Category Archives: Plants

Amusing, Farming, Food, Plants

All About The Marrow.

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I know, I know…this is ground-breaking Munchkin writing, pushing the boundaries of blog content and shattering the mundane illusion of life.  Marrows; it’s all about the marrows…and if you are British (in any shape or form, even Aussie will do) you should know all about marrows.

So, this silly story all started when I stumbled across marrow seeds in the Farm Store in Punta Gorda, Toledo (Belize) of all places.  I presumed that since I had purchased these seeds here that everyone grew marrows, like we all grow the ubiquitous tomato or cucumber.  When I chanced across any British people that I knew around town, after the usual greetings, talking about the weather or Trump, I would then turn the conversation to the fact that I was growing marrows.  The usual response was, “…oh yes, but of course.”  It was a given that I was growing marrows and no explanations were required.

Anyway, when I chanced across any non-British and I steered the conversation to matters of the marrow, I received very blank stares.  Some minor blinking but nonetheless there was no-one at home and registering.  I would get usually get:  “..oh, uhu.” and then a sudden change in conversation.  Some-times I would get a perplexed, “what is a marrow?”

Well, I never!  I never thought that I would have to explain what a marrow was.  Well, you know..doesn’t every-one know?

“…it’s a big green vegetable…a bit like a pumpkin and you try to grow it as big as you can so you can enter marrow competitions…”

I did give this explanation and felt my face flush with embarrassment after-wards because I felt that I didn’t actually know what a marrow was.

After feeling like a silly sausage, I decided it best to do some research.  Okay, so now I do know what a marrow is:

A Marrow is the mature fruit of the Cucurbita pepo of the genus Cucurbita.

(This bit is only helpful if you know your latin and into botany…so, let me explain it another way…)

The immature fruit of a marrow is a courgette (or zucchini) so a marrow is an old zucchini.  Well I never!  I didn’t know that.  They are grown to a large size so that they can be stuffed with meat and other things.  Also, in temperate countries, marrows can be stored for many weeks after harvest.

If you wish to enter your marrow in competitions (as far as I know, they only do this in the UK), you are restricted to growing only the striped thick-skinned cultivar.

Growing Marrow.

Okay, so now you can ask me all about the marrows!!  Anyone for a Marrow Growing Competition in Belize??

Amusing, Belize, Food, Plants

The Chicken Test…

Shhhh…it is quiet right now.  We went down to Punta Gorda today and it was amazingly quiet; I actually got through bank queues in record time.  Everyone is laying low before the Christmas and New Year festivities.  It is so nice just to experience this quiet…and back on the farm, none of the animals know about Christmas so it is nothing different.  So, shhhh…don’t tell the geese it’s Christmas soon…they might get rowdier and demand a Christmas party!

Anyway we are preparing for Christmas:

We are going to roast a turkey in a huge dutch oven for Christmas and we have never done it before.  So, tonight we are doing a test run with a chicken.  Gnome is going to dig a pit, fill it up with coals and then stick the dutch oven in the hole and cover it up…kinda like an underground cast iron oven. We managed to find an 8lb chicken so I think we are going to be eating chicken sandwiches until Christmas day.

Campfire.

Anyway, I also would like to show my usual pictures of plants and vegetables around the farm:

What beautiful plants: tobacco.  I just like looking at these plants; the leaves are so big and luscious.  The flowers have a unique exotic floral scent that comes out on balmy nights:

Tobacco.
Row of Tobacco.

Peanut butter fruit; when these ripen to a deep red colour, they taste just like peanut butter.  The birds always get them so you need to get up early for these ones!

Peanut Butter Fruit.

Vetiver: the roots are distilled to produce the classic vetiver essential oil.  You need lots and lots of these plants to get a 1/2 oz of oil!

Vetiver.

Can’t help it: I love looking at my vegetables!  This is serosi or bitter gourd.

Bitter Gourd.

Ooooh, another butterfly.  Aren’t they lovely…

Butterfly.

Hope the chicken cooks well….

Amusing, Belize, Food, Plants

Winter Time in Belize!!

Hello!!  It’s winter time in Belize so temperatures are about 20 Celsius (that’s 68 Fahrenheit for Northern Americans and oldish British people…oh dear, was that politically incorrect of me to say that).  Anyway, it’s woolly hat and jumper time, that’s what I am trying to get at.   It is the last day of November and I am scared of December…I feel that it is going to whizz by…and another year is gone again.  Gnome’s comment:

“How can you get scared of a month…I can understand if it’s a big hairy dog or something…but there are no claws and gnashing teeth…”

Yes he’s right and I can’t do anything about it except maybe try to have some fun and magic (Ha-Ha!!).  Okay, more plant pictures:

This is great way to use up discarded paper and cardboard; I tear them into strips and bits and put them in between the vegetable plants.  This stops the weeds from coming up (believe me…this is a brilliant idea because it saves me from weeding everyday) and the cardboard is great mulch.  We have rocket and kale on the Munchkin menu right now:

Rocket and Kale.

