Tag Archives: Bamboo

One That didn’t Make It…

December 14, 2020 Munchkin

Hiya Folks…I have been tidying up the house like there is no tomorrow. I was forced to do so today because it was pouring down! Gnome was stuck indoors too experiencing the fun of an even bigger mess…somehow it seems like the beginnings of tidying up start off worse than before because you end up with a pile of things that are useful (that you don’t want to throw away) but there is no designated space for them. Right now, I have a ‘rubbish pile’ and a very big ‘don’t know what to do with but it could come in useful’ pile. Arrrghh…help…it is actually really difficult!!

Anyway, enough of the lament. Guess what I found…on one of my mystery forays into one of the corners of the room:

Ahhh…brings back old memories from over a decade again. Once upon a time, when we thought that time was timeless, we engaged in mega brain-storming into how to convert everything(!) from the farm into products to sell. This was a Gnome idea since we used tongue scrapers and there was none to be found in the whole country of Belize at that time. Also, being Doctors, we viewed it as a great combo promotion of ecological and health (dental) awareness. We thought it was the best idea since sliced bread and it was an original thought…we didn’t have Internet or anything…at the time, we had no electricity, no computer, no phone and zero technology. To put the great brain fart into motion, Gnome cut down bamboo and painstakingly made long strips. Each single bamboo tongue scraper was made lovingly with our own hands in addition to all the blood, sweat and tears (Ha-Ha…going a bit overboard here but it was a laborious task).

You see…we even printed out a label…in those days, we would design and print our labels in the Internet shop in Punta Gorda and pay a $0.50 for each printed sheet. We tried out our new product at the first Cacao Fest in PG (2009, I think?) and we couldn’t sell any!! They started at $2 then we got desperate and slashed the price down to $0.50…still no takers. We explained the oral hygiene and that stuff but we didn’t get any interest…they couldn’t even see the novelty and excitement that we felt for them…we were heart-broken!! All that work and nobody could recognise it. We ended up taking a big bag of bamboo tongue scrapers back home unsold and there in the corner of the house they have sat dejected and unloved for all this time(awwwhh!!). That’s why I decided to write a post on our Bamboo Tongue Scrapers…to give them some acknowledgement and now that I have found them, we will have clean tongues for the rest of our lives!!

Let’s hear it for the Natural Bamboo Tongue Scraper. May it be remembered and I have given it a special place in this post.

Belize, Farming, Plants

Progress on the Farm.

September 1, 2018 Munchkin

Yeah! We have managed to keep the grass down this year which is definitely progress for us! This helps because we can actually look around to make plans for the farm. Despite the weather being on/off or sunny/rainy ie. can’t make up its mind, we are in good spirits because everything is proceeding at a reasonable pace. We have had a whole week cooped up inside the teeny house because of wet, boggy ground and coalescing ponds and I finally managed to get out today to take a few pictures.

Here is a giant toad that resides in the duck coop; seems to be quite happy to jump around with the ducks and sit in the dinner bowl.

We had a good harvest of Malabar Chestnut…the cultivated Chinese variety which tastes like chestnuts. Don’t get this one confused with the wild variety here in Belize, also known as provision fruit, that gives “edible” seeds; yes, edible in that it isn’t poisonous but inedible because it tastes like cardboard. Believe me, I’ve tried and I would definitely categorise the wild chestnuts as survival food! Anyway, I digress…I wanted to show you pictures of our harvest:

I think that you may only recognise these if you are Asian and you are used to buying packets of Chinese soup ingredients that only have Chinese writing on them. I am used to seeing these seeds in the dried form; the fresh form is very nutty and succulent. We like them so much that we have decided to plant another forty trees; they are especially good for growing in wet, swampy areas so they are perfect for many areas of our farm.

Oh and look! The peanuts are still going. This is Day 93; another 27 days to go. We have had a few occasions when we thought that the whole field would get flooded or washed away with the rains but it has managed to battle through. We are very pleased with the peanuts; the straw like stuff in between the rows are cut vetivir.

Last but not least, it is bamboo shoot time. I did not harvest last year because we were too busy. I said to Gnome this year that I was happy to harvest about five of them; that will make about 5 gallons which will last the whole year. For the first time, we are proceeding at a pace that allows us to catch the cycles on the farm. Usually, we are behind schedule and trying to catch up. Phew, it has taken 14 years to get to this stage…Ha-Ha!!

