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TerraSante Village

    

Nonprofit Laboratory for Sustainability

Earth Architecture, Permaculture, Native Plants

Solar Energy, Water Harvesting


Terrasante's Shady Grove Area: Creation of Permaculture Habitat

Riana Good and Rocky Morgan Reporting, 3/30/19

We are creating Shady Grove as a wildlife sanctuary that provides shade, water, and habitat for much of the desert wildlife in this region. Under the shade of large mesquite trees we recently planted seven varieties of citrus, including tangerine, kumquat and mandarin, to complement previously planted trees in the orchard - Arizona Ash and loquat, among them.... The water feature provides soothing sound and moving water for all varieties of birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, which are also attracted to the area with recently planted hummingbird and butterfly pollinators. Native seeds from Arizona Seed Source have also blown into the area and volunteer flowers are emerging, as well. The organic garden is becoming cohesive with the abutting grove, and transitioning between them are grapevines, milkweed, butterfly flowers, succulents, nettles and aloe varieties. When we first came to the area, we removed a lot of the thorny cactus so that the area is barefoot friendly, and invites humans to the area to enjoy a picnic table, hammock, bench, and yoga area at the center. It is centrally located near the solar shower, as well. In keeping with the permaculture approach of observation and interaction, we have been allowing this area to emerge over time and will continue to observe and interact as the area further develops.