We have two seasons in Nicaragua, hot and wet and hot and dry. Summer's here after an unusually dry rainy season so it should be interesting to see what happens next. I know the price of rice, beans and other staples will be on the rise as folks here don't irrigate and there was alot of crop loss.

In my gardens, it's time to start anew, at least with some plants. We have a year round growing season here and if you can defeat the ravenous bugs you'll be successful. I find it to be a full-time battle. But there are always new lessons to be learned from year round gardening in Central America. We have had a huge leaf-cutter ant hill near one of the mango trees since we moved in almost 10 months ago.

Our first instinct was to get rid of it as chemical-freely as possible (is that even a word???). The ants did little more than laugh at our efforts. Never ones to be daunted by failing at something the first dozen times, we switched gears once again and put the suckers to work for us. Ants love to excavate, bringing dirt to the surface, dirt that's been processed and aerated and even pooped upon. We harvest it a wheel barrow at a time (gotta be quick lest you end up with shoes full of angry critters!). Then we move the wheel barrow to the other side of the yard and leave it overnight. It makes for some really confused ants and some wonderfully processed, ant-free dirt for my raised beds.

Recently, my Roger started an area for anamu plants, ones he's transplanting from other areas of the yard and from other roads we travel down in country. Anamu has been proven to reduce pain and inflammation, kill viruses, bacteria and fungi, and kill insects. Last week, the garden area was filled with more than a dozen plants. Now it's half gone, with plants stripped bare of their leaves by the leaf-cutter ants. Guess what, the leaf-cutter ants are gone too! We figure the ants took the leaves to the aphids that they farm and the anamu killed the aphids, which in turn made the ants either die off from lack of food or simply move away from this now toxic area. I LOVE learning new stuff here! Now, how can I process the fresh anamu into a product for sale...hmmmm?

With summer's onset, the temps stay pretty much the same but the sun gets more intense. I find my large-leafed plants shrivel something horrible under those extreme rays. This year, I've bought some garden cloth to see if that will help. I've also started some new raised beds in total shade to see of some plants will thrive without the direct sunlight. It's a whole new learning curve in this part of the world, everything seems upside down here at times. 'Course I'm making copious notes, hope I can do something with them someday! Quizás.

For the past six years, my husband and I have been exploring the medicinal herbs of Nicaragua. Talking to the locals hasn't helped much as the knowledge seems to be lost. There's one fella on local radio that claims to be the Nica expert, but considering what comes outa' his mouth sometimes, I expect he's more hype than fact.

We have scoured books and the internet, scoured the local landscape, spent hours on wild goose chases, and done some experimenting of our own. I can finally say that we have made some success towards reaching our goal of a good understanding of Centra American medicinal herbs.

Here are some of the herbal plants that we use to keep us happy and healthy, as well as to help out some of our poorer neighbors who can't afford to go to the doctor and pay for prescriptions (although they are ridiculously cheap compared to prices in the US).

Four O'Clock roots treat mosaic virus in tomatoes.

Canna roots cure athlete's foot.

Aceituno cures malaria and influenza.

Cola de Alacrán treats allergies and has replaced aspirin in my medicine chest.

Guapinol bark is a caffeine-free stimulant.

Guava leaves cure dysentery.

Hoja Santa leaves get rid of ticks and head lice.

Lemon Grass soothes sore throats.

Mexican Tarragon cures hangovers.

Trumpet tree leaves dry secretions and work instantly on a runny nose.

Wormwood cleanses the liver.

Epazote (in bloom on left and pictured center as well) kills intestinal parasites, anamu (pictured top right) kills cancer, and broadleaf plantain heals wounds.

There are several other local plants we harvest for medicinal cures, mostly trees growing nearby like the guacimo and cashew, but there's much more to learn. There's never a boring day in Nicaragua!

When you only have running water every other day, it's important to plan well and work your butt off when you do have it. Today was such a day and Roger and I started early with the sprinkler and several yard projects.

