Category Archives: Plants

Belize, Farming, Philosophy, Plants, Saving Money

Living The Philosophy!

January 3, 2016 Munchkin

Together

When we first came to Belize, 10 years ago, we had decided that we wanted to eat all our own food off the farm ie. become totally self-sustainable. We have planted all manner of food plants including root vegetables, greens and fruit trees. Everything is bearing and we have loads of fresh food to feed ourselves with.

The start of this year has indeed been a time of great contemplation for me as I step into the kitchen and I am confronted by all this processed, packeted and shop-bought food (all imported, no less!):

Looking at all this made me realise that I was not living my philosophy and I have allowed the insidiousness of convenience to edge into my life. Don’t get me wrong…we do eat mostly our fresh food but I use packet food as a “back-up” when I don’t feel like getting out and digging something up (when it is raining or it is bug-ridden). We would like to get completely self-reliant and not feel that we even need a weekly trip into town to buy food (at this point our grocery bill only amounts to about BZD$30 (USD$15) a week so we are not doing too badly.

We would like to live our philosophy so we are going to address this habitual need to buy products. We have decided to finish off every single packeted food in the house until there are none and we are not going to buy anymore products from the shops. Once we polish off every single packet, we are going to switch over to farm food only. This will lead to an even healthier lifestyle with continual planting, digging, harvesting and preparation of enough food to feed us 365 days of the year. And of course we will save money from not needing to buy any groceries from the super-market.

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, Farming, Food, Plants

Pictures From The Farm.

December 16, 2015 Munchkin

Since we have been doing a super clean up of the farm in this fabulous weather (bright and sunny with no rain) I thought I would take this opportunity to share some pictures of the farm. It is remarkable how great it looks when it is not all bushy with high grass!

When we first came to Belize, 10 years ago we ventured into the bush in search of rosewood seeds to start a grove on our farm. Over years, there has been much logging of these magnificent trees and they are dwindling in number. We have set up this grove as a “seed bank” so that there will still be opportunity to cultivate these trees in the future. Our rosewood trees are looking good and gives a shaded place for a cool picnic area.

The first young fruits of the soursop have just started which is a much-loved fruit of the Tropics:

And this is roseapple which tastes of rose petals. They are actually very hard to spot because of the green colour…if only they would turn pink or red! I think all of our resident birdies taste of roses since they are the ones eating most of them…

Last but not least, our lovely pond area where we would like to house a gaggle of geese! One day, we shall have loads of geese a-honking in our pond!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

More Malabar Spinach!

December 7, 2015 Munchkin

Red.Bean.Munchkin

A Big Thank-you to everyone for all the Birthday Greetings!! It is really nice to receive such warm wishes!

And Life Continues so here is the post of the day:

We have got tonnes of Malabar spinach (Basella alba) on the farm and so this means we are eating this mostly everyday! You quickly have to learn different ways of eating it or else it can get very boring.

Here are a couple of ways in which we have been eating this green with imagination and innovation!

It is great uncooked as a salad accompaniment to home-cooked Pan-Fried Chicken!

Munchkin Fried Chicken With Malabar Spinach.

Easy Fried Rice with Malabar Spinach. Simply fry the rice and towards the end of cooking (last 2 minutes) add shredded malabar spinach and mix well.

It is wonderful growing, harvesting and cooking our food here on the farm!! And people ask us why we never go out for dinner…well, it’s because of this.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Cooking With Malabar Spinach.

December 6, 2015 Munchkin

Munchkin.More.Eating

Malabar spinach (Basella alba) grows really well in Belize especially in wet places. Our patch is growing prolifically:

It is eaten as a leafy green; can be eaten uncooked in a salad or cooked lightly. This is a mucilaginous type of green which should not be over-cooked. When cooked with care (ie. very short cooking times of about 1 to 2 minutes) it adds taste, freshness and a soft crunch to a dish.

This is a recipe with pork, pumpkin and malabar spinach.

Served with Guatemalan imported linguini…but used in a noodle context since we are doing Chinese cuisine today:

Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach with Noodles:

Enjoy…I know I did!!

