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Flooded Field- Queretaro State

Well, those of you who have been paying close attention know that “unusual weather” seems to follow me. (Remember Snowpocalypse?) So it’s no great surprise that Candelaria week, which is celebrated in February (the DRY season) with a week-long outdoor flower market and festivities celebrating the start of the growing season (It’s a pagan holiday, co-opted by the Church, re-co-opted by the pagans… Gotta love Mexico!) has turned into an absolute deluge. It’s been raining (we’re talking buckets, not drops) all week. Thunder, lightning, the whole enchilada.

And like most of the gringos, I’ve been cranky & cold (honestly, tomorrow it’ll be warmer in Seattle!) and hiding in my casita, lamenting the dearth of good hot chocolate mixes & watching pirated DVDs.

Today, however, I felt like the Ugly American for real. An errand took me out of town to the nearby city of Queretaro. So I rode in a taxi an hour thru the countryside each way. And, with as many farmers in the family as I have, for many generations, you’d think I would have gotten it.

What is an inconvenience for me is an unmitigated disaster for the farmers around here. And I doubt if there’s any crop insurance. The fields are plowed, and in some cases planted (I think with corn, but can’t tell for sure.) The soil is washing away & the seedlings are drowning. There are going to be hungry people and animals here this year.

The only possible good news is that most of the farmers don’t monocrop. So if this crop fails, they may be able to get by on their other crops; all their eggs aren’t in this basket. But it’s going to be rough- these are very small farms, and I’m afraid some will be lost.

I’ve been running into mention of the Food Crisis 2010 more and more. Maybe some of the real farmers have some insight into this.

But I do know that if you’ve been thinking about starting a vegetable garden, this would be a really good year to start. And I’d use heirloom seeds & save them for next year. Here’s what you can do w/100 square feet.

El Charco de Ingenio

Last week, I finally made it out to El Charco de Ingenio Botanical Garden. I say “out,” but one of the really interesting things is that it is inside the San Miguel city limits. It feels very “outside,” however.

There are twice-weekly tours which are very fun & informative. I did that on Tuesday. There are close ties with the local indigenous cultures, and this is very much a shared space.(Pix are here.)

There are birding groups, a conservatory, ruins of Spanish aqueducts, yoga classes… El Charco is a must see.

On full moon nights, there is a ceremony, open to anyone who cares to join in. So I talked ND from Nashville into going with me, and we had a great time, shaking rattles, invoking archangels & the whole works.  She’d been there for a sweat lodge before, which sounded quite strenuous to me ( 4 hours!!)

The moon was gorgeous and the night was calm and clear after a kind of overcast day. The stars were fantastic. Made me wonder why I’m not out at night more often? And how long has it been since I went camping? Food for thought.