June 27th 2010, a group of students from Los Altos, California's, Foothill College Anthropology Department, embarked upon an adventure in the small yet fascinating country of Belize.
With the generous help of Mic and Lucy Fleming and their land at Chaa Creek, the Students found themselves with the opportunity to work alongs side Ted and Linda Neff in their study of the agricultural practices of the ancient Maya.
As part of a larger Anthropology field school, the Foothill students were invited to work with the Neff's at Chaa Creek for a 1 week intensive on Maya farming, learning archaeological research methods, and participating in an experimental archaeology project.
In their gratitude for Mic and Lucy Fleming for so graciously welcoming them to work on their land, they have put together a small blog about their experiences.

Our farm was at the Chaa Creek resort which is an incredibly beautiful eco-lodge nestled in the hills a few miles away from Xunantunich and San Ignacio. The owner of the lodge, Mic, let us work on the farm and record our activities so we could better understand how many people could be supported by intensive agriculture without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
I did not know exactly what to expect, but I did assume that it would be simple. I always thought farming was a matter of making some holes in the ground, dropping in random seeds and a lot of waiting. I never thought about the planing that goes into deciding which crops to plant on what plot at what time. Unlike the farms I’ve seen driving through the Midwest, which were simply endless fields of wheat or corn, this farm was very dense and used a process known as multi cropping. The days started early to avoid the tropical heat, but the work was great. I learned what mulching is, and how to do it so the plants won’t rot in the rain. I got to hone my machete swinging skills clearing vines, and had deep thoughts while weeding carrot patches. --(Guy Thompson)