June 19
Life in the jungle: Mixed half a bag of cement and completed three of five passion fruit trellis braces. Two days ago, I finally finished building a 60-foot trellis alongside my second shade cloth greenhouse. For stabilization, I installed five braces. I screwed the braces to the trellis, and the plan is to encase the bottom part of the brace in concrete.
After breakfast, I did greenhouse and gardening work. I found myself frustrated, as I was productive at the same time, but it didn’t feel productive.
I also planted the passion fruit plants for the new trellis.
I did a quick walk to the ponds to water a few Mahogany seedlings I had recently planted. Earlier in the day, for some reason, I was thinking about how I haven’t seen a Yucatan squirrel in a long time, and this afternoon at the ponds, I saw one. On my way back to the house, Saul came behind me to check on my lawnmower that is giving me trouble. He ended up taking it with him.
A completed passion fruit trellis, with braces and footings
Baby passion fruit plants
June 20
Life in the jungle: Worked on publishing Belize blog Part 219. I didn’t quite get it published.
After feeding the chickens, I mixed half a bag of cement and finished the last two braces of the passion fruit trellis. The passion fruit trellis job is officially finished.
After breakfast, I moved dirt and was able to set up two more dragon fruit plant boxes. I started this job a couple of weeks ago. I’m planning to grow dragon fruit along and on my fence posts that run alongside my greenhouse.
I did have to make a trip to the village to drop off some eggs. While there, Saul helped me identify and collect some Spanish Cedar tree (Cedrela odorata) seeds. This tree has recently been brought to my attention, and I am excited and interested in growing and raising large quantities of them. This species is a CITES species listed as Appendix 3 as an endangered species.
Future dragon fruit planting boxes
June 21
Life in the jungle: I woke up at 2:30 AM, less than a minute before thunder started. My allergies were acting up. For the first time, I fell back to sleep after my 4 AM alarm. I reawakened at 5 AM. After feeding the chickens at 6 AM, between my allergies and being so exhausted from the week, I hit the hammock and slept until 11 AM. I didn’t have the energy to sit on my riverbank for an hour as per my Sunday morning routine.
After lunch, I pretty much accomplished nothing, as is my prerogative on a Sunday. There was a short rain shower in the afternoon.
June 22
Life in the jungle: I published Belize Part 219 (May 22 to 28), and I don’t remember a poem I wrote a few weeks ago.
I bagged a few mulberry and bougainvillea cuttings this morning. I then headed to the village to deliver eggs and pick up groceries.
After breakfast, I attempted to work outside, but a short sprinkle of rain caused me to head inside. The sky all morning looked rough. I made the decision to do house cleaning. The house is overdue for an overhaul cleaning. I cleaned the bedroom and bathroom.
Mulberry cuttings
[So far, they are looking good.]
June 23
Life in the jungle: This morning, I shared my A Comprehensive Guide to Living in the Jungles of Belize blog post to Facebook groups.
After breakfast, I worked on the Canadian chapter of my memoir for the whole day. I made good progress.
The weather was dark skies, sporadic rain showers, and gusts of wind all day.
June 24
Life in the jungle: I headed to the city. It was not a hectic trip, and I didn’t get rained on. At the end of the day, I planted a bunch of Spanish Cedar tree seeds that I collected a few days ago.
Spanish Cedar seed pods
June 25
Life in the jungle: I mixed half a bag of cement for patio stones, and then chopped and spread some compost in the coconut field. During that job, I discovered Yellow Buttercup tree (Cochlospermum vitifolium) seeds in the coconut field. An unusual seed pod with small cotton puff seeds attracted my attention. I’m looking forward to planting these seeds soon.
Installed three posts for the new gate for the coconut field. It was a long day today.