This here is a very interesting fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, otherwise known as Miracle fruit.   This fruit is amazing and great for party tricks…you give somebody a miracle fruit to eat and then you give them a sour lime; the lime will actually taste really sweet.  This is because this fruit contains a natural chemical called miraculin which binds to the tongue’s taste buds causing sour things to taste sweet; the effect lasts between 15 to 30 minutes.  It can probably be used as a natural sweetener for diabetics or people who want to cut down their sugar consumption.  Apparently, this fruit originated from West Africa where they traditionally use this fruit to sweeten palm wine.  This would be an interesting additive for one of Gnome’s fermented beverages.

Miracle Fruit.

We both like bitter gourd or serosi as they call it here.  It appears to grow very well in buckets.  We’ve managed to grow a third generation fruit (by natural selection)  that is 2feet (60cm) in length.  Normal fruits average about a foot in length.  We are trying to grow the longest bitter gourd in the world…maybe get into the Guinness Book of World Records..Ha-Ha!!

Bitter Gourd Trellis.

Oh and this one is very interesting…this is the toothache plant.  When you bite into the flower, you get a tingling sensation in the mouth followed by a numbing sensation.  Good for toothaches hence the name.  According to Wiki, the leaves can be eaten in salads; I might try experimenting with the flowers and leaves to use as flavouring for sauces and relishes.

Toothache Plant.

These flowers are supposed to attract fireflies at night.  I questioned the validity of the statement and said to Gnome: “I haven’t seen fireflies, have you?”

Gnome:

“We haven’t seen the fireflies at night because  that’s when we close up the house and run off to bed!!”

Toothache Plant Flowers.

Have a lovely Thursday and let’s all have a magical December…

Amusing, Belize, Plants

Shampoo Ginger.

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Gnome is a neophile and so he always likes to try new things:

“Munchkin, howz about you try using the shampoo ginger on your hair?”

Shampoo Ginger.

Munchkin is a neophobe and does not like new things,

“Eh…why don’t you try it first?”

He kinda of gave me a funny look and then I realised that he had just shaved his head again so there was no hair to wash.  I had to change tact:

“Okay then, let’s try the cat…”

I got the same funny look.  He didn’t need to say anything.  We haven’t washed the cat for five years so I think that the cat bossie would be none too pleased to be grabbed and washed with a flower.  There would be a lot of scratching and clawing…

Okay, so I realised that I was the prime candidate to use shampoo ginger (Zingiber zerumbet) ; the root and the leaves  of this ginger are edible and can be used as aromatic flavouring in cooking.  The red flower heads can be squeezed to extrude a soapy liquid which feels like diluted soap and smells like soap.  Apparently the Hawaiians use this as shampoo and conditioner for hair.  We always find that the same information (usually from Wiki) just gets re-hashed from one blog to another without anyone actually trying it out.  Gnome reckons that it is important to write from personal experience so I decided to be the “guinea pig.”

I was a bit tentative at first because I have so many problems with itchy scalp in the past from hair products.  I had to end up using dermatological preparations until Gnome formularised the coconut castile soap (AKA Can’t Believe it’s not DB’s) for my hair.  Anyway, I harvested the “shampoo” by squeezing the flower heads into a bucket.

Shampoo Ginger Juice.

I managed to get about 1 litre (1 quart) of liquid from about 6 flower heads.  I thoroughly wet my hair in the shower and poured the whole lot of juice onto my head.  It was mildly soapy; I massaged my scalp for a bit and rubbed the juice into my hair right to the very ends.  My hair felt very smooth with it.  After drying my hair, my hair was clean, shiny and felt a lot softer and well conditioned.  Oh, and no itchy scalp so I was doubly pleased.  Okay so it does work so I recommend it and we might even make a hair product with it in the future.

Oh by the way, according to Wiki you can drink this juice as a refreshing drink. We tried that too…only drink under survival conditions…it tastes like  mild soap.  It’s drinkable but not exactly as thirst-quenching  as a cold lemonade!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

The Usual Farm Stuff…

Hello!!  Yes we did attend the British High Commission reception a few days ago.  Well, we kinda thought that it was a good idea to show our faces since we hardly leave the farm.  Gnome:

“…well, we haven’t been seen in public for a while…people might start to believe we are  fictional characters…”

Somebody asked me why I was attending and I said that it was because I was Scottish…somehow I think that there was a joke contained in the question…

Anyway, back on the farm, It has stopped raining for a few days but it is still very grey.  At least we can walk out and not be sloshing about in wetness!!  I’ve got some new pictures…mostly vegetables and plants…ha-ha…we are soooo exciting…but what pictures could we possibly have to show you if we have a farm?

