Dead of the Dead, in Chacala

I don't think I had ever heard much about the"Day of the Dead" until I came to Chacala. It's not celebrated here as a tourist event or some kind of spectacle event, like in Patzcuaro and other Mexican towns. As far as I have noticed in four years, it's just the two days when families remember the children (on the 1st) and the adults in their families who have died (on the second).
Mainly they bring flowers to the cemetery where their family members are buried. Sometimes they are flowers they grew themselves, or bought in Las Varas, or from a truck.

More often the are huge bouquets of artificial flowers.
Some are in loose bunches.
Others are made especially for leaving at the cemetery. The flowers on mounted on circles made of styrofoam discs with green paper backing. Wrapped in plastic so they will stay "fresh" longer.This year I will really miss Palila, Maria, who died earlier this year. One of her many money making talents was making the circular wreathes for local people to buy for their Day of the Dead visits to the cemetery. I liked to watch her working, and to support her efforts. I saw Butcho, her husband, this morning, to make sure he has what he needs for whatever he wants to do on Friday. It's almost 9:20pm as I write this. And the giant trucks hauling lovely topsoil from a mango orchard to the gated development are still going up and down the road. Speeding and vomiting exhaust fumes and noise. Been at it for days again. Huge loads. Very annoying.
And seeing the mango orchard being destroyed so that rich people can have decorative foliage growing in the lovely topsoil. Planting plants for decorations, instead the food that dirt was used for previously. It's the ugliest sight, the orchard being dug away by huge machines. Killing lovely mango trees to get dirt to grow plants for decoration, inside of food for people to eat.

Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Portulacas Love Chacala, and Vice-Versa

One of my favorite things about gardening in Chacala is that I can grow succulents year-round here. Some of them go semi-dormant during the rainy season. Like my favorite, Adenium Obesum. But they live thru the rain and start blossoming as soon as it stops.I have always loved Portulacas, ever since the very first time I saw one. In one of the greenhouses at Manito Park, in Spokane WA. I love to able to grow them year around here in Chacala. Or, maybe I should say, I love it that I get to admire Portulacas growing year-around in Chacala. That's because I have almost nothing to do with how well they grow here.Local ladies come by for pieces, cuttings, of the plant all the time. If they see a new color blossom, it's time for a new cutting. I love it. It's so nice to have something to share. And they just stick the pieces in a pot and ingnore them. They almost aways take.

Bouganvilleas Gone Wild, in Chacala

I planted this Bouganvillea late last March I think. It was a one-gallon plant. 1.80US.
It's now about 10 feet tall, and growing about six inches a day.
And it has it's first blossoms. I never really noticed bouganvilleas until starting living here. I know they grow in Los Angeles, where was a child. And they plant them at most resorts in Mexico. Huatulco north. So I know I have seen the vines/plants, and adminred them. But I don't thing I ralized I could actually grow them until I had lived here for awhile.

I didn't have a clue about how tough they are, and how fast growing. You can whack the plant down to a three foot stub with a machete, and a month later it's heaving for the roof again.
Lovely plants, with big sharp thorns. At least the plants around here have big thorns.

Quick Trip Thru My Chacala Garden

The stores in Chacala, and all over Mexico, are filled with hand-made flowers this week. Families are preparing for the two Days of the Dead. One to honor adults and the other two honor children. They make wreaths from these flowers. And take them to the cemetery, or set them in a place of honor at home.

Chacala, and all of Mexico, returned to Standard time this morning. It was lovely to wake up at 6:20am and to find the sun shining in the window onto my pillow.

I got downstairs, to my garden space, awhile later. We haven't had any rain for a couple of weeks, and everything is blossoming out. I don't expect rain again until late June. Of course, you never know about rain. The humidity has dropped too.

It's a sunny, breezy, lovely Sunday morning. And I am happy with my garden.My landlady came up this morning. She knew I had some large pieces of oilcloth I wasn't using and she needed them for something. She told me she was buying paint for the house this week. We talked over colors, but it's really her decision. And since I don't have total control of the color choice, I don't much care. Fresh paint will be nice though.

