"Stop!!!.... Hammer Time!"

If I could have set up my alarm to be customized with a special tune for the past weeks, it would have been Mc Hammer's "Hammer Time". Let me explain. Even though the etymological meaning of "breakfast" comes from "breaking" the involuntarily "fasting" done while sleeping with eating , for me during the past few weeks "breakfast" was more closely related in meaning to a "fast-break" before I had to rush to the pasta room to keep up with the "hammer time".

But, "hammer time" is over. No more wallbreaking, painting or cementing. Now is time for equipment purchases and the next step of the pastificio making.

Among monsters and yellow walls

As predicted, our dear squash has been growing like it's getting ready to take over the world. With about one new leaf appearing every 2-3 days, it has been hard for me to want to upload pictures, because they all become outdated in a day. Our peppers plants far from being monsters, are slowly growing; and the basil seems to do better out of my hydroponic system on a soil-filled pot.

Back home, we have the nursery going: 4 new types of tomatoes, 1 lettuce, and more squash on the way. Also, crossing the Atlantic are 11 new types of seeds; from red cucumbers, yard long beans, to chocolate jamaican habaneros.

So where's the pasta??? We are still under-construction, but have made major advances. Since I don't want to bore you to death, just let me say we have done a lot... pressure washing, wall demolition, roof sealing, cement new walls, electric reconstruction, window and door installation, primer, paint. I seriously do not understand how can a 10x14 room can take so much work, but so it did.

Outer wall- 1st stage (Top)

Outer wall, after moving door, and cement work. (Top)

Soon, among all transformations and without any need to go to court for a name change, the dull laundry room will have the joy to be renamed as... Karla's Pastificio.

"Take Women and Children Out First!"

Those were the words of our friend Russ from Arizona, as he explained how our new baby squash plant would imminently become this giant monster, that will take over our backyard. Even though this sounds like a bad idea, I can't help thinking about how good the butternut squash will do as a filling inside my home made raviolis.




Unfortunately, my camera wasn't charged during the first two to three days of the seedling's growth. So, much of the documentation of the aberrational growth of the little alien has been missed. Yesterday we transplanted the squash from its growing cube to the hydroponic system. Now we are just sitting in a dark underground panic room, waiting for the arrival of the giant squash. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, really we are just in the beach having some beers, hanging out with some friends.

Our Hydroponic Garden is here!

We just got our hydroponic setup; and we will be growing, among several experiments, tomatoes of different kinds, bell peppers, butternut squash, basil, canteloupe, and whatever else we can!  

For those of you who haven't heard of it, in Hydroponic gardening, you grow your plants without soil. Food for the plants is dissolved in water and directly fed to the plant. Many people are surprised that plants don't require soil to live, but soil can sometimes be a very inefficient growing medium. Plants expend a great deal of energy growing root systems so they can search the soil for the water and nutrients they need to survive. By providing constant and readily available nutrition, hydroponics allows plants to grow up to 50% faster than they do in soil.

Gardening without soil offers many benefits: First, complete control over nutrient balance (Meaning Healthier Plants!... meaning a significant reduction of soil pests and diseases...meaning, no need for pesticides). Second, greater spacing efficiency due to smaller roots. Third, more efficient use of resourses.But my favorite benefits are related to the environment. It is obvious that growing our food locally has less carbon foot-print, but also there are other benefits specific to hydroponic systems.

Here is some info I found on that matter from plantcare.com: 

One of the heralded benefits of hydroponic gardening is how it can alleviate poverty while simultaneously easing strains on the environment. Hydroponic gardening systems can be set up to recycle water and nutrients, greatly reducing the resources necessary to grow food.Recycling hydroponic systems use as little as 10% of the water that traditional agriculture requires, a tremendous benefit in areas entirely dependent on irrigation. Hydroponic gardening virtually eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides, and hydroponic gardeners need only use about 1/4 the fertilizer that traditional gardeners require.

 

As the amount of arable land continues to decrease (over 10 million hectares per year are lost), another environmental benefit of hydroponic gardening will gain attention: Hydroponic gardens can produce the same yield as soil gardens in about 1/5 the space. And because artificially lit hydroponic gardens are not dependent on growing seasons, they can produce yields several times a year rather than just once. It has even been speculated that in decades to come, hydroponics will become a significant food source for over-populated urban regions, with people growing food on rooftops or in basements. 

We are both really excited on starting this, and we thank Phil's friend, Russ, from Arizona, for sending us the garden system and helping us all the  way!