We are growing horseradish which also doubles up as mustard greens.  They are in buckets on the veranda…this is to ensure that we always get our greens even when I can’t get out with the heavy rains or if the geese are plotting to ambush me downstairs.

Horseradish.

The peppermint is growing really well.  And hey look…my pictures are getting better…

Peppermint.

Finally, at long last, we have managed to get the sage and rosemary going.  Yes, these are more plants on the veranda that need shelter from the heavy rains.

Sage.
Rosemary.

The akee are starting too:

Akee.

Oh and here is a picture of our back yard.  We do indeed live in the bush…

Bushy Yard.

Okay, last farm picture; the summer squash is going crazy with the rains.  I guess you can’t complain too much about the weather when you get this:

Summer Squash.

Have a lovely weekend.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Waiting…

We are waiting for the tropical storm Nate to pass over so we are trying to stay out of trouble by having a quiet day.  Right now, looking outside, you wouldn’t think that there was a weather alert…there’s a little gusty wind and no rain at all.  So what have we been up to?  We went through a dry spell and managed to clear a chunk of bush behind the house; we even managed to burn a few wood piles because it was so hot and sunny.  This clearing up is in preparation for rotational goosie pastures which we should hopefully have ready by laying season early next year.  The last week has been very, very wet with overnight downpours; the whole place has turned to mud so we had to stop the clearing this week.

Yes, that’s why we wear wellies all the time!

Anyway, I would like to show pictures of the new vegetable garden.  If you have been following our Blog, you’ll know that we have been rotating our guinea pig houses and planting vegetables in the unoccupied houses which are  full of lovely piggy mulch.  I am very pleased with results!  We have okra, endives, rocket and aubergine.

Piggie Houses:

Piggie Rotational Homes.

The Vegetable Garden:

Red Okra.
Aubergines.

Not For Eating…tobacco…

Tobacco.
Endives and Rocket.

Keep safe everyone!!

Belize, Farming, Plants

The Trouble With Iguanas.

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I used to think that iguanas were cute and all things nice.  Not any more!!  They have eaten every single vegetable in my garden..  I am soooo mad.  The pumpkin patch that we planted on a bed produced so much this year and we didn’t get a single vegetable.  I tried putting gloves over the young fruit to disguise them but lo and behold, they crawled into the gloves and munched away.

Pumpkin Patch.

All the young fruits are disappearing on my aubergines.

Aubergine Plant.

Yesterday I spotted a baby iguana sitting at my Indian cucumber vine, all bloated and sleepy from feasting on my vegetables.  Hey, that’s not fair!!

Yesterday, I declared war on the iguanas,

“Munchkin is going to war against the iguanas.”

No more nice Munchkin; I am very, very upset.  My first course of action is repellent sprays.  I read on the Internet that you can spray on your prized vegetables a concoction of habanero peppers and garlic.  Gnome also mentioned that I should try spraying sulphur….he said that generally speaking, most creatures don’t like sulphur sprayed thickly on their vegetables!

This is war!!  Dear Mr/Mrs Iguana, please would you kindly re-locate.  You are not welcome here!!  This is a very polite warning…

Iguana
Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Still Going…

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It’s the Wet Season and the puddles have coalesced into ponds and we are ankle-deep in water.  I am not exaggerating!!  Nevertheless, the work still needs to be done.  It’s all day rains right now so you basically have to run out during the breaks to get things done.  Yes, I wish right now that I could hole myself up in a cave (with a full pantry) and ignore the whole farm!  But alas, the animals need to be tended to, the farm still needs maintenance and can’t be ignored (otherwise it will turn into one horrible mess) and I still need to harvest and preserve the fruits of the season.

Gnome, despite his hand injury, is trying to help me out and is doing “light work” right now.   He’s helping me collect vegetables and fruit and generally trying to keep the level of the humour up by reading to me…he could pick something like a light novel…but this is Gnome humour…

Gnome Keeping Out of Trouble.

Here are some pictures from the farm; we have been harvesting wax apple….have to get them before the birdies…

Wax Apple.

The craboo are flowering…really quite beautiful:

Craboo Flowers.

Oh and on Sunday we had a few casualties from the torrential rain.  We have a very old grey goose (we reckon she is ancient…like about 30 years old… because she has cataracts) got caught in the rain.  I found her all sodden in the mud and she was too weak to move.  She’s now been placed in emergency wheel barrow 1 with water and food.  The other casualty was the Overlord (aka male turkey) who had been sitting on turkey eggs for 7 whole days without taking any breaks.  Alas, he was found with his face down in the grass…for a minute I thought he had carked it but he let out an enormous whimper.  I quickly dried him up and carried him to emergency wheelbarrow 2; he seems okay now but is really crabbit (I think this is a Scottish word that means crabby) and feeling very sorry for himself.

