A Ghost Anole
July 22
Life in the jungle: This morning I headed out and chopped along the road. There was a tree that was growing and leaning over the road to the point where vehicles would soon be unable to pass by. On my way back was a rain shower.
After breakfast, I painted a coat of paint on the shelves I recently built for the cabanas. I then headed to the ponds and cut the grass on mound 3. On the way back, it rained again.
I was exhausted and did some yard work to complete my day.
I found a papaya at the ponds ready for picking
July 23
Life in the jungle: This morning I chopped the fence line in front of my house that follows the road allowance. Since over a year ago when I had the heavy equipment work done, I have been wanting to finally complete this section of barbed wire fence. I never had the wire installed as I knew heavy equipment would have to access the property from this section of fence line. Along with the wire being installed, probably close to 15 posts have to be replaced as the bulldozer pushed them over, smoothing the ground. Another outstanding fence job is fixing the opening to the coconut field, as I had to take out a post for the bulldozer to fit through the gate.
I then attempted to finish my coconut field gate, but revealed a design flaw, so that job will have to wait.
After breakfast, I painted another coat of paint on the cabana shelves and bagged 200 provision tree seeds that I collected the other day.
Provision tree seeds
July 24
Life in the jungle: First thing, I planted the last 40 provision seeds. Then a new guy who I had never met from Bermudian Landing, but recommended by Saul, showed up to help me with my fence line. He spent the morning replacing the missing fence posts. After a very late lunch, I headed to the village to drop off eggs and pick up 5” nails that we need for the fence line job.
A Cane toad hiding in one of the chicken coops
July 25
Life in the jungle: First thing, I wrote Belize blog Part 226. There was a little rain first thing. The forecast said rain all day. But things cleared up. This threw me, because initially I was planning to work in front of my computer today. And then I noticed Wayne’s three cows had escaped and were in my coconut field.
I can’t have that. A lot of my fruit trees could get eaten. At first, it was a bit of a headache trying to chase three cows. Then they headed down the road towards the village. I fixed the hole in the fence they thought came through. I say thought because there was a popped wire along that fence line.
When I realized that I couldn’t see the cows on the road anymore, I realized that they must have entered the ponds where I have more fruit trees. It was after chasing them out of there that I directed them back into their pasture.
In the meantime, I did some greenhouse work, including planting some turmeric that Verna Mae gave me. I painted a coat of paint on my cabana shelves, and I cut grass around the house.
Right before dark, the cows were back out, and that was when I discovered they had escaped by the river bank all along. Except now it was dark and impossible to fix that section of fence. They spent a good part of the night in my yard by the cabanas.
Chasing dumb cows
July 26
Life in the jungle: The dogs kept me awake for quite a while last night thanks to the cows being in the yard.
First thing, I checked the yard for any damage and signs of the cows. Thankfully, there was no damage. Then I headed to the ponds, and they weren’t there either.
Later in the morning, the guy who was helping me with my fence line returned, and we strung up the wire for my front yard section and repaired the coconut field gate opening. Finally, after waiting almost two years, my fencing is complete. There was a little rain.
After lunch, I took my mandatory Sunday nap in the hammock. There wasn’t really much of the day left after that.
July 27
Life in the jungle: After feeding the chickens, I did some laundry and some greenhouse work. I made 3 – 50-gallon barrels of liquid fertilizer. Basically, I fill a 50-gallon drum with as much chopped vegetation and vines as I can stuff in and then fill it with water. I cover the drum and let it sit for a month or longer.
I then cut grass in the yard. After breakfast, I headed to the village to drop off eggs and get groceries.
On the way out, I startled something right beside me in tall and thick grass. At first, I was sure it was a mountain lion. I pushed through the grass into the jungle. All I found was small cat tracks, likely a jaguarundi.
Returning home, I cut more grass.
A Ghost Anole
July 28
Life in the jungle: This morning, I posted my A House Is Not an Asset in the Jungle blog post to Belize Facebook groups
Today was a trip to the city to pick up my bike. Last week I brought it in to have the rear derailleur replaced. I also stopped at a polyclinic to get a prescription for an allergy nasal spray. I have always suffered from environmental allergies, but nothing like I suffer in Belize. On occasion, my allergies are so bad that I’m forced to lie in my hammock because I am just taken out. At the clinic, they said my blood pressure is 102 over 60, which they say is really good.
Today, I purchased and tried a fruit I had never tried before. I have heard of it but had no idea what it looked like. I really, really like Genip or Spanish lime. It tastes as close to candy as a fruit can. The unfortunate part is that the fruit is almost 80% pit. I plan to plant every seed I have.
It was a hot day with a lot of walking.
Returning home, I did some yard and greenhouse work until dark.
I’m really tired, not just physically but mentally. Really tired; the work never ends.
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 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.
