The Joshua Tree Homestead Permaculture ...

A small, but ambitious 1.25 acre permaculture experiment in the arid mountainous desert town of Joshua Tree, California. With only 2.5 to 5 inches of rain annually, our challenge here in the Mojave Desert is to learn to meet our human needs through rainwater harvesting, hardy plant species and extreme efficiency on all fronts, rather than becoming more and more dependent on energy-intensive imported water from far away. This project is our learning laboratory for experimenting with possible solutions to these challenges. Our three lofty aims are: 1. to evolve a food, fuel, & fiber producing system that can be weened off of groundwater irrigation within ten years, 2. to be able to cover our basic drinking and cleaning water needs from rooftop catchment, 3. to supply all our energy needs (including for transportation)with our most abundant resource--solar energy.