To find out more about those objectives and the ideas and motives (the "why") behind them, see:
The About tab
The Sage Garden Ecovillas blog
The Sage Garden Service Group site
1. Today
This section describes the current state of development at Sage Garden Ecovillas. You can also take a video tour.1.1 Perennial Plants
Plant | Location | When Planted | Benefits |
---|---|---|---|
Olive (5) | Throughout | 1982? | Food, shade, habitat |
Creosote | NW | 1982? | Aroma, medicine |
Aloe | N | Spr 2014 | Medicine, pollinators, food |
Fig: blackjack, kadota (2) | S | Spr 2014 | Food, shade |
Pomegranate: wonderful (2) | NW and E | Spr 2014 | Food |
Native mesquite | NW | Fall 2014 | Shade, food, habitat |
Hackberry: canyon | NE | Spr 2015 | Shade, food, habitat |
Elderberry | E | Spr 2015 | Food, shade |
Ironwood | E | Spr 2015 | Shade, food, habitat, nitrogen-fixing |
Goji berry | E | Spr 2015 | Food |
Pomegranate: Kashmir blend (2) | S, E | Spr 2015 | Food, visual screen |
Wolfberry (2) | E | Fall 2015 | Food |
Jojoba (5) | E | Fall 2015 | Food, windbreak, visual screen |
Orange | E | Spr 2016 | Food, shade |
Almond | SE | Spr 2016 | Food, shade, windbreak |
Peach | E | Spr 2016 | Food, shade, windbreak |
Banana (4) | E | Spr 2016 | Food, shade |
Mulberry | E | Fall 2016 | Food, visual screen |
Apple: gala | E | Fall 2016 | Food, shade, visual screen |
Pineapple guava | E | Fall 2016 | Food, shade, visual screen |
Curry leaf | E | Fall 2016 | Food, shade, visual screen |
Plum | E | Fall 2016 | Food, shade |
Avocado: fuerte | E | Fall 2016 | Food, shade |
Pear | N | Fall 2016 | Food, shade |
Hackberry: desert | NE | Fall 2016 | Food, shade |
Pine: Afghan (3) | N arc | Win 2016 | Shade, windbreak |
Grapes (3) | S | Win 2016 | Food, shade, visual screen |
Fig: VdB | NE | Spr 2017 | Food, shade |
Pistachio (2) | S | Spr 2017 | Food, shade |
Barbados cherry | NE | Spr 2017 | Food, shade |
Frankincense | S | Spr 2017 | Shade, resin |
Ironwood | N arc | Spr 2017 | Shade, windbreak, visual screen, food, habitat |
Palo verde | N arc | Spr 2017 | Shade, windbreak, visual screen, food, habitat |
Moringa (3) | S | Spr 2017 | Shade, food |
Rosemary | S | Fall 2017 | Food, aroma, pollinators |
Grape | S | Fall 2017 | Food, shade |
Jasmine | NW | Fall 2017 | Food, aroma |
Sage: mountain | S | Fall 2017 | Aroma |
Guamuchil | N arc | Fall 2017 | Food, visual screen |
Jujube | S | Fall 2017 | Food, shade |
Avocado: hass | E | Fall 2017 | Food |
Hibiscus | E | Fall 2017 | Food, pollinators |
Lime: Thai | E | Fall 2017 | Food |
Tea tree | NE | Fall 2017 | Shade, visual screen, medicine |
Dragonfruit (3) | N,E | Fall 2017 | Food |
Senna (5) | N,E | Win 2017 | Nitrogen fixing, pollinators |
Fairy duster: baja (4) | E | Win 2017 | Nitrogen fixing, pollinators |
Blackberry (3) | N,S | Win 2017 | Food |
Tipu (2) | N,E | Win 2017 | Nitrogen fixing, shade |
Wattle (2) | E | Win 2017 | Nitrogen fixing, shade |
Mango | E | Win 2017 | Food, shade |
Senna (2) | E | Spr 2018 | Nitrogen fixing, pollinators |
Fig: panache | SE | Spr 2018 | Food, shade |
Fairy duster: pink (3) | N | Spr 2018 | Nitrogen fixing, pollinators |
Jasmine (2) | S | Spr 2018 | Food, pollinators |
Ice cream bean (2) | E | Spr 2018 | Nitrogen fixing, food, shade |
Apple: fuji | E | Spr 2018 | Food, shade |
Rosemary (2) | E | Fall 2018 | Food, aroma, pollinators |
Sage: mountain | N | Fall 2018 | Aroma |
Acacia: desert carpet | N | Fall 2018 | Nitrogen fixing, groundcover |
Banana (2) | E | Fall 2018 | Food, shade |
Milkweed (5) | E | Fall 2018 | Pollinators |
Date palm (4) | N | Fall 2018 | Food, shade |
Apple: anna | N | Fall 2018 | Food, shade |
Pomegranate: Utah sweet | E | Win 2018 | Food, pollinators |
Apricot: katy | N | Win 2018 | Food, shade |
Pine: Italian stone (2) | E | Win 2018 | Food, shade |
Juniper: blue rug (2) | E | Win 2018 | Food, cover |
1.2 Programs
Shared Organic Gardens
Status: implementedWe grow organic food on the premises. All residents are welcome to harvest food for their use.
