Photographer Page

César Rodriguez

The sun sets on an historic urban oasis—the chinampas and canals in Xochimilco.

Around the edges of the wetland, tourism abounds. Visitors pack into big flat-bottomed, brightly painted boats called ‘trajineras’ and get punted around the canals. Local vendors, like the ones in the three images above, glide past in their own boats, selling snacks, drinks, and souvenirs.

Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Garcia Guzman, chef and owner of Maximo Bistrot, works in the kitchen. He plans his menus around produce from the Xochimilco chinampas, highlighting the quality of the locally produced foods.

At the Maximo Bistrot restaurant in central Mexico City, Lupita Sanchez prepares flowers collected that day on a chinampa for use in decorating pastry.

Fresh spinach, dill, and parsley from the Olintlalli farm will be sold the next day at the Mercado de las Cosas Verdes.

De Valle’s team harvests verdolagas, also known as Mexican parsley or purslane. The greens will be sold the next day at the Mercado de las Cosas Verdes, and also delivered in baskets directly to customers.

The Xochimilco neighborhood is growing, and the “mancha urbana” (urban footprint) is quickly spreading into the wetland area that used to be all chinampa agriculture. New houses or soccer fields often appear on the islands—sometimes on abandoned ones, and sometimes on ones still being used. The city creeps deeper into the chinampa zone every year.

Don Miguel de Valle, 77 years old, rests during a workday on the Olintlalli chinampa. He has worked in the chinampas since he was a child. Now, he gets tired faster, but still uses a lot of the same techniques he was taught decades ago.

Dario Velasco milks the goats, which along with the cows are a bit of a departure from the family's more traditional chinampa activity of growing produce. His sisters transform the milk into cheeses, creams, and other dairy products, to be sold at markets and to restaurants.

Darío Velasco and his father, Victor Velasco, clear land in their chinampa. Their island is a 40-minute paddle from the edge of the wetland. This deep into it, the only sounds come from wildlife in the canals, birds flapping overhead, and lowing cows and bleating goats.