We consider ourselves temporary stewards of this land and seek to improve its long-term intrinsic value vs. maximizing profit extracted from it. Along with food production, we value the land’s biodiversity and ecosystem service such as carbon sequestration. One key concern is water table depletion -- we constrain water usage to minimize depletion of the water table ~350’ below the surface of our two deep wells. Water is a key limit, thus we automatically irrigate at night with efficient drip systems; we fertilize with local manure and compost to increase the water (and carbon) retaining capacity of the soils; and focus on fruit crops and species that provide other valuable services such as nectar out of season and shade. Some of our biotic elements:

Philosophy and Constraints -- Permaculture