On a block shaded by flamboyant trees with brilliant orange flowers in full bloom, loud music boomed out of a house and many vendors shook their hips to the recordings of Los Van Van as they weighed onions and beets, or counted pesos spent on papaya and yucca. Not all the food sold here was grown at the organiponicas, but a fair amount had been, saving the cost of trucking it into the city. Most of the vendors worked for the government, but some, those who had fruit trees or their own vegetable gardens, or cultivated ornamental plants and could sell their excess.