Prickly Bear
Who The Hell Are Ye?
Andrew and Bernadette Haupt. Both originally from Southern California, we decided to move back after living in Oregon for a few years to find a piece of land and small community that did not feel at all like Southern California. Julian fits the bill pretty well, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon 5 semi-affordable acres and move out here in April 2020. Thus was born Prickly Bear Farmstead.
What's the idea here?
Conventional agriculture has some serious problems. California has some serious water issues. We're interested in experimenting with coupling drought tolerant perennial food sources with creative storage and use of our available water. So far we've added a 5k gallon rain tank to catch water off the roof, a whole house graywater system feeding fruit trees, hand dug swales and other earthworks, and compost toilets. We've also planted a bunch of native hazelnut trees and bush chinquapin, and are actively searching for varieties of annual crops that thrive on little water.
You've Got Classes and Such?
We are by no means experts to any of this homesteading stuff, but we have a serious drive to learn. So we've started holding classes and workshops on a regular basis to build community and propagate the type of practical old school knowledge that many people (us included) lack these days. Ya know, the things your great grandparents knew how to do. The list of classes we want to have are basically endless, so if you or someone you know is an expert in something and wants to spread the knowledge, please let us know.