Tag Archives: Pachira glabra

Belize, Farming, Plants

Progress on the Farm.

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.

Fat Toad.

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:

Malabar Chestnut Pods.

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.

Malabar Chestnut.

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.

Peanuts Day 93.

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!!

Bamboo Shoots.

Another picture:

New Bamboo Shoots.

Looks like more rains are coming!!

Belize, Farming, Plants

Provision Bark Tea.

Munchkin.DrinkingProvision bark, Pachira aquatica is a tree that grows along rivers and streams in Belize and Central America.  The making and drinking of provision bark tea has an interesting history that goes back to the days of rubber and chicle tapping and mahogany logging when this tea was made as a food substitute for workers due to food shortages.  The traditional uses for this tea include treatment of anaemia, exhaustion and low blood pressure.

We decided to try some of this tea because we have planted some of these trees at our pond area.  We have the wild type, Pachira aquatica, which produces large brown seed pods about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter.  These seeds are edible, but very mealy (of course, we’ve tried them) and have the taste and texture of cardboard soaked in tannin; we would classify them as survival food only.  We also have the cultivated variety of this tree, Pachira glabra which is the type that is grown in East Asia for the edible seeds.  This variety has a smaller green pod which is about 15cm (6 inches) in diameter.  These seeds are sweet and delectable and taste similar to chestnuts.

Provision Bark Tea.
Provision Bark Tea.

To make a tea, I took a piece of provision bark about 10cm (4 inches) by 30cm (12 inches) and boiled it in a 8 litres (2 gallons) of water for 30 minutes.  The resulting beverage was a beautiful amber colour and it tasted pleasant and slightly sweet.  There was no particularly strong tannic or bitter components.  Overall, it felt “cooling” in a Traditional Chinese Medicine sense and we thought that it had mildly diuretic properties.  We left the piece of bark in the water for five days and drank 3 to 5 glasses each, a day.  We reboiled the tea at the end of the day to keep it sterilised and topped it up with water when necessary.

Other than consuming this tea for the traditional uses, I would recommend enjoying this tea as an iced beverage with a slice of lemon or lime.  Furthermore, because of its wonderful colour, Gnome is thinking of making a beer with this bark as an ingredient.  In other words, there is a lot of room for experimentation with provision bark tea.