Improvement Addenda
Status: implementedAn improvement addendum is a written agreement attached to the lease agreement, in which the owner agrees to make an efficiency improvement to a residence, and the resident agrees to a defined rental increase (paid for by the reduction in utility bills) for a defined period.
Cooperative Maintenance
Status: pilotThe cooperative maintenance program gives residents a reduction in rent in exchange for helping with defined maintenance tasks.
1.3 Other Practices
Compost
We make compost from kitchen scraps and use it to feed our trees and other plants.House Meetings
All residents are invited to a monthly house meeting, where announcements and group decisions are made.LED Replacements
LED replacement bulbs are provided to all residents free of charge, for use on-site.Priority Poker
We use literal poker cards to rank our current personal priorities of various aspects of maintenance / renewal of the site. Residents use "hands" of cards ranked 10 - Ace on a field (often we use a whiteboard) separated into 5 - 10 areas to indicate our answers to the question, "If we had an extra $100, or an extra 4 hours to work, or an extra 30 minutes of meeting time, where would we want to spend it?"2. Tomorrow
This section describes what efforts are coming up next.2.1 Priorities
Below are the current priorities, based on inputs from residents using a process called priority poker. Higher numbers indicate higher priorities.Focus Area | Priority |
---|---|
Efficiency Improvements | 10 |
Indoor Maintenance | 8 |
Gardens | 4 |
Outdoor Facilities | 4 |
Outdoor Maintenance | 4 |
Indoor Amenities | 0 |
2.2 Projects
Below are the projects in the "hopper" (i.e. all the projects that are not yet complete). The status of each project is shown (planning, preparation, or execution), along with the relative cost in terms of work time, money, and dedicated space, and the relative benefit in terms of the environment, food yield, saved time and energy ("T&E"), personal enjoyment, and learning.Project Name | Status | Projected Cost | Projected Benefit | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Money | Space | Env | Food | T&E | Enjoy | Learn | ||
Labyrinth | Done | High | Med | High | Med | Med | None | High | Med |
Laundry lighting | Exec | Low | Med | None | None | Low | Med | High | Low |
Bike rack | Done | Low | Med | Low | Med | None | Med | Med | Low |
Dual panes | Done | Low | High | Low | High | None | High | Med | Low |
Irrigation projects | Done | Med | Med | Low | Med | Low | High | Low | Med |
New garden plots | Done | High | Low | High | High | High | Med | High | Low |
Vermicompost | Plan | Low | Low | Med | High | Low | None | None | Med |
Extend graywater | Done | Med | Low | Low | High | Med | Med | None | Med |
Attic fans | Plan | Med | Med | Low | High | None | High | Low | Med |
Tags for plants | Done | Low | Low | Low | Low | Low | None | Med | Med |
Gates | Plan | Med | Med | Low | None | None | Low | Med | Low |
Infiltration Trench | Done | High | High | High | High | Med | High | Med | Med |
Cistern | Plan | High | High | Med | High | Med | Med | Low | High |
New A/Cs | Done | Med | High | Low | High | None | High | Low | Low |
Rabbit house | Plan | Med | Med | Med | High | High | None | Med | High |
Chicken coop | Done | Med | Med | Med | High | High | None | Med | High |
Pond | Plan | Med | Low | Med | High | Med | None | High | High |
Grape Trellis | Done | Med | Low | None | None | Low | Low | High | High |
Food Forest II | Exec | Med | Low | Med | High | High | Med | High | High |
Signs | Plan | Med | Low | Low | None | None | None | High | High |
I really want to live here!
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