The Muscadine vine that we have grown from seed has been languishing in a pot for what seems like forever, but yesterday's acquisition of a local grape vine meant today was grape-planting day. Using two wooden posts cut from the finca, we ran a 20' length to hold the two grape vines. Two strands of barbed wire, two feet apart, should be strong enough to hold all those grapes I'm envisioning impatiently.

I folded the barbs down with a pair of electrician's pliers, then placed concrete blocks around the plants as the last two puppies for sale pretty much have the run of the yard and tend to run smack dab into whatever I don't want them to run into

The seeds from Mike are coming up like gangbusters and I needed to make yet another raised bed for the scallop squash and Charentais melons. Roger does all the "men's work" stuff in the yard, like toting bags of dirt and spading the beds while I tend to the established plants and move the sprinkler from bed to bed. We haven't run outa' room yet, but this rental yard is filling up quickly.

I picked up some pretty flowers in Catarina yesterday and, as I started planting things around the yard, I realized that football must have been on my mind as I was shopping. I now have several LSU-color combinations around the house.

My fella and I put in a good day's work, enjoying overcast skies and breezes from the Mombacho Volcano as we sweated off all those calories we had imbibed the night before. It's 3:30 now, or should I say beer thirty! Life is good in Nicaragua.

The easiest farm critters we've found have been the Muscovy ducks we purchased in Ochomogo. They are the only duck not related to the Mallard and are perfect for our little homestead. They don't need much care, just a safe place to stay (we have hunting dogs that just LOVE ducks), lots of water and plenty of plantain leaves along with their laying mash.

They don't make much noise, just soft huffing sounds, and the pooh they add to my compost bin has been awesome for my gardens. I do wish I could let them run free in the yard to eat bugs and skeeters, but I suspect we wouldn't have any left after 5 minutes, if my Catahoulas had anything to say about it!

A few weeks ago we were getting four eggs a day and I finally had to take some to the Gringo Saturday market in San Juan del Sur to sell as I was running outa things to do with them. Now, we've got three hens setting and are down to only one egg per day. The eggs are about the size of a chicken egg, just slightly bigger and tan in color, but the yolk is huge and super rich in flavor. They make an awesome hollandaise sauce, turn omelets golden yellow, and my pound cake is better than ever when using duck eggs.

When my husband cleans out the duck pen, that duck pooh-filled hay goes straight into the compost bin, and the results are showing in the tomato beds! Gringos tell me they just can't grow tomatoes in Nicaragua...I think I've found the secret! : )

There are lots of lessons to learn in raising livestock. For instance, I now know that I don't ever want to own pelibuey ( a warm weather sheep) again! They are a tasty animal no doubt, but a bit too hard-headed for easy care on the finca. They will go through just about any fence you put up (we tried four kinds ), will roam far and wide without a shepard to keep watch over them, and will decimate your sweet potato vines as soon as said shepard turns his back on them.

But it wasn't all bad owning a flock of 26 pelibuey. The new babies were fun to watch as they frolicked in the sand pile, trying out their new legs and head butting each other. Roger and I are now proficient in the butchering process and can kill, gut and process a full grown animal in less than 4 hours. This includes feeding it to my hungry Catahoulas and turning one leg into tender roast beef in mushroom gravy and one backstrap into brunswick stew. I now know that a large pelibuey will feed 8 large dogs for 2 days, which results in one less darn animal to escape through the fences and makes for some very happy and healthy security dogs.

We had a few mommas who simply wouldn't care for their babies and lost three little ones before we built jugs on the side of the barn to handle the problem. A jug is a 4'x4' enclosure which forces the momma into a confined area for a bonding process and for ease of feeding. We used trees from the finca and some woven wire (with a yolk around momma's neck) to keep her confined, and it was simply a matter of flipping her on her side for feeding times.

Most mommas learned quickly, but one especially hard-headed one had to live in that jug for a month, then spend the remainder of her short life on a rope for ease at feeding time. Her baby, Blondie, became a pet and Roger couldn't get anywhere near the corral without her yelling out that she was ready for more milk. Being a tiny thing, she frequently escaped the corral and would follow Roger around, kicking up her heels, as he worked on the finca. Shades of 'Mary had a little lamb'...