Sustainable Living, Practical Learning

With all travel and work away from home, it looked nearly impossible to attempt “walking the talk” at our farm. That was nine years ago, though, and we since have succeeded in turning our land and and home into a drylands permaculture and sustainable living showcase. Our practices and climate reflect the need for a more perennial polyculture system which is in the best tradition of permaculture. We also have to take into consideration the aesthetics and desires of our fellow community members, with whom we share the joys and the ownership of our ten acre oasis. 

After years of building soil, “growing” shade and biomass, increasing biodiversity, incorporating animals (and people), working with sun, wind, water, cold drainage and Mother Nature - we are now celebrating the gifts of good land!

Fruit trees’ bloom, native and honey bees, medley of medicinal herbs, milk goats, heirloom chickens and turkeys, a gang of loud guinea fowl, a restored wetlands teeming with fish, dragonflies, bugs and native waterfowl; rich gardens, pastures and orchards surround our natural home with its cutting edge energy and water management design. It is truly beautiful and rewarding to be alive in a permaculture oasis!

With the abundance comes food processing, sharing of surplus, recycling of nutrients, teaching and learning new aspects of permaculture life style.

Sample partial plant lists for guild planting in desert Southwest:

• Cover Crops as Bee Forage for Desert Southwest by Lynda Prim
• Pollination & Wildlife Habitat Hedge Plant List by Arina Pittman
• Goat Forage Plant List by Arina Pittman
• Poultry Forage Plant List by Arina Pittman
• Edible Perennial Greens by Mary Zemach
• Mineral-accumulating Plants - Partial List by Oregon Biodynamic Group
• Cultivating Indigenous Micro-organisms in Your Soil