Puerto Rico
The island of Puerto Rico is located in the caribbean sea. It's status quo is a very controversial issue. The definition given by the US Supreme Court is “ a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not part of the United States.” This creates culture with a perplexed identity. The island is very evenly divided between the people that want to remain with this ambiguous status, the ones that want belong to the US and the people that want to claim independence. This complex situation creates a very interesting and unique culture.
Puerto Rico extends 115 miles east to west and 42 miles north to south covering a total area of about 3500 square miles. The island topography consists of a large mountain range in the middle of the island that extends from east to west and divides the island in south region and north region. Puerto Rico is divided into 78 municipalities, including San Juan its capital.
1st Construction
In 1972 my uncle Tio Tito was ready to start pursuing his university degree in engineering. My grandpa wanted to make sure that my uncle was choosing a profession that he was going to enjoy. He decided to build a house in the 1 acre lot that he bought from Don Ramon. That summer they build panels at my grandpas wood shop. Later on they went to land and assembled the house.
Interestingly no one in my family ever slept in the house. It was used occasionally by my family on Sunday trips. Although my uncle Musin hinted me that he might have slept there with his girlfriend at the time, of course without my grandparents permission. A German couple rented the house for some years and after that it was never used. I was able to visit the house recently and it still salvageable. The house has a deck that overlooks the south slope all the way to the caribbean ocean.
My uncle enjoyed the process of building the house and eventually graduated as an engineer. He now runs a very successful construction company in Puerto Rico and holds strongly the experience of building the house with my grandpa.
2003 Transfer of Titles
In 2003 my aunts and uncles that were in Puerto Rico bought the farm from my Grandparents. I believe they did it to give my retired grandpa an income of cash.. They had a vision of building 3 houses and a communal house. I remember a family dinner were the discussion was the plans for the houses. My uncle Jaime , whom is an architect, made 3D models of the houses. Even though the houses were never built, the models and construction plans are done and could be used in the future.
Carite Town
The farm is located in the town of Carite, municipality of Guayama in the south eastern region of Puerto Rico.The town of Carite has a small population of about 60 families. In the past, Carite was known for growing Coffee and Tobacco. In the last 5 decades, due to the “industrialization” of the island and migration of the new generations to the cities, agriculture has decline.
The Finca Carite seats at an altitude of 550 meters. The average rainfall is around 100 inches per year. The temperature oscillates around 72° degrees fahrenheit. The farm is registered in two properties. One of 4 acres and the other of 5 acres. The 5 acre lot adjoins to the lake on the side.
How the family got the land
In 1970 my grandpa's driver Don Ramon approached him and ask him a favor. He explained , “my daughter is getting married and he need $2500 for the wedding.” The only thing he could sell to get the money was a 1 acre property around the Carite lake. My grandpa decided to buy the lot from Don Ramon. When I interviewed my grandma she said "he decided to buy the property to help him, but also because he has always been a lover of nature and admire the farmers that grow the food we eat". Grandma remembers the day they went to see the property “it was raining and we had to walk about a mile through a steep hill in order to go see the land that was located in the ridge of the mountain.”
That same year a neighbor of the lake was selling a farm that had lakefront property. I am not exactly sure why he decided to buy it, but my intuition tells me that it was so that Grandma could be “entertained” fishing, while he could go work the land. In fact, Hector our current neighbor of the farm, told me that he remembers my grandpa planting plantains with his dad, while him and his brother took my grandma fishing in a little red boat.
Passion Fruit Processing Plant
Another important historical feature of the area is the Passion Fruit Processing Plant. The information I was able to gather about the farm comes from neighbors and word of mouth.I was not able to find any information online. The “fabrica” as its called locally,is located to the eastern boundary of Finca Carite. The operation ceased to exist about 40 years ago when the owner died in an accident. Several people told me that they remember the constant flow of farmers with their trucks full of passion fruit to be sold at the processing plant. Carmen Iris, a local botanist and business owner told me “the plant was very modern and considered as modern sustainable building, they collected rain water, it is a shame they left crash the way it did”. The remaining structures that are still up, but sadly they have been vandalized by people, furthermore the jungle has overgrown on it. Recently an engineer bought the property and is remodeling t the structures to build an apartment to live in.
La Casita Verde
In 2013 a friend of the family wanted to sell some of her art collection. My uncle saw a painting of a simple house titled “la casita verde” by a re-known Puerto Rican artist called Rafael Tufiño. He bought it as a gift for his wife,Titi Mari's birthday. He wrote a poem in the back were he describes how he wants a “casita verde” for both of them to spend time and live simply in the moment. The first house that is going to be build in the farm is going to be based on this poem that seats in the back of this painting that hangs in their current dining room.
Carite Lake
The Carite Lake covers an area of 124 hectares, making up a total volume of 12 hectometers. It is surrounded by the Carite Forest which is a state park of 6500 hectares and very rich in Flora and Fauna. The lake is an important source of water for the south eastern area of Puerto Rico.
The forest was declared a national park in 1935 with the idea to protect the 3 main water basins that run through there. The flora of the park includes 204 species of trees, which 176 are endemic. There are 49 species of birds, 15 species of amphibians, 12 species of reptiles and 7 species of mammals, a total of 9 species of fauna are endangered.
The lake was the first man made lake built in 1913. The first hydroelectric plant in Puerto Rico was build there. The dam served as a source of water to big agriculture farms located in the south coast. With the success of this project many more artificial lakes were built around the island. Since then, it has served as a source of electricity, water and recreation. There are 6 species of fishes that were introduced to the lake, making it a great place to practice recreational fishing.
Family Zest
I have notice that the zest of this project is my families affinity to nature. There is a lot to be talked about our connection to the ocean, animals and plants. In fact when Grandpa died the family got together and wrote a book called: Gumersindo Suarez: Raices, Relatos y Legados. The book is a mix of grandpas writings and deep condolences and stories written by family members. I have use this book as a source of information and it demonstrates that the Suarez family has a connection with nature.
My Involvement
After obtaining my PDC in December 2012 in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, I was motivated and felt confident to create a homestead project. I remembered about the farm that my grandpa had in lake Carite. That same christmas I approached my uncle Tio Tito and ask him about the farm. We went on a drive and to check out the farm. Everything was overgrown and the road was inaccessible. We weren't even able to make it to the lake. I remember I got to meet Hector, the owner of the neighboring farm.
My uncle ask Hector if he could clean the trail because he wanted to celebrate my grandmas birthday in the farm. On January 11, 2013 all my family gathered at the farm to celebrate my grandmas 91st birthday. Sadly I was back in Guatemala due to work, but I saw the pictures and heard the stories of the great time the family had.
That year I left the community garden where I was working in Guatemala and decided to work at the Punta Mona permaculture farm in Costa Rica. Here I got hands on experience in farming and construction. In December 2013, inspired by my PDC I went to work to the Carite Farm for 2 weeks. . In 2014 I worked at the farm for 2 months and was able to apply the skills that I learned in Punta Mona with a great deal of confidence.