The Official Unofficial Guide to Southern Arizona Permaculture
Southern Arizona has been a hotbed for permaculture in recent years. With a long growing season and mild winters and lots of sunshine Arizona can prove a great place to grow year round. Permaculture is broad term that at its heart is a guideline for having a regenerative relationship with the land. People use permaculture in this region to have thriving farms and homesteads for multiple reasons, by using certain systems they can harvest water that doesn’t drain water tables or rely on importing it, by using native plants and seeds they have plants that are meant for the environment they are in and so they flourish, and by connecting to each other they have an active and caring community that supports each other.
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ARCOSANTI: Urban Laboratory in Mayer, Arizona On your way down from Prescott about 1 hour out is Arcosanti. A utopian village envisioned by Paolo Soleri. A Italian architect who moved to Scottsdale AZ in the 50’s and built a name for himself around hand crafted bronze bells. Arcosanti is nearest the town of Mayer AZ. Walk the property on a guided tour and learn how the buildings are interconnected and about Soleri’s Arcology( the blending of architecture and ecology) concept. See one visionaries idea about how we can transform our suburbs into self-sustaining micro-villages and the beginning of that idea. Tour during mid-mornings hours and you might be lucky enough to see a bronze pour. The Foundry and the Ceramic studios are open air and look out to canyon below. Have lunch at Arcosanti’s cafe and enjoy the warm sunshine and canyon views through 20’ round portholes ($10, vegetarian options available.) Of the more adventurous type? Take a hike from the cafe to the rim of the opposite canyon wall. Be prepared with a wide brimmed hat or sunscreen. While Arcosanti is an unfinished idea currently housing roughly 100 people compared to the initial expected 5000 the “urban laboratory” still operates many educational programs and seminars. They also rent out the space for weddings or parties. With concrete arches up to 30’ and awesome acoustics just make sure you have enough people to fill up the space. They also have single apartments for rent through AirBnB if you’d like to see the sun rise and set through large glass windows and an almost infinity edge pool overlooking the canyon for the hotter summer days. Windsong Peace and Leadership Center, Patagonia AZ Windsong is located near Patagonia Lake and resides in a place called the Sky Islands one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Driving up the dirt road your first site is of multicolored old wooden doors all built together to form an inviting gate. Through the gate you will be greeted by two friendly wolf dogs. The property is on a ridge crest with slopes on either side and a panoramic views of classic rolling golden hills and the twinkling lights of Nogales Mexico. Windsong is transitioning into more sustainable version of itself. With solar hot water heaters, grey water systems and a caretaker who is passionate about permaculture design introducing things like keyline design it will be exciting to see this property in a year or two. Windsong is preliminary a retreat for youth and the hacienda shows that. There are three rooms of bunks and commercial sized kitchen to supports groups of large sizes. The house has a courtyard with a fire pit and pizza oven for evening jam sessions or pizza parties. Want to do some stargazing? A wooden observation deck and little light pollution make for crystal clear night skies. The deck can get windy so plan on extra layers and checking the weather prior to spending time up there. In the morning be expected to pitch in with morning chores. However chores is a bit of overstatement. Chores include feeding and petting adorable pygmy goats and chickens. The real gem of this place is the caretaker/organizer Erin. Spend some time with her wit and laughter and feel instantly at home and comfortable. Keep a guitar around, Erin has a magical voice and if you're lucky she might sing a song with you. The Canelo Project, Elgin, AZ The Canelo Project is the homesite of Bill and Athena Steen. Resting on the banks of a humble perennial stream are several Adobe and Strawbale buildings. The couple and their sons and friends built all the strawbale structure themselves and restored the main house's adobe by hand with clay found on their own property. The charming buildings plaster and clay walls are smooth and invite hands to run along them. Each one is unique but many have similar elements. Each one has a story window which lets you see underneath the plaster to the strawbale insulation inside, or see the different layers of clay and plaster ranging from rough to smooth. Most showcase small living at it’s best with sleeping lofts to maximize space and built in benches and shelves. They have a large garden which provides a lot of food during the summer and spring. The property is lush and quint with homemade art and piles of interesting things in the work spaces. Check their website to look up tour dates and times or plan to attend a workshop. If you’d like to spend the night in a strawbale they run a small B&B out of the guest house and rates run from $100 to $125 a night. Deep Dirt Farm Institute, Patagonia AZ Nestled in the drainage of two hills lays Deep Dirt Farm Institute. The caretaker is a