The little archway I formed over the sidewalk is growing quickly. About three months ago I tied two tall morning glory tree stalks together over the sidewalk. And then twisted and tied vines onto the arch. One from each side. The right side is a jasmine vine, and the left side is a fast growing vine with small purple, trumpet shaped blossoms. I don't know what it's called, and it's not in my books. When in blossoms again, I'll take a photo. Someone will know what it is.

It's hard to see the jasmine because the Ixora, with the red blossoms is in front. On the right.

I love living upstairs. The view is great, and I usually get a nice breeze. But I have to go down the stairs (which are behind the house) to garden. And sometimes that's annoying. I don't want to have pots of plants on my patio, because they seem to draw scorpions. They like being under the pottery pots. I think.The pepper plants continue to produce. People pop some off most days, and the peppers keep on coming.And the yellow Lantana bush is growing really quickly.It's been in the ground since April. Started out in a gallon can, and now it's about 3x6 feet, maybe bigger.

Papaya Trees in Chacala

The two papaya trees in front of the house where I live are growing really quickly. They bear fruit year around in Chacala, and all over in this part of Mexico. I don't know if that's normal or not. Mangoes only bear fruit May and June around here.
These two papaya trees grew from seeds threw in the dirt in front of the house. I don't know how the fruit tastes because I have never tasted one. I like the blossoms on the tree trunk, but I don't really care for papaya. Strange after-taste.
The larger tree was about chest high, a bearing fruit, a year ago. Now it's about 14 feet tall. Amazing. From my patio I can see the lines of the trees in fruit orchards on the hills just south of Chacala. The trees are mostly Guayaba or Mango. The part of Mexico, on the Pacific coast, a few hours north of Puerto Vallarta is agricultural country. Fruits of all kinds. Vegetables. Corn. Tobacco, Cattle, pigs, turkeys, etc etc etc.

It's nice living in farming country.Lots of good food.

Mundo en Flor, Flowers of Oaxaca

These cacti are just ordinary photos that I took this summer at the Oaxaca Ethno-botanical Garden.If you want to see some really good photos of plants in Oaxaca, go to

Mundo en Flor.

This is a wonderful collection of beautiful photos of the blossoms and vegetation around Oaxaca, Mexico.

With identification of each plant.

The photos are wonderful and a great resource.

http://web.mac.com/lauriemoody/Site/mundo_en_flor.html

The Loveliest Path/Stairway in Chacala

In response to Gardening Gone Wild (GGW), a blog I just started reading yesterday, I am posting photos of a staircase in Chacala. The suggestion from GGW is to post garden "path" photos during the month of November. For purposes of this Post, I am thinking of staircases as paths with abrupt changes in elevation. I don't know if that concept will fly with the GGW people or not.The stone wall on the uphill side of the staircase is covered with "Flame Vine", Pyrostegia Venusta". It blossoms for about three months a year.This staircase starts at the Malecon in Chacala. The Malecon is a four wide dirt walkway that skirts the ocean between the two beaches in Chacala. Shots the oceanfront in front of the staircase.

The staircase rises to Mirador, a small (6 unit) family-owned rental place at the top of the small bluff.

Isreal, the owner, has planted this pryrostegria vine on the rock wall above the stairs.
He and his his three handsome sons (Hector, below) built the wall and staircase. One rock and one bucket of hand-mixed cement. I love it.

This photo was taken prior to the Flame vine taking over the staircase.

"Garden" Paths Around Chacala

It's a perfectly lovely, sunny day in Chacala. And so, of course, I have been sitting inside, reading a blog that's new to me. It's called Gardening Gone Wild (http://www.gardeninggonewild.com). It's a group blog, including one of my favorite garden photographs Saxon Holt.

The blog is having a monthly opportunity to show garden photos on various themes. November's theme is "Garden Paths".

My garden paths aren't particularly photograph-able at the moment. One skirts a small swamp created an over-full septic tank, and the other was just blocked by my neighbor doing "cleaning". Which is using a machete to chop down and gather un-wanted vegetation. The plant material is burned a few weeks later, whenever it dries out enought to burn. But right now the pile is blocking the path to the neighbors. It wasn't deliberate, just a handy clearing to pile brush in.

