By: Perin McNelis, BRN Assistant Manager Nursery & Seed Curation |
 .Agave pups planted for agroforestry. |  Vivero agave crops. |
"Rezpiral is a spirits label, project and fair trade practice that brings beautiful selections of the highest quality traditional artisanal single-batch (non-certified) Mezcals into a handful of places in the USA. At the core of the project is the embrace of an ethos that aims to respect and support the multi-generational knowledge, independence, flavors, lands and ways of each mezcalero family with whom we work. The project upholds quality and value, working from batch to batch, bringing to market an eclectic selection of spirits, each complex and excellent.
Rezpiral’s small scale allows for the advocacy of diversity on different levels, from supporting the autonomy of producers and their continued production of single batch artisanal agave distillates to the preservation of local land control. These ethics seek to contribute to the countering of industrial standardization and cultural appropriation of this family and pueblo produced spirit and culture of excellence."
Rezpiral’s small scale allows for the advocacy of diversity on different levels, from supporting the autonomy of producers and their continued production of single batch artisanal agave distillates to the preservation of local land control. These ethics seek to contribute to the countering of industrial standardization and cultural appropriation of this family and pueblo produced spirit and culture of excellence."
Adult agave plant.
'Ecologically, seeding and planting practice is key to sustainability, autonomy and sustenance, and is something independent artisans have been doing for years. Rezpiral actively supports master artisans in planting and managing agave. Rezpiral believes that the burden of planting and protecting varieties should not fall completely on the shoulders of the artisan campesino, but be shared by the consumer. The Rezpiral nursery program promotes and practices this idea. Rezpiral also redirects 10% of it’s earnings back into supporting producer’s farming costs and practices."
 Perin showing scale for this beautiful agave. |  Agave pups sprouting nicely. |
The BRN horticulture team met Alex White of Rezpiral at the 2019 Agave Heritage Festival in Tucson and felt that our missions were deeply aligned seeking to support people and landscapes through the uplifting and supporting cultures of land stewardship providing viable livelihoods centered on land-based activities. We know that the fates of wild agave species and the creatures that depend on them, including the migratory Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, are deeply tied to how humans relate to this magnificent plant and how we navigate the current “boom” cycle caused by mezcal and bacanora’s explosive arrival to the global capitalist market. Rezpiral works at a very local level, in the heart of Agave land, to offer a model of how the ancient practice of agave spirit production can both thrive and be produced in a way that doesn’t exploit the land or the people who have maintained this practice for generations.
 Vivero entrance sign. | One of the ways they do this is through their “Amigos del Maguey y la Biodiversidad” project, which is a nursery on ejido land (land that was redistributed or returned to pueblos and their people after the Mexican Revolution to be collectively owned and managed for farming) that produces agaves of twenty plus varieties from seed both collected and sourced from a community of producers. |
In the first cycle of the project, seeds are being sown directly into ground beds, spaced out after they germinate and begin to crowd each other, then transplanted into the fields of various mezcaleros in the Rezpiral community a year later. This keeps genetic diversity in the stock of mezcaleros agaves to make the crop more resilient in response to catastrophic events that could potentially decimate a crop of agave produced solely by clonal “pups”. Additionally, using seed ensures that agave plants flower, which supports its pollinators, such as bats, bees, moths, and birds.
Rezpiral has also experimented with an agroforestry approach to planting agaves in which the young agaves from the nursery are transplanted into lands that have not been clear cut or leveled so that there is a mixture of agave species growing amongst trees and shrubs as they would in the natural landscapes surrounding the agricultural fields.
Rezpiral has also experimented with an agroforestry approach to planting agaves in which the young agaves from the nursery are transplanted into lands that have not been clear cut or leveled so that there is a mixture of agave species growing amongst trees and shrubs as they would in the natural landscapes surrounding the agricultural fields.
 Spouting Agave pups. |  Transplanted Agave pups planted near trees and shrubs as they would be found naturally. |
Rezpiral has created a few beautiful literary tools about mezcal and agave production in the unique context of Oaxaca. BRN picked-up one if these booklets called “Vivero Amigos Del Maguey Y La Biodiversidad” at the Agave Heritage Festival last year. The BRN horticulture team was inspired by the booklet that lays out an easily replicable model for growing agaves from seed.
The book describes the first phase of Rezpiral’s experiments with starting a nursery and planting with an agroforestry approach. BRN has been approached numerous times by various groups interested in learning how to start up nurseries for growing agaves in the US/Mexico borderlands, so we have realized there is demand for workshops and a printed resource that details seed collection, propagation and planting methods that can provide an iterative framework for restoration practitioners, land managers, and spirit producers, that can be adjusted to fit the contexts and needs of the grower.
