All posts by admin

Coffee, Import/Export, Peru

Curibamba Coffee (It’s special to be a good coffee bean)

3 Comments

This blog post is a shameless promotion of our first import from Peru – Curibamba Specialty Coffee. It does however recap our adventures as we journeyed to the central rainforest of Peru & gives one a glimpse into the journey that your delicious coffee makes to arrive in your cup. Enjoy! (Reposted)


Wholesale green coffee beans, click here or call (928) 530-1235

 

For roasted coffee visit our coffee shop.

 

For green coffee beans for the home roaster our click here.

 

Continue reading Curibamba Coffee (It’s special to be a good coffee bean) →

Coffee

The Joy of Home Coffee Roasting (With a Behmor)

We just returned from Peru & that always means lots of mail, email, and work related stuff that had gone “on hold” for the holidays. All while trying to overcome jet lag & a time difference. Although we always stay busy & productive when we travel via the internet, there’s a whole lot more that pops up once one is at the home desk again.

Long before any work can begin there are the myriad things to check around the ranch. This time we had a couple of frozen pipes in the garden area, but otherwise everything seemed to have survived our absence fairly well. Solar system, check. Batteries, float voltage good (charged.) Water pressure, check. Water tank, low (our main storage.)

Now, returning to the house I realize that we have no fresh roasted coffee. This is of course completely unacceptable. However, since I import coffee & have volumes of green coffee beans, we just have to roast some…Enter the Behmor…

Continue reading The Joy of Home Coffee Roasting (With a Behmor) →

Food, Sustainable Farming

The Joy of Heirloom Seeds

 

There is nothing more fun & heartwarming (and bone warming too) this cold time of year than planting what will become the year’s garden harvest.

I’ve mentioned our favorite seed company – Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds before (see Peruvian Heirloom Seeds Arrive in the US)

We’ve used their seeds (and seed saved from these rare varieties,) for many years now. This year we decided to go all out and replenish what has been an aging supply of seeds. We purchased their Large Southern seed collection of 50 packs with over 30 varieties, and here’s what we have:

Continue reading The Joy of Heirloom Seeds →

Economy, Peru

Why the Peruvian Economy Matters to the World

Machu Picchu Peru

 

As I first began to think about this post I imagined that the line “Why the Peruvian economy matters to the world,” would be considered by some in high finance circles to be somewhat comedic relief, maybe like a night out at the improv comedy club for Keynesian economists and bankers.

It’s not to say that Peru’s economy is so large or anything like that, being just 51st in nominal GDP worldwide,  (source) but rather that its run to glory is so typical of what has happened to little countries all over the world since 2008. As the “free” Federal Reserve dollars sloshed around the planet searching for anywhere to grow faster, faster, those same dollars found a happy home in many emerging and smaller nations. Peru by itself is just one of the many, but the sum total of debt between all those “little” emerging nations is a significant sum that could easily cripple the banking system.

Continue reading Why the Peruvian Economy Matters to the World →

Food, Medical Tourism, Sustainable Farming

2015 Resolution: Avoid GMO Foods

 

We find ourselves at a crucial moment in time. This is a moment where many of the policies that regulate our food and its future are being decided. It is key that we not only as consumers but most importantly as residents and stewards of the planet be educated on this subject, so we can be active and effective participants in these decisions. Otherwise the decision will be taken from us and will most certainly not be in our interest.  – Mathieu Asselin

via Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation.

A New Year

It’s the time of year where many of us reflect on our lives & some consider taking a more active stance in our own well being. It may be exercising more, quitting tobacco use, eating healthier, or maybe even making financial changes in our 401K or household budgets.

One thing for sure is that it is difficult to discover which foods contain GMO ingredients here in the US. Since food companies are not required to disclose the inclusion of GMOs in their products, we are forced to stick with organic items to even have an idea that we are eating healthy. In an environment such as this, having a garden is self defense.

Although gardening can fill an important part of our food consumption, most of us will have to continue to eat what we buy, here’s some tips on how to avoid GMOs:

Continue reading 2015 Resolution: Avoid GMO Foods →

Peru, Sustainable Farming

Climate Change Threatens Quechua and Their Crops in Peru’s Andes

 

Published on Tuesday, December 30, 2014 Inter Press Service

by Fabíola Ortiz
Climate Change Threatens Quechua and Their Crops in Peru’s Andes

PISAC, Peru (IPS)—In this town in Peru’s highlands over 3,000 metres above sea level, in the mountains surrounding the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Quechua Indians who have lived here since time immemorial are worried about threats to their potato crops from alterations in rainfall patterns and temperatures.

“The families’ food security is definitely at risk,” agricultural technician Lino Loayza told IPS. “The rainy season started in September, and the fields should be green, but it has only rained two or three days, and we’re really worried about the effects of the heat.”

If the drought stretches on, as expected, “we won’t have a good harvest next year,” said Loayza, who is head of the Parque de la Papa or Potato Park, a biocultural conservation unit created to safeguard native crops in the rural municipality of Pisac in the southeastern department or region of Cuzco.

Continue reading Climate Change Threatens Quechua and Their Crops in Peru’s Andes →

Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism Cost Comparison (Outsourcing Your Healthcare)

Today’s post will take a look at several cost comparisons for various types of procedures and their costs in multiple countries with the idea of seeing where one might possibly be able to afford a needed surgery in the future.

 

Big Fat Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only. I have not used any of these companies, nor do I endorse their services. It is only to be used as  a wide look & to start your investigations. Continue reading Medical Tourism Cost Comparison (Outsourcing Your Healthcare) →

Medical Tourism

The Subtle Slavery of the Affordable Care Act

 

After watching our health insurance premiums skyrocket (almost doubling) in just over two years, we realized that with the large deductibles and crappy coverage that we were going to be bankrupt in any large emergency. For anything that doesn’t require immediate emergency service, we can go to Peru (or anywhere else) for a fraction of the cost.

In the end, it’s the forced making of bad choices that is the horror of the so called Affordable Care Act. Here’s an article that sums up the harsh reality: (Guest Post Via Cognitive Dissidence)

 

Continue reading The Subtle Slavery of the Affordable Care Act →

Blogging, Chocolate, Coffee, Economy, Food, Import/Export, Medical Tourism, Peru, Sustainable Farming

Holiday Reads: Some Great Links, Year in Review

Christmas 2014

Ahhh, 2014 is quickly coming to an end, and once again I wonder what happened to the year. It went by so fast.

Between watching world & financial events with open eyes & shuttling back and forth to Peru, I managed to accomplish a personal first, successfully importing over 3,600 pounds of specialty grade Peruvian coffee from the Chanchamayo region.

Now that really isn’t that much in the coffee world where the goal is to fill containers for shipping, each weighing 42,000 pounds, but for me it was quite an accomplishment to wade through the maze of customs regulations, not only in the US, but in Peru as well. It took quite a bit of time, and the jury is still out on how profitable it will be (if at all.)

It’s a little (actually a lot) of fear to overcome before moving ahead into the unknown. For years I had  been thinking that it would be an interesting business, that is providing high quality imported stuff to what I imagined to be eager buyers in the US. The problem was always that the sense of being generally clueless kept me at bay. I always thought about doing my taxes when I thought of Customs. Up there with getting a root canal.

Continue reading Holiday Reads: Some Great Links, Year in Review →