Friday, December 22, 2006

Plants Around Chacala

In my other blog My Life in Chacala, I showed some photos of Euloia harvesting Mata, the plant from which the make a tea drink called Jamaica here in Chacala. And maybe in many parts of Mexico. And I am showing a couple more here. Euloaia is the novio, esposo (boyfriend or husband), not sure which, of my landlady. He let me take photos of his processing Mata plants, the blossoms of which are used to make Jamaica tea. A sweet, ususally cold drink that is very popular in Chacala. I don't know if the name Mata is a local name, or a formal name for this plant
We also looked at one of my plants. Well, what used to be one of my plants. Actually a bucketful of my plants. When I was giving plants away in preparation for moving to the beach, Lupe came up to pick up her choice of plants, she put these plants together in one of the buckets, to make it easier to carry home. And they just stayed there. They look okay though.
I am happy I didn’t move to the beach, although I am visiting at Esparanza’s, my beach landlady, almost everyday. I kind I wish I had held off giving my plants away, until I knew for sure where I was moving. But it’s working out okay, and I can get suttings from my old plants whenever I want.

Today some visiting Canadians went to the tianguis in La Penita. They asked if I wanted something from the market, and I asked a bag of dirt. I didn’t expect them to remember. Or thought maybe the Vivero/nursery would be closed for a couple hours for lunch before they got there. But they remembered!!! Hooray. Time for some more transplants. I will be in Las Varas tomorrow, and will get some more cheap pots. I can’t wait to shift things around, and also to plant some stuff in the ground.I got some plant seeds last week, Coleus and some peppers, and something else. Maybe I will plant them tomorrow.I love it that there is so much to learn about plants here. Today a women visiting from Utah showed me a seed pod from a tree here. She wondered what it was called, and I couldn’t remember. We looked in my PV area plant book and couldn’t find it.
And then she and I inspected a tree near my house. It seems to have giant seed pods growing on it . I am going to take a photo tomorrow, and ask my neighbors what it’s called.



While we were taking photos of his drying racks he also showed me a small stand of Cana, which seems to be Sugar Cane. He cut me a piece and it seemed like Sugar Cane, but who knows.

2 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

Love the photos of the Jamaica stuff. As for the name Mata, I don't know if it is regional or not. My landlord calls it Jamaica. My plant is just starting to bloom, it is pretty; but the stems are not as red colored as the ones in your photos, maybe mine is a different variety. I only know that I like it.
If you like your photos, who cares if they are preceived as being "good shots" or not. Just enjoy them, I think they are lovely.
Brenda

Unknown said...

What great pictures! That plant is so beautiful that it's hard to believe that it can taste so sweet as a beverage, too.

You are a great storyteller, by the way... I somehow feel like I am getting to explore Chacala right along with you. :)