Chinampa

Hi! Have you ever heard of a garden on water? No? Well, let me tell you about it.

A chinampa is a type of garden that was invented a long time ago in Mexico. It's like a floating island on top of the water, where people can grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers.

To make a chinampa, people dug up the mud from the bottom of a lake or a river and piled it up on top of a raft made of sticks and reeds. Then they put some plants in the mud, and they had a garden that floated on the water!

Can you imagine how cool that is? You could go swimming and see all the plants growing underneath you! But, wait, there is more!

The plants that grow on a chinampa like maize, beans, and squash are known as the "three sisters." These plants are friends because they help each other grow better. The maize provides a tall stem for the beans to climb on, while the beans add nitrogen to the soil, which helps the maize and squash to grow better. The squash protects the soil from the sun, which helps retain moisture and reduces weed growth.

So, in conclusion, a chinampa is like a garden on water, and it's a clever way to grow plants that help each other grow healthier. Cool, huh?