During World War II, in order to teach people how to grow their own food in times of scarcity, the victory garden concept was born. While living in Santa Monica, California, Francisco Nava resurrected that concept for a new generation of people interested in growing their own food; not out of scarcity, but because growing and eating healthy organic food was gaining in popularity.
Living at Lakeside since 2011, Nava is bent on sharing his passion of organic gardening with both Mexicans and expats.
“This area is blessed with an abundance of fresh produce,” says Nava, “Therefore, many of the Mexican locals don’t feel the need to grow their own produce. Yet, as they become more aware, they are finding more organic food sources. I am starting a community garden in San Antonio and am in the process of getting it off the ground. First, I want to offer plots to Mexican families and then open it up to anyone else.”
Besides being a gardener and landscape consultant, Nava is also a teacher, businessman, artist, and volunteer. He grows his own organic food year round in his small backyard in San Antonio Tlayacapan. “I have avocado and papaya trees and grow a variety of greens.” For the scraps, he created a compost pile and leaves plenty for the birds. “We have some fabulous local and migrating birds here.”
Having spent much of his life between Guadalajara and Los Angeles, Nava experienced a bicultural upbringing from two years of age. “My parents were from Guadalajara, where I was born, and every five to six years our family traveled back and forth from Los Angeles to Guadalajara. My father had jobs in both places. They thought we kids would benefit from a bicultural upbringing, so we had two cultures and two homes.”
Nava’s string of careers began as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles. He then moved on to teaching at the college level. From there, he found his way into the TV and film industry, working as a computer executive for MGM-Pathe Films and as an educational consultant for Sony and MGM on their gaming programs. He then shifted into sustainable architecture and gardening. It’s at that time that he created his victory garden project and discovered his passion for gardening.
After living in Los Angeles, Nava says, “I prefer to live in Mexico. I find it’s more conducive to the lifestyle I want to have and I’m around the kind of people I want to be around.” He goes back to L.A. occasionally since his family (including five siblings) still lives there. “I’m the only one in my immediate family who lives in Mexico.”
With fond memories of family vacations in Ajijic, Nava decided to explore the area when considering where to settle. After checking out Michoacán and Guadalajara, he landed at Lakeside five and a half years ago and couldn’t be happier. “I’m retired and have the luxury of deciding how I want to use my time,” he says.
Nava has noticed that many people are not happy with the way their gardeners handle their gardens, so he is working on creating Gardening for Gardeners, a class where clients pay for their gardeners to attend. The class would be a co-venture with the public school, CONALEP (a state high school for Mexicans located next to Tech University). “I am developing this program where high school students can also take advantage of these classes.” Though the project is still in development, the first steps have been completed.
According to Nava, everybody eventually crosses paths at Lake Chapala Society (LCS). “I’ve met many volunteer gardeners there and they led me to LCS’s director, Terry Vidal. We got to talking and he asked if I would consider teaching gardening classes.”
Nava’s first gardening class at LCS was in conjunction with the Lake Chapala Gardening Club. “The club worked with me on that first class, which proved to be very successful. When the PEP program took off a year ago, Terry suggested that we move the classes to that program.”
The two of them developed a syllabus and came up with Introduction to Gardening at Lakeside, eventually adding other classes to the program. Says Nava, “We’ve limited the class size to 20 students but because people have been clamoring to get in, I have 25 enrolled in the next session – including a waiting list.”
When he’s not gardening, Nava volunteers with Butterflies in Mexico, a local youth advocacy organization, and also with Cochera Cultural (cultural garage), which he describes as “a group of artists who create art projects for and with children around the lake.” He has also created the master art lecture series, Art Xik Xik, focusing on local Mexican artists. “I want to educate the community about the richness of our artist population and culture by highlighting the individuals that exemplify that.”
Says Nava, “I am in my element here because I can work in the areas that impassion me, that inspire me, and I’m working with amazing people. I have the luxury to create more projects as needed. It all brings me to where I am now.”
For information about gardening classes, inquire at the LCS office or call them at 376-766-1140.