Pedro's Vivero (Nursery)

We were introduced to Pedro Peña, a forester who is growing native trees from seeds in order to reforest the area. The government gave him a little piece of land to work with and he gives the trees to anyone who will plant them.

There were thousands of trees in various stages of development.....Some seeds were placed on top of the ground such as nogales (walnuts) which were just starting to sprout.

Pedro had the assistance of an 105 year old man!!! Nicolos....he works there everyday keeping the place clean of falling leaves, branches, etc.....he rakes, fills a wheelbarrow and heaps them onto a pile. He works constantly, moving probably 6 loads while we were there....

He did stop to talk to us for a bit....he said his birthday is March 3...which is tomorrow we reminded him!!....he talked of his family and growing up here....hand digging the water wells for this town...the near death of one of his sons as he was 70 meters down in the hole and took 3 days to resurrect him from a coma....but the old man could stay down there and take it...he was a hardy fellow who laughed constantly.....another true treasure of Veracruz!