Right now our mini medical unit is under the house.  I hope that we don’t get any more sick animals because we have used up all the wheel-barrows!

Anyway, the Duchess (aka female turkey) is still sitting on the eggs…what a champion.  Let’s hope that we get some hatchlings out of this one…about one more week to go.

Amusing, Belize, Food, Plants

A Few Small Things…

Oh it’s a horrible, grey muggy day today!!

Gnome admonishes me and says, “Stop complaining, Babes…”

And I reply, “It’s not a complaint!  It’s a description!!”

It is really grey.  It is really muggy.  🙂  Ha-Ha, one must keep up the humour especially during these times and use emoticons to show that everything is really in the greatest humour possible!!  🙂

Well anyway(s), here are a few small things to show you what’s happening.

Since my Mabe cooker done broke and I don’t have an oven, we are resorting to our old “tried and tested” methods again.  Back to the Dutch oven and cooking over coals.  We had a stash of Fray Bento meat pies from British Foods Belize so we decided to cook them traditional style.  They puffed up very nicely (a lot better than the conventional oven) and they are a little burnt since we haven’t cooked like this for  a while.  These were a nice Sunday afternoon treat.  Also, the fire kept the bugs away for a while which was a welcome break.

Dutch Oven Pie.

This is a vegetable that grows on a vine which we have planted up the side fencing of the Duckie Zen coop.  The best way to describe them is that they taste like firm, little cucumbers but they have to be cooked.  They are growing prolifically with all the duckie fertilising so we are harvesting a basket of these each day.  I’ve mostly been steaming or putting them into soups and stews.  This vegetable is called tindali (a vegetable of Indian origin)and was obtained from the Spice Farms in Toledo (courtesy of Dr Mathew).

Tindali.

Oh, and it’s Mango Season again!  This is the chance to stuff yourself with Mango everyday…it’s great.  There should be a Mango Festival down here at this time of the year; it is definitely worth celebrating!

A while back I tried to make some home-made senbei (Japanese rice crackers).  I used ordinary glutinous rice flour because that was all I could find.  The final result was that they were chewy (still tasted good) but not the usual crunchiness that you would expect from these type of crackers.  After discussing with Gnome (and reading Wiki entries) we realised that the Mochiko flour that is traditionally used is cooked (not raw) rice that has been dehydrated and then ground into a fine flour which then gives the crunchy quality to the food.  So you can’t get Mochiko flour for love nor money in Belize (!) so Gnome says that when we get really bored (ie. during the rainy days when we can’t get out) he will help me make the flour.  Watch this space…it will probably take about 72 hours to make the flour by hand!

Home-made Senbei.
Home-made Senbei.

Keep well everyone and keep on going despite the weather!! Well, we’ll keep on going because we like to think that we are cool and tough…Ha-Ha!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Monsters Everywhere!!

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It’s that awful buggy time of the year again…June and July.  The Monster Mosquitoes are out to get you and they are biting through clothes and socks.  Despite all this, we still need to get out there.  But we sure are doing our jobs faster so we can run into the protection of the house (although, there are still mosquitoes in the house). 🙂

Anyway, on a more positive note, there are other monsters (better!) on the farm…

With the big over-night rains, practically over-night, all our plants have quadrupled in size.  There are Monsters Everywhere!!  Check out the size of the aubergine bush:

Aubergine Plant.

Oh, and it is producing such lovely fruit; we are eating aubergine everyday right now (steamed, stir-fry, oooh and deep fried in tempura batter is yum-yum).  This Black Beauty variety has a good firm texture unlike some of the other types that we have had in the past (we don’t like the spongy ones).

Our Aubergines.

This is the pumpkin…it was really struggling over dry season but now it has spread over the whole bed.  Unfortunately some of the newly formed fruits are rotting because of the excessive rains.  I guess you can’t have it all…

Pumpkin.

We are growing air potato in one of our raised beds.  They were doing nothing two weeks ago and all of a sudden, they are climbing.

Air Potato.

Air potato is a type of yam.  We rather like them because we don’t need to go digging around for them.

Air Potato Vine.
Air Potato.

This is the giant bamboo at the pond; it gone absolutely wild so Gnome will be giving it a hair-cut this week.  We are using some of the bamboo (they are 30 to 40 feet in length) as rafters for our new building.

Giant Bamboo.

Hope you are all surviving buggy time in Belize!  By the way, we do have Insect Repellent products so check on The Apothecary….