What is a milpa? A milpa is what people around here call the smallish plots of land (1-10 acres) outside of town where people farm (a few still using animals for power). A milpa is where people here grow their corn and beans, and sometimes alfalfa and sometimes a cow or two. And where the rattlesnakes like to be in the summertime apparently. Wikipedia goes on at length about milpas, and calls them a sociocultural construct rather than simply a system of agriculture. It involves complex interactions and relationships between farmers, as well as distinct personal relationships with both the crops and land. And while I won't say I know that to be true or not from my brief experience here, it does seem that there are complex interactions to be had around the farming of milpas here, especially when it comes to figuring out the canal system. More on that later.
Monday, February 11, 2013
welcome
I'm taking the time while internet access is easy and plentiful (on a visit back to CA) to get this little blog up and rolling. I'm starting it to have a place to write regularly about my experience here, other than in my spiral bound notebook. Which is great, but harder to share with all of you who I want to share with. Besides, the Mexican mail system isn't what it is in the US, and letters take a long long time...
What is a milpa? A milpa is what people around here call the smallish plots of land (1-10 acres) outside of town where people farm (a few still using animals for power). A milpa is where people here grow their corn and beans, and sometimes alfalfa and sometimes a cow or two. And where the rattlesnakes like to be in the summertime apparently. Wikipedia goes on at length about milpas, and calls them a sociocultural construct rather than simply a system of agriculture. It involves complex interactions and relationships between farmers, as well as distinct personal relationships with both the crops and land. And while I won't say I know that to be true or not from my brief experience here, it does seem that there are complex interactions to be had around the farming of milpas here, especially when it comes to figuring out the canal system. More on that later.
What is a milpa? A milpa is what people around here call the smallish plots of land (1-10 acres) outside of town where people farm (a few still using animals for power). A milpa is where people here grow their corn and beans, and sometimes alfalfa and sometimes a cow or two. And where the rattlesnakes like to be in the summertime apparently. Wikipedia goes on at length about milpas, and calls them a sociocultural construct rather than simply a system of agriculture. It involves complex interactions and relationships between farmers, as well as distinct personal relationships with both the crops and land. And while I won't say I know that to be true or not from my brief experience here, it does seem that there are complex interactions to be had around the farming of milpas here, especially when it comes to figuring out the canal system. More on that later.
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Hi Trilby,
ReplyDeleteI am so much looking forward to visit you both over there and it´s really nice to have a preview through your illustrating words and pictures. I just enjoyed reading your last one on Ruby and Pancho: I just had to laugh (I also have a difficult name, so I know how it feels). Hopefully we are meeting already very soon. Heartily greetings,
Elalt