Current Status

Current permanent residents

Edwin, and Dan and Niki..

Living Accomodations

Four pickup-style campers, an 18-ft camper-trailer, and a 24-ft motorhome. Edwin also has a small adobe dome we built to test out the Cal Earth building process. We are also building foundations for the campers, a shower facility, and a small greenhouse (or cold frames, TBD) See newsletters for more details on our current status.

Composting Toilets

The community toilet is a Sun-Mar Excel NE (non-electric). This was acquired in 2009 and is working well. It been enclosed in a small building made from recycled and new materials. Edwin also has a l composting toilet suitable for just one person.

Solar Systems

A solar system has been installed in the motorhome, consisting of three 120W panels, a charge controller, a Xantrax inverter and six 6V golf car batteries.. 12-volt wiring has been run from the motorhome where the batteries are stored to the campers and the composting toilet house for lighting.. Power is sufficient for our current needs.

Edwin has an additional solar system with two large panels, 200W each, and eight golf-car batteries.

There is also a solar system with 3 medium-sized panels, that operates the solar pump for the well.

Water

We now have running water. Well #1 was drilled in December 2004 and a pump installed. The pump failed and the well output was marginal and partially collapsed due to improper wellpipe installation by the well driller. Well #2 has been drilled with a very successful result of at least 15gpm in March 2007. At first the water was sulphurous and highly mineralized, but as we continue to pump the water, the sulfur is unnoticeable now and the water "sweeter" with less minerals, although still has a pH of about 9. We have installed a solar pump and currently have a gravity-feed system with a 550-gallon steel tank.

Annual Garden

A small garden circle has be created and soil has now been built up somewhat with organic and permaculture methods. The garden space is an 18ft circular keyhole garden with a central herb spiral. A new garden has been created in the lower terraces and is being expanded as needed to supply community needs and farmer's market sales.

Successful harvests of lettuce, cantaloupe, watermelons, kale, tomatoes, red peppers, squash, green beans, and cucumbers have been obtained. We are also having success with our tree crops of apricots, almonds and pomegranates. Some lessons have been learned concerning specific conditions here and the garden will continue to be much improved and expanded. One such lesson is that the sun here at this latitude and elevation is extremely intense in late spring and early summer, which can shut down photosynthesis on sum plants. We are using agro cloth to protect crops in the spring from the cold and in June to protect crops such as lettuce from withering sun. Another lesson is that we need to control the grasshoppers (organic controls are available), which in the fall of 2008 ate every green leaf in sight, even the poisonous oleanders! Biological control from Arbico had some success in 2009, and the grashoppers have been less of a problem in 2010.

Perennials

Experimental plantings of various fruit trees have been completed. See the Food Plant List and the Forest Plant List for more information on what has been planted and what is planned. Apricots, almonds, pomegranates are doing very well but the almonds are still young and only produced a small crop this year. Grapes have yet to fully thrive but have potential. Figs are marginal because of the cold winters but should do well in a south-facing sheltered area. Mission olives should also do well but have not yet been planted.