Photos from The Chelenzo Farms Regeneration Project held September 23-25, 2022

In partnership with a number of organizations, Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms will be implementing a critical phase of its Regenerative Agriculture and Land Restoration Project, as part of its fulfillment of the New Mexico Healthy Soil Program Grant that it awarded this year.

You are invited to join us at Chelenzo Farms in Cerrillos, NM in the late afternoon on Friday, September 23 for a three hour practicum and dinner that will review the various methodology, measures and structures that will be put to practice on a full field day on Saturday, September 24 and the morning of Sunday, September 25. 

This will be a hands-on, experiential and experimental opportunity led by our conservation partner and Soil Health Champion Jan-Willem Jansens of Ecotone Landscape Planning. We will be building terraces, berms and ditches for Agave and cover plant planting, using the Zanja y Bordo method employed in Mexico for hundreds of years, as well as more modern methodology like Keyline Planning. In addition, we will be spreading seed and hay as mulch on the terraces that we are building for the cover crop. And we will also be building other earthworks (zuni bowls, media lunas, one rock dams, check dams, etc), while learning how to maximize water infiltration and minimize erosion on a rough desert landscape of loamy fine sand, clay and bedrock.

This is an exciting opportunity to put the magic of Regenerative Agriculture and Land Restoration into practice. We are looking to register 20 volunteers and will be providing meals, an awesome educational opportunity and chance to meet, interact, and share with a cool group of likeminded folk from all over NM.

SPACE IS LIMITED! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

→ Learn about one rock dams and zuni bowls in this Erosion Control Field Guide by Quivira Coalition and Watershed Artisan (in English and en Español)

This event is free. Meals will be provided each day. Please see the agenda below for details.

This event is hosted in partnership among Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms, Ecotone Landscape Planning, the New Mexico Healthy Soil Working Group, the Seeding Regenerative Agriculture Project and the Quivira Coalition

SPACE IS LIMITED! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Required Workshop Liability Waiver for all Registered Participants 

Overnight camping options are available including:

• Private glamp camp setting at Field site with magnificent view of the Ortiz Mountains (15’ tent with full size bed): $75 a night 

• Tent on platform at communal setting (36 HTR), 15’ tent with air mattress available: $50 a night

• 15’ tent on ground at communal setting (36 HTR): $25 a night

• Bring your own tent or overnight accommodations: FREE

If you are interested in one of the options above, please contact Nina Listro via phone or text at 508.221.8900, or by email at Nina@ChelenzoFarms.com

AGENDA

Friday, September 23

2:00 PM  Early arrivals for anyone deciding to camp on site

4:00 PM Welcome from Dr. Chelsea Hollander, La Patrona, Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

4:10 PM Overview of the Healthy Soil Program Plan, Lorenzo Dominguez, El Patron, Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

4:30 PM   Bale grazing and cover crop seeding, Nina Listro, Director, Farm Operations, Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

5:00 PM   Earthworks construction for soil erosion and land conservation, Jan-Willem Jansens, owner, Ecotone Landscape Planning

7:00 PM   Dinner

Saturday, September 24

8:00 AM Field Implementation, Part I

12:00 PM Lunch 

1:00 PM   Field Implementation, Part II

4:00 PM   Discussion and First Field Day Debriefing 

5:15 PM   Dinner at Beer Creek Brewing Company (Cash Bar)

7:00 PM Free time to Explore Santa Fe

Sunday, September 25

8:00 AM    Field Implementation (Seeding & Hay Mulching)

12:00 PM  Workshop Wrap-up and Debriefing 

SPACE IS LIMITED! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

ABOUT ECOTONE LANDSCAPE PLANNING

Ecotone’s vision is to help create and maintain healthy, productive landscapes through insightful ecological stewardship by the primary users and decision makers of the land. Our work often centers around common themes, including soil health, water storage, woodland and forest health, and creating and restoring habitat for wildlife. By working at the nexus of these ecological principles, we take a holistic approach to land management that works towards healing the entire landscape.

We develop landscape management plans, conceptualize landscape conservation and restoration initiatives, bring together project teams, identify and pursue funding sources, and direct the project’s detailed design and implementation.

Ecotone’s work begins where there is an edge, a transitional space, where ecosystems meet and where people seek to resolve tensions in the use and health of the land. Through a deepening understanding of land and communities both human and wild, Ecotone guides diverse individuals and groups in an integrative multi-step process of land restoration and stewardship.

ABOUT HACIENDA DOMÍNGUEZ & CHELENZO FARMS

Founded upon a dream of a healthier life closer to nature, Chelsea & Lorenzo (Chelenzo) moved to New Mexico from New York in 2021 with their family to plant regenerative roots in the Land of Enchantment.

Set in the high desert mountains of Cerrillos, New Mexico, Hacienda Domínguez offers guests the experience of a farm in action as well as the opportunity to hike on 350 acres just east of the Turquoise Trail (Route 14) and directly above the Galisteo River Basin. Nature lovers, hikers and outdoorsmen alike will discover arroyos, caves, mesmerizing 360 degree vistas of the mountains that surround Santa Fe, and witness awe-inspiring sunrises and sunsets.

At Chelenzo Farms we are applying permaculture, soil health, agroecology and agroforestry principles and are enthusiastic about applying innovative and indigenous practices to achieve our goals.

Our organic research farm serves to educate the community, resolve food insecurity issues and offer training in the areas of permaculture farming, land conservation, indigenous agricultural and sustainability practices, and the realm of sciences that look to understand the relationship (past, current and future) that humans have with nature and the land. We also aspire to contribute to knowledge about agricultural practices that improve soil health in an arid environment, amidst a 22-year megadrought.

Most immediately, we aspire to rejuvenate the magical landscape into a flourishing garden and small-scale farm replete with edible native plants and trees, such as cacti, agave, succulents, saffron, beans, herbs, various other greens, fruits and vegetables. Currently, our animals include chickens, goats, and ducks, and we intend to acquire more, which we will integrate into our farming practices via grazing and the creation of compost and organic-based soil amendments.