Vetiver Efforts in Ciudad Valles, S.L.P.
You might recall from our last Vetiver Propagation update 12 weeks ago that we planted 350 rhizomes in the front yard of the Lewis family in order to ramp up the number of rhizomes that will be available to us in September when we are ready to start planting in various locations at and around the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center in El Chino, Tamasopo SLP.
We estimate that as of now, in 12 weeks we have turned 350 rhizomes into roughly 2,500! That is pretty exponential! We expect that this trimming will bump us up to about 3,200 total when we go to separate them in about 5 weeks.
Steven Lewis has been hard at work to obtain some grant funding for Vetiver research as it relates to reducing pollution runoff in the Panuco River, Mexico´s only true river system.
We will look forward to updates from him in the coming weeks.
Vetiver Efforts in El Chino, Tamasopo, S.L.P.
Our plan is to replant roughly 500 back into the front yard, and take the remaining 2,700 out to El Chino where we will use to:
Plant a ¨nursery¨ section at the center where we can care for them in order to maximize exponential growth.
Use along roadside in front of the center to display prominently, stabilize erosive roadside embankment, and help reduce dust from passing cars.
Plant near the river on adjacent property to help reduce erosion and agrochemical runoff that currently plunges into the river during rain events.
Plant in erosive channels and stabilize banks near the center. This will help surrounding vegetation including native berry trees and a massive 100+ year old Orejon Tree that is struggling due to loss of soil and vegetation.
Stabilize unpaved rock filled channel crossing that is poised to wash away in the next large tropical event.
Based on our calculation we should have about 25,000 Vetiver rhizomes in the ground by the end of 2022. This would be just from exponentially growing our current stock. If we are able to secure funding for research, it will allow us to double or triple that estimate.
Vetiver Efforts in Xilitla, S.L.P.
Jess Mayes planted 9 rhizomes in Xilitla SLP 6 months ago. Those have turned into 140 that he has replanted, and an additional 30 that he gave away to Gregorio and Blado, members of Sedepac Huasteca. They will experiment with them in the mountains around Xilitla.
We have some pretty big plans to work with Vetiver in Xilitla (particularly in deforested cattle pastures) in order to restore the watershed and slow, spread and sink rainfall into the underlying Karst Limestone geology. This will increase resilience in prolonged droughts, as well as clean the rainfall that is currently rushing down the canyons and taking valuable high nitrogen animal manure with it.
We believe that Vetiver is the key to turning this destructive current scenario of disaccumulation, into an accumulative scenario of retention, resilience, and abundance. It is so easy to take things like fresh flowing waterfalls in a place like Xilitla for granted, but we have seen first hand a serious reduction of flow and in water quality just in the past 10 years, as expansion of development into the mountains continue. More land is deforested as a result. There are sustainable solutions, and it starts with Vetiver!
We look forward to working with Sedepac Huasteca to make this dream a reality. They are amazing people, who have put in over 25 years of hard work and dedication to preserving culture, the environment, and a sustainable way of life for families throughout the Xilitla region. We will keep you updated as things develop.
As always, we will do our best to keep you updated on our progress.
For access to a wealth of knowledge related to Vetiver, make sure to visit The Vetiver Network International´s website: Vetiver.org