey Caps.

The monkey cap tree also makes a nice ornamental for those into landscaping.

Monkey Cap Tree.
Monkey Cap Tree.

Oh, and last but not least…we got our first soursop of the year.  Everyone in Belize loves this fruit.  I can’t give it justice by describing it but it has a kind of wet cotton-like consistency with a unique tropical fruit taste.  I asked Gnome to help me describe the flavour and this is what he said:

“Well…it tastes like a soursop!”

Gnome.at.Lunch.Table

Well, Thank-you Gnome…that was extremely helpful!!

Big Soursop.
Big Soursop.

The farm keeps on producing!!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Philosophy, Plants

Processing White Peppercorns.

Munchkin.Feeling.Rightous

This year we decided to process our pepper into white pepper.  Usually, we just pick them green…

Harvested Green Peppercorn.
Harvested Green Peppercorn.

And as they dry out in the sun, they become black peppercorns.

Black Pepper.
Black Pepper.

Because I mostly cook Chinese food, white pepper is actually more useful for me from a culinary point of view.  The preparation of white pepper requires a bit more work.  This is what you do:  Pick the peppercorns when they start turning red:

Picked Peppercorn.
Picked Peppercorn.

Then place these peppercorns in water to let them all ferment.  After a while, the water will get bubbly and murky.  Each day, dip your hands in the water and rub the peppercorns with the palms of your hand.  This “retting” procedure loosens the outer shell to release the white peppercorn.  Do this for 7 days…you can throw away the outer shells each day but leave the white peppercorns to ferment and do their magic.  It all gets rather smelly but hey, I think it is really important to understand the value of doing things yourself.  Now I know why ground white pepper costs $30 Belize Dollars per pound and I will no longer complain about the price!

On the 7th day, drain off all the water:

Processing White Pepper.
Processing White Pepper.

Separate the white peppercorns:

Sorting White Pepper.
Sorting White Pepper.

You will find that the peppercorns are at different stages.  Remove the white peppercorns and let them dry out in the sun.  The rest of the pepper (which still has the outer hard shell) can be placed back in a clean bowl of water.  At this stage, you can add newly harvested pepper to repeat the 7 day process of fermentation again.

So there you go.  You will find that when you consciously spend the time and energy in processing your own food, it becomes a matter of necessity.  It isn’t about economics anymore…it’s about eating good food that money can’t buy.

Belize, Elixirs, Our Products, Plants

Elixirs at Cotton Tree Lodge.

Elixirs.Passion.Cacao.Roselle

We had an Elixir Tasting last night at Cotton Tree Lodge with a small group of six.  The lodge is having a Chocolate group at the moment so we set the mood for the night by starting with Cacao Fruit as the first tasting.  This was interesting because it was a new batch and we were curious as to the response from the group.

Cacao Fruit Elixir.
Cacao Fruit Elixir.

In this batch, we actually increased the sugar content in order to balance the astringent qualities of the cacao bean.  The result was a mellow, well-rounded flavour with a definite rich chocolate taste.  Overall, the group found this elixir complex, interesting and unique.

This time, we talked more about the medicinal properties of the Elixirs.  It was very clear that the Cacao Fruit had mood-lifting and stimulating qualities as the night proceeded!  This one got every-one into a talkative and lively mood.

By the end of the tasting, it seemed that the clear favourite was the Grapefruit Elixir.  This one is actually three years old and the maturation process brought out such interesting flavours!  It was a complex combination of pears, apples and honey.  Very silky smooth and unctuous and it had a lovely clear golden colour.

Grapefruit Elixir.
Grapefruit Elixir.

It just goes to show that aging a liqueur makes all the difference.  Most of the Elixirs that we have available are about 2 years old now and getting better.

Again, it was amusing to see the response towards the Culantro Elixir…you either love it or you hate it!!

Fresh Culantro.
Fresh Culantro.

Culantro is used interchangeably with cilantro in this country in cooking.  This herb lends a herbaceous refeshing taste to our Elixir.  Some people absolutely love it because they like everything with the taste of cilantro (culantro).  Others wrinkle up their nose in dismay and describe it as being “too soapy” or “too medicinal.”  The feedback is always very helpful!

Liqueur.Tasting.Together

For more information on our Elixirs, including taste profiles and medicinal properties, check out our link.  For our full list of Elixirs please check out The Apothecary.