Mark's Arizona project

Is this where I post pictures? I am embarking (finally) on the great project of moving onto my undeveloped open range land. I am going off-grid, and am putting in the county-proscribed septic system, just to get them off my back, as far as their zoning and permit garbage goes, and to make the transition as fast as possible. My project will be to start creating mini-swales between the existing desert vegetation in order to start harvesting the rain water that falls on my property. I have about a 20' total difference in elevation over the whole property. The entire property slopes generally towards the east.

The pictures I am posting are my "before" pictures to give you a general idea of what I'm working with. They  show where my homesite will be. I will be posting more pictures that show other parts of the property.

Once I'm situated, I intend on using hugelkulture and a composting toilet-on-a-skid to prepare place where I will plant native trees, such as mesquite and ironwood. In the swales, I intend to plant native grasses and set up a camera station at each test site as I set them up to document my progress. Hopefully I will end up with a lime-lapse video of a year at each site. I have a word-press blog where I can post my notes and the pictures as I go.

My question is, Is this a boot project or a kick-start project? My "product" will eventually be desert-adapted seeds, which I hope to market to other desert dwelling people. I also hope to be able to show visible proof that rain-water harvesting can vastly improve the quality of the range land in this area. I'm hoping that by documenting my project, I can show th neighboring ranchers that they are missing out on higher profits than what they are getting now by letting their cows wander over the open-range (a practice that is actually ruining the productivity of the land).

I am open to ideas and advice, and input on if this is a project worthy of your support.