The book describes the first phase of Rezpiral’s experiments with starting a nursery and planting with an agroforestry approach. BRN has been approached numerous times by various groups interested in learning how to start up nurseries for growing agaves in the US/Mexico borderlands, so we have realized there is demand for workshops and a printed resource that details seed collection, propagation and planting methods that can provide an iterative framework for restoration practitioners, land managers, and spirit producers, that can be adjusted to fit the contexts and needs of the grower.
 “Vivero Amigos Del Maguey Y La Biodiversidad” Booklet about Agave Production |  |
With support from Mountain Rose Herbs and Bat Conservation International, the BRN Native Plant Materials program will be developing a set of bilingual regional guide books, inspired by Rezpiral’s guide and building on their momentum for growing agaves with a restoration focus, but that can be used by anyone who is interested. My visit to Oaxaca was so inspiring for kick starting this work, and provided me with so much food for thought regarding ecological work that must also navigate the social cultural and political worlds. BRN looks forward to working more with Rezpiral in the future!
Photo Credits: Perin McNelis
Photo Credits: Perin McNelis
By: Perin McNelis, BRN Assistant Manager Nursery & Seed Curation
“Slow and steady.” The old adage has never been more true than in describing the steadfast and patient work of Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO). BRN’s third annual collaboration with the University of New Mexico’s Land Arts of the American West (LAAW) program took place during the second week of October at CLO’s El Coronado Ranch property in the Chiricahua mountains.
One of the many beautiful views at Cuenca Los Ojos in the Chiricahua Mountains.
On day one, after a brief introduction to the biotic communities of the Madrean Archipelago and the work of BRN by Perin McNelis, Assistant Native Plant Program Manager who coordinates the annual collaboration, the cohort set out with Valer Clark, founder of Cuenca Los Ojos, to view a few of the many restoration sites on the El Coronado property. We hiked to three or four sites with different types of rock structures in various stages of their process catching sediment to reduce erosion, slowing flood waters, and infiltrating rain to recharge groundwater.
 Valer Clark, Founder of CLO. |  LAAW students learning about ecological restoration. |
On the morning of the second day, the cohort shared their individual explorations and responses from the previous day, which included a recipe for a “soil sponge”, prose, prints and more. We then met with Jose Manuel, the director of CLO’s sister organization in Sonora by the same name and manager of their San Bernardino ranch property, who gave a presentation on CLO’s binational work to protect and restore habitat along a critical transnational migration route for numerous terrestrial and avian creatures.
 Art created by LAAW students in response to their first day. |  Thoughts and reflections from LAAW students. |
Jose Manuel talked about the successes of CLO at San Bernardino in raising the water tables 30 feet in the middle of a 15-year drought, bringing back at least 15% of the historic wetland with six miles of perennial river flow that has positively affected surface water availability well beyond the boundaries of private property lines, encouraging the neighboring ejido that had been suffering from the same intense drought to implement these water harvesting techniques in their collective lands. Jose Manuel also spoke about the deeply ingrained culture of ranching in Sonora and Arizona and the importance of building relationships with ranchers in order to begin a dialogue about shifting approaches to allow for the rest and recovery of pastures to better support grassland health.
 Jose Manuel, talking about CLO and watershed restoration. |  Regenerative tools of cows if managed well along with allowing ample rest and recovery of pastures. |
That afternoon, the cohort met with BRN’s Seed Curator, Allegra Mount, to discuss how climate change is affecting habitat connectivity by fragmenting resources and prohibiting necessary movement. She discussed the central role of plants in holding soil in place, preventing erosion with their roots, and pulling water down into the aquifer. We went on a plant walk and the cohort dispersed to spend an hour of intimate meditation time with one plant being of their choice, and then responded creatively.
 Allegra Mount, BRN Seed Curator |  Plant drawing from a LAAW student. |
On the third day, we were visited by Todd Miller, journalist and author of “Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security”. We discussed climate change projections made by our federal defense agencies for many years into the future and the following militarized response to the expectations of mass migrations resulting from extreme weather events. These border reinforcing efforts further fragment habitat and limit movement necessary for life, both human and other species.
Author, Todd Miller
The cohort then got to get their hands dirty. We discussed seed collection protocols and “the honorable harvest” philosophy with Allegra, then collected camphor weed seeds at the ranch house and went out to the Barboot ranch to collect grass seeds and other early successional forb species that survive in disturbed, compacted, and exposed soils.
 Allegra, discussing seed collection protocols. |  Students collecting seed. |
Over the next couple of days, we tried our hands at building rock structures in an eroded road-side gully that Valer showed the group, we pelletized the collected seeds while telling stories, our hands covered in clay and plant matter, and we dispersed the seeds, looking for areas that seemed to need some ground cover and a little tender care. On the final day of the collaboration, the cohort dispersed into the neighboring forest land to delve deeper into the themes of the week and to explore those themes individually using their own practices, but always allowing their bodies to be in relation to the land around them.
 Participants pelletizing seeds. |  The group building erosion control rock structures. |