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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
