Something New!

August 16, 2022 Munchkin

For something new, we have started learning a bit of Q’eqchi’, the main language of the Maya people in Belize. The best place to practice is Punta Gorda market where you can ask questions like: What is that called? How much for that? I would like 2 lbs please.

We have quite a bit of fun with this; Gnome said to me the other day:

‘Hah, Munchkin!…you speak Q’eqchi’ with a Scottish accent!’

He then proceeded to exemplify his statement by saying:

‘ It’s not a bad thing. It’s just like Sean Connery. He spoke everything in a Scottish accent. He even spoke Latin, Russian and Greek with a Scottish accent…’

His voice sort trailed off when I looked at at him with dismay…

Munchkin: ‘Oh, is that why nobody understands me!!’

Anyway, one must keep on trying!! I have had trouble with this accent for the all the time I have been in Belize. When I first came to the country, I think I spoke too fast and my accent was very guttural and harsh-sounding. I remember speaking to a Belizean person (in the Queen’s English), and he said to me in a sympathetic tone of voice:

‘…don’t worry dear, you will soon get the hang of speaking English if you stay in Belize for a longer time.’

Anyway, moving quickly along, I wanted to show you some exciting things that we found at the market while we were practicing our new language skills.

The root on the left is a type of yam…they call it soup yam…this is a small one because I have seen them as large as footballs. We were very excited about the one on the right…we had never seen that before and we didn’t recognise them. I showed the latter one to a Belizean friend and she posted the picture on Facebook to see if anyone would come up with a name. We were amazed to find out that it was arrowroot. I didn’t even know that they grew arrowroot here to eat as a tuber…the Maya call this ya’ootch and they like to boil it up in their famous caldo (chicken soup).

Anyway, I boiled these two roots up separately just to get an idea of texture and taste:

The soup yam tasted like a ubiquitous yam-type of tuber with no great distinguishing characteristics. It is fine as a bland carbohydrate that can be used for soups and stews. We didn’t get too excited about it but nevertheless, it is an edible, inoffensive vegetable.

The arrowroot was boiled in water and softened in about 20 minutes:

We found this one more interesting since we have only seen this vegetable in powder form used as a thickener. Yes, this was a winner!! This is sweet and crunchy and makes a good alternative for water chestnut. This is a definite keeper and we will plant a patch of this stuff.

Anyway, that’s it for now. More soon!

Belize, Blog, Pets

Hello From Munchkin and Gnome!

August 8, 2022 Munchkin

The longer I wait to write a new blog post, the harder it gets. So, I have decided to bite the bullet and write. Looking back at my previous blog posts, I have only written on Holidays and the next local Holiday is not for 2 months!! It is pouring down today and has been for the whole weekend. This year, we had the shortest dry season ever which was only two weeks. I think that our pond only dried up for a week (usually remains dry for 2 months) and the rains started again and still hasn’t stopped.

We are having the usual wet season problems: puddles galore, mud mud glorious mud and flooding.

Well, at least the ducks and geese are having fun. Every new puddle and pond is a new adventure. During these rainy days, all we hear is endless flapping of wings in water, loud gregarious quacking and endless squeaking from geese jostling about in the water. This year, we had a very successful breeding season and doubled our flock. It never ceases to amaze me how the fun-loving goslings turn into such nasty hooligans. How does that happen? I gave them so much love and attention and after two months, I have to defend myself with a broom!

Oh, and another piece of news. Our wonderful, lovely cat that we have had for 13 years never came back home one morning. His usual routine was to get tossed out of the house unceremoniously at night, when he would hunt and do cat things, and then return in the morning to plonk himself down to sleep all day. This was about 6 weeks ago so sadly, I don’t think he is coming back. I miss our gourmet cat who loved beef jerky, duck liver pate, curry and home-made vanilla ice-cream. Now I miss all the silly things about him that drove me crazy at the time…yes, even the way he used my belly as a pillow or shelf to sleep his heavy head on! Anyway, sending lots of love to our orangey companion!