So instead, I am going to post two photos of local paths. One natural, the other human-made.
This is the path Chacala residents use to go down thru a little draw/arroyo that divides the town. The first four years I lived here it was a trail, not a path. It required careful negotiation in the daytime and was difficult at night. Then about two months ago someone doing the construction job on the east side (my side) of the gully used his bobcat to clear the rocks/boulders away. Slightly. At first I was annoyed. I don't do well with change. Any change. But over time I got used ot the new smooth, walkable without hanging onto the rocks, path. And love it.This path wanders thru Majahua, a lovely, very small resort (five units, gourmet restaurant, and spa) at the south end of the beach in Chacals. The entire resort is gently set down in the jungle right above the ocean. You can't see one part of the resort from any other part. It's very beautiful. and all the planting are natural growth. The only imported plants are in pots.
It's very lovely.

Morning Glories All over Chacala

Chacala is covered with flowering, blossoming plants this time of year. Especially morning Glories. Or, at least that's what I call them. Or maybe Opeoma, but I not sure about the names of these plants. They can be vines, shrubs, or trees. And they come in different colors.There are very invasive and aggressive. They cover phone poles, buildings, or shrubs. They grow on roadsides, fields, buildings, everywhere.I don't understand much about the succession of plants growing in the wild. I know some plants are the first to grow in newly disturbed soil.I would like to know more about what plants like to grow together naturally. I have so many questions about plants in a year-around growing climate.I know people in Chacala see the ever-encroaching vegetation as a problem. And it is. A building can become buried in vegetation in less that a year. I guess I will just keep watching and listening.

"Wild" Flowers in Chacalal

Chacala is bursting into bloom right now. The rainy season (late June thru yesterday) is almost over, and the eight month dry seasons is about to begin.For two of my four winters in Chacala there was a short rainy period ( a day or two I think) sometime during the winter. Otherwise, it's very dry, and not very humid late October thru late June.There are "wild" flowers everywhere. I doubt if some of them, or even most of them, are really "wild". But they grow all over, usually in dense patches. And what grows where changes over the weeks and years, so you never know what you will see this week.

I love the intense yellow blossoms all around town this week.It's really beautiful.Hillsides are covered with flowers.Banana's grow in places where it's unlikely they would have been planted there.I walk around town a lot, doing errands, visiting, and looking at what's new in the flower world. I feel so lucky to surrounded by an every changing palate of plants, shrubs, trees and vines.

Chacala's Garden Zone

Chacala is located at the 22N degree latitude. It' about halfway to the Equator if you live in the mid-U.S.. And it's at about the same latitude as Cuba, Cancun, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.

The highs in Chacala are usually mid 90's and the lows are in the low 60's. Most of the year the lows are in the high 60's and low 70's. Usually the temp is low 90's in the hottest part of the year and low to mid 80's the rest of the year.The rainy season (almost all the rain in during the evenings or nights) begins in late June and continues through mid October. Peaking in August and September. It's quite humid here mid-June thru early October.

Most gringos seems to find it too hot and humid in Chacala during the summer months. But I don't think it's much different than New Orleans, or South Carolina, or Washington DC in the summer.I think Chacala is in Zone 11 (U.S. zones) or maybe Zone 12. No frost ever. There is no rain from mid October until late June, so the vegetation gets dry in spring. But only about 1/3 of the vegetation is deciduous, so there's always lots of green stuff growing.

Because we are closer to the Equator, the days are never as long as in the summer in the U.S.
the latest the sun goes down is about 7:40pm. And when the sun does down it gets dark within about 12-15 minutes. Spectacular sunsets almost every night, but then it's dark.It's been fun for me to rediscover the plants I knew as a child in Los Angeles: Bouganvillea,
Hibiscus, Lantana, Jasmine, and so on. They all grown and blossom year-round here. More or less.

This is a fruit growing area, mainly Mangos, but also lots of melons and especially Pineapples. Papayas grow year-round here.I wrote this little summary because several people have written, asking about the climate, etc.

Waking Around Chacala

Few people know the moon is a giant cantaloupe,

but photos don't lie, right?

