green living

Good homes, good food, time in nature, self-sufficiency, freedom to roam—that is our goal.

Fortunately our property is set up to share all of this with others, and we have the opportunity to inspire and educate on the attainability of these earth-friendly living practices for your own home and lifestyle. If we can do it in the desert, you can do it anywhere!

LIGHT

It starts with the SUN. As our most powerful resource here at 7200 feet, why not harvest its beautiful, endless rays to provide your own renewable energy?! Our property is solar powered, heated with wood stoves which use an otherwise waste product (sawdust) as fuel, and cooled with the summer breezes.

A geodesic dome greenhouse supports fig trees in the summer and a variety of greens in the winter, and our larger greenhouse provides the ideal environment for olive trees, an avocado tree, herbs, grasses and flowers year round.

All interior lighting and exterior building lights are compact fluorescent or LED. Our exterior landscape lighting is solar-powered.

We also harness the day’s dry, sunny air to line-dry our linens.

WATER

We collect rainwater from the roofs into tanks holding 10,500 gallons, which is then pulled to water the gardens. Two greywater systems channel water from some of the casita’s sinks and showers to irrigate certain areas of the landscape. What we don’t catch on the roof is captured on the property through extensive mulching, terracing, native grass restoration and swales. Hot water systems are primarily “on-demand” water heaters, eliminating the need for continuously heated hot-water tanks.

EARTH

“Diversity gives strength and stability. Different plants prefer different places, and when plants are growing, everywhere the soil improves; and more water is held in the soil.

Shade trees are worth many air conditioners; windbreaks are worth many heaters. Give the rain that your home and driveway sheds to your trees and gardens, and make your home beautiful and comfortable with native plants that can thrive on their own once established.

We all want a forest of food. Fruit and nut trees overhead, currents, berries, grapes and roses below, herbs and vegetables below them, carrots and beets down under. Insects and other animals, while munching away, are the best pollinators and seed replanters. The food we grow is free of poisons and preservatives. It's fresh and wholesome.”

I read this on our local nursery’s website, and it couldn’t be more accurate to describe our property and our outlook.

It all starts with the soil, which we regenerate through making our own compost from food waste and composting toilets. Better soil grows healthier plants, and more plants hold more soil and water in place.

Fruit & nut trees, berries, grapes, herbs, flowers and grasses thrive and return year after year, and we grow vegetables organically in our greenhouses and seasonal gardens. We have a 120-tree micro-forest of food & shade trees in the front of the property which will grow to provide habitat, food, shade, windbreak, sound barriers, and will protect the soil from erosion.

No toxic chemicals are used on the land. The soaps we provide are biodegradable as they flow into the greywater systems. Natural materials—stone, wood, clay—are used extensively, and our interior finishes are plant-based or non-toxic. All recyclable materials are recycled, and we provide compost buckets in each casita so we can use those scraps to create new, alive soil.

It’s a cyclical process that is self-sustaining, self-enriching, and in tune with the natural rhythm of earth.

We are happy to talk more in-depth about these practices during your stay—it is our goal to inspire you!