We still have our other two, mind you:

Belize, Food

Happy Easter!

April 17, 2022 Munchkin

Hello and Happy Easter from Munchkin and Gnome. It is dry season here in Belize and it is that time of the year to splish splosh splash about in water to keep cool. Well, the ducks are doing it already:

To give you a re-cap of the last two months, we have been harvesting lots of food every-day. It has been a continuous process of harvesting, processing and preserving. Our year started off with a bonus harvest of wild mushrooms…in this instance it was puffball mushrooms. I will write about it in more detail but we felt very blessed with these wonderful harvests which seem to have an affinity to goose manure.

Next came the abundance of eggs from the geese and ducks. We look forward to the goose eggs every year because the season only lasts for 2 to 3 months. The yolks are very creamy. This year, I made a lot of custard with the goose eggs….compared to the duck eggs, the custard is thicker and creamier. At this point, we still have eggs coming out of our ears so I am making salted preserved duck and goose eggs (Chinese Style). We are willing to put up with the usual goosie bullying and carrying-on to get these lovely treats:

I have also had many experimental adventures with suriname cherries. We are still continuously gathering them and their delightful resinous taste is a delight. I have made jam, relish, olives and stewed fruit.

And this year, for the first year in 15 years, the pond has not dried out yet!! And, look what we have. Tilapia!!

And there’s more…so, I need to write more!!!

Amusing, Belize

Happy Chinese New Year!!

February 1, 2022 Munchkin

Or Gong Hei Fat Choy or Happy Lunar Year (I have seen this version a lot lately)!! So, today marks the end of the Year of the Ox. Boy, I really thought 2021 was a hard slog as predicted!! Lets hope that good things come with the Year of the Water Tiger. I have tried to look up the meaning of the Year of the (Water) Tiger and (you know what you get on the Internet…anything and everything) this is a bit of what I got:

‘Tigers will rule the jungle in 2022.’

‘People with strong confidence can overcome their fears.’

‘The Water sign is a sign of fluidity so welcome good changes in your life and accept them.’

‘Water represents Wealth which means Abundance and Prosperity.’

It doesn’t sound too bad as long as you face challenges with confidence and fearlessness. We Can Do it!!

Belize, Plants

A Walk Around.

January 14, 2022 Munchkin

It has been pouring down lately. We are back to sloshing, sliding and slipping about in our wellies. It is amazing how the weather suddenly changes here. It seems like it is all or nothing! Anyway, this morning was a pleasant and sunny so we decided to go for a walk around the farm together. Funny….you would think that we would do this all the time…most of the time we are working on our farm chores and don’t have time to walk around the place in a relaxed manner. Hmmmm…there is something wrong here…Ha-Ha…Munchkin and Gnome should be enjoying the place and not so fixated on getting things done!

Since COVID-19, we have spent a lot more time on the farm. I am grateful that we are fortunate enough to have this place to be creative and grow food to eat and survive. Just as an aside, right now in Punta Gorda (the nearest town) , the numbers of COVID cases are on the increase. Somebody described it very aptly to me the other day: ‘Every man and his dog has COVID.’ In Belize, when someone is tested positive, they go into self-quarantine for two weeks. We have noticed that the pandemic and the quarantining has really impacted Punta Gorda lately; many restaurants are closed simply because they are short staffed, many shops are closed (with owner testing positive) and there are very few people on the streets. The town used to be a hustle and bustle of people on the streets with village buses honking horns and vendors shouting out their wares. Now, it’s so quiet…

Anyway, that was a tiny snap shot of life down here.

Back to the farm! I am sure that you have guessed that we are at home almost all the time with everything that is going on. That’s why things are getting done! Today, we started off looking at the banana area. It is producing really well. Gnome timed the planting of the bananas so that we can harvest one or two bunches a month.

