Regreening the Waterfall Meadow at Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

View the project final report

Commodities

• Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, other

Practices

• Crop Production: forest farming, pollinator habitat, water management

Our specialty crop research project aimed to enhance knowledge about drought-resistant crops and desert plants, as well as mitigate soil erosion and pollution, restore our local ecosystem and regrow our plant and animal pollinator population by restoring one acre with CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) succulents and other native plants.

The initiative also addressed food insecurity and agrobiodiversity to enhance producer resilience and broaden American food diets with the reintroduction of traditional indigenous and campesino crops native to AridAmerica.

We employed indigenous-inspired and contemporary water harvesting structures, including dams, Zuni bowls, zaja y bordo (Mexican ditch-and-berm) and Keyline structures to promote the understanding and use of irrigation-less agriculture, especially among drought-plagued producers in the Southwest. For the project we used this methodology on two acres of our land, building upon work that had been completed as part of the NMDA’s Healthy Soil Program grant initiative that had been completed the previous year that focused on rejuvenating the health of the soil

Working with our technical adviser, Dr. Sangu Angadi, we researched and discussed implementing Semi-Circular Buffer Strips that employ a half-circle form of crop planning to mitigate soil erosion, harness water, and serve as a wind buffer. Due to the fact that the project plans were to solely depend on water harnessed by monsoon rains, snowmelt and the significant condensation that we anticipated to experience in fall and winter when temperatures warm up by 30-40 degrees on a daily basis, we ultimately did not implement this part of the project due to the record heat in 1993 and the lack of precipitation (i.e. monsoons).

Despite ongoing climate change, drought and record heat waves, this project served as an experimental model and provided baseline data for the expansion of ecological regeneration on 350 acres, which we hope to support by a future ecosystem restoration camp.

We did not proceed with the work we intended to do with local nurseries to develop pipeline because the major nursery that purchased and supplied succulents to Santa Fe and bordering areas closed down after 40 years on May 27, 2023. We ultimately ended up purchasing much of their stock of succulents, which we planted on June 10, 2023. Despite the heatwave, we still have over 300 of the original plants and subsequent pups ("hijuelos") that we are caring for in our nursery. Considering it takes 2-4 years to grow agave seedlings /starts, we will consider building a pipeline for future nurseries down the line, in addition to planting more of the starts that we believe will survive outside. 

Despite efforts to reach out to Indigenous & Campesino-related organizations to develop partnerships to promote and enhance the educational component of the project, we have been unable to establish any meaningful partnerships thus far. We had extensive correspondence with a local tribal elementary school, the Keres Children's Learning Center in the Cochiti Pueblo, but our efforts were not fruitful. We will continue to attempt to build partnerships as time, resources and opportunity permit.

Due to necessary shift in project plans due to the continuing heat waves and subsequent demise of much of our planted crops, we decided to hold off on Mezcal educational session addressing sustainable agricultural and environmental issues. As the plants in our nursery mature and we continue to nurse partnerships we will look to organize and host these sessions starting in Fall. Meanwhile, the primary consultant who will execute these sessions, Marsella Macias, continues to offer her services as we nurture the remaining crop of succulents, especially agave. In particular, we are looking to prospectively host educational sessions with our local college, Santa Fe Community College, and their sustainability programs, as Lorenzo serves on the Board of Directors for their Foundation. 

Also of note, half of the original project team members left the farm before execution of many of the planned tasks. Thus, due to this significant resource restraint we were quite limited in terms of help and thus modified plans accordingly.

Our Outreach Activities included

• Onsite workshops focused food forest development supported by water harvesting structures and terraces
• Regular blog posts on our and partners’ websites  
• Presentation at 2023 the Tucson  Agave Festival
• Radio talk show about sustainable agriculture with guests focusing on agave cultivation
• Mezcal and agave educational sessions that address a number of agricultural and environmental issues.

• Address food security and agrobiodiversity to enhance resilience and broaden American food diets by optimizing land management and sustainable production systems with the reintroduction of traditional indigenous and campesino crops native to AridAmerica.
• Conversion of one acre at Waterfall Meadow on Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms (Cerrillos, NM) into a permaculture food forest with CAM succulents & native plants found in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico. This initiative will serve as an experimental model and provide baseline data for expansion of ecosystem restoration on 350 acres, which will be supported by a future ecosystem restoration camp in the neighboring one-acre field.
• Employ indigenous-inspired and water harvesting structures including one-rock dams, Zuni bowls, zaja y bordo (Mexican ditch and berm terraces to support agave) and keyline structures to promote the understanding and use of irrigation-less agriculture, especially among producers in the American Southwest, which has experienced a multi-decade doubt and will likely continue to considering climate change forecasts. 
• Working with our technical adviser, Dr. Sangu Angadi, implement  Semi-Circular Buffer Strips. Using a media luna (half circle) approach we will use this form of crop planning to mitigate soil erosion, harness water, and serve as a wind buffer (wind combines with precipitation, being the primary cause of soil erosion in the high mountain desert). We will not be using irrigation and solely depending on water harnessed by rain, snowmelt and the significant condensation that we experience in fall and winter in Northern New Mexico when temperatures warm up 30 to 40 degrees on a daily basis. 
• Promote awareness about the importance of using native seed and seedlings for ecological system restoration and increase availability of native seed and seedlings for habitat restoration and conservation by establishing a seed bank via a partnership of the Applied Ecology’s Southwest Seed Partnership Program and the development of a starts nursery in our 33’ geodesic grow dome.
• Contribute to the knowledge in specialty crop research focused on drought-resistant crops and desert plants, including ten CAM succulents and native plants highlighted by Gary Paul Nabhan, Patricia Colunga-GarcíaMarín and Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal in the June 2022 paper “Comparing Wild and Cultivated Food Plant Richness Between the Arid American and the Mesoamerican Centers of Diversity, as Means to Advance Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the Face of Climate Change.”
• Mitigate soil erosion, restore soil health and our local ecosystem, as well as regrow our plant and animal pollinator population.
• ​Establish and supply existing pipeline for indigenous/ethnic food ​markets and nurseries for CAM succulent products, especially those serving clients seeking ecological restorative vegetation, which is experiencing a supply shortage.
• Mitigate local pollution caused by carbon monoxide and dust that blows over from the neighboring motocross track by planting Honey Locust trees and shrubs as a windbreak. Parallel to the project meadow is a large berm that was likely created by the Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate flooding from an arroyo that runs perpendicular to the berm to the Santa Fe Railroad line that runs through the Galisteo Basin along the Galisteo River.