I really enjoy his stuff.
Last year´s watermelon season was a total flop! The rains didn´t subside until mid-March. Folks planted their watermelons December til February as per custom. But the rains destroyed the plants and/or ruined the developing watermelons. Folks on the river also used up virtually all of the seed they had saved from the previous year. Since there were absolutely no watermelons produced last year, there is no seed on the river this year. I´ve been in Managua, Diriamba, Jinotepe, and Masaya for the last few days buying what watermelon seed (charleston gray and mickeylee varieties) I can get my hands on to take back. This may prove to be a blessing since using commercially supplied seed assures that this year´s crop will be from quality seed. Previously, many producers have sold watermelons with excessive seeds, poor color, poor taste, etc. which I believe to be mostly due to poor seed selection through reuse. Since seed for virtually everything is scarce on the river, I´m also taking back peanut, ginger (roots), corn (red, yellow, and purple varieties), potato (small whole ones), canteloupe, squash, pipian, ayote, sunflower, wheat, chiltoma, papaya, onion, climbing bean, spinach, white bean, radish, carrot, beet, flor de jamaica, jicaro, cabbage, sorghum, and sapote. Now, if I can just get the people to plant and care for this stuff!
Great story!
Originally Posted by mupitara Declining access to professional medical assistance - even though it is free here - is common practice in Tee Kiamp. Shortly after I brought Kuka and her grandson to Alamikamba (about eight years ago) to stay with me, Silberto´s mother and another young woman were both bitten by poisonous snakes on the same day. The Adventist group from Francia Sirpe came immediately and offered to take the women to the clinic to receive an antidote. The family of the other woman accepted...she survived. The family of Silberto´s mother declined, preferring instead to use bush medicine...she died! Clint Hanley, missionary pilot at Tronquera, RAAN, just wrote me the following comment about what happened to Silberto´s mom: Facebook message from Clint Hanley I was just new to Nicaragua then, we were working on building a church there, traveling every day to Tee Kiamp. I saw her daily getting worse. I made an onion poultice (pulls out poison) for her, and bandaged it onto the bite. I showed them how to change it and gave them a spare onion. The venom was already too far into her system. I remember clearly kneeling down beside her on the floor as she was in pain, and seeing those children of hers (I understood she was a teacher) holding onto her. I figured she would die soon. I plead each day so hard with her to be able to take her to the clinic, but she adamantly refused. The day we brought back the one who had spent a couple nights at the clinic, they were having the funeral for that lady. She was so young and so much promise. My introduction to Nica.
Originally Posted by mupitara It was only after Rodas arrived that he took her to Waspam to the hospital to be checked by a physician and get medication. Rodas´ mother was never actually hospitalized, though. That was over one week after it happened! Declining access to professional medical assistance - even though it is free here - is common practice in Tee Kiamp. Shortly after I brought Kuka and her grandson to Alamikamba (about eight years ago) to stay with me, Silberto´s mother and another young woman were both bitten by poisonous snakes on the same day. The Adventist group from Francia Sirpe came immediately and offered to take the women to the clinic to receive an antidote. The family of the other woman accepted...she survived. The family of Silberto´s mother declined, preferring instead to use bush medicine...she died!
Rodas came back to Alamikamba last night. Today when he came to see me I got some details straight about what happened to his mother. Apparently, his mother, stepfather, and a young man from Tasbapounie (just upriver from Alamikamba) were sitting on the porch of the family´s home in Tee Kiamp when the lightning bolt struck. The stepfather was knocked unconcious. When he came to, he saw Rodas mother nearby unconcious and in flames! He put out the fire, but, she, appeared to be dead. Then, he realized that the young man seated next to him was dead. And, also discovered that the family dog which had been laying under the house had been killed. Rodas says that they could not sense her heartbeat nor her breathing for at least 24 hours. The family, however, stayed at her side because they could hear noises coming from within her. After 24 hours, she began to breath and slowly increased showing other signs of life. She regained conciousness after the third day. However, it was more than a week before she could communicate with anyone. It was only after Rodas arrived that he took her to Waspam to the hospital to be checked by a physician and get medication. Rodas´ mother was never actually hospitalized, though. That was over one week after it happened! When Rodas left Tee Kiamp to return here, his mother was still bedridden. However, she could talk and get up from her bed and move about briefly. She is receiving constant care in her home as she continues to improve.
I finally heard from Rodas today. He called me from Waspam where his mother is still hospitalized after lightning struck her several weeks ago. She is now conscious and has regained speech! Unfortunately, however, she is still physically in bad shape. Rodas plans to stay in Tee Kiamp till the end of the month to help out.
Great story Dud...Best of Luck with the project.