I walked over to a friend's place yesterday, on the paved road for a block or so, and then on a little short-cut path. I am always amazed at how many things are growing around here. On there own, more or less. The Chickens are always around, fertilizing and bug picking. And various rodents, snakes, and small animals are everywhere. There is lots of vegetation providing cover and homes for these animals and for birds too. Except for the area where a developer has removed every bit of vegetations. leaving only boulders.
These dying clusters of little vines have the cutest little squash-looking fruits on them.
Maybe two inches acrosss.And these woody seed pods are so orderly. I love the little spaces, grooves.This tree with a Strangler Fig growing up it's trunk may live like that for a long time. I love being able to walk down the stairs behind my place and to be in the woods immediately. With birds singings and iguanas sunning themelves, and all forms of life crawling around. Some varmints and all kinds of animals make there homes within 50 feet of my home. I love it.

Walking on the Beach Path, in Chacala

First thing this morning I walked thru Chacala to deliver a rental deposit to a landlady, and her husband. It's really warm still, even at 8am. And humid. But I think it might be cooling off a little. I read that is was 98 yesterday and I believe it. But it's supposed to start raining again tonight. I walked home along the walkway, or Malecon. It's a wide dirt path that runs between the big sandy beach and the little dinghy beach near the muelle (fishing boat harbor). Lots of flowers are growing wild along the path, and some were in bloom. It's amazing how many plants are blossoming at any one time, year round. Last Saturday night the banditos who stole Chacala's well-water pump about a month ago returned to the scene of the crime. This time they stole the electric/electronic? control panel. I guess they missed it the first time.

So we had no town water from Saturday night thru Friday morning. The small roof tinaco at this house ran out of the water the second day. I knew the boys downstairs would indulge in long showers until the tinaco ran dry. So I filled all my water containers (buckets, etc) from the shower head. And then boys keep showering, and that was that. No water by Tuesday morning. I had enough water to flush, and mostly took showers at a neighbors. She has a very large underground water storage tank and three large tinacos on the roof. She has four rentals, so she needs a lot of back-up water storage.It was kind of an odd coincidence. The last rain was on last Friday night, so there was no water for the plants all week either. Things around this house were looking very dry. But the plants are perking up again, and it's supposed to rain tonight. We'll see. A young blossom,

watching the boys on the playground exhibit the "manly" sports skills
Bored, I think.

Bananas in Chacala

Being without a vehicle ( a good choice for me), I walk around Chacala all day long. Or, at least that's what it seems like to me. I arrange rental reservations for some of the local landladies, which requires alot of walking over to their homes. I walk to the beach, and to visit friends from one end of Chacala to the other. Mars Tres restaurant, with its vined covered roof.I walk along the paved road, hoping for a ride into the nearest town, Las Varas. And walk to the tiendas, the primary school, the hardware store, and to my favorite resturant, Mars Tres. I can walk on little paths thru the "jungle" (dense vegetation), on the beach, the muddy beach road, some dirt roads, and on a couple of roads that have been crudely cobblestoned.

A few days ago noticed a new (for me) banana plant across the road from Berta's hme (Estrella del Mar rentals). The bananas looked lovely, but I am sure they are "owned" by someone, and that they're not up for grabs.The hillside around chacala are covered with various fruit trees. Mangos, papayas, limon, naranjo, and lots of citrus fruits that are new to me.
And, trust me, every single tree is being monitored by a local person. It isn't "wild" fruit, waiting for you to pluck it. Someone is patiently waiting for that fruit to ripen. And that person, or someone in that family, has been watching that tree for years.

There are mango and citrus orchards all over the hills around Chacala. You can see them from the beach if you look up to the hills. Lines of trees in small patches, maybe a acre or two.
There are also Noni trees (or bushes really). Their fruit is new to me, and i don't care for it. But it is considered to be very healthful, and life -giving around here. Everyone has planted a bush or two area their home in the last year or two, And most of them are beaing fruit now. The two plants at this house are both bearing fruit right now. I don't know how long they take to get ripe.

Vines, and Two-legged Pests, are Invading My Chacala Garden

I haven't been in a very gardening mood lately. I love Chacala's year-around gardening climate, but sometimes it gets sort of old. And now that I have a "high-speed" internet connection at my place, I would rather read gardening blogs. Or take care of rental reservations for some of my neighbors, or swim, or visit somebody. Anything but gardening.

