OUR MISSION: To protect and preserve our natural heritage and help build an environmental culture while developing a Botanical Garden dedicated to Mexican flora and providing an oasis of peace and tranquility for all.
Please tell your friends and prospective members/supporters how to access the newsletter and help broaden the base of support for the Botanical Garden.
View and purchase works by leading artists: Leonora Carrington, Joy
Laville , Gilberto Aceves Navarro, Fernando Andreacci , Juan Manuel de la Rosa, Gabriel Macotela, Luis Nishizawa, Raul Anguiano, Byron Gálvez, Juan Soriano, Vicente Rojo, Javier Arevalo, Nunik Sauret, Leonel Maciel and Aaron Cruz.
The show will take place at the Botanical Garden, from Friday February 21st through Sunday 23rd.
All prints will be on sale and are part of the Mexico City collection of Arturo Guerrero, a printer with extensive experience in the art of engraving.
This exhibition and sale benefits El Charco del Ingenio and is open to the public from 10am to 6pm, in the Boveda near the front entrance.
Opening: 11am, Friday, February 21st.
Admission is free.
On Wednesday, February 26 at 5pm a group of 15 members of the Sooke Philharmonic Chamber Players and friends will give a concert at St. Paul's Church in memory of Bob Haas, El Charco del Ingenio advocate and friend.
The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1997 by Norman Nelson and is based in Sooke, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Through the efforts of Maestro Nelson and many dedicated volunteers, the orchestra has grown to become the major musical presence it is today. Small ensembles often perform at community events and fundraisers. For this second visit to Mexico, members of the Sooke Chamber Players are joined by friends and colleagues from Western Canada, the USA and Mexico.
Norman Nelson, Conductor and Music Director, held the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and London Symphony. In 1965 he was appointed Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and soon after formed the internationally acclaimed Purcell String Quartet. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Vancouver Symphony. As a chamber musician he has performed in every major city in Canada and the United States and in Europe, Russia, Japan and China.
The program will consist of pieces by Mozart, Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi. All proceeds from the concert will benefit El Charco. Tickets are 100 and 250 pesos and are available at the Botanical Garden’s reception area, Posada Corazon (Aldama 9) and at Camino Silvestre (Correo 43 and Zacateros 46). We expect the concert to sell out early so don’t wait.
Wetlands are those areas where surface water is moved or where groundwater emerges and may include streams, rivers , dams, lakes , lagoons , mangroves or even the beaches. A wetland does not necessarily have water all year, but must fulfill the function of transporting or retaining it at some point, in addition to supporting a diversity of plants and animals that depend on water. We are all surrounded by wetlands and although they seem like common sites, often we do not realize their great importance. There is a great diversity of organisms which live in or depend on them for their existence: waterfowl, fish, crustaceans, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, corals, mammals such as dolphins and manatees and mangroves and plants like lilies, willows and cypresses (ahuehuete), the latter the Mexican national tree. But wetlands not only serve to support this great biodiversity, but also to protect us, and provide food, retain sediment, filter pollutants, generate oxygen, regulate local climate, prevent floods, and of course give us water!
Although all wetlands are very important --as is the one in El Charco del Ingenio-- there are some that have been declared "wetlands of international relevance" or "Ramsar sites" after the name of a city in Iran where, in 1971, the Convention on Wetlands was signed under the auspices of the UN. This year's World Wetlands Day is dedicated to the relationship between them and agriculture. What do you do to take care of the wetlands around you?
We have all benefited at some point from agaves or magueyes, these generous plants that provide us songs, ornaments, fiber, spice up the barbecue and, depending on the species concerned, beverages such as mead, pulque, tequila, mezcales, ipecac, etc. Stunning rosette succulents with sharp spines on the tips of its leaves, which range from small sizes up to impressively large such as the pulque agave. Mexico is the center of origin of this group, and currently has over 200 known species. Agaves can be found in almost any climate in our country, but are most common in arid and semiarid areas. They grow very slowly over about ten years and only bloom once in their life, emitting a long central stem known as "quiote". This may make hundreds or thousands of flowers, usually yellowish or greenish white, which are pollinated by a wide range of organisms, from bees and hummingbirds during the day to even bats at night. Agaves also are so generous that throughout their life they can give one or two clones per year and people who grow them get their benefits faster since once the mother plant flowers it loses all its sugars and dies. It seems that this plant has evolved to serve, and the term "plant of the gods" is well deserved.
Websites of interest:
http://www.revistaciencias.unam.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=285:los-Agaves
El Charco del Ingenio is in need of many items. Below is a list of items to help us with our mission of protecting this nature preserve and providing environmental education across central Mexico.
If you have any of the items below or can donate the equivalent in pesos you will be helping to support a great, local cause.
❂ For our custodians who keep a watchful eye on every corner of el Charco: three sets of good binoculars
❂ For the gardeners: two professional weed cutters
❂ For the office: multifunctional printer and propane heaters
❂ For the greenhouse: watering cans
❂ For el Charco: a 12-15 seat van so we can offer daily transportation from the center of town
❂ For every aspect of el Charco: volunteers
To donate an item or cash equivalent please contact: Martin Keogh at
intouch@martinkeogh.com
The Board of Directors has resolved that Charco del Ingenio keep operating these two acres of the nature reserve adjacent to the Balcones neighborhood as a dog park where, since 2011, members of the Botanical Garden have been allowed to enter with their pets. The decision was made after an analysis of the pros and cons of such a move, and after several meetings with groups of members and users of the area, in which substantial needs were determined. In order to ensure proper functioning of the Park, implementation of minimum standards will be monitored by the staff of the Garden, with the support of a committee appointed by the users. Owners are responsible for the behavior of their dogs at all times and must collect their pets’ droppings, and under no circumstances enter the conservation areas of the Garden. Users must wear a badge which they will receive and pay and additional annual fee of 700 pesos for use of the area. This contribution will enable El Charco to assign staff to monitor and maintain the area and to gradually work on improvements, some of which are already taking place.