vibrant women named Kate who grew in evergreen Wales and now has made rejuvenating the landscape her life’s mission. Her work on the land reinforces its own ability to care for itself for generations to come. As you enter her property you see rock dams to retain soil during heavy rains and sunbleached flags that denote special trees or new plantings. There are no permanent structures on the site except for a micro mini adobe hut. The place is predominantly native species, and Kate grows and collects seed from native species to than replant in the surroundings areas. She has a greenhouse on site that sits above a small duck pond. With a dozen bantering ducks in it. Her she hosts a weekly women’s gardening group and grows veggies on raised mounds. Kate works with numerous school groups and restoration groups in the area to promote awareness about restoration and to cultivate a tenderness for the land in future generations. Stop by during the day to see the amazing work being done here and the lady behind it all Kate. |
Avalon Organic Gardens and Ecovillage, Tumacacori AZ
Avalon Ecovillage is located just 20 miles from the Mexican border and the juxtaposition of idyllic commune living and an 18’ wall to keep people from immigrating illegally is stark. The Ecovillage itself has a locked gate that someone within Avalon will need to open for you to get in and leave. Once inside the gates you will drive by the food forest and catfish pond. A tour of Avalon will take about 2 hours but the cafe serves up terrific vegetarian food so make sure you visit during lunch. Almost all of the food has been grown on site including the cheese and dairy products. Avalon has two pit greenhouses which are dug into the ground to shelter them from temperature changes and shifts. They also currently have a third greenhouse under construction that will be fully aquaponic. There are many different housing structures on site as they experiment with several different building mediums. Each structure has a plaque that shares what kind of construction it is, from strawbale to sandbag to yurts. They also have advanced greywater and blackwater systems as well as rainwater catchment cisterns and numerous garden swells. Avalon hosts yearly festivals and many different types of workshops on sustainable living. Call ahead to book a tour and ask for Kazarian.
Avalon Ecovillage is located just 20 miles from the Mexican border and the juxtaposition of idyllic commune living and an 18’ wall to keep people from immigrating illegally is stark. The Ecovillage itself has a locked gate that someone within Avalon will need to open for you to get in and leave. Once inside the gates you will drive by the food forest and catfish pond. A tour of Avalon will take about 2 hours but the cafe serves up terrific vegetarian food so make sure you visit during lunch. Almost all of the food has been grown on site including the cheese and dairy products. Avalon has two pit greenhouses which are dug into the ground to shelter them from temperature changes and shifts. They also currently have a third greenhouse under construction that will be fully aquaponic. There are many different housing structures on site as they experiment with several different building mediums. Each structure has a plaque that shares what kind of construction it is, from strawbale to sandbag to yurts. They also have advanced greywater and blackwater systems as well as rainwater catchment cisterns and numerous garden swells. Avalon hosts yearly festivals and many different types of workshops on sustainable living. Call ahead to book a tour and ask for Kazarian.
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Native Seed Search Farm, Patagonia AZ
This is the farm for the seed company Native Seed Search. It is used to grow out the plants for the seed that the public can purchase and grow themselves. It isn’t much to see just a few fields and a medium sized building used for processing the seeds. Yet in this humble place, they are saving native southwestern seeds for future generations to come. Inside they have gourds and corn from last fall's harvest hanging overhead and large wire tables for seeding sifting. It’s a small operation only 1-3 people working at a time. Check out their store in Tucson, AZ or go online to look at what seeds they are offering. |
Red Mountain Foods, Patagonia AZ
The health food store in Patagonia has many sumptuous treats like fair trade chocolate and coconut ice cream bars. Also a surprising range of local and organic veggies and fruits. It’s one room with four aisles of dry and canned goods. Tucked in the corner is a few health and beauty goods like toothpaste and biodegradable soap. Up on the counter they have a small wicker basket with local baked bread and a small bowl of ginger chews and nutmilk chocolate. Prices are a little steep but generally average for health food stores. It’s cash only so come prepared.
The health food store in Patagonia has many sumptuous treats like fair trade chocolate and coconut ice cream bars. Also a surprising range of local and organic veggies and fruits. It’s one room with four aisles of dry and canned goods. Tucked in the corner is a few health and beauty goods like toothpaste and biodegradable soap. Up on the counter they have a small wicker basket with local baked bread and a small bowl of ginger chews and nutmilk chocolate. Prices are a little steep but generally average for health food stores. It’s cash only so come prepared.