Blat Ha Garden Updates

Jenny and I spent the last week working in the Blat-ha garden. We’ve learned a lot about sustainable gardening techniques in a difficult growing environment, and also a lot about medicinal, edible, and ornamental plants grown in this part of Mexico.

A new irrigation system at the Blat-ha garden,
installed by Jesús. Simple, but effective.

Because the garden is only feet from the ocean, the natural soil is mostly sand. This, combined with the fact that topsoil is difficult to find for purchase on a fishing and touristic island like Holbox, is why composting and finding local, natural sources of fertilizer are so important here. The seasonal precipitation patterns (which, incidentally, Daniel says seem different this year, with the dry season not as dry and the wet season not as wet) call for an irrigation system. This is especially true for certain fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkin, and cilantro. Over the course of a few days we had the chance to see Blat-ha's gardener, Jesús, construct a semi-passive drip irrigation system. The construction was simple and elegant- a couple of pieces of wood creating a tower to hold up a bag of water, from which extended tubing with intermittently placed holes. Fill the slow-drip bag from the garden hose, put it into place on the wooden tower, and  let gravity do the rest. When Jesús finished the construction, Jenny helped with planting a few cherry tomato starts that would benefit from this new system.

A newly planted cherry tomato start, next to an exit hole for
irrigated water. No worries about the growing season
ending here on Holbox anytime soon!

Of course, some plants can thrive in the beach-like environment without the help of irrigation or fertilization. Quite a few of these- palms, a native goldenrod, coconut- are desirable in the garden, for aesthetic reasons, for practical reasons (providing shade, preventing erosion, attracting insects), or for edibile reasons (no coconuts yet, but there are plans). Others, like certain kinds of beach grasses and vines, compete with wanted plants and require weeding. An invasive red vine is particularly aggressive and particularly damaging, apparently growing without roots over certain native plants, choking them to death.

Other plants that thrive without assistance at Blat-ha were culturally and biologically
fascinating. Daniel warned us from the beginning to avoid the largest tree in the garden, known as the chechen tree (Metopium brownei- closely related to the Florida poisontree). In the same family as poison ivy, the chechen releases a compound that causes contact dermititis in many people. The rash, which can last for longer than a week, can be set off by even brief contact with the tree's leaves, bark, or fruit. However, it is thought that almost wherever a chechen tree is found, another tree, called el chacá (Bursera simaruba), can be found growing nearby (and the Blat-ha garden is no exception). Conveniently, the chacá tree contains an antidote for the rash caused by the chechen tree!

Cuidado! A chechen tree!

This association between chechen (which produces high quality lumber) and chaca (which is sometimes known as "the tourist tree" because its red, peeling bark resembles a sunburned tourist) is probably the result of human intervention. But if this is the case, humans have been intentionally cultivating chechen (the "venom") and chacá (the antidote) together for a very long time. A Mayan legend holds that the chechen derives from an ancient malevolent king, and that chaca is either his brother or a beautiful princess- there seems to be multiple versions of this story. The broader picture- of balance, or equilibrium between harmful and helpful, good and bad- fits well within some conceptions of traditional Mayan thought.



A broad shot of the garden. Various types of wildflowers,
vegetables, and trees are divided by rows.
In the background, the famous chacá tree.



Some other interesting plants found in the garden include la penosa ("the shy one"; Mimosa pudica), or, in English, the sensitive plant. This plant illustrates nicely the general concept that plants react to stimuli. When touched, the plant's leaves almost immediately fold up, presumably an adaptation to avoid getting eaten.



The Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica)
before Jenny reaches out to touch it.



The Sensitive Plant, moments after
Jenny reached out to touch it.
Where'd all the broad leaves go?
Clever plant...



  

 

Espinaza del Diablo
Note the small plantlets growing on the lip of several

of the leaves!

One of our favorite plants in the garden was not a Yucatan native. Espinazo del Diablo ("Devil's spikes"; Kalanchoe daigremontona) produces plantlet clones along the lips of its leaves, which each appear to be a miniurture version of the larger plant. Around each Espinazo del Diablo, several "baby plants", dispersed plantlets, can be found.

Another member of the genus Kalanchoe. These
plants are common house plants around
Chicago. But here in the Yucatan, they
grow outdoors!

Elsewhere in the garden we found such plants as okra, sugar cane, papapya, arnica (which in addition to serving medicinal purposes provided wheelbarrows full of dead leaves- another great natural fertilizer), various types of cactus and agave, white spider lily, watermelon, maize, and much, much more, with many plants conveniently labled with sign posts. While compared to Jesús and Daniel I have a long way to go, I can leave Holbox confident that I know a lot more about plants, and gardening, than I did when I arrived. Thanks Daniel and Jesús!