Hope Springs Eternal Normally I am excited at the prospect of a new year: new calendars, new plans, a new verdant view. For gardeners, we also have a rebirth of our gardens to look forward to. This year seems different. My friends are complaining that they are having to learn new things daily. Their resources […]
Verdant View – January 2025 Read More »
Event Review by Francisco (Fco.) Nava The Fourth Paella Festival of Lake Chapala promised to be a very special and unique event…and it was! On Saturday October 19th, 2024, at 12 noon at the Centro de la Cultural y Arte de la Ribera de Chapala (CCAR) in La Floresta 200 guests, 7 paella teams, a
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Gratitude My mother Rebecca and I made a pact to follow each other’s instructions upon our passing from this world. The conversation took place in Glendale, CA at one of her favorite Mexican restaurants. My brother George and I had taken her out to dine for one of our ritualistic Monday night dinners. She sat
Verdant View – November 2024 Read More »
Mariposario Our Growers Group decided to take a field trip to the Mariposario (butterfly nursery/garden) in Jocotepec this past month. The Mariposario is a large, black-netted, walk-through structure that allows the visitor to commune with butterflies that make their way passively into the structure enticed by drying fruit. The Mariposario is an independently funded project
Verdant View – October 2024 Read More »
Who Owns Nature? I’ve recently started taking long walks, partly to help my body maintain its health but mostly to maintain my mental equilibrium. I find that if not watched, my days can be spent sitting in front of the computer or my mind will obsess on what I need to do, how to resolve
Verdant View – September 2024 Read More »
Success In The Garden I often ask myself, “What does a successful garden look like?” I also ask, “What is a successful garden and what can I do to have one?” The answers are as varied as the number of gardeners on this stunning planet. For some it might be a rewilding of their spaces
Verdant View – August 2024 Read More »
Water, Water Everywhere? I recently was invited to hear Dr. Eduardo Juarez Carrillo, Director of the Institute for Limnologia y Sustentabilidad, of the University of Guadalajara, speak at a gathering hosted by the Friends of Centro Pro-Mexico in San Juan Cosala. The title of the presentation was “Water Crisis of Lake Chapala.” Dr. Juarez Carillo
Verdant View – July 2024 Read More »
Braiding Sweetgrass Every so often, but not too frequently, a book crosses your path that resonates clearly with your own beliefs, which fills in those effective gaps, which astounds and educates you, taking you to greater levels of understanding. Braiding Sweetgrass Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and The Teachings of Plants by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer
Verdant View – June 2024 Read More »
The Simple Life I’ve tried to simplify my life since I moved back to Mexico 13 years ago. I still drive a secondhand, 26-year-old family van purchased from my sister Sandra and brought from Santa Monica, CA. I still wear secondhand store-bought clothes that my mother Rebecca used to bring me every July for my
Verdant View – May 2024 Read More »
Pollination Considering that about 80% of our flowering plants need to be pollinated so they can reproduce and that these plants include approximately 75% of the crops people harvest and eat around the world, how would you solve the dilemma of pollination? Some plants are pollinated by animals known as pollinators. Pollination is the act of taking pollen from
Verdant View – April 2024 Read More »