We have kept the grass down around the bananas so that the plants are able to thrive without competition. The downside of this maintenance is that we are getting more wild life coming from the bush, scurrying through our cleared fields to steal our lovely ripe bananas! We have a resident skunk and a funny looking animal with a long nose (?ant eater or quosh). Gnome says that we can try sharing for now but they mustn’t eat us out of house and home! Hmmm…not sure if these animals were at the same meeting!

We have a number of garden areas. This area was originally for peanuts and melons but did not work out. It was too wet. This has turned into the tobacco garden with a handful of aubergines simply because we can’t get anything else to grow. It is still very nice to see these beautiful plants doing so well.

We have another garden space which is more suitable for peanut planting. We originally only planted taro, a purple coloured root vegetable that will be harvested in the dry season.

You can’t see the peanuts next the taro because they have just been planted. This place is high and dry and good for crops that don’t like wet feet.

Lastly, we have another garden section that we have devoted to climbing vegetables. After years of planting an array of different vegetables, we find that the climbers do better on our farm. It might be because they are off the ground they are less liable to rot and caterpillar infestation. Here, we have made arched trellises from rebar.

Looking Good!! We are pleased with our efforts and have plenty of vegetables to eat! This is a harvest of wing bean which is currently in season. I haven’t seen anyone in Belize grow this Asian vegetable but it does very well in this climate.

Thanks for reading my blog post and hope that you may be inspired into growing your own back-yard vegetables and herbs.

Belize, Elixirs, Farming, Food, Our Products, Plants, Uncategorized

A New Year!

January 4, 2022 Munchkin

A Happy New Year to you all! Let’s make 2022 a good one!! We started off on the right foot this year by planting peanut on the last day of the year and we had a big rain yesterday which will hopefully ensure that the peanuts will sprout. The January rains are usually the last rains before dry season so we are trying to get things into the ground this month. I have a few left-over pictures from last year that I would like to share with you.

For Christmas, we decided to buy a local chicken from the village. These chickens are much prized and go for about $5/lb (compare to shop bought Mennonite (battery reared) chicken that goes for about $3/lb). Apparently the Chinese really like it too and drive around the villages buying up all the chickens to eat. When I received the chicken, it looked like a pheasant with very long bones. It wasn’t fat and plump so I decided it would not make a good roasting chicken. I thought that the best thing to do was to make it into a curry in order to tenderize the meat. So, we had an impromptu Christmas Curry this time! Look at the bones on this chicken…

I was a bit concerned about the texture of the chicken and was anticipating very chewy meat. However, the curry tenderized the meat very well. The meat was flavoursome, tender and had the perfect bite. It was a very nice surprise…I wanted to show you a close up picture of the meat…it looks like game…

See…it is not white like poultry meat. Anyway, it was delicious and we would definitely buy local chicken again. This is completely different from the super soft chicken that you buy in the supermarket. This has taste!! Here in Belize, the Mayans like to use this chicken to make Caldo; this is a soup made with annatto, culantro and other spices. I think the Chinese (in Belize) boil it into a medicinal soup with Chinese herbs.

It has been cold this winter (18C/64F) so we had the pleasure of mulled wine for Christmas. Of course, we made it Belizean style with herbs and spices that we gathered from the farm. This year, we used the following: sorrel (roselle), all-spice, cinnamon, cardamom and orange peel.

We have had some winter harvests as the farm keeps on producing generously. Presently, we have long gourds growing on trellises. This one is a Sicilian gourd which can grow up to 5 to 6 feet. When it is completely mature, it hardens and looks like a very long baseball bat. This gourd is very tasty…I like it steamed or cooked in stir frys.

The next picture shows a Python Bean. It can grow to about 6 feet long but has a curled look to it. The outside skin is striped. It tastes like a very large long bean. It has a nutty taste and I like it best raw in salads in order to preserve the crispiness of the texture. This is definitely another winner and we will be planting more.

