Urban Garden welcomes Aztec blessing and the Milpa crop
Sarah Jasso
Issue date: 5/19/09 Section: Features
During the recent Cinco de Mayo celebration, we all got a chance to eat some tacos, drink some margaritas, and hopefully learn a little bit about the culture and history of Mexico. Now San Diego City College is giving everyone a taste of culture by adding a new crop field on campus. Students and staff members have been working hard to get their Milpa project under way.
A Milpa is a crop field that is found in Mesoamerica, incorporating the three most important foods in the indigenous culture: corn, beans and squash.
A large group of Chicano Studies students, as well as outside volunteers, have been working in the Milpa fields for one to two hours a few days a week.
"This project began in the beginning of the spring semester" Professor Davalos explains. "The agriculture department wanted to plant some corn fields so we got together and decided that instead of corn we should harvest a whole milpa plant. We all decided this would be better then a regular agriculture field."
Davalos is a professor for the Chicano Studies Department at San Diego City College. He, along with Julia Dashe and Paul Maschka, who are urban farmers with the San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, and some of his students, are working hard to get this project going.
"I mentioned it to two of my classes, my Chicano Studies intro class as well as my Chicano Studies Mesoamerican culture class" Davalos said. "Once they were all on board we were ready to look for the land and start getting it ready to plant."
On May 12, the group was able to showcase all the hard work they had put into getting the field ready by having an opening ceremony.
"We contacted Stan Rodriguez, to see if he would come and bless the land before we planted the first seed," Davalos recalls. "We thought it would be appropriate to have Stan do it because this is originally their land."
Rodriquez is a member of the Kumeyyay tribe, which is the indigenous group of San Diego. They felt as thought it would be fitting to have him come and bless the land and ask the Gods' permission to plant on it because it formerly belonged to them.
A Milpa is a crop field that is found in Mesoamerica, incorporating the three most important foods in the indigenous culture: corn, beans and squash.
A large group of Chicano Studies students, as well as outside volunteers, have been working in the Milpa fields for one to two hours a few days a week.
"This project began in the beginning of the spring semester" Professor Davalos explains. "The agriculture department wanted to plant some corn fields so we got together and decided that instead of corn we should harvest a whole milpa plant. We all decided this would be better then a regular agriculture field."
Davalos is a professor for the Chicano Studies Department at San Diego City College. He, along with Julia Dashe and Paul Maschka, who are urban farmers with the San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, and some of his students, are working hard to get this project going.
"I mentioned it to two of my classes, my Chicano Studies intro class as well as my Chicano Studies Mesoamerican culture class" Davalos said. "Once they were all on board we were ready to look for the land and start getting it ready to plant."
On May 12, the group was able to showcase all the hard work they had put into getting the field ready by having an opening ceremony.
"We contacted Stan Rodriguez, to see if he would come and bless the land before we planted the first seed," Davalos recalls. "We thought it would be appropriate to have Stan do it because this is originally their land."
Rodriquez is a member of the Kumeyyay tribe, which is the indigenous group of San Diego. They felt as thought it would be fitting to have him come and bless the land and ask the Gods' permission to plant on it because it formerly belonged to them.
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