Yellow Buttercup
June 26
Life in the jungle: There was no power at 4 AM. Part of me loved that – more sleep. Everyone needs more sleep, and besides, what else can you do in the dark? I turned my bedroom light switch on and went back to bed, expecting the power to come back on any minute. It never did, and I reawakened at 6 AM. Now, 6 AM is still a respectable wake-up hour, but the instant I did wake, the reality of the ripple effect of sleeping in became apparent almost instantly.
On a typical day, all my morning routines would be completed, and I would normally be heading out the door at this time to feed the chickens. Instead, I still had my entire morning routine to complete, and it felt like I had lost half my day. The feeling of wasting half your day is a bad way to start your day. It throws you off.
No one likes the idea of waking up at 4 AM, especially me. Often, it feels like I haven’t accomplished enough to justify the habit, and the thought of waking up this early for the next 20 to 30 years is very discouraging. This morning’s hiccup has happened another time since starting my 4 AM morning wake-up habit. The same results – a renewed appreciation and commitment to the decision to wake up this early every morning.
It does make me wonder for next time the power goes out. Sleep in and be reminded of why I get up at this hour, or figure out an alternate routine for mornings like this.
I ended up writing and putting some thoughts down on my computer for a future blog post about how getting up at 4 AM is the most important productivity hack or routine one can develop for living in the jungle.
I chopped in the coconut field until I started to panic about the power being out. There had been no power company notification text. I called the guy across the river to see if he woke up with power. He did – crap!
I called the power company – no answer. I sent a power outage report via their app. At 4 PM (three hours later), I called and got through. They had no record of my request.
I got a return call at 6:30 PM. At 7: 30 it was determined that the issue was on my side of the river, and they had no access to a 4×4 vehicle this evening, as they were not able to drive their heavy vehicle down my road. They would have to come tomorrow morning. I had a fridge and freezer full of food.
In the midst of all this, I planted 85 buttercup seeds.
Red Rump tarantula
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of words or people that may or may not be part of this particular blog post. This glossary will be at the bottom of every Life in Belize blog post.
Wayne – He is the son of the original owners of the farm (both owners are deceased). The original farm was two – 30-acre parcels minus two – ¾ acre parcels for my house. In 2017, Wayne sold me 40 acres of land from the original 60 acres (one 30-acre parcel plus 10 acres from the second parcel). Wayne lives in his parents’ house and has a few cows on his remaining 18 acres of land.
Top-Gallon – The local term for when the Belize River floods its banks during the rainy season.
The ponds – I have two large (300ft long x 50ft wide x 10ft deep) ponds on my 30-acre parcel of land, which is basically a jungle. I have about 60 coconut trees (mostly mature) around the ponds. In my first two years of living in Belize, I also planted about 250 assorted fruit tree seedlings (Lime, jackfruit, custard apple, pomegranate, and avocado).
The coconut field – I have about 400 coconut trees planted (various growth states) on about 3 acres of cleared land of my 10-acre parcel. I have planted about 350 assorted fruit trees (lemon, starfruit, mango, soursop, cashew, lime, orange), all raised from seed since my arrival in Belize in 2021.
The river lot – my house sits on a ¾ acre lot. I have a second joining ¾ acre lot that allows me river frontage on the Belize River. I call that my river lot.
The Dry – Belize has two main seasons. The rainy season and the dry season (no rain). The rainy season starts around June 1 and goes until the end of the year. It seems June, November, and December are the wettest times of the year.
Chopping – using my machete to clear brush, vines, weeds, and unwanted trees. Generally, when I chop, I am removing unwanted vegetation around my baby fruit trees.
I arrived at my home on November 25, 2021, by bicycle from Canada. I have journaled my daily adventures every day since. Since I have arrived, I have built a 1,000 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse, a tiny apartment that I refer to as my greenhouse apartment. I also started and am close to completion of two small cabanas that I refer to as my smaller cabana and my larger cabana. The apartment and cabanas are for visitors and people wishing to move to my farm. I’m also getting close to completing an additional 1,600 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse.
