Post #16B Learning from Our Ancestors: Chinampas Part 2: A How-to Guide
Post Description: How to create your own chinampa gardening system. Part of a series on Learning From Our Ancestors.
Chinampas are the holy grail of Permaculture. When done right, these raised bed gardens are a closed loop system. An entire micro ecosystem, living and breathing in harmony within a macrocosm of environmental chaos.
Ah, that sounds like a place I want to be. A closed loop world in balance with the life it supports on fresh food, pure water, and clean air.
Blissful. Sign me up!
We delved into what chinampas are and how they came into existence in our post Learning from Our Ancestors: Chinampas Part 1: What are Chinampas?
Now let’s talk about how to maintain them.
Planting a Chinampa Bed or Islet
- Seeds – Historically, and to this day, Mexican Chinampa farmers maintain seed banks and select seeds each year to breed the best varieties. We suggest you do the same.
- Prepare the germination bed – dig a shallow area (8″ or so deep) with a square-edged digging hoe and fill it not quite to the top with mud dredged from the canal. Let mud dry for about 3 days until it is soft and ready to use.
- Germination – cut mud into 2 inch squares, poke a hole in the center of each square, and plant the seeds. Cover with row cover fabric to keep birds away.
- Seedlings – depending on variety, seeds should form root balls and shoots a couple of inches tall within a couple weeks.
- Break apart the mud blocks – at this point, the blocks can be easily broken apart along the cut lines and the seedlings planted without much transplant stress. The soil in these blocks is rich and moist and will hold water to help the young plants grow.
- Prepare the transplant bed – dig the area that will be planted about 8″ deep with the hoe, fill it with mud not quite to the top.
- Transplant – set the seedlings right in the wet mud. No digging is needed in the mud because it is still wet, and this reduces transplant shock.
Greenhouses and Trellises
Greenhouses can be built over the beds to extend the growing season. These can be in the form of hoop houses and tend to use plastic, shade cloth, row fabric. A more traditional style greenhouse will generally use fiberglass instead of glass.
Trellises can be created between beds, over the canals. Just be sure to erect them tall enough for a tall person in a canoe to get through for irrigating and also for harvesting from the tops of the trellis.
Irrigation and Fertilizing – the Magic of Chinampas
While water does come up via capillary (subirrigation, below ground) action, the beds are high enough above the water table that they can require irrigation.
In addition to smaller irrigation channels, modern farmers are experimenting with water-capturing techniques, such as catching the morning dew with mesh that funnels the water right to the plants.
The fertilizer is in the mud. Canal mud is particularly rich in nutrients from the droppings of aquatic birds and other animals, rotted plant material and dead animals, and loads of beneficial bacteria that break it all down.
After each harvest, any waste organic material is layered on top of the beds along with another layer of mud. The mud gets richer and more nutrient dense over time.
This system of farming must be consistently maintained, much as many forms of gardening. Dredging the mud, keeping the canals clear, and infusing nutrients back into the bed via mud and plant matter is essential to the health of the system.
Dealing with Pests in the Beds
- Organic Repellents
- Trap Plants – plant in blocks near the crops and the pests will hang out there, where there is shade and food for them.
- Physical removal – for example, the cabbage butterfly lays eggs on the undersides of broccoli leaves. The farmers cut the leaves before the eggs hatch.
Avoiding Non-Natives
Learn from the past, as mistakes were made. In the 1970s, with the best of intentions, several non-native species of plants and fish were introduced to the Mexican chinampas.
The following should be avoided in native, Mexican-style chinampas at all costs and should serve as a reminder to pay attention to the species you are adding to your own chinampa system.
- Eucalyptus trees and exotic water lilies – these species draw so much water that they can cause lake basins and swamps to dry up.
- Carp and tilapia – In Mexico, non-native fish have no natural predators and have caused several endemic forms of wildlife to disappear from the region. These include frogs and crustaceans, as well as the mascot of the chinampa system, the axolotl, a rare salamander-like amphibian. We are experiencing similar issues here from these same fish and other exotics. We do not have axolotl, but may be blessed with the presence of our own indigenous salamanders and other amphibians if we build our own chinampas. There are safer fish we can stock the water with, such as bass.
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You must, of course, have a swampy or shallow pond or lake area to utilize this system of farming.
If you do not, but you are jazzed to try it out, consider a test garden using a large kiddie pool.
Or look to an underutilized, watery community space and petition for a demonstration garden. Gather your community, teach a workshop. Or if that’s not your thing, find someone who wants to teach it and collaborate. Remember, community is key when it comes to sustainable gardening!
Our third and final post on chinampas will focus on the system as a closed loop ecosystem. We’ll discuss why it is so important to preserve this method of farming and how it can benefit our future on this planet. In case you haven’t seen it, click to read our first chinampa post.
When it comes to Permaculture, chinampas may feel a little high maintenance due to the consistent care the system requires to stay in balance. On the other hand, I see it as the darling of the Permaculture world rather than the underdog it seems to have become. Once you’ve got a good system up and running, virtually no inputs are needed. Sure, you’ve got to maintain it, but the output is a far greater return.
Do any readers out there have experience with chinampas? Has anyone been so lucky as to tour any of the chinampas farms in Mexico? Or speak with the chinamperos, the farmers?
Tell me your stories, I can’t wait to learn more!
Until next time, happy gardening!
Mary