Sandia time in Pinal Villa

Lots of people working in the field either weeding, picking or watering. Haven't seen any kids carrying watermelon around the neighborhood trying to sell them like in years past. Will keep my eyes out.  

Getting ready to plant

Farmland in Pinal Villa that has been too wet to plant for almost two years has finally dried out. Two very large sections look like this now. A large section of Milo closer to town was just left to die last year and I assume it may be next. Crops here are tomatoes, chilies, tomatillos, watermelon, papayas, and corn only when it is shared with other crops. 

Farming again in Pinal Villa

These are Jalapeño chiles growing for the first time here in over a year. There are also tomatoes in the background. This section of land has been too moist to grow anything for the last year. Another large section of land closer to Melaque has grown watermelon every year and this is the second year nothing was planted. Not much can be done when the water table gets as high as it has been.

Gringo Farmer

I guess this guy has been doing this for a few years now but my neighbors just told me that a gringo is the farmer in charge of this sizable section of land, Looking at it on Google earth, beside Pinal Villa, it's L shaped and considerably larger than the foto. The subject came up because the watermelon planted came up so fast as we pass by every day. We assume this guy used to farm watermelon in the southern US and decided to do it here. Most likely the land is leased. A pretty good sized crew of migrant workers are out there every day. Just shows that you don't have to open a seasonal restaurant here if working in Mexico is what you want to do. This mystery gringo lives in Melaque so we may meet up some day for more of the story.

Watermelon "patch" in Pinal Villa