We have lived here for almost a year now and it’s unbelievable what we have accomplished in that short amount of time. From starting with raw jungle to creating a beautiful place to live where there was nothing before. There are so many beautiful sights and things to do around here that it’s mind-boggling. Our property requires a lot of work and maintenance to keep everything trimmed and running smoothly and that doesn’t leave too much time for us to just relax and enjoy the reason we moved to Belize. So after a lot of thought and soul searching, we have decided at this time that it’s too much work for us and we would rather spend more time just relaxing and enjoying life. So we have decided to put the property on the market and see what happens, we have already had a couple of people show some interest in it. I guess it turns out that we really do miss the beach, so when and if this sells we will be looking at a smaller beach property that doesn’t require as much maintenance. We will be looking in southern Belize, Panama or maybe even Aruba, where ever the hell that is. Hopefully, some of you will be able to come down and enjoy our jungle paradise before it sells. Oh and by the way…April Fools…are you kidding we love it here and have no intention of moving anytime soon!!! April Fools, haha, got ya!

Okay, sorry about that I just had to get that out of my system. So now back to what’s really happening around here.

After living in the jungle for a while we decided it was time for us to buy an island. Okay, so it’s not the kind surrounded by water, but rather the one surrounded by the kitchen. We waited this long to make sure there was enough room in the kitchen to support an island and we decided one would definitely work. We got our plans to the cabinet maker, ordered up the granite and four weeks later we now have a great new island. For the granite, we decided to go with a white and black as opposed to the black and white we did on the countertops. We thought this would help to keep a more open feeling in the house. This will act as our dining table and more importantly more work and storage space in the kitchen. We also had four bar stools made out of a hardwood called poisonwood that are very heavy and beautiful. Still lots of projects around the house, but slowly it’s all coming together.

Our fruit trees and other plants are coming along nicely. Some of our banana plants are about 15’ tall now, they are not producing yet but I assume later this year we should have our first bananas. Our coffee and cocoa plants are bushing out nicely and we should have some coffee berries later this year. I don’t expect very many this first year, but maybe just enough to roast up and make a few cups of coffee, that will be exciting.

Our starfruit, cinnamon, citrus, mango, avocado, and macadamia nut trees are all showing great growth. Our pineapple/orange tree is starting to bear some fruit, so we will see how that goes. We also have our first pineapple on one of our plants, which is pretty exciting since all our pineapple plants are from tops we rooted. At this point, we have around 25 pineapple plants and are planting a few more every couple of weeks.

All the artichokes and hatch green chili plants are in the ground and are doing good, as well as some squash. We’ve also picked up a couple of red raspberry plants and they are doing great. Last week during the full moon we planted a few rows of sweet corn, about 75 plants. All the farmers around here really believe that for the best crops you need to plant during the full moon. I assume there is something to it because the corn crops around here grow very fast and take about 2 1/2 months till harvest. An extra boost we got was that it rained the night after we planted all the corn, so the Mayan gods must have been happy with us.

On our walk around the property the other day we came across some flowers that we had not seen here before. It seems that every few months different trees, vines, and other plants will bloom and produce beautiful colored flowers that are only around for a couple of months. We have no idea of what type of plants these are, but it’s always a surprise when we find a new one. I think we might try to relocate some of the long purple vines towards our entrance gate and see if we can get them to grow on the fence. We can only imagine what some of the plants around here would cost at a nursery back in the states.

Since I seem to have gotten on the subject of plants I might as well include pictures of our Moringa trees. We planted 8 of them from seed about 6 months ago and they are already about six feet tall and have flowers on them. We ended up keeping two of them and gave the others to some friends. Once they get a little bigger we will start using the leaves and such for tea and other stuff. I know I’ve said before about the Moringa tree, but if you don’t know about it you should google it and see all its benefits and why it is called the Miracle Tree.

One thing that we really love is fresh coco water. Between our place and the village, a young man has set up a small little stand selling fresh coco water on ice. There is nothing more refreshing than ice-cold fresh coco water. We usually stop every time he is out there and grab a few to take home. Once you taste it ice cold and fresh you will never buy that canned crap in the store again.

Okay, June is just two months away and that means it’s time for Lobster-Fest again down here in Belize. Lobster season closes here in February and doesn’t open again till mid June and by then everyone is craving lobster. Different beach towns here try to celebrate their Lobster-Fest on different weekends from each other just in case you wanted to hit them all. Actually, just one Lobster-Fest is more than enough for us. We are not sure which one we will be going to yet, either San Pedro or Placencia. San Pedro’s Lobster-Fest is from June 15th-23rd and Placencia is June 21st-23rd.  Last year we did the one in Placencia which was nice because we could drive there. The one in San Pedro we would have to drive to the airport and catch a flight to the island and then rent a golf cart. Last year in Placencia we had a hard time finding a decent place to stay at a reasonable price because we waited too long to start looking. San Pedro has a lot more options of where to stay, but then you have the flight and cart rental. At this point, we are still looking at all the options, but we know we need to reserve something very soon. If anyone is planning on coming down for Lobster-Fest, please let us know when and where and we will try to accommodate you.