Mor Temor

2.26 Floating Gardens

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The work between man and nature is an intimate relationship between cultural heritage and the natural environment. The 'Chinampas' landscape testifies to the evolution of social creativity, the imaginative and spiritual vitality of the Mexicans. A ‘Chinampa’ if, generally speaking, a floating garden formed artificially either by dumping earth in a designated area near the shore of a lake until a small islet it formed (see Fig. 61).

 Fig. 61 ‘Chiampa’ cultivation system.

The Valley of Mexicois surrounded by beautiful green mountains, whose circumference measured from the lower mounts is greater than 120 miles. The larger lagoon within this Basin contained fresh water while the minor one held brackish water. The two lagoons were connected through a large channel. The water that flowed from the mountains into the brackish water lagoon was located in the lowest part of the Valley. Because of this the Great Tenochtitlan was constantly flooded, not only under native rule but also during the Spanish domination.

One of the main problems faced by the Mexicans was the lack of land on which to build their houses, because the Tenochtitlán island didn’t have enough room for all the inhabitants. They rectified this situation by extending those parts of the island where the water was shallow by reclaiming land with alternate beds of reeds and mud taken from the bottom of the lagoon. This, of course, was the same technique used to create the ‘Chinampas’. As they enlarged the inhabited islands, other lands were created to sustain wildlife for hunting and gathering, while other ‘Chinampas’ served as extensive gardens. The ‘Chinampas’ were used to cultivate corn, capsicum, beans and squashes. With the arrival of the European culture and their techniques and botanical knowledge, the floating gardens were enriched by the cultivation of the new imported flowers from distant lands (Onofre, 2005).

Otherwhere, Philip H. Eve. in 1950 and Richard J. Schuck in 2005 have invented new and useful improvements in floating support for growing plants (see Fig. 62-63). The present inventions relates to aquatic gardening and, more particularly, to a self-watering floating planting system for growing a wide variety of plants, aquatic and other, in ponds, small lakes and container water gardens (Philip, 1950) (Richard, 2005).

Fig. 62 Philip H. Eve. floating support for growing plants.

Fig. 63 Richard J. Schuck floating support for growing plants.

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