Chinampas and Camellones

More people arrive at this blog through Chinampas than anything else. This is very encouraging and I would like to give more information sources on this incredible and pertinent method of farming.

In brief this method of low technology, high intensity farming is as old as agriculture. The ancient civilizations of the Americas as well as those in south east Asia and parts of Europe used canals or terraces with raised beds and waterways to produce enough food for their population centers with relative ease and efficient use of mostly marginal land. Rather than hashing together a long entry here myself, I'm listing links to various other sites and research which say it better. Happy and enthusiastic reading! And please leave a comment if this works for you!

http://www.inst.at/trans/16Nr/02_4/plachetka16.htm

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/fishweir/articles/Erickson1986AgriculturaEnCamellones.pdf (in Spanish)

http://theislandfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/camellones-chinampas-in-bolivia-from.html

http://theislandfarm.blogspot.com/2009/06/chinampas.html

http://books.google.co.cr/books?id=RzVcmreO-zgC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=chinampas&source=bl&ots=X1cVa-FpKk&sig=tJTt4jBGoSaKvxk2KYbCBT8oJYU&hl=en&ei=XvDASorbN4_SjAfIzqBI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13#v=onepage&q=&f=false

http://books.google.co.cr/books?id=23RuM8OUngEC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=chinampas+xochimilco&source=bl&ots=UzbHynDetZ&sig=v3-S7DPqO3bytpaKHItzFKlrK3I&hl=en&ei=I_LASpeOCOOOjAfux71O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=chinampas%20xochimilco&f=false