Home |
Site Map |
Mexico |
Baja |
Mexico Travel Services |
Mexico News Sources |
Mexico Books |
Mexico City |
Xochimilco's Gardens
In any case, they've missed the boat.
The real attraction of Xochimilco, unrecognized by travel editors and most Chilangos (Mexico City residents) alike, are the chinampas. They're erroneously referred to as floating gardens. Chinampas consist of raised planting platforms separated by water-filled canals.
This type of intensive wetland agriculture actually predates the Aztec arrival in the Valley of Mexico but is still practiced by a few determined farmers. The chinampas should not be seen as mere historical artifacts, but as an alternative model of wetland development.
Numerous commentators have said that chinampas are one of the most productive farming systems ever developed. While the pre-Aztec history remains murky, it is clear that after 1100 or 1200, much of the basin formerly occupied by shallow lakes (Chalco and Xochimilco) was covered in these raised island fields.
Farmers scraped muck from the canal bottom to prepare seed beds, which provided a fertile medium for germination. They also applied decaying aquatic vegetation to the islands, maintaining soil fertility.
Their importance cannot be reduced to production yields alone. Canals and open areas not coverted to agricultural production teemed with fish and other aquatic wildlife. These areas also attracted many bird species, valued in the past more for their taste and plumage than simply their presence.
Of course, the lakes that surrounded Tenochitlan were drained long ago to alleviate flooding. Furthermore, the many freshwater springs which once fed Lake Xochimilco have been successively diverted to provide drinking water supply for Mexico City. Ironically, the chinampas were saved from certain extinction by substituting streams of treated sewage and industrial waste waters for the spring flow.
Water levels fluctuate widely and unpredictably. Moreover, phosphates and other contaminants introduced from the treatment plants complicate the agricultural use of the chinampas considerably.
Because of inadequate water supply, urban expansion and economic pressures, many chinampa farmers have decided to switch from subsistence or vegetable production to cultivation of flowers and plants for sale throughout Mexico. Others have simply abandoned their fields. They now use them to grow forage for a few cows, or they fill in the canals and build houses.
While you may have heard that the chinampas are extinct, you can find them behind the canals frequented by the tourist trajineras. Several hundred hectares of chinampas are still cultivated by farmers in Xochimilco and three other communities south of Mexico City. Want to visit the chinampas? Your best bet is to take a weekday trip (when there are fewer people and the boat owners are under less pressure) to Xochimilco, contract a boat with several others to reduce the cost and ask for a special trip to see las chinampas verdaderas.
Phil Crossley received his PhD in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin and now lives in Colorado. He can be reached via mail: pcrossley@wol.western.edu.
Want to know more about chinampas? Here's a bibliography.
Eco Travels in Mexico Mexico Travel Directory Where to Find Environmental Information in Mexico City Mexico: Links to Environmental Studies
Home |
About |
Advertise! |
Books |
Central America |
Ecotourism |
Headlines
Learn Spanish |
Mexico |
Media |
Site Map |
South America |
World Travel |
Updates