Originally Posted by mupitara We still have fruit on the tree. But, the brown sugar supply is pretty much gone. Besides, I plan to go to Managua for a few days. Well, I thought that jam season for guayabas had ended with my trip to Managua. When I returned Wednesday evening, I commented that it was too bad that there weren´t quite enough ripe fruits left on our tree to bother with making another batch of jam. Kuka informed me that she had picked fruit the previous couple of days and had been reboiling them daily so we could produce a final batch. Yesterday, I picked the remaining ripe fruits. We boiled them along with a few naranjuelas and lemons. We used the last four pounds of brown sugar plus an additional eight pounds of granulated sugar. We also added a cup of lemon juice that Kuka had acquired from friends on the river. We ended up with eleven quarts of jam to end our season. Our total production was fifty quarts from one small tree in our yard! On the bus ride to Rosita I discovered that there are thousands of guayaba trees which remain untouched during the harvest. Maybe next year we will buy bucketloads from the kids along the highway and cook guayaba jam in steel drums! ...Just a thought! Aisabe, Papatara
By combining yesterday´s guayaba crop with today´s, we managed to produce the largest batch of jam yet. Today we finished with 11 2/3 quarts! We still have fruit on the tree. But, the brown sugar supply is pretty much gone. Besides, I plan to go to Managua for a few days. Aisabe, Papatara
Saturday turned out to be a day of rest from canning. Our little guayaba tree only produced about half of what it had produced on the previous two days. I did eat lih mihta at mid-day. It was still a bit tough and dry, however. I´ll give it a go again tomorrow. Drank my morning coffee with costeña tortillas (fried flour dough) with guayaba jam. Awesome! Sunday produced a bumper crop of guayaba. After adding the harvest from Saturday, it was obvious that Kuka and I had plenty of work to do. We eventually ended up with 10 quarts of jam today! Lih mihta was really delicious today! We bought a bunch of pijibayas and prepared supa buña mash for tomorrow´s mid-morning brunch. This afternoon I tried adding a spoonful of the guayaba jam to a cup of hot-brewed orange pekoe tea. I really liked it! Tonight for a change of pace, I had Kuka add a can of green peas to our usual gallo pinto. I liked it. Everybody else ate theirs with no visual complaints! We may get one more batch of jam on Tuesday before our tree and our brown sugar supply run out. Don´t know what to do for canning jars, though. Aisabe, Papatara
Today was simply a continuation of yesterday. Same fresh brew at sun-up. Leftover piece of liver for breakfast (a bit dry, however). I followed that with another cup of coffee and a piece of bread with guayaba jam. Wow! I picked today´s guayaba crop from our little tree. And, I came up with a little bit more fruit than yesterday. Kuka and I decided to go for another batch of guayaba jam while the harvest is at its peak. I did make a few changes to the recipe. We used more lemons (six). And, we also added about six naranjillas. I figured that this would give the jam a bit more tartness. It did! At mid-morning Kuka fixed me a glass of supa buña which is made from a slightly fermented mashed pijibaya. The mash is then mixed with water, strained, then sweetened to taste. A delicious native drink! A young fellow showed up with a fresh tilapia (called kwirku or pigs by the miskitos). Since we decided to make the jam, the lih mihta was put on hold till supper. Instead, Kuka prepared wari chicharonka (fried white-lipped peccary skins) over rice. It was simple, but, really outstanding fare! Just after lunch the son of a lady who visited us yesterday and offered to sell us a young (live) guardatinaja came by. He sold us four pounds of guardatinaja meat. Kuka first checked it over to see if it was actually the young one from the previous day. It was not. As it turned out, the meat was fresh but entirely lacking marbling and quite tough. I was disappointed with this meal even though guardatinaja is usually one of my favorites. We finished the jam by early afternoon and bottled seven quarts. Unfortunately, one of the jars broke during the sealing process. We may do another batch of jam tomorrow if things work out. Our lih mihta got delayed once again until tomorrow. Kuka says that the flippers are still too tough. So, she´s going to cook them more and add the milk from two more coconuts for flavor! Aisabe, Papatara
I am not aware if the river shrimp have a season or not. If there is one, it is obviously not observed in the area. Aisabe, Papatara
Do the river shrimps have a season?
Dud, Thanks for sharing. Barrie Coffman
Originally Posted by mupitara I´ve added photos to the blog of smoking venison, guan, and currasow on Kuka´s Kubus. Aisabe, Papatara Hey, good job, you are turning this into a beautiful presentation, keep on with in man...
I´ve added photos to the blog of smoking venison, guan, and currasow on Kuka´s Kubus. Aisabe, Papatara
Originally Posted by Just Plain John Wayne But I think you been in the jungle too long, gone to kissin' Robalo.. Well, it was the freshest smelling fish that I ever kissed! Originally Posted by Just Plain John Wayne One question, I have found the larger ones spoil quicker than from that size down unless they are taken care of rather fast, has that been your experience? I agree. I think that smaller fish tend to dry out and get mushy if mishandled. Bigger fish stay moister and taste spoiled if not dressed right away. In either case, its best to immediately gut and get your catch on ice. I don´t scale them until I they get home with them. Aisabe, Papatara
That was an extremely interesting read along with your observations ...... But I think you been in the jungle too long, gone to kissin' Robalo.. But he is a pretty fish and I love 'em any way they are fixed..... One question, I have found the larger ones spoil quicker than from that size down unless they are taken care of rather fast, has that been your experience?
Tinki pali Papatara. Very interesting stuff!
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