Home-Based-Business... Puerto Rican version of Mission Impossible

I haven't been exploding stuff or rappelling in black suits into security protected rooms, but definitely starting a fully legal business in Puerto Rico is like a Mission Impossible movie.

The easy part of all the process has been what you would expect to be hard work: demolishing old sinks, relocating a laundry room, pressure washing walls, cleaning walls and floors to be so clean that you could lick them... ok maybe not; But! it is just insane how hard the Puerto Rican government makes things for you.

Phil demolishing sink

So, just for a little background: Abuela, Mom and Dad permitted me to use what used to be the laundry room and covert it into a commercial kitchen for Nudi Pasta. It's a really spacious room, that needs all sorts of work like the one mentioned above, which we've been doing for around a week.

Besides the handy-man work, which BTW I heavily thank Phil and my parents for, I've been doing a lot of research on how to make my space compliant to all regulations, so when I'm ready to incorporate, I can. Walking to Nudi Pasta room

Did you know that 52% of all firms in the US are home-based? This number is not surprising when I find tons of helpful information provided by the state-governments on how to get started. Also, is not surprising when I find documents made by federal agencies that recognize the value of home-businesses as the incubators of the business world. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Puerto Rico.

Also, in the internet is extremely easy to find state-by-state info of what you need to do... 3 compartment sink, hand washing sink, 1 fire extinguisher... blah blah blah. Rules are so explicit, that just by reading some documents, you know if your space will qualify for the permits.

To this date I'm still not sure if the space I have will work for when I decide to incorporate. So, next week I'll be pin-balling between government offices until I have my answer. Thus, no heavy investment will be done in the room until I know.

Mission impossible... maybe. But I think, if Tom Cruise seems to always get the mission done, why can't I?

I've landed on SRE world!

Domenico is Italian, 64 I think, really funny, a great example of the American dream, and the owner of a company called SRE, and it is worth to say twice... really funny.

I found Domenico and his company SRE (Specialty Restaurant Equipment), while doing my search for a pasta machine supplier. To say the least, his website is truly interesting. He started it in 1995, and had as a goal to inform and entertain in the same time. Among my favorite things are the doors that open and close (which you click to enter different parts of the website), which he explained to me later "well, I thought, if Bill Gates has windows, I'll have doors!". Then there is the spaceship. You know when you enter a site there is the typical visitor number, well on SRE's site, it is your spaceship landing number. Click and see for yourself.

So, last Monday it was time for me to go beyond the website and meet Domenico personally to finally acquire my pasta machine. He picked us from the airport and then we went to SRE's facilities. SRE is gigantic, which I guess confirms the saying that "everything is bigger in Texas". It had wonderful copper covered coffee machines, granita machines, gelato displays... you name it. And after sipping some coffee, taking a tour (we found the spaceship! Domenico made it himself) and meeting the staff, we arrived to the awaited pasta machine room.

There Domenico and Bill chose a machine. It is a pretty heavy duty Italian extruding machine. To the difference of sheeter machines, which roll the pasta sheets trough rollers and then you cut them, extruding machines forcefully push the dough through some dies which extrude pasta in an infinite number of shapes. The machine included bronze dies, that become a little hot while you use them, which produce a rougher finish and less sticky pasta; compared to their silicone counterparts.

Love at first site... my machine comes out of the pasta room.

Learning the machine basics

Notebook on hand, we then went to try it and learn everything I could about it. I was literally amazed on how faster and better it comes out than the small machine I had at home. Soon, it will be also sitting in my pasta studio. And when it does arrive it will be time to try a million recipes.

Pressure is On... VIP has set heavy demands

Ok... now the pressure is on.

With this kind of picture sent by my sister, I better find really happy chickens and start looking for shipping options to the states A.S.A.P.

To my relief, at least I have some time on my side to get this all sorted; Baby Dylan still has to grow some teeth!

1st visit, Hato Rey's Organic Farmer's Market

So, I've started looking for ingredients, packaging and everything else needed to start making my pasta. It is of greatest importance for me to find the best quality ingredients that I can. Thus, I've done egg-hunts (for real, see related post), talked (or better say, tried to talk) to people in Italy and last Sunday went to meet Jessica, an organic baker who sells in Hato Rey's Organic Market.

pic taken from: www.energiaverdepr.com

The organic market in Hato Rey gets together every first and third of the month. Besides, the typical Puerto Rican fruits and veggies that you can find everywhere else (except they were organic), what mostly made it different was all the other organic products hand-made by other Puerto Ricans. You could see organic brownies, hummus, breads, Tati' son giving massages, soaps and jellies.

