In the Yucatan for hundreds of years, the Maya have made walls and fences out of rocks.  They call them Cotes.   It's just a lot of big rocks, and a few small rocks stacked on top of each other.  The weight of the rocks makes it strong.  Periodically some of the top rocks get knocked off and you just walk along and ut them back in place. There are men in the pueblos who build these walls for a living.  I had them build some for me.  But I decided I needed about 300 more meters and would prefer to pay that money to my co-workers rather than hire others. I asked my men if they could do it, and they said they didn't know.  They had never tried, because that is what the Cote builders do.  I told them one day, I thought they could do and we'd give it a try. For the first couple of days they were not as fast as the "pros".  But by the 3rd day that had picked up the rhythm and were going just as fast.   They beamed with joy to discover that they could do this.  I beame

  In the pueblos of Yucatan, there are no supermarkets like you'd find in a larger town or city.  The closest supermarket to me is about 30km away in Oxkutzcab.   Instead the pueblos have small neighborhood stores called Tiendas that might be 15m2 to 20m2 and they have the basics.  Sort of like a convenience store, except even smaller.  These stores would not have meat, because you get that from the butcher who kills a cow every few days and only sells fresh meat.   They would have eggs, and a few items of produce and bread and lots of sweets.  My pueblo has about 3,000 people and probably 50 tiendas.  It is planned that the tienda is close enough that you can walk to it because every day you go and get what you need that day. Besides the tiendas, every pueblo will have many tortillerias.  Again, they are located in neighborhoods so you can walk every day and get what you need.   The idea of buying a week's worth of anything is alien to these Maya people. I go into the pueblo h

  The rainy season officially arrived this past Sunday night, the 14th of May. Thank goodness.  Now we stop watering my asparagus and coconut trees and let Mother Nature take over for a while. It's now been almost 9 months since I planted the first Asparagus.  And contrary to all the naysayers who said I could not grow it here in Yucatan, my plants are healthy, full and growing.   Next year we'll have some spears but two years from now (the 3rd year) we'll have 100's of kilograms of asparagus weekly.  Woohoo! Also shown are the progress of my coconut trees that are growing in bags, to be sold in 4 years at retail in Merida.  The first ones are very tall now for less than a year old.  Probably 80cm and the newer ones are almost 30 or 40 cm. Next year will be a great year for the farm!    Click here for video of the progress

  My neighbor on the next ranch has 10 beehives and is always offering to share some with me.  Of course, I cheerfully accept, and still try to buy a liter or two from him. Mid-April begins the heaviest honey harvesting time.  Starting April 15, he, more or less, collects 90 liters of honey every 15 days.   So he got his first harvest April 15, then 90 liters May 1, and today 90 more.  He has told me that he'll get 90 more the end of May and then one more harvest the middle of June.   Then the collection stops until November and December.  Then nothing in January and some in February and nothing in March.  Then the process repeats itself next April. Click here for video of harvesting honey today in the Mayan tradition He has told me that I have enough land that I could put in 40 hives in 4 different locations of 10 hives each.   I have decided though to put in Melipona bees, which are stingless and unique to the Yucatan.  They only make about 1/5th honey that he makes, but it sells

  For me, I feel like I have many advantages living near the small Maya pueblo of Mayapan.  It's only about 3,000 and everyone is friendly.  No crime.  Lots of fresh food and meat. But there are some disadvantages.  1 is there is nothing like what most people would call a supermarket or large grocery store.  The nearest one is about 30km away and it's not a really large one.  But it is a supermarket.   There are no banks or ATM machines.  No one takes debit cards.  Everything is done with pesos or barter.   There are no gasoline stations closer than 15km away.   There are not big stores to shop at for a big selection.  But pueblo life goes on and people live with what they have. To make up for no supermarket, the pueblos have little stores called tiendas.  They are generally about  15m2 or about 150 sq. ft.  They have the basics.   Some might be 1/2 that size.  And a small pueblo like Mayapan has at least 20 of them that I know of.  They are spaced all over the pueblo, because

  The vaquerias are on the 1st and 2nd nights, and after that begin la tradicional corrida de toros.  The fighting of the bull.   The corrida is in the afternoon with more dancing at night that may last all night.   Contrary to popular Expat myth, no animal is harmed in these corridas.  Quite the contrary, the bull ends up being the winner, and it is the men who are getting tossed into the air.   The bull is chasing the men who show themselves brave enough to get in the arena with it, and the lure the charging bull to them, and then are fleeing in every direction.  It is orchestrated chaos.  :-) The crowds roar with enthusiasm and are cheering the men, and the children beam with pride at the "bravery" of their brother, or papa, or son.  I personally think it's more analogous to the Running of the Bulls in Spain, with a bunch of your men, and a few older too, jumping in the arena to show their bravery with the charging bull. The entire event is very colorful, festive, and

 I live 90 km south of Merida Yucatan Mexico, near a trio of pueblos: Chumayel, Teabo, and Mayapan.  All 3 are only about 8km apart and many families from one, have family in the others.  Each has about 3,000 residents.  It's a wonderful, happy, friendly, peaceful, content, hard-working community that I've been blessed to become a part of.   Right now, and starting on April 29, 2023, there is a celebration going on in Teabo and Chumayel.  When it is over there, it will start for 7 more days in Mayapan.   It is not because of Cinco de Mayo (May 5th Independence Day) but coincidentally coincides with it. Each pueblo in Yucatan has a patron saint, and this is the week in the pueblos to honor the saint.  In Mayapan it is Santo Cristo del Amor. In another video I posted and another blog post, I mentioned the slaughter of the pigs that most families have been raising for the past 3 months to share this week during the fiesta.  That too is a family affair that concludes with the deep

  Today we harvested the last of the ears and stalks from my first corn crop I've grown here on my Ranch.  As I have mentioned before, the Maya will plant their corn on June 1 to coincide with the beginning of the rainy season.  However, I have water and irrigation pumps, so we can grow 2 crops per year. click here for video This corn was planted on January 15, and came up 6 days later.  We began collecting ears of corn about 10 days ago, and the last ears were ready today. In the video you see the men cutting down the stalks after picking the ears.  We will take the stalks to Chumayel and selling to a cattle rancher who will grind them into feed and we'll sell the ears at market. When all is said and done, I don't think that I made a dime profit growing this early corn.  I didn't lose money, and I managed to give my guys work to do and the crop paid for their labor.  That's just fine with me.   We'll plant again in a couple of weeks, and that corn will grow its

 Today is Monday, May 1.  In the pueblo near me, the fiesta began on Saturday night, two nights ago, and last all week. The days of fiestas are to honor the saint of each Pueblo.   Parades, getting dressed up, booths of all kinds, party lights, music, and of course bull fights.  2 nights of celebration followed by 5 days of La tradicional corrida de toros with dancing at night.   It generally coincides with Cinco de Mayo but it is not a celebration of independence.. Many, and maybe most, of the families in the pueblos have been raising a pig for the past 3 or 4 months in preparation and anticipation of this week.  And Saturday was the day to slaughter the pig for the families own celebration this week. The slaughter and preparation is a big family affair. My superintendent, Salvador, asked me on Saturday morning if I would like some of his family's pig and I was eager to accept.  I told him a few ribs and some pork loin would be my favorite.  He brought both to me this morning, and