We thank Mr. Jose Luna for the cleaning and gardening undertaken in the park area next to his house.
Some memories are clear in my mind of events involved in photographing the
trees for the publication of 20 Trees of El Charco del Ingenio recently out in it’s Second Edition. Cesar Arias asked if I would make the photographs if he would show me the trees he wanted. Sounded like a fun thing and we set out in September of 2005 to get the shots. That’s when he asked if I was afraid of heights. The next thing I knew we were going down this steel ladder into the canyon for what seemed like a couple hundred feet.
The photograph shows only the top half of the ladder. I was pretty sure that I could get down, but hoped it wouldn’t be all at once. Getting back up was the big question as at that time I was in my early seventies. It turned out to be a beautiful and wonderful experience. The next day we photographed on the East side of the canyon and got fairly deep into the gorge. This time Cesar suggested that the easiest way out was to walk the pipe. When he saw the horror on my face, he scouted a way out more to my liking.
Photography has opened many doors for me, but the most rewarding have been in connecting with nature working with the wonderful staff, present and past, of El Charco del Ingenio. We are all so lucky to have this beautiful spot preserved by these people.
As every year this musical event takes place in the canyon of El Charco del Ingenio, an amazing natural sculpted space, carved by nature in stone over time immemorial. Since its inception 16 years ago, the concert in the canyon has been a collective celebration of life, with an ever growing and enthusiastic audience and always with the presentation of artists and groups of very high quality and various musical expressions.
This year we will celebrate this great feast of the Earth in the Botanical Garden with a concert of winds, by the ensemble METALES M5 / MEXICAN BRASS, whose program we will let you know soon.
This great ensemble has impressed a wide audience of all ages and musical tastes, playing hundreds of concerts with baroque music, contemporary, opera, musical comedy, blues, folk, film and music from around the world. In their presentations, all 5 musicians, who have classical training, mix the familiar with the unexpected - surprising, and always entertaining virtuosity. Their chamber music skills are at a high level, their stage show captivating, the audience interaction and their charisma convert the concert into a music-theater show. With its warm sound and joy, M5 has achieved recognition and respect of audiences and critics in different countries.
Information:
elcharcocomunicacion@gmail.com
Tels. (415) 154.4715 y 154.8838
El Charco del Ingenio, in an on-going collaboration with the Denver Botanic Gardens, welcomes Spring by offering a Botanical Illustration Workshop in flowering succulents. The students will learn, in a series of step by step exercises, to train their eyes to carefully observe and capture in graphite lines, the textures of these amazing plants.
Information:
charcodelingeniocomunicacion@gmail.com
From past exhibitions of this new creative expression in the Botanical Garden, held every year since 2010, as well as the growing interest aroused among students, a new experience and example of Land Art this spring will be held in El Charco, with the participation of students from the University of Guanajuato in Landscape Architecture and Sustainable Urban Engineering, led by the architect Fabiola Colmeneros. They will begin the process during the month of February, with an introduction on the meaning of this genre, then design and perform their works in certain areas of the Botanic Garden. The whole process will be curated by Oscar Aguirre.
The oppening will take place on Saturday May 31. There is still time, but we will be reporting on progress on this first collaboration with the University of Guanajuato.
With great expectations meetings are being held with preschool teachers of this region. Thanks to agreements with the State Education Office of Guanajuato (SEG in Spanish). These meetings will allow teachers to know more about El Charco and consider educational colaborations for the future.
¡Ven a pajarear con nosotros, te sorprenderàs!
More information: charcodelingeniocomunicacion@gmail.com
Visit the Conservatory of Mexican Plants, the Scented Garden and the canyon, archeological ruins and much more.
We recommend you wear sunscreen, and bring a hat. With some luck, we will have some rainy days still in September.
We invite everyone to this open celebration that has been taking place for many years during the full moon cycle at the Four Winds Plaza in the Botanical Garden under the always surprising direction of Alicia Mayo. It’s worth arriving a little early to admire the setting of the sun and the appearance of the moon over the mountains. You may want to bring a coat for cool evenings and you may bring a musical instrument.
Alicia Mayo : 152 .0376.
This sweat-lodge steam bath, of ritual and healing character, takes place under the direction of an experienced temazcal leader in the ruins of the hacienda located in the Botanical Garden on the far side of the reservoir.
The combination of heat, humidity and fragrant herbs provides a purifying experience for the body and spirit. Its benefits are multiple: it activates circulation, increases the body’s defenses, eliminates pains, decreases uric acid, relaxes the muscles, regulates the nervous system, stimulates respiration and is excellent for losing weight.
You will be surprised by our new menu, including some treats out from our new oven, donated after our January Wish List!
¡THANKS George Ketz!
Hens made of hemp –an example of the original and diverse gifts to be found in our Store. Stop by for a visit.