Rancho Agroecológico Agua Escondida is a tribute to life and the celebration of biodiversity.
It is a pioneer project in organic techniques in Mexico since 1978 and a space for natural experimentation where we have discovered appropriate timings and specific techniques to sow and harvest many plants. In the beginning, with little oral or written experience to guide us, apart from a few inspiring European books, trial and error was our main method and we gradually learned that patience and observation are the key to success in an activity so related to life.
When we commenced sowing vegetable gardens for our own personal consumption on our ranch, the land had no history of agrochemicals, but was in bad shape from disuse and predation. We had to work hard to reinstate the natural equilibrium between the species that had lived here or had been driven away because of aggressive usage. One of the first problems we faced was an overpopulation of June beetles (Lachnosterna), accentuated by the acidity level of the predominant clay soil, which left us without harvesting much of what we had sown. To balance this population of root eating larva, we worked on restructuring the soil, using a double digging technique, correcting the PH, intensifying the crop rotation and also using light traps for the adult beetles in an attempt to control their excessive rate of reproduction.
Our quest for self-sufficiency also led us to experiment with raising goats, hens, turkeys, a cow and horses. These were also new to us and we learned to care for, feed, cure and provide for their basic needs and in this way establish bonds of mutual support and gratitude.
These were times of discovery and adaptation, and of comprehending our place as humans within this complexity of interests and needs, which lasted some years. By the 90s equilibrium triumphed and since then new inhabitants of the vegetable and animal kingdom live together in harmony and clean and respectful agriculture prevails.
Rancho Agroecológico Agua Escondida then became an organic producer with a surplus of production in search of a path and a commercial identity in line with a philosophical model of love and respect for life that has been upheld throughout its existence.
In an effort to economically support our growing family and workers, who have contributed knowledge and experience to the project over the years, in 1995 we opened our own ecological restaurant, “Manantial de las Flores”, in Xalapa, Veracruz. The restaurant successfully provided both an outlet for our varied vegetable harvests and healthy, fresh, organic food for its clientele in the city for over 11 years. During this time we also continued to work on our project of sustainability for Rancho Agroecológico Agua Escondida to find a direction it may take to become economically viable and in line with its values: biodiversity as the base for its health and production. Hence, we introduced oriental spices such as ginger, turmeric and cardamom that found an adequate place for their needs and multiplied easily. We also increased fruit crops native to the region and climate, such as a variety of citrus fruits, guavas, bananas, blackberries, passion fruit and tree tomato. We adapted the coffee plantations to our needs by improving the stump quality, reducing the amount of shrubs and transforming the processing methods to more ecological ones.
We intensified the sowing seasons of tropical crops such as sagu, citronella, lemongrass, and Mexican pepper leaf acuyo.
We discovered that flowers are not only the beauty, colour and fragrance of nature, but play an important role in its balance and biodiversity, as well as a preponderant role in human life as a food source, and also for cosmetic and medicinal purposes.
We tried out every type of vegetable garden and growing every type of useful herb and we managed to adapt most of these to a calendar of sowing seasons.
In a parallel way we also carried out research on how to appropriately process all of the organic botanicals we use in the elaboration of conscientious body care products that represent a real alternative to commercial products on offer that contain dubious ingredients that imply processes that are often harmful to the environment.
Our fruit harvests are destined to the elaboration of fruit concentrates, jams and marmalades and our herbs are used to prepare a wide range of herbs and spices, condiments and herbal teas that make cooking and eating more enjoyable.
The ranch is presently a large production workshop and an extensive beautiful garden and is recognised worldwide for its work in environmental protection.