Starting Work on the Sleepy Mesquite Demonstration Site

Designing The Site

The first step was designing the site. I did that as my final design exercise. The final phase of my permaculture education was the FDE; I had to create a design for a piece of land. I had two choices: 1. Pick from a list of properties that the course provides, with all the research on the property already done for me. 2. Choose my own site to design and do all the research on it myself. I chose the latter. I wanted to get as much experience under my belt as soon as I could.

The designing of the demonstration site started on 12/01/2025 and was very challenging, as I had never done this before. The biggest part is researching all the climate data, water cycles and flow data, and species lists of both existing species and species that would be introduced in the design. With that data in hand, the next step was to start designing and placing all the elements, as well as the order of the element evolution and succession into a complete, comprehensive, and functional ecosystem that served the needs of the site and its owner.

This is a map of the Plant guilds and their locations on the site

this map shows water flows and added design water features

As you can see, a lot of details are displayed in these maps, and that's just 2 out of 20 such maps, each with its own data set, not to mention the 38 pages of written details of how each element works with all the other elements in the overall design, including detailed species lists and their place and function in the design. The complexity of the designing process is usually what overwhelms people, and they give up on their dreams of a self-sustaining future. This design took about 100 man-hours to put together. Next time, it should take a lot less time to complete the research and design process.

First completed earthwork.

Start of Construction

I got started on 4/15/2021 on the on-site work long before I started the course itself. I felt confident enough by just watching YouTube videos of Geoff Lawton (Greening the Desert project) that I began constructing the first earthwork on the site. I started at the top of the watershed, which is at the northwest corner of the site. With the help of my friend Mark, it was completed in 2 days. However, I did not plan ahead, so when it was completed, I had nothing to plant into it, which was the next step, as I had surmised from the videos I had been watching.

So I had nothing to do while I waited for the trees to grow, except observe the site. Of course, I got straight to work setting up a nursery on my balcony back at our condo in Garden Grove.

my first attempt at growing Mesquite trees.

Growing mesquite trees and observing the property is what I did.

Importance of Observation

Do not underestimate the insight that observing a site can bring. It's also best to do it over a protracted period of time for the following reason: making changes to a site changes how the site behaves. Without extensive experience on how an element might change the site or how it will behave on its own, when making a change to a site, slow down and see how that change affects the site and/or how on-site conditions affect the elements being introduced to the site. As every site is different, only through observation and the experiential knowledge that comes with it will you be able to make informed adjustments to the site and its design.

June 23 2021

The home base nursery is coming along nicely. Moved all the surviving seedlings to 1-gallon pots.

October 13, 2021

The summer temperatures have finally cooled down, and I have returned to the Sleepy Mesquite to continue observation and work. Things I noticed on this trip: The trees had a noticeable number of Monarch butterflies on them, so this site is on the migratory path of these butterflies.

The site as a whole is greening as a result of this summer's monsoon rains, which were substantial. Upon closer inspection of the earthwork, I noticed a lot of grass growing in and on the earthwork. I also noticed that the grass had all been chewed down nearly to the roots, suggesting that rabbits and jackrabbits had been going to town on all the grass, leaving nearly nothing behind. I dug down an inch or so in the pit portion of the earthwork, and there it was: soil formation had begun in the pit, holding moisture months after the monsoonal rains. No doubt much of the organic material was washed in by the monsoonal water flow from higher up in the watershed. Notice below the nice crumbly structure of the newly formed soil. This earthwork was doing its job very well.

Unfortunately, several feet of the west side of the berm had been washed away by the summer rains. That will obviously need to be reinforced somehow. Rock would be the most cost-effective way to do this. But I have no rocks of appreciable size on this site. However, I do cross many rock fields on the way in, so I'll just pick up a few on my next trip out and start reinforcing the ends of the berm. I also noticed that since only one side of the berm eroded away, it meant the berm was not perfectly level. Something to work on as well in future trips. To achieve level earthworks, I'll need to build a couple of tools: an A-frame level and a water level so I can make these earthworks even more effective as a design feature. I also noticed paw prints in the pit, either from foxes or coyotes. So it appears that the standing water in the earthwork also provided water, however briefly, to the local wildlife.

Stay tuned for the next update on the developments of the Sleepy Mesquite Demonstration Site.

Thanks for joining us on our permaculture adventure, and feel free to leave a comment.