Come
and experience the energy and excitement that comes from being immersed in
Permaculture! Our site for the 2013
Western Canada Permaculture Convergence will enable us to bring together one
hundred fifty people for three days at Rancho Relaxo, a working Permaculture
demonstration farm! Our five
acres of paradise is just minutes outside of Rocky Mountain House, and displays
some of the best mountain views and pristine vistas that Alberta has to offer.
My wife, Juli and I have been featured on 'The Verge Permaculture Grad Series' where we gave a tour of our farm, Rancho Relaxo. Check out our video HERE!
Rancho Relaxo was formerly the home of
two hundred fifty or so scrapped cars, old tires, fuel tanks, transmissions,
scrap metal, concrete and garbage. Together with my wife and our four kids, we
picked, piled, plumbed and painted our way to a place that we could be proud of
and where our kids could safely play. But, we didn't stop there. After
completing four years of research on the state of the world, we decided the
best use of our land was to incorporate Permaculture Design into the property,
and display a new way of living in harmony with natural systems.
It was our families contention that taking
the best ideas from around the world, in order to use resources and energy more
efficiently, and produce food that is healthy, organic and abundant, under
whatever conditions the world economy sets, was a responsible and viable
choice, that we were more than willing to work towards. Drawing from our
experience as international travelers we commenced re‐designing our five acres in order to
build it into a Permaculture Demonstration Farm. We are working towards the
goal of producing all of our own
energy, growing (most of) our own food for our family of six people, and
then showing other people how to do it for themselves. This farm encourages social interaction and
discussion through integrated meeting spaces combined with events that draw a
variety of groups from the local community.
We also offer regular tours to exchange ideas with school groups, youth
groups, government agencies, elected officials, service clubs, and anyone else
that is interested.
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In terms of food production, we have
installed three thousand square feet of raised garden beds for vegetable
production, as well as the initial stages of two perennial food forests with
fifty fruit trees, deer fence, and shelter belts. Our food forests will display
the twenty‐five
species of fruit we can grow in this climate, as well as provide a low‐maintenance, high-output alternative
to annual‐garden
production. We have also installed compost piles for yard waste, humanure,
leaves, coffee grounds etc which recycles all of our nutrients and provides
ample organic fertilizer.
We have twelve thousand liters of rainwater storage and associated collection/irrigation systems installed.
Hand‐in‐hand
with food production is food preservation and storage. In order to implement these
ideas, we have a root cellar under our deck, and a walk‐in freezer made from a shipping container. The twenty foot sea-can is buried under six hundred tons of sand,
forming a hill to help moderate temperature, and has a living roof. Our walk in
freezer will keep food frozen, year round, without using any outside energy
inputs.
Currently, we have several types of
solar energy systems installed, including: A 3kW solar electric system with
batteries and the ability to sell excess to the grid, a Cansolair solar thermal
(air heater) made from two hundred forty pop cans, a solar thermal system which
heats five thousand litres of water for space heating, and a solar oven,
powered by a forty eight inch Fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight into an
insulated box. We have also retrofitted our old farmhouse to be super-efficient
in terms of energy use, and improve its long‐term durability, including: four
inches of Styrofoam insulation around the entire exterior of the house
extending down below grade to the frost line, a high efficiency furnace and a
high efficiency wood fireplace. We have
an in house worm compost system for kitchen scraps and have installed compost
toilets both inside our home and outside for public use.
The other project we
are working on is a prototype for an energy-efficient, off-grid log cabin
package that we will offer through our family business, Taimi Soil Projects. This is one step towards offering fully built
and functional self-sufficient farms, custom made for people and available at a
cost lower than the average Calgary home.
It’s not all work and
no play here at Rancho Relaxo! We have tons of fun things to do for grown-ups
and kids alike! Work on your inner balance with one hundred feet of catwalk
through the trees and explore your imagination inside our tree house/fort! Take
a ride on our giant rope swing for all ages with a lookout point, and then
expel all that extra energy bouncing to your hearts delight on our all ages
trampoline! You’ll need a rest after all that fun, but we've got you covered
with lots of green space and hammocks for relaxing and hanging out.
We
sure are looking forward to seeing everyone at Rancho Relaxo! Stay tuned for
more on what we will be offering at this years convergence!
-Rancho Relaxo. Food for thought, and thought
for food.
You know you can't miss this, so register now!
You know you can't miss this, so register now!