Another picture:

Looks like more rains are coming!!

Belize, Philosophy

Camping with Munchkin and Gnome!

November 10, 2017 Munchkin

Hello Everyone! I thought that I should post my Guy Fawkes pictures before it got too late. This year, we had our traditional 5th of November at the pond area again. It’s been raining on and off so Gnome had to do another quick fix-it shelter this year. I am very pleased with this years efforts; it is actually a huge tarp wrapped over a bending bamboo at the bamboo stand. I am proud to present Munchkin and Gnome’s Bamboo Spaceship; because it is attached to a live bamboo, it actually hovers a few inches above the ground…hence the name…it’s also silver… 🙂

It was a very cosy shelter and we (six people in total) ended up sitting inside it because it was so comfortable. We had the food fire directly in front of the spaceship so that the inside was kept warm and toasty for the entire time.

Oh and here is the Guy…thank-you to Panda for making it..this one looks quite jolly and relaxed.

This year, we had two fires going (Gnome like fires!!). So there was the bonfire for the guy a few metres from the camp site and a food fire at the camp.

Much fun was had by all. We had some of our home-made sorghum beer, hor d’oeuvre (see below) and of course, our famous M & G waffles.

I made these starters with moringa biscuits that I found in the Chinese supermarket; I used our home-made pesto sauce and sprinkled toasted sunflowers seeds on top.

Gnome was of course in charge of Fire 1 and Fire 2 (self-designated) and he also made the waffles. We made yeasted waffles this time…they are a lot more crunchy and crisp when done on the fire…definitely the best way to eat them:

Yummy:

Ooooh, every year Guy Fawkes Night gets better!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Monsters Everywhere!!

June 29, 2017 Munchkin 2 Comments

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:

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).

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…

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

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.

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

Amusing, Belize, Blog, Construction, Farming, Philosophy

Slice Of Life.

November 12, 2016 Munchkin

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.Boots

I was thinking that the best way to describe our blog is that it is a “Slice of Life.” They are snippets of conversations, ideas, farm life and our way of life. With humour thrown in for extra good measure.

This snippet is a perfect example of the Tao of Munchkin, Gnome and Panda.

The other day, Panda came at 8am in the morning to assist Gnome in the construction of a bamboo shelter for growing potatoes. There was no pre-amble and “let’s have a cup of tea first, mate.” Gnome and Panda went off to the bamboo to cut and haul. Everything was measured to the correct size. Holes were dug in the ground and work was done without the need for idle chit-chat.

The structure was made in 6 hours (separated into two mornings of 3 hours). Panda, still new to the “The Way of Munchkin and Gnome” kinda looked at us funny and asked politely what farm work had to be done for the afternoons.

Munchkin reply:

“Our farming way of life encompasses a way of life. It is not about working like a dog for 8 hours a day…”

munchkin-walking-shops

Gnome added,

“It’s all about doing what you want to do…with focus, discipline and motivation.”

gnome-reaching-out

So Gnome suggested that Panda take the extra cut bamboo home and, “have fun with it…make something cool…maybe some blinds or something.”

Panda, who happens to like working with bamboo (well, he is a Panda after all) was very pleased that this way of life also offered creativity and leisure:

“This is great. I like that! I’m off then!”

He said this as he slung the bamboo poles over his shoulder.

Amusing, Belize, Construction, Farming

Money Can't Buy Everything!

May 30, 2016 Munchkin

You would think that money would buy you everything that you needed; not necessarily so… as we invested in new super-duper sized guttering for the house recently. We had a test run with a little rain last week and it was dripping all over the place! Gnome went out to inspect and found that that every single joint had warped with the heat of the sun!

Guttering.Gnome.on.the.Roof

We’ve managed to rectify the matter by drilling screws through the joints in order to secure them in place. As you can well image, Gnome was frustrated and disappointed.

“Even when you pay for something, you still can’t get quality!”

Gnome.Thinking

Since then he has been sizing up the giant bamboo in the corner of our property.

Mmmm…it looks like we have no choice but to resort to Giant Bamboo Gutters or Gnome Gutters TM!! If we want quality, we’ve got to do it ourselves!! A Gnome’s work is never done…

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Bananas, Bamboo and More Harvests…

April 9, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Back.View After the big rain, everything has started to pick up again. We have bananas coming out of our ears; we have been making banana flour. Also, just eating them ripe and green. Dogs, cat, piggies and duckies have obligingly helped us out with the bountiful harvest.

