We're Organic!

Another Great Reason for Living by the Lake
By Lea Ament

If you sometimes wonder who is laying your eggs, if you suspect that your salad could kill bugs… or if you are simply hoity toity and nothing passes your lips but the freshest, most delicious foods. Chapala Lakeside community could be your retirement heaven.

Last year our first Organic street fair opened to eager crowds. Every Tuesday in the snazzy new Centro Laguna Plaza shopping mall farmers arrive with freshly harvested organic veggies. The location: across from Wal-Mart at the intersection of the Libramiento and the Carretera, centrally located in the Lakeside community. At 10:00 every week the rush starts for purple tomatoes, crisp parsnips, fresh wheat grass, home baked breads, and so much more.

Browsing down the aisles, you will find an amazing selection and variety of fresh and frozen meals. Often these are specifically prepared for specialty diets such as vegan, vegetarian and gluten free. They are ready to simply be heated or tossed in the freezer for later meals. Authentic international cuisine from Thailand, Mexico, India, Germany and North American is presented often by chefs who have lived and trained in the country of choice and are doing this for the love of food and a chance to try new recipes and talk to customers.

But, Where‘s the beef? They have that too; grass fed, humanely raised beef. And, if life gets boring there is also duck, rabbit, lamb, turkey, pork and even chicken. How great is that!

If you become exhausted from checking out sleep masks, homemade shampoo, fresh pressed seed oils, fur lined slippers, organic gardening supplies, the bee farm and eight kinds of sprouts then you may be ready to relax for a moment and meet Adrianna (or her able assistant Barbara). Known as the coffee lady, Adrianna is the Queen of the information table; the hub of the Ecotiangus. She has information on contests (yes, you could win something!). Including; Greatest Vegan Recipe, Most interesting dish made with (seasonal veggie will be selected), and a vegetable drawing contest for kids.  Adrianna has information about classes and demonstrations which are being planned  in cooking, gardening, preserving and other old timey skills and conservation techniques.

To complete you day of shopping for all the good stuff you can wind down at the chic new food court in the plaza. Starting February 15 there will also be helpers available to carry packages to your car.

Beyond the Ecotiangus new ideas are springing up everywhere. A grant has been obtained to develop a Mexican Medicinal Herb Garden in Ajijic. Volunteers planted an organic garden at the orphanage in Chapala. The Lake Chapala Garden Club has designed, and is in process of installing, a Culinary garden at the Wilkes Center. The garden will feature fresh herbs and spices which are used in traditional Mexican dishes.

There is discussion of a seed bank in Chapala. More than one group is seeking town lots for community gardens. Classes in organic gardening, rooftop gardening, seed saving and more are becoming available to those who want to step out the kitchen door and pick their own salad. Home gardens here range from an upside down tomato on the patio to conventional, in the ground, gardens. In between we have green houses, kitchen gardens, square foot, raised beds, automatic watering, hanging gardens, companion planting, worm farms and other specialties going on.

So whether you support your local organic growers or grow your own; Chapala Lakeside has a lot to offer. See you at the Ecotianguis!