Finally: A Ranch Kitchen After over three years of unprotected outdoor cooking, my wife finally got a roof over her head. That’s a long time to be dodging rain and other challenging scenarios. We bought a metal building kit that’s rated for over 120 mph winds. Gusts up to 50 mph are not uncommon here, […]
2025 Highlights in Pictures Read More »
We’ve lived in multiple states around the country: from coastal states on the Atlantic and Pacific to the great lakes and the great plains, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains to tornado alley! And we have visited or at least traveled through almost every state. Most places have four seasons even though
Erratic Seasons of Sabbatical Ranch Read More »
Arizona’s infamous flash flooding finally struck us. For the last couple of weeks the monsoon thunderstorms have been hitting all around us but mostly either entirely missing us or just sprinkling a little bit – until Saturday. We’ve had our fair share of severe rain events, but nothing like this one. No neighbors we know
Flash Flooding Hits Sabbatical Ranch Read More »
My daughter is very modest so she wouldn’t brag about her accomplishments. But I will! Over the winter she made a comprehensive plan for a year-round harvest of more than 75 different plants for food and medicine for people, pets, plants, beneficial birds & bugs (micro & macro). I asked her to write about it
Growing vegetation on the desert has many challenges. One challenge is that hard, dry ground makes it difficult for anything to take root. We’ve been working on developing good soil, but regular watering is required. Rainwater-harvesting earthworks are designed to help, but that by itself would take quite a few seasons to transform desert into
Irrigation Changes Everything! Read More »
Gravel and urbanite, stormwater and topsoil: all inadvertent gifts from neighbors near and far. Some people may look at these things as problems rather than gifts, but we turn problems into solutions and put them all to good use! Years before we bought this property I’m guessing one or more contractors delivered quite a bit
Generous Neighbors Read More »
Last year our big infrastructure project was running a waterline from the well – located three properties away – down to the ranch (four properties share one well). That project was a lot of work and full of surprises. Over the last year we’ve been doing rainwater-harvesting earthworks and building soil for Gardens, Gardens, and
We have a lot to be thankful for this year! Hacking an existence out of the desert is no easy task, so it makes us appreciate all the more the little wins along the way that add up to something significant. I want to highlight some of the simple things that are paying dividends.
Now that I raise chickens I hear this all the time: “Chickens are little dinosaurs!” Really? It never ceases to amaze me how many tall tales evolutionists invent and propagate. But because they captured government schools and other influential institutions so long ago, they are able to get away with it. Most Americans were taught
Was T.Rex Just a Big Chicken? Read More »
After acquiring eight acres in the middle of the San Pedro River Valley, we arrived to start building Sabbatical Ranch one year ago today. It has been an incredible adventure! A cynic could have told us, “You’re just a bunch of starry-eyed dreamers about to get slapped in the face with reality!” Someone did tell
Happy 1st Birthday, Sabbatical Ranch! Read More »
We have all kinds of learning opportunities to share with you! There are local and online classes (a free webinar next week on 7 Steps to a Healing Garden) and we have a variety of ranch projects that are a great opportunity if you’d like to volunteer to learn. I explain some of our progress
Volunteer to Learn Read More »
The idea of using animals to grow abundant plants is a bit counter-intuitive because almost everyone has probably witnessed the effects of overgrazing. Imagine any kind of fenced-in animals and it doesn’t take very long for the ground to become barren of vegetation and start looking like a desert. There has also been a lot
Building Productive Soil With Animals Read More »
That sounds like a ridiculous question. But rumors abound. Hmmm. Let’s get to the bottom of this. Our alpha hen, Java, goes around crowing like a rooster, but gets all the privileges of being a hen. For example, I mentioned in a previous post how I had thrown a big grub to Old Whitey and
Can a Hen Turn into a Rooster? Read More »
We’re looking forward to restarting our Superadobe building projects, but the winter break has allowed us to get a lot of other stuff done. One of the most important is installing many water-harvesting earthworks that will help stop erosion of our topsoil and will help build living soil which will enable abundant food production. Rainwater
Plant the Rain, Grow the Soil, Reap the Harvest Read More »
We got snow last night and the picture shows it on the mobile chicken coop. Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8) Can you learn from ants and
Funny & Humble Chicken Lessons Read More »
A year ago next week we drove from our winter sabbatical spot in southern Texas to Arizona. We arrived with windy snow and freezing weather at Thunder Mountain Alpaca Ranch, a very hospitable working ranch near Coronado National Memorial. We stayed and helped out for a few months while scoping out properties for Sabbatical Ranch.
Donations From Thunder Mountain Alpaca Ranch Read More »
Many the projects we work on here at Sabbatical Ranch are experimental as a demonstration site for the benefit of everyone. We’ve been developing a variety of experimental gardens in the last month or so and I suppose it’s about time I report on them. Here’s the list so far:
– Rain garden
– Hugelkultur
– Critter gardens
– Caliche gardens
– Chicken garden
– Greenhouse garden
– Courtyard food forest
– Chicken jungle
– Sunken garden
– Shady place
– And there are more in the works!
Gardens, Gardens, and More Gardens! Read More »
Oxymoron? Contradiction in terms? If that’s your opinion of microbes, I hope to change it as I share some revolutionary discoveries you may not be completely aware of! Microbes are one of the marvels of creation that demonstrate intelligent design and pretty much every surface on earth is covered with them. It’s estimated that our
Marvelous Microbes!? Read More »
Rats and mice! These rodents are legion on the desert. I am mostly a live-and-let-live kind of guy – except when it comes to rats and mice. So I declared preemptive war on them. This is a war story. Who will win? Read to the end to see how we turned a problem into multiple
We just got a small flock of adult chickens! We got three hens and six roosters from Echoing Hope, a local nonprofit ranch that is chemical-free and similar to Sabbatical Ranch in a variety of other ways. Even though the chickens are beyond their prime for meat or egg-laying, we plan to make good use
Mold-Free Chickens Read More »
Hardly anyone wants to live in a desolate desert. Everywhere people settle they usually cultivate the land and plant things. The Arizona desert is no different. We moved here because it’s a desert, but who wouldn’t want to make it more livable for people, pets, and plants? We’ve experienced many types of harsh weather here
One of the things I said I’d include in this blog is some of the simple, DIY projects we work on. This one is really cool! I combined a rocket stove with a rocket mass heater and created a hybrid of the two. These are extremely efficient compared to a conventional fire (eg. wood stove
Rocket Heater + Pictorial Read More »
One of the most important needs of any farm or ranch is water. Without water life is impossible. But not all water is created equal. City water is loaded with chemicals so we’re thankful we’re not in the city. We’re on a well-share with three other properties and no chemicals are used. This satisfies our
Water: A Blessing or a Curse? Read More »
We have a lot of mesquite trees at the ranch and we love them! They are edible, medicinal, and beneficial in a variety of ways including the wood that can be used for fuel or other purposes. As a legume they fix nitrogen and feed life in the soil which helps prepare it for other