I guess that's downside of being able to garden year-around. I seem to kind of lose interest off and on. But yesterday I found my tennis shoes, which were packed away in a suitcase I store in my neighbor's bodega.And with my feet more protected than when I am just wearing sandals, I waded out into the knee-deep vines that are taking over the north end of the garden area. For now at least, I can see individual plants, rather than a sea of green vine leaves.The are two kinds of vines I have noticed so far. A morning glory type vine. And then a very aggressive vine with a thick runner that roots every foot or so. I think it can group 4 feet or more in a day. But the nice strong tendrils make it easy to pull up 15 or 20 feet at a time.

Before cleaning the vines in this section,
you couldn't see the boulders, let alone the plants.

I went back down this morning, all dressed up in tennis shoes, to do battle with the vines again.
I had been pulling vines for a few minutes, quickly clearing a large area, when I noticed a distinctive order. The smell of human excrement, and urine.

That's when I discovered my landlady's husband (E) had rented the downstairs room sometime during the night. My new neighbors are of gang of four young baby hoodlums. My first clue to their existence, besides the smell, was a small car parked half-way into the water ditch. Surrounded by empty beer cans.

These healthy young spoiled brats had used up the 55 gallon drum of water for flushing the toilet in maybe four hours. And were using the garden relieve themselves.

I decided to skip my gardening chores until after at least two heavy heavy rainstorms have passed over Chacala. I refilled the 55 gallon drum and came back upstairs to lose myself on the internet, and let my frustration with my landlady's husband fade away.Whatever. On the upside, one of the Crinium's is blooming again. I think it bloomed about six months ago. Amazing plant, wonderful blossom. And the jasmine vine I am training on a "trellis' over the walkway is blooming. I am guessing the slight cooling off is encouraging blossoms, but who knows?

Mariachi in Chacala

I accidently posted this here, instead of on "My Life in Chacala". Then I decided to leave it here. When I first arrived in Chacala I had no notion of Mariachi music, or any other popular music in Mexico. I think my complete knowledge of music in Spanish was "La Cucaracha", and "Vaya Con Dios, My Darling". I don't know much more now, but DO I know what I don't like. I know that I definitely don't like ANY music played over sound systems as big as trucks. Or played by band consisting of 10 trumpet and 8 drum players, and a tone-deaf lead singer. Or music played after midnight, until 3 or 4am.There was a big wedding and fiesta in Chacala last week. The fiesta/dinner party had one of those big-speaker-bands. I didn't go down to the beach to look it over: to count the speakers and admire the flatbed truck they probably came to Chacala on.But I could hear every note of their "music" from my bedroom window. Didn't even have to open the window. Very loud music. When it's that loud you can't really hear the "tune" or the singing. It's just LOUD. IT doesn't matter that the speaker can't sign and can't remember the words of the song. I bet if they tested the hearing of all of Mexico, hearing problems would be endemic.But there was a Mariachi band at the Chacala church. Before, during and after the Mass. And it was lovely. Beautiful music and singers with good voices. Nice romantic songs. With real instruments: violins, real guitars, sax, and trumpet, and more.I walked by the church about a half hour before the actual ceremony, and visited with the band a little. I guess I am a band "groupie" now. I think there are 15 band members, all wearing very dressy outfits.It was late afternoon, in the 90's and very, very humid. No breeze. I am surprised that no members of the wedding party fainted from the heat. The was a lot water and beer being inhaled during the breaks. the bride needed a hand-held paper fan to keep cooler.Apparently every piece of their outfits has particularly significance and a history. I think that this band has been playing together for a long time. Some of the main players are at least 60, maybe older. Quite a few youngsters too. I had the impression there were a number of family members in the band, but I am not sure about that.I was back outside the church when the music started. We we sitting and standing under the huge tree outside the church, listening to the music and watching as the wedding party, guests and some town people entered the church.The band also played several times during the ceremony, and then afterwards. I think I have come to appreciate Mariachi music by osmosis. I don't remember actually sitting down and listening to it, and I couldn't name in particularly songs. But the music just feels so Mexico.The band had another "groupie", beside me. A local guy who is part of the Chico's Restaurant family. I think he does night security. And I know that sometimes he collects the entry fees for the bathroom facilities. He's over 80 year old. He was also very interested in the band, and was lurking around them the whole afternoon. He's the guy in the white dress shirt, and sunglasses, looking good.