Chinampa Letters #2

My name is Maricela Valderrama Flores. I was born in the town of Xochimilco, my parents and my grandparents were born in Xochimilco, my sons, two men of 26 and 24 years, were also born in Xochimilco. My husband and I cultivate decorative plants, succulents, poinsettias, among other plants, we share a joy for plant cultivation, from planting the seed to watching them germinate, we check their growth virtually every day, seeing them changed day after day, and we become excited for the gradual development.

In spite of having grown plants for over twenty years, the process of the growth of the plants never stops surprising us, I am continually grateful to be able to carry out this practice every day of my life. 

I sell my plants in the market close to the boat landing at Cuemanco, but my passion is the cultivation, that is what excites me most, to see so much generosity from the plant kingdom with its extensive array of colors and aromas, and the many plants that have medicinal properties. There is a plant that is called “it smells at night”, because its small flowers open at night, and that is when they release a fabulous aroma. Thankful to life, I feel as if some supreme being must have been the creator of so much beauty.

But the times have changed, and now plants are not sold as in past years. Each year I sell fewer of my beautiful plants. There are weeks when I sell only once or twice, and very few plants or planters. There are fewer people that visit us, and this is reflected in the greenhouse, because without movement in the market, the greenhouse fills with weeds or undergrowth. My children say that we used to be plant producers but now they say that we are “weed pullers”. 

*Translated by Paul Butler Díaz