Basically, it's an inventive method of wetland farming conducive to the area, whose freshwater springs and shallow waters made it an ideal place for chinampa agriculture.

BBC: Finding farms, and solitude, in Mexico City

Each chinampa is a rectangular platform typically about 6m wide by 91m long, covered in mud obtained from the surrounding shallow waters and fertilised by their nutrients.

BBC: Finding farms, and solitude, in Mexico City

Mexico City native Ricardo Rodriguez Saavedra is the director of De La Chinampa a tu Mesa, an organization devoted to restoring Xochimilco's cultural heritage by connecting the public with the chinampas' pesticide-free agricultural producers.

BBC: Finding farms, and solitude, in Mexico City

Aboard the boat was a cloth-covered picnic table set with handmade clay dishes and mugs, holding corn chips and homemade guacamole, a salad prepared with freshly picked chinampa produce, such as white onion and tomatoes, and served with two types of ranchero cheese, as well as plates of Oaxaca-style tamales filled with mushroom and guajillo chilli sauce.

BBC: Finding farms, and solitude, in Mexico City