With everything going on in the world we have had a lot of people asking us how we are doing down here in Belize. When we decided to move here that was already a choice for us to “Social Distance” and live a more productive and better life for ourselves. As of this Monday, Belize just reported its first case of the virus from a Belizean who flew in from California last week. As soon as Belize said there was one reported case of the virus, they decided to shut down all bars, restaurants, night clubs, casinos, and archaeological sites countrywide. Even a few of the bus lines have stopped operating in the country. The borders here have been shut for all travel (except for cargo). There are a few grocery stores still open in town, but inventory is starting to look pretty slim.  Our village is completely shut down of all businesses. Just like everywhere else they are limiting the size of gatherings, requesting that everyone just stay home, stressing the importance of washing your hands and of course social distancing. We are fine up where we are, with plenty of food and other supplies, plus there’s a lot of work around here to keep us busy.  If we choose not to leave the property there’s a good chance we won’t even see another person until we do. Hopefully, they can contain this first case of the virus and stop it before it spreads. We are very grateful to be living out in the jungle away from the mass population and being able to raise some of our own food.

Speaking of food, here are a few more pictures of things that we are currently growing down here.

This was our first time growing peanuts and it won’t be our last. There wasn’t as many as we thought we would get, but who cares, we grew our own peanuts!

This is our first harvest of Turmeric. That should be enough to keep us going for a while.

Our Italian Oregano is doing pretty well and keeps us in fresh oregano when needed.

This is another type of herb that’s called Cuban Oregano or Spanish Thyme. It has the scent and flavor of regular oregano and is commonly used as a herb to flavor meats and stews. It is a great herb when used fresh or even dried.

We still like to take walks through our property in search of Oyster Mushrooms. We don’t always find them, but when we do it is a great treat!

Our first cocoa (chocolate) pods will be ready to pick real soon.

We have even had good luck growing our own toilet paper. Talk about going green!

We have always had a garden no matter where we have lived, just growing all your basic vegetables. The fun and exciting thing about gardening in Belize is that we can grow all kinds of tropical fruits and other stuff that we never even would have considered growing elsewhere. For instance, we currently have caper berry seeds in the fridge for two months to simulate a “fake winter”. When they are ready to come out of their “chill”, we will get them in the ground and see if we can get any to grow. Wouldn’t that be great to be able to make our own capers!

We see all the news feeds and realize how bad this situation really is for everyone. We know times are tough and we will all get through this, it’s just going to take some time. In the meantime, be patient and stay safe, because we would love to see all your smiling faces down here someday.

Since we are all pretty much confined to our own spaces, what’s better than a good road trip movie. And what better way to see sights across the US than a Griswold family road trip to Wally World! So find that copy of Vacation, pull up your favorite chair, grab your favorite beverage and get on that Holiday Road.