Harvesting the agave plant starts by cutting the sharp leaves off the plant using a machete. Once the leaves have been trimmed off the plant it’s ready to be taken out of the ground. The agave plant takes between 8 – 10 years to mature.
Remove the agave plant from ground includes the use of a “coa” (special axe) and a pry bar. Once the plant is removed from the earth, the roots are chopped away in order to make a clean pina shape.
This video from our ranch in Oaxaca shows how the process works.