We are going to get a ton of jackfruit this year. I can count at least 30 fruit on one tree only. These “big babies” can get to about 22lbs (10kgs) in weight; if you have never seen one before, they look like big alien pods once they ripen.

Ripe Jackfruit: Big Babies!!

We have a huge patch of Snake Plant (also known as Mother In Law’s Tongue and St. George’s Sword). I am not actually sure what they are called locally in Belize. Apparently, the plants have some traditional medicinal value; mashed up snake plant is put into chicken drinking water as a natural antibiotic. Incidentally, it is quite funny that, once upon a time, I used to buy these as pot plants from Ikea to decorate my living room!

Close Up Mother In Law's Tongue. — Close Up Mother In Law’s Tongue.

This is a slender bamboo often called “fish-pole.” The diameter of this particular type is only about 1 inch (2.5cm).

They split very easily:

We are going to dry a whole bunch of these to make tiles or blinds? Something useful anyway. I am sure that the artistic ones out there can automatically see the potential!

Belize, Farming, Food

Sausage with Exotic Fruits and Bamboo Shoots.

September 1, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! We are getting such wonderful harvests on our farm, we feel blessed everyday. We are still chomping through the jackfruit and we now it is bamboo shoot season, so I have made a dish with all these goodies.

Sausage with Exotic Fruits and Fresh Bamboo Shoots.

This recipe incorporates pork sausage, fresh pineapple, ripe jackfruit and fresh bamboo shoots.

Fresh juicy pineapples of Belize:

Our own harvested jackfruit:

Our fresh bamboo shoots from the farm:

Check out the full recipe for Sausage with Exotic Fruits and Fresh Bamboo Shoots in Belize Wild Recipes. Yum…what a treat!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

It is Bamboo Shoot Time!!

August 31, 2015 Munchkin

August and September are the months to start harvesting and preparation of bamboo shoots in Belize. I have put this day project as a Bored-in-Belize article.

All the details, with extra step by step pictures are in the specific page but I will attempt to tantilise you with some highlights in this post!

This part is Gnome’s job.

Basically, you have to use a machete to cut into the culm and then you bang the machete with a sturdy stick to cut into it.

Once you have the bamboo shoot, you carry it off to a Munchkin to prepare:

The shoot is chopped into sections, peeled and then cut into chunk sizes.

Next, the chunks are boiled to remove the bitter components.

Once cooked, they are soaked in cold water for a few hours and then they are ready for eating or preservation. This time round, I layered slices of bamboo shoots with salt to dry brine.

What fun!! I hope I have inspired some of you to go bamboo shoot hunting this season!!

And of course, we are eating fresh bamboo shoots everyday. Once you have tasted the fresh stuff, you will never want to go back to the canned shoots. Fresh shoots are velvety in texture with very little fibre. They are sweet and totally delicious. Here is a snapshot of what we had for lunch today: Sausage with exotic fruits and fresh bamboo shoots. What a treat…will post the recipe up tomorrow.

Have a Good Night!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Working Hard!!

August 17, 2015 Munchkin

Ha-ha…this is a real picture of us at last!! We have been messing around with the computer to see if we can use it to take pictures for the posts. I am sure you would recognise us now if you saw us on the street!!

Phew!! We have been working hard on the farm! Gnome has procured his big stick for knocking down coconuts and so we are back to processing them again.

We are back to making coconut water and coconut cream for the local market. Also, we grate coconut for Cotton Tree Chocolate for their coconut bars.

I really do need to get a camera because I have so many exciting things to show you. I have been preparing bamboo shoots:

I want to show you step by step how to prepare, cook and preserve bamboo shoots. It is really quite simple but it just requires time and dedication.

Also, we have had huge bunches of peach palm. So much food on the farm, it’s coming out of our ears!! And the dogs are getting fat. Gnome says that we need a couple of pigs and a gaggle of geese to eat all the food!!

As always, still eating yummy food…

Have a good night everyone!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Bamboo

One That didn’t Make It…

Progress on the Farm.

Camping with Munchkin and Gnome!

Monsters Everywhere!!

Slice Of Life.

Money Can't Buy Everything!

Bananas, Bamboo and More Harvests…

Sausage with Exotic Fruits and Bamboo Shoots.

It is Bamboo Shoot Time!!

Working Hard!!

Everything Handmade in Belize.