Park in the Swale

Create a Food Forest Designed w/ Permaculture Principles

Transplant a dozen fruit trees to designated spots along a run-off slope in order to exploit gravity feed irrigation and seasonal rainfall. Each fruit-bearing tree will be the primary shade source for culinary/medicinal shrub(s) which in turn, shade and compliment herbs and edible flowers. We will use the rainwater harvesting principles described in Brad Lancaster’s texts: Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Vol.1 & 2. We rely on the permacultural concepts described in David Holmgren’s Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability and Rosemary Morrow’s Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture.

Lodestar Community Library

Focus on Creating Self-Reliance

Thanks to such donors as Kalbrey Enterprises, the library has over 700 books with a focus on creating self-reliant individuals and communities. The library has internet access for additional research. Set on a quiet hillside that faces west, the library is a fine place to think and read. It also serves as a classroom for the Lodestar Learning Center students on appointed days.

Ethanol Still

Build a Still that Will Provide Enough Ethanol Fuel to Operate a Tractor

Sorghum plants will be grown for the fermentation process. We will follow the principles put forth in David Bloom’s Alcohol Can Be a Gas and design according to the work of Robert Warren’s “Charles 803 Still”.

Solar Food Dehydration & Cooking with Dehydrated Foods 

Drying & Eating

We are experimenting with drying times for a variety of vegetables and herbs, identifying successful recipes, collecting a list of resources, and keeping a log of all our activities, successes, and failures!  The community will offer feedback for the culinary trials. Our solar dryer is designed after the solar dryer demonstrated by Barbara Kerr at the Kerr-Cole Sustainable Living Center in Taylor, AZ.