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Rooted in Place, Oriented Toward the Future The Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center is an intentionally local project with a global lens. Located in Ejido El Chino, in the municipality of Tamasopo in San Luis Potosí, the Center was born from a simple but urgent question: how can rural communities restore land, health, and livelihoods after decades of extractive agricultural practices, while remaining economically viable and culturally grounded? Ejido El Chino sits withi

Today, twenty environmental engineering students from the regional technical university in Ciudad Valles visited the Centro de Agricultura Regenerativa de la Huasteca (CDARH) for their water quality field practice. Accompanied by two faculty members, the students began the day with a group discussion led by CDARH staff, Amanda Lewis Vega, Jose Luis Briones Ramos, and Steven Lewis. The discussion focused on the crucial role that environmental engineers will play in addressing

The Centro de Agricultura Regenerativa de la Huasteca (CDARH) has spent over four decades acquiring and preserving around 1,500 acres of forested land in Mexico’s Eastern Sierra Madre Mountains, creating the Finca Oasis Forest Preserve. Situated in the northern region of the biodiversity-rich Veracruz Moist Forest ecoregion, CDARH acts as a hub for administrative support, material supply, tree propagation, research, and staffing for this conservation effort. The mission is fo

This month we are thrilled to announce that we have not only started manufacturing our first batches of bio-fertilizer, but that we have also started field application trials on sugar cane and in our own orchard. If you were wondering why things have been quiet in the update section, now you know! Spring has it's way of creeping in, and all of a sudden hitting with full impact. This is especially true when working on farms and ranches. Nature waits for no one! We will keep yo

One of our main goals at HRAC is to expand our research with Vetiver Systems to find innovative ways to increase groundwater recharge, mitigate pollution, and control erosion. This month we are making good use of having extra hands with our interns form the Tech de Valles to do just that. We are expanding our research with TX State University to include monitoring shorter rows of vetiver in various soli types, as well as river bank stabilization. Working with our partners in

This month, we're thrilled to launch our innovative worm composting project at the center. Over the last six + weeks, our team has meticulously crafted a palm thatch roof and subterranean worm beds, creating an optimal environment for our earthworm allies. This design ensures they remain active and efficient, transforming organic waste into premium compost even under the scorching summer sun. Our worm composting initiative is set to revolutionize our approach to waste managem

The Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center is adding features that allow us to demonstrate environmentally friendly soil regeneration strategies. Rather than using gas powered equipment to keep grassy areas from becoming overgrown, we have invited neighboring farmers to let horses and oxen graze the land. We work with them to position an appropriate number of animals in areas free of crops. In addition to decreasing our labor and fuel costs, the animals naturally enrich th

The predictable rainy seasons in the spring and fall of each year that benefited our region decades ago have been replaced by an unpredictable series of prolonged droughts followed by brief periods of heavy rain. The sugarcane industry that drives the regional economy is experiencing a harvest roughly 70% below the average in recent years due to dry soil conditions.. At the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center we are employing multiple regenerative strategies to assist f

In June, we started the expansion of the vetiver nursery at the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center. We started by trimming the plants in our existing beds to 30 cm.It is recommended that the plants be cut back like this, two to three times within the first year of growth to increase thickness of the cluster, promote side growth, and increase the quantity of tillers that we can later separate. We decide that it is more efficient to plant in ground rows rather than in bed

The Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center (HRAC) is poised to demonstrate the multiple uses of vetiver grass, several of which support the center’s focus on regenerative agricultural practices. In conjunction with Terra Advocati and Texas State University (TSU), the center was awarded a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Scientific Cooperation Research Program grant under which we collect research data on the ability of vetiver to reduce the flow of agrochemic

Soil moisture readings at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) show that the weekly flooding of swales is giving us desired soil moisture readings. The dry season is getting underway in the Huasteca region of East Central Mexico, and that usually leads to a progressive decline in soil moisture. Workers at the center pump water up from the nearby river and it flows through our recently installed water infrastructure to the level contoured swales and berms. Soil mo

Planting of the fourth experimental row of vetiver grass is well underway and this paves the way for the start of data collection early next year at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) . In October and November, the first three of four vetiver rows were planted in support of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service grant undertaken with Terra Advocati and Texas State University . Data collected will support research on the effectiveness of vetiver rows in reducing

International collaborators Amanda and Sofia Lewis were welcomed by the local community at a congenial event held at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) on 4 December. Amanda and Sofia Lewis are agriculture majors from Texas A&M university who were born in the community where the center is located. The event provided them with an opportunity to reconnect with their roots and show support for the center’s activities. About 70 rural community members were in atten

Last month Bryan Hummel came down to the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center to help us get the land prepped on contour. With his trusty laser level in one hand and an azadone (hoe) in the other, Bryan helped us flag out all of the contour lines on the land. He worked with locals to plow the field with oxen and coordinate the finishing hand work. This land preparation sets us up to start our vetiver plantings, and start our polycrop food forest. We are extremely thankful

Today we are happy to share the progress that has been made. [See our project page for more details on the center's purpose and design: https://www.terraadvocati.org/mxprojects/regenerative-agriculture-%26-innovation-center ] Since September, our builder Rito and his crew of 5 men have been hard at work constructing the “heavy” parts of our future center. These guys have been amazing, and we are grateful for everything they’ve done to help us bring this dream to fruition. Thi

Today we are happy to update everyone with great news from Mexico! Construction of the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Experimentation Center in El Chino, Tamasopo, SLP is moving along quickly! Heavy construction of the main structure that will house our outdoor classroom, workshop, kitchen, office, and storage is complete! We are of course still in need of windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, paint, and a whole host of other odds and ends, but as we say here in Mexico, “

Today we finalized the Rainwater Harvesting system at Finca Oasis. This system is going to be the primary water supply for all domestic and horticultural needs at the cabin in the forest. Last year, infrastructural upgrades were made to the existing rustic cabin including a new cement floor, front porch, shower area, and interior wooden walls that will afford guests more privacy when staying overnight. Building off of these improvements, Jess and Carl Mayes built custom gutte

Today we broke ground for the construction of the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Experimentation Center. Rito (our builder) and all of his crew were hard at work excavating for the foundation, tying steel, and mixing cement. Photos added to the gallery for this article update. I would like to take a moment to thank all of our supporters and contributors, for without whom we would not be doing this life changing work. We are fortunate to have people who love and support ou

Today we are very excited to release the preliminary site plan for the future Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Experimentation Center The location of the center will be in the rural Ejido of El Chino, in the municipality of Tamasopo, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Using a generous contribution given to us by a very kind and passionate friend of Terra Advocati, we were able to help secure the land through a partnership with a local family, and partially cover the first phase of c