Tag Archives: Charcoal

Belize, Farming, Plants

Some More Farm Pictures.

I have been starting to look a bit more into my Chinese heritage since my father passed away recently.  To be honest, I never really thought that much about it and usually, if anyone asked, I would say I was Cantonese for easiness sake.  Actually, I am not Cantonese and I don’t even speak Cantonese.  I am Hakka….well, you are probably thinking that you are none the wiser being told this information…anyway, it is significant because Hakka people were traditionally farmers and within their social structure, it was the women that worked the fields (subsistence farming) whilst the men worked in the urban areas (for money).  Interesting that the Hakka were the only Chinese that did not practice foot binding…probably because the women had to work outside.

Anyway…my convoluted introduction was just to add another layer of interest…maybe Munchkin is going full circle and getting in touch with her ancestral roots?!!  😉

Okay, more pictures:

More and More Charcoal.

Gnome has been pruning trees (probably about 3 to 4 times a week) and gathering the wood to make charcoal.  The previous charcoal container was over-flowing so he had to make it larger and sloping to allow better access.

The tyre garden is working out well especially when the ground is so boggy right now.  We are stashing taro in between the tyres in the hope that the geese overlook them…so far, so good.  The geese have a very healthy appetite when it comes to roots like taro and we are careful to hide them from their plain sight.

Tyre Garden.

We are also developing a grove of pitahaya (dragon fruit) on tyres.  The cactus is trained to grow up the posts and once they reach the top and start dangling…which usually takes about 9 months…will produce fruit.  So far, we have about twelve of these and I am aiming for about 20 or more plants.

Planted Pitahaya.

The tyres are filled with seaweed (courtesy of Panda…thanks!).  Right now, with full on rainy season, it takes about a week for the salt to wash out of the seaweed…once washed out, the cactus is planted and attached to the post with bindweed vine.

Belize, Farming

Dry Season Days.

Oh I haven’t been writing…it’s the usual dry season time when I just feel too hot and too tired!  We are out by 6ish every morning and it is hot by 9am.  The geese hide under the shade of the house and run off to the pond when they get the chance; I kind of get the feeling that they think we are just being plain silly for our insistence in working in this heat.  Anyway, Gnome has been clearing more of the back area; when we first arrived here, we planted a whole lot of samwood trees for timber.

Cutting up trees.

They are all bunched up and too close to the house (we were once very silly and planted willy-nilly).  Gnome is systematically removing one tree at a time, chopping the wood to dry for later charcoal making.  This is craboo wood from a wild tree that has grown into a monster…we had to take this one down too; the colour is very pretty:

Craboo Wood

The charcoal area has been moved…sort of to the side…so that it is not right in front of the house!  Of course, Gnome did not re-locate for aesthetic reasons…he simply ran out of room and needed more space.

Charcoal Area

Another reason for moving the charcoal place is because Gnome wants to build an outside kitchen bunker next to all this.  He is going to make it out of used tyres…how romantic..recycled furnishings for Munchkin.   Anyway, it will be very helpful to have another food station as my present kitchen is crammed so full of food, I can hardly get into it.

Oh and Gnome is putting these everywhere as sitting stools; they are every-where…under the house, under the rosewood trees and a couple under the bread-fruit.  His reasoning behind all this is that the common habitat for munchkins and gnomes are under trees  sitting on stumps (when it is too hot).   😉

Tree Stumps.

I will leave you with a nice picture of mushrooms growing on our samwood.  This is Ganoderma lucidum; you can grate it and make a tea out of it.  It’s one of those immune booster type things that the Chinese use in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Ganoderma Lucidum.
Belize, Farming

Taming The Chaos!

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Phew…everything inside and outside just exploded into chaos these last few weeks.  Just a couple of weeks trying to take it easy has culminated in a majorly messy farm.  Okay, but we are ready to face the work and the gate has been fixed and now closes properly.  Yeah! Gnome said:

“…it’s still wonky though…but not so wonky….”

He had to change the hinges to these ones to shorten one side of the gate so that the gate would close properly:

New Gate Hinges.

Yeah, I know, you are probably thinking who would take pictures of their gate hinges?  Munchkin and Gnome of course because hinges are of vital importance in putting gates up…if you ever need to do it yourself, you will understand.  The Gate Closes!

Closed Gate.

Gnome has been making charcoal.  The first lot did not burn well so Gnome had to drill more holes in the bottom of the steel  drum to allow more air flow:

Charcoal Drum.

Now we have this burning continuously outside our house to make charcoal; what would the neighbours say?  It is a good thing that they are so far away!!  🙂

Making Charcoal.

One load of wood packed into this drum reduces to about a quarter volume of charcoal.  Right now, we are using the charcoal to boil water for washing.  Gnome says that he is going to make me a charcoal cooking stove.  He is already trying to perfect the home-made tin stoves with air flow windows:

Tin Smithing Air Control.

Watch this space for cooking Munchkin-Style on a tin charcoal stove…

Right now for our personal needs, Gnome needs to burn a drum of wood every three days.  Our hope is to entice Panda to start making charcoal and designate him head collier.   🙂

Fresh Charcoal.