Belize, Food, Plants

Moon Cakes For Our Treasure Chest!!

November 27, 2015 Munchkin

Together.Eating

We have made Moon Cakes, off season!! Well, as far as we are concerned, Moon Cakes should be happily enjoyed all year round!!

This time we used a yam paste which consists of lotus seed and the vegetable taro.

This is fresh taro…maybe we can make our own paste sometime.

We have stashed them in our Moon Cake Treasure Chest…

And, of course, a couple for the Duckie Bag. The Duckie Bag is our manual coffee/tea making facility (ie. thermos flask and teabags, coffee,sugar and milk) that we take with us everytime we go out.

Yum!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

The Brain!!

November 23, 2015 Munchkin

Together.Smiling

Before I start on another hilarious story with Munchkin and Gnome (Ha-Ha), I would like to mention that you can find us on FaceBook under Mandy Tsang. We have removed the Casa Mascia Apothecary page because it has only served to confuse everyone or maybe it’s because I don’t know how to use FaceBook properly! Anyway…back to The Brain…

Every-time we harvest one of these beauties, we call out “The Brain!!” in unison. Well, it is because we think that this root resembles a brain and also, we have been living in the bush for so many years, we have developed a sense of humour to offset some of the boredom (Ha-Ha).

Hmmm…I suppose you could say that it also looked like an elephant’s foot…

“The Brain!!” is also known as elephant foot yam, white-spot giant arum and its latin name is Amorphophallus paeoniifolis. Anyone who knows a bit of latin will be wondering why this is called a misshapen (amorpho) penis (phallus). This plant actually produces a spectacular flower which is the reason for the name; unfortunately, we have not been privy to the flowering of this plant. If you do a quick Internet search, you will find pictures easily…the flowers are truly amazing.

If you look at the stem of this plant, you can see the tell-tale white-spots which lends them their popular name.

This plant is related to A. konjac which is consumed in South-East Asia and Japan. According to a Straits Chinese Gnome, this is used, amongst other things, to make Jello in Asian countries because it can remain solid in the Tropics.

The preparation and cooking will be for another post!! Watch out for the dissection of The Brain!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Vegetables and Fruit.

November 21, 2015 Munchkin

Together.Tank.Top

Hello Everyone!! I am always so pleased with our harvests on the farm; the farm still keeps producing bountiful crops and there is always something new and exciting to eat. It never ceases to amaze me how generous the land can be if you are willing to put in a bit of time and work.

Plenty of Cassava to harvest right now.

A whole bed of sweet potatoes and it gets better…you can even eat the greens like a spinach.

Voluntary wild papayas dotted all around the farm. Get them before the birds feast on them.

This is malabar spinach. Simply stir-fry, steam or boil; also makes a great salad green. It can be started from cutting and grows well in boggy areas. This is such an easy green to grow that I think everyone should have a patch of this in their garden.

This is a cultivated variety of purslane; it makes a lovely salad green and the edible flowers add colour to a dish.

We have been harvesting these for about 3 months solid from one tree…and it has started flowering again! These have a crunch just like apples.

It is absolutely wonderful growing our own vegetables and fruit to eat. I would not have it any other way!

Belize, Food, Our Products, Plants

Fresh Produce From Casa Mascia!

November 10, 2015 Munchkin

Together.Horses

Hello Everyone. We have fresh produce from our farm to sell and will be in Punta Gorda tomorrow (and every Wednesday) to sell our stuff. Email or Facebook us if you are interested and we can drop it off for you in town tomorrow.

We have the Peach Palm Miso for sale. This product is made in the same traditional way as normal miso but we have used Peach Palm (Pejibaye) instead of soya bean.

This is a gluten-free, vegan natural flavouring for soups, sauces and marinades. Simply use this as an alternative to a bouillon cube. You only need to use a teaspoon at a time so one bag goes a long way. Check out The Apothecary for prices.

We will also have our coconut cream for sale which can be used for curries, stews, coconut rice and smoothies.

Everything Handmade in Belize.