They grew much of their own food and got some more exotic and tropical food from merchants who went out of the city and got them to bring back. The Aztecs grew many things to sustain their huge population. The Mexica (aka Aztecs) originally were a series of nomadic warbands coming from somewhere in northern Mexico, or maybe Arizona. Tenoch, or Tenochca, was a legendary patriarch who gave his name to Tenochtitlán, the city founded by the Aztecs on … Aztec parents didn’t really understand that kids grew on their own. During that time a group of Chichimec, under the leadership of Xólotl, established a capital in Tenayuca and later in Texcoco . Of course, maize and beans are still a cornerstone of the Mexican diet, a healthy combination especially if you're not eating a lot of meat. They also considered cocoa beans very valuable since they used them for currency. Because it was easier to grow crops than to rely on animals, the Aztec diet was plant-based and focused on a few major foods. Aztecs were also considered great farmers. Some of the most important crops grown through Aztec farming and agriculture were maize, beans, and squash. The chinampas resembled floating gardens. They grew avocados, cocoa beans, tomatoes, corn (maize), sweet potato,peppers, pumpkin and many other plants. So not only did the Aztecs have to deal with the fact that so many of them were dying from this terrible disease, there was also the fact that they couldn't grow enough food to feed the people who were left over. These were small, artificial islands created on a freshwater lake. How did all this food grow? Asked in Incas, Aztecs However, if it weren't for the Spanish Conquistadors, the Aztecs could possibly have expanded further into North and South America easily. The Aztecs (/ ˈ æ z t ɛ k s /) were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. They relied on what they could grow and hunt as their primary food sources. Maize was in particular the most important grain in Aztec society and the essential part of their diet. Of course, not all of these are real authentic Aztec food, but after reading this article you should have an idea what common elements are in Aztec cooking. For more on traditional Mexican food and what came from the Aztecs, check here. They built many watering structures to help water their plants and growing crops in order for them to grow into food to eat. Anthropology studies have also determined that the Aztecs also grew flowers for ceremony and decoration. According to Aztec legend, from the beginning of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th, the Aztecs wandered in search of a new place to settle. Why? the lake Texcoco was important to the Aztecs because the lakes help the Aztecs grow crops on the lake which is called chimpas and they build it on the lake and grow crops.