Tag Archives: Tomatoes

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Pets, Philosophy, Plants

We Have A Happy Gnome!

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Yes, indeed, we have a happy Gnome so that really means that we also have a happy Munchkin!  When we tell you what makes us satisfied with life, you’ll probably giggle and guffaw at the simplicity of our wants.  Yes, indeed this ascetic life-style  has made us put our lives into perspective (as there is time for quiet contemplation) and you realise that life can be fulfilled with very simple things.  The meaningful things to us might not be everyone’s cup of tea!  But, we do think that it’s good to develop new interests and passions all the time.

Yes, firstly…the worms…the worms…of course.  Special thanks to Graham and Joyce for their assistance and friendship.  Here we are:

Red Wiggler Worms.

Lovely, lovely…this stuff makes Gnome very happy:

More Worms.

Gnome has set up a wormery to increase his population.  Once he is satisfied that he has enough worms, he will start his worm tower empire.

Worm Bin.

The next thing…aubergines…aubergines.  We are growing the Black Beauty variety.  Look at the lovely flower on this plant:

Eggplant Flower.

What’s next…ooooh Baby Goosie is a bundle of joy.  We are certainly enjoying being Mama Munchkin and Papa Gnome.  We even phoned up Gnome’s Mum to talk about the “baby” and how well it was eating and putting on weight. Gnome’s dad laughed at our conversation and said at last, we have a grand-child!

Goosie!!

Oh, last but not least…Gnome’s beloved tomatoes.  We did experience quite a set-back from the pesky birds.  I can’t look at a Montezuma oropendola without feeling self-righteous indignation!  Look at what they did to our lovely tomato:

Pecked Tomato.

Anyway, Gnome’s ingenuity has out-witted them…so far, so good!  Let’s give a show of hands to Gnome for his new “Hello Birdie…there’s nothing here to eat…so go away”  decoy.

Tomato Protectors.

The last picture has to be these: our very own Krim tomatoes.  Beautifully sweet and succulent.  We just sliced them and dipped them in salt.  Ahhhh…wonderful….

First Tomatoes.
Amusing, Belize, Farming, Plants

Munchkin & Gnome Update.

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Phew…it is sooooo hot!!  When the dry season comes, it comes with a vengeance.  Well what’s been happening?  Gnome’s tomatoes are getting to about 200 to 300g (1/2 lb) and they are slowly turning purple red.  The only problem is that the birdies have discovered these delicious choice fruit and they’ve been feasting on them.  Poor Gnome…he was devastated!

Green Tomatoes.

“No…not my lovely tomatoes!!  Why don’t they eat something else…there are plenty of other things!!”

We did an Internet search on “how to scare birds away” and the easiest thing was hanging up silver foil in a line.  So I cut out about 50 old pie containers and hung a whole lot, on string, like Christmas decorations.  That didn’t work at all!  The birds still came and bit chunks out of our tomatoes;  we were getting so frustrated since we hadn’t eaten a single intact tomato!

I said to Gnome with a wry smile,

“you can buy decoy owls from Amazon but I’m afraid we can’t  get 24 hour shipping to Belize…”

Anyway, I left Gnome to his own devices for a while and later he called me out to look at what he did.  He placed a cotton work glove on each and every tomato so that the plants looked like they were displaying a show of hands.

So far, it has worked.  Great…very simple and cheap way to fool the birdies away.  Those dastardly birds  are also getting my suriname cherry which is really quite upsetting.  These fruit don’t taste like “cherries” but have a very sweet and resinous taste.  They usually get to about an inch (2cm) in size.

Suriname Cherries.

The other day, I spotted an enormous one that was about 2 inches in size.  It was still green so I decided to leave it on the bush.  I thought that it would a really nice treat for Gnome and he would really appreciate it.  A while later, I went back to pick it and the whole thing was gone!  Those cheeky blighters!!  Those Montezuma oropendola…you know, those ones with yellow tails…the ones that bird watchers go on about all the time.  Well, they’re eating up all our fine epicurean delights…Wahhhh!!!

Yes birdie…I know you are looking at our lovely tomatoes…

Montezuma oropendola

On a happier note, we have four more kids on the block.  Say Hello to our lovely new baby cavies!  The sandy looking one is very nice…oooh and look at the third one with the black patch on its nose.  What cuties!!

New Baby Piggies.
Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Gnome’s Tomatoes.

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I am posting up pictures of Gnome’s tomatoes because he has nursed them through odd “dry season” rain and wind, blossom-end rot, assassin bug attacks, munching caterpillars and of course, the cat stepping on them.  Despite all this, the plants are doing wonderfully and the fruit are getting bigger by the day.  These are Black Krim (and some Cherokee) so should get to about 300 to 450g (about a 1lb) in weight.  Gnome is judiciously trimming and removing buds as he has decided on 25 fruit per plant only.  This is to optimise nutrient intake and maximise size.

I think he probably looks at his tomatoes nearly every hour and I hear him muttering,

“I love my tomatoes!!”

Anyone who has tried to grow tomatoes down here (problems with wetness, rot and disease-prone) will understand why I have dedicated one post to our tomatoes!

Growing Tomatoes.
Big Tomato.

 

Tomatoes!
Green Tomatoes.

I would also like to dedicate this post to our friend Erin (in Montana…where it is still snowing)  to further inspire her to keep planting seeds in preparation for spring.  I am sure it will warm up soon!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Gnome Says That I Should Write Something…

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Hello Everyone.  Just is to give you an update on what’s happening.  First of all, it has been raining for about two weeks now so our “let’s get crepuscular” thing fell flat on its face.  There are heavy clouds looming over our farm so it looks like it is going to rain this weekend.  Having said that, we are glad for the rains because everything was getting quite dry.  And, Panda is very, very glad because his 660 gallon tank is nearly full so he is all set for the dry season.

We’ve been starting up seedlings for our nursery:

Tobacco: these are actually a lot bigger now than these teeny-weeny pictures.

Tobacco Seedlings.

All sorts of peppers including habaneros, jalapeños and cayenne peppers.

Pepper Seedlings.

Oh, the tomatoes are looking very good.  These are Gnome’s pride and joy.  Growing tomatoes is a very difficult endeavour down here in Toledo because the plants are susceptible to all manner of diseases including mildews and molds.  Plus the heavy rains cause stems to rot easily.  We tried growing tomatoes years ago but gave up after a long struggle with disease and water-logging.  We have decided to re-visit the tomato growing because we actually do like to eat them and the tomatoes that you buy here are truly tasteless.

Tomato Flower.

We are growing them in buckets this time.  And, Gnome is observing them every hour…he really loves his plants!!

Tomatoes.
Growing Tomatoes.

Right now, our tray of parsley is quite a treat.  Great with mashed potatoes:

Parsley.

You can grow herbs down here but they have to be in trays and buckets.  In the rainy season, they can get damaged so you need some sort of cover.  We’ve started rosemary and sage seeds too…these grow down here but also need a bit of care and attention.