Photo Gallery » Quail Springs Permaculture

Elderflower • Flor de Saúco Welcoming the ripe

Elderflower • Flor de Saúco Welcoming the ripe elderberries to come! #cuyamavalley #quailspringspermaculture #optoutside

Does anyone know who this tasty perennial is? 🤓

Does anyone know who this tasty perennial is? 🤓💚 Hint: They take two to three years to reach a full yield and produce spears for the next 10 to 15 years!

We made the most of cleaning out our water tanks b

We made the most of cleaning out our water tanks by turning the task into mud mask spa day! 💦
Water from the spring up-canyon flows into these large water tanks for farm irrigation storage. Over time sediment builds up on the tank walls and base so we gathered an assembly line crew to power wash and scrape our way to clean tanks. It’s refreshing to live in a place of so intimately knowing where our water comes from and being able to turn funky tasks into hilarious fun.
(ps. The water we drink and use in the kitchen comes from a well, not the spring)

Giving our oven some love! We don't feel the need

Giving our oven some love! We don't feel the need to build roofs over our ovens out here, and appreciate the aesthetic of the slow erosion of the earthen plaster. Every few years we add another coat of plaster, and then watch it slowly wash way. This coat is a mix of our local grey clay soil, and the red clay soil we harvest in the next canyon over. The plaster is a very straw rich mix, which helps it erode away more slowly.
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Cob ovens are one of my favorite projects to recommend for people wanting to start getting their hands into these materials. Its fairly simple and quick, and its something that you get to interact with so closely when its done. Its built entirely of cob and other natural materials.
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Our recipe is one part clay soil, one part sand, and one part chopped straw. Recipes will vary depending on your soil. #quailspringspermaculture #offgrid #permaculture #QuailSprings
#earthenbuilding #earthenbuildingsontherise #earthenbuildings #cobbuilding #naturalbuilding #naturalbuildings #nontoxic #firesafehousing #earthdoesntburn #coboven #earthenoven #woodfiredpizzaoven

Life prevails! Here, a baby carrot from our garden

Life prevails! Here, a baby carrot from our garden, grown perfectly through a small bone.

We finished the building of the two walls that wil

We finished the building of the two walls that will be tested in the fall. They will need at least 6 months to dry in this humid climate. We continue to reflect on how and if these materials can made to check the same boxes as more mainstream building materials. How to pay for them when no one will profit off of them? How to streamline a material that is inherently produced locally, with local materials and local human power? A material that by design varies from place to place?
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We are overwhelming grateful to our team that has helped answer some of these questions and more.
Thank you to everyone who donated @quail_springs for the building and testing of these walls. Extreme gratitude for @earthenshelter and @nomadicbuilder for leading this project and holding all the pieces and putting them together for the past two years! And a huge thank you to @latierrasonrie and @terrabellumcollective for joining our crew. What a dream team of natural builders! We’re all so grateful for our structural engineer @anthonydente_ his team at @verdantstructural , our fire engineer @nbartlet1 , and our all around everything else partner Art Ludwig (without Art, we wouldn’t even be here!). Big thanks to the crew at the ICC NTA testing facility, and of course, thanks to all of you who are @quail_springs for prioritizing this research, and supporting our efforts!
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#firesafehousing #quailspringspermaculture #iccnta #earthdoesntburn #cob #cobbuilding #firescience #firesafe #firesafetyengineering #firesafety #firetest #naturalbuilding #astme119

Join our team! We're hiring for an Executive Direc

Join our team! We're hiring for an Executive Director (application deadline extended to June 15th). See link in bio. #outsidemeetings #highdesert #environmentaleducation #permaculture #naturalbuilding #joinus

Sound on 📣 for a true-to-life experience of wha

Sound on 📣 for a true-to-life experience of what it’s like taking our goaties out on the land. Thanks to Enya, Greta, Bonnie & Dongyi for bringing this moment to life.

Big Sagebrush | Artemisia Tridentata Today we har

Big Sagebrush | Artemisia Tridentata Today we harvested big sagebrush and made a lovely aromatic hydrosol. Hydrosol is considered the byproduct of essential oil production. Essential oils usually require very large amounts of plant material and typically, depending on the herb, not a very sustainable practice. Essential oil wasn't our goal today. We harvested from hearty and abundant stands of sagebrush that thrive in the Quail Springs landscape. We created our own distillation system and 2 hours later... voilà! Sagebrush is great for headaches, sore throats, and the respiratory system. We're looking forward to spritzing ourselves with refreshing sagebrush hydrosol this summer. #quailspringspermaculture #optoutside #cuyamavalley

Want to be a part of tending these corn beds, shep

Want to be a part of tending these corn beds, shepherding goats and growing food in the high desert?
Join us July 1st until the end of September.
Just one more week to apply!
See link in bio >> “Work Trade Opportunity.”

Another day at the testing facility. They were tes

Another day at the testing facility. They were testing another wall system, and you can see the black smoke in the background from the wall burning. Maybe one day we will consider the toxins of our buildings when they burn into the overall safety considerations. It’s time we take a broader look at what we consider safe housing. #cob #cobbuilding #naturalbuilding #healthyhomes #earthenbuilding #firesafehousing #earthdoesntburn #firesafety

Nopales are a climate resilient food source that t

Nopales are a climate resilient food source that thrives in Quail Springs. We harvest the young pads of the nopal cactus and prepare them in a variety of ways. Nopales are cooling, moistening, blood sugar balancing, and a great source of magnesium, calcium, and vitamin C. Depending on the variety, the prickly pear fruit of the nopal cactus can be sweet or sour. At Quail Springs we enjoy the sweet variety which are also known as tunas or nochtli. The goats and the squirrels love nopales too! Do you? #knowyourfood #quailspringspermaculture
#climateresilience
#drylandfarming #cuyamavalley

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