On my arrival, first thing, the nice green-topped carrots got me all excited. Later I see a small tent with bakery products; there was Jessica, baby and husband. Previously we had exchanged emails on how to get wholesale prices on organic flour and when I finally met her she gave me all details on how to become part of the Organic Cooperative. Thanks Jessica; seems like I'm getting a step closer.

Later met a farmer from Orocovis which usually brings organic eggs, but to my dismay told me:

"No eggs today... the neighbor's dogs ate our chickens!".

Since my pasta will have sooooo many eggs, the usual 100 eggs he brings won't be enough. But he said not to worry, "he can always just buy more chickens and thrown them in".

So, the results of my visit:

1.closer to finding wholesale organic flour.... check!

2. making some local organic networking..... check!

3. finding potential organic egg distributor.... check!

So,

---- "ready to go Phil, Royce and Troy?"----

---- "Yeap"----

---- "Oh, wait a second."----

4. buy delicious, dark, rich organic brownie for dessert.... CHECK!!!

Egg Hunting Part 2

So after meeting Tati, we started driving east on our hunt, without any direction, for eggs. I know I want organic eggs, and if that is not possible, at least local free range eggs. But how do I explain that to the person from the country that doesn’t really know what “organic” or “free range” means?

So, I came up with a nice way to explain to random country-side people what I was looking for. “I am looking for eggs from happy chickens’’. Most people looked at me like I was crazy, like: “aren’t all chickens happy?”

Phil and I were starving and decided to stop and eat a roadside “tripleta” (3 meats) sandwich. The owner told us to go to a stand on another road by Wendy’s where I can find local eggs. “Great! I’m getting closer!”. So, I thought.

So there we went. The egg-less hotdog stand, had several nice older men, which explained that they were out; if I had been there earlier I could have bought some. But, that if I went, left and then right, and saw a car wash, later I would see a blue tent, with a red pick-up truck on front. That is where the egg-man would be.

So there we went. The egg-man-less red pickup truck, had other, helpful nice men, which explained that he was out; if I had been there earlier I could have bought some. But, that if I went down the street I could find his house.

Well, at least I did find the house. But is was egg-man-less too.

So, we came back to the men and ask where could we find the agricultural center, someone had mentioned. “left, right, you’ll see Condom World, you know… Condom world!? Right? and then there it will be”. That is when I loose it, and start laughing so hard, I almost cried. So Phil had to come out of the driver’s seat and with his good Spanish get all directions.

And after that, hours and gas were spent looking for happy chicken with no reward.

After driving all day and feeling such defeat, we couldn’t keep ourselves from noticing that Pinones is full of chickens running around. But no one sold eggs. They were mainly just for family use.

So my new idea comes up… how awesome would it be if someday I could help some families to produce eggs organically in their backyards and then sell them in stands in Pinones road 187. Maybe someday!

Egg Hunting Part 1

I know it's not Easter. But I'm in a real egg-hunt! For Nudi Pasta I want to find the freshest eggs. Organic local eggs if possible, or at least free-range. I want to be able to look at where they are raised and have a relationship with the owner... and the chickens. :)

So that is how the egg hunt started. First I went on the internet and found about a lady named Tati, that offers workshops on how to grow vegetable gardens like our grandparents did. After finding out she's the sister of one of my dad's best friends, I quickly decided to embark on meeting her... I mean, she must know other eco-conscious people that might have eggs!


So my husband and I started driving down road 187 towards Pinones. This beach-front area has a heavy influence of our African heritage and has enormous ecological value. It is a unique place in the island where you can go and experience mangroves, lagoons, beach and have a taste of some fritters and coconuts filled with rum too. One of their victories was keeping out a pretty big development that menaced the area's heritage and ecology; and actually the pinoneros managed during their battle to make 30,000 acres of the area a natural reserve in 2007 .

Pic: entering Pinones

We arrive at "La Terraza de Domitila", and Tati quickly made us feel at home. She showed us how to make hanging planters out of coconuts, let us touch her natural compost and even invited us to eat some lunch. But we really had to keep going with our egg-hunt, and she provided some contacts, which I could never get ahold off.

Pic: Terraza Domitila

So we decided it was time to go, and to try our luck at finding eggs in the mountain.