I will leave you with a picture of a passion fruit flower. We planted these from seed about a year ago and they are now producing. I am hoping to make Passion Fruit Elixir from this harvest. Our Elixirs are made from from a base of white rum, muscovado sugar or cane sugar and herbs and spices. In this case, it will be made from fresh passion fruit pulp!

Wishing you all a Lovely Day. Make it a good start to 2022!!

Belize

Ending on a Good Note!

December 31, 2021 Munchkin

Hello! It is New Year’s Eve and I wanted to write something positive that would lift our spirits up so that we can all look forward to a new year together! My recapitulation of 2021 can be summed up thus:

‘….the mower is broken again….’

‘….broken again!’

‘ ….again….’

We have found 2021 a challenging and tough year. There have been a few setbacks. However, I would like to say that against all odds, we have managed. Yes! With the power of Munchkin and Gnome Spirit we persevere and keep going!! Here is a recent picture of the farm…all cleaned up and pristine…

To add to the positive note, we have just harvested a bumper peanut crop. We have pulled up all the peanuts and Gnome has re-tilled the ground. As we speak, he is re-planting the peanuts for food (and good luck) for the new year!

Look at these lovely peanuts:

We would like to say Thank you for All the Good Things this year. We have been fit and healthy and active on the farm. The vegetable crops have been abundant and generous. The fruit trees have started baring and we have more than enough to eat and to feed our ducks and geese. I would also like the thanks all the people that are in our lives who have given us much support and kindred spirit.

Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year and make it a Good One!! Good Health and Happiness to All.

Belize

Merry Christmas!!

December 25, 2021 Munchkin

Merry Christmas from Munchkin and Gnome!! Wishing you a lovely day and may it be filled with joy and happiness.

Belize, Food, Mushrooms, Our Products

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, Food, Plants

Getting it Done!

October 7, 2021 Munchkin

Hello Everyone, we have been moving along quite quickly with our planting. This is partly because we have computerised our farm work into daily lists. Gnome has put the chores on weekly, fortnightly and monthly cycles so that we can keep up with all maintenance. I can’t believe that such a simple concept can make such a difference! Now I don’t have several scraps of paper with endless lists of work to do. I don’t even try to remember what needs to be done…which inevitably leaves to every thing being forgotten as life gets in the way all too often…the computer can do it for me!

Everything is looking great on the farm…I say that with such glee because this is a first for us. Usually something is sadly neglected but this time, everything is getting care and attention!

Oh look at the pitahaya growing so nicely against our stone rock bed. We are planning to transplant all these into a pitahaya orchard with wooden posts as support to allow the plants to grow upwards. The orchard will allow more space to produce fruit and weeding will be a bit easier. This rock bed method looks nice but requires too much maintenance.

We have some wild rocket (arugula?? Is that how you spell it??) and besides, Gnome tells me that this is the Sicilian name for this popular bitter salad green. In Italian, it is called ‘rugola.’ I like the wild variety because it has a very sharp, bitter taste and has a texture more like a dandelion green.

This is a picture of kang kong (sounds a bit like King Kong! I can never remember the name of this plant and usually come out with a mish mash of the name.). The latin name is Ipomoea aquatica, if that helps. How we managed to procure this green was quite interesting…I bought a bag of kang kong from a Chinese grocery store and rooted one of the cuttings. They grow very easily in wet, marshy areas. This edible green is growing in our water chestnut pond.

This is a close-up of the kang kong:

Oh, and what do we have here? Munchkin and Gnome have branched out into ornamentals!! How we procured this is another interesting story…a hotel!!…we don’t take the towels…we take the seeds from plants (we DO ask of course!). You know those nice pots of ornamentals that they have in reception or at the front door…Ha-Ha!! This is Papyrus: a very good looking plant…

Okay, that’s it for now. I will write again NEXT WEEK!! Yes, you have guessed it…I’ve got the computer to remind me!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary