 It's the end of December and the end of the rainy season in Nicaragua. We're still getting quick afternoon showers and light, steady rain in Jinotepe at night but the heavy rains are gone for now. I've got 35 tomato, 1 cayenne, and 3 yellow crookneck squash plants in the front yard. The rest of the space is packed with flowers of every type, orchids, mallows, marigolds, hibiscus, and many I don't know the names of.  It was a little chilly again this morning as Roger and I bagged up all the cuttings from a very generous friend on the Apoyo Crater Lake. I don't know the names of any of these plants, just that they're all gorgeous and (hopefully) easy to grow. Some plants will stay in my Jinotepe yard while most will get transplanted to the finca.  These teak trees, bought just south of Diriomo for a cordoba each (5 cents!), need to be transplanted to the finca this upcoming week. Besides that bit of work and weekly watering for the landscaping we've already put in, it's time for a break for the holidays. Construction should resume sometime early next year. Until then it's time for relaxing in the hammock with some Flor de Caña rum and just enjoying the blue skies and great breezes of December in Nicaragua. |
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Nicaragua has a few local beers but nothing high quality. It's also pretty warm here to make beer, so my husband began experimenting with white sorghum recently. Chele Sorgo is the result, a lagered ale made from white sorghum readily found in the local markets. Brewing good beer has been as much an adventure as everything else in this crazy Central American country and while Roger has been brewing beer for some time now, doing it in Nicaragua presents unique challenges. The weather is too warm here and good luck finding supplies for brewing. In the past, friends have sent us the makings but that's hardly being self-sufficient. Several experiments with local products and many an hour making new tools/toys later, and Roger has a nice brew that'll be ready in time for the holidays. This latest five gallons is a refinement of a sorghum brew we shared with friends at a Gringo get together in Catarina earlier this year.
Roger's latest toy, a malt factory, was made from a broken fridge found in Jinotepe for 100 cords. I insisted on painting the old yellow thing, then Roger got to work installing gadgets to turn this old fridge into a beer maker's tool.
The addition of a single burner hot plate, small fan, outlet, and temperature control, plus a few well-placed holes, and Roger's now able to evenly dry and toast 15 pounds of sprouted sorghum at a time.
(drying in the new malt factory)
(grinding the malt) The beer making journey in Nicaragua has led to other tool/toy making such as the mash tun,
a large cooler that transforms into a holding station for the mashing process. As good southerners, we brought with us our turkey-fryin', crawfish boilin' beer keg cooking pot that does extra duty to boil the wort, which is when the hops and any extra sugars are added to the brew.
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(sprouted sorghum)
 The quequisque (kay keys kay) is a popular Central American tuber, one you will find in many soups in this part of the world. Being a Yankee and firmly established in my Irish roots, as well as a serious tater lover, I felt this cousin tuber was being underused. Seemed like time for experiments.  Now that's a pretty tater chip!  |
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Having so many dogs makes for a real secure house/homestead but they sure can be a lot of work, especially on bath day. It only took an hour to get them all done today so we must be getting the hang of it. I gave each their midday bones afterwards then sat in the front garden for a bit of sun and peace and quiet. Well, at least quiet from our dogs. The neighbors I could hear real well. Nicaragua is a noisy place to live and as the year winds down, the level gets ratcheted up. Bombas are popular here, loud firecrackers that sound more like mortars. Then there's the music. Well, definitely not what I think of as music, this is more a repetitive pulsing. What it lacks in style though it makes up for in volume. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I grabbed some leña (or firewood) and started a big fire in the grill. Decided to make dinner with no power to tweak my skills a bit. My outdoor kitchen on the homestead will be run with firewood and a small propane tank only. 
Now that rainy season is just about over, it's time to get more practice in building fires!
The temporary grill in the front yard allows me some of the workspace I desire and it's workable but ooh, I can't wait to play in the finished outdoor kitchen on my new homestead! Dinner was teriyaki pork chops, taters n' onions, cabbage n' bacon, and homemade sesame rolls, lightly toasted on the grill.
Practice makes perfect! And hubby's not complaining. |
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This pink, pear-shaped fruit is known as a manzana de agua in Nicaragua. And apparently it's one of the hardest fruits to find, especially if you really need some. I came across these in the market a few months ago, brought some home, and began to play. The consistency is a bit like a pear, yet smoother and slightly sweeter. Decided to make applesauce as a first go round. Applesauce is hard to find here and very expensive when you do come across it in Managua, the country's capitol.
I added dulce, a by product of processing sugar cane (Nicaragua has THE best rum!) and the resulting applesauce was increíble, as they say here. Ended up adding the homemade "applesauce" to bread and got a delish honey apple raisin bread. One good enough to make every day! Wouldn't you know it, they haven't been in the market since and no vendor can tell me why or when they will come back. Ooh, this is an exasperating place to live at times! |
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I woke to beautiful blue skies this morning, but by 1pm the rains were back. It's only three more weeks until we see an end to the rains here in Nicaragua and I am really looking forward to Summer! We had pretty heavy rains this year, my front garden just about drowned and the road to our homestead is nothing but gumbo mud. It'll take weeks, maybe months, to dry out and we can't get any more construction done until it's almost bone dry so delivery trucks can make it in. For now, Roger has our workers clearing land and keeping the weeds down, using machetes, and next week will see work on the north fenceline. We've got over 700 meters to fence on that side, but luckily our neighbor has agreed to split the cost with us. The workers have begun cutting down maderas, chicarina, and tiguilote for living fence posts as they grow back quickly. As soon as we get good fences up, we can start cow shopping! Never been cow shopping before. Brahmas are big down here, but we're interested in Red Angus and recently found an organization that should be able to help get us started. The meat in this country is very lean and I can't wait to see a piece of marbled beef again! Been craving good Southern food lately, not just rice and beans, so last night I made up chicken fried steak and skillet corn bread.
Would've liked to add a nice salad but the market was lettuce-free. "Mañana", all the vendors told me. 'Course down here that doesn't mean tomorrow, it just means "not today". Still I'll try again tomorrow as my specialty lettuce tires are all gone and I've yet to even plant more. |
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Move to paradise and build the home of your dreams. It's a line you'll hear often in this part of the world. Now for a bit of reality. Life is no easier in Nicaragua, depending on what you're trying to accomplish, than it is any part of the world. The sense of time, or the lack of it, and work ethic makes the logistics of building here a head shaking, exasperating experience that can only be handled with patience, lots of patience, and a goal firmly in sight. There is much beautiful land to see and buy in this Central American country, but much of it is a wild, wild west adventure. It's basically a pre-English law state situation and prospective buyers should be a hardy breed. That said, we couldn't be happier with our purchase of almost 100 acres of land at 200 feet above sea level on Nicaragua's isthmus. Have we been through the wringer since buying? 'Como no' as they say down here, or 'Of course'! Will we reach our goal? Como No!!! |
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On the isthmus of Nicaragua is a little finca called Quinta Quijote (Keen-tah Key-ho-tay). It's not quite an up and running farm yet, or finca as it's called down here, but we're getting closer to our dream every day, despite rainy season and any number of other crazy obstacles that we've encountered in our four years of life here. My husband and I moved to this diamond in the rough country to escape the myriad US regulations regarding homesteading life and to build a home/lifestyle suited to our desires. Protection of the land is, for us, a common sense choice and not one that needs regulating. Add incredible landscapes and warm weather year round and you've got our idea of paradise, and the perfect place to call home. Self-sufficiency and living totally off grid is our goal, and towards that end we've purchased windmills for electricity and built a rain water collection system. This lifestyle is new to us and we're learning as we go, making discoveries and mistakes along the way, and enjoying the adventure of it all. Welcome to our little corner of the world, Quinta Quijote de Ochomogo! |