Purity Lopez

I have five acres in the High Desert town of Landers, California. Pretty rural. Been here 20 years now. I grow much of my own food. I am 80, woman….unencumbered. I have lived in the wilderness or very rural for 60 years. There isn’t much I don’t know how to do. I built, alone, everything here.
I would say there isn’t much that I don’t have here in the way of being self sustained. On grid, but also off grid capable.
In the past I have had interns but it was not a success. Most young people have great fantasies about this lifestyle but are unable to understand or implement the reality. This is not Little House on the Prairie. It’s hard work, you work when you don’t want to, no vacations.
I want to expand what I have created here, to be even more sustainable.
I am willing to teach, but whoever I teach must be willing to learn and put aside the ego. I am not a bossy kind of person, but I don’t like confrontation/argumental types of personalities. By that, I mean people who will argue without knowledge of the subject.
I am neurodivergent…..and pretty much a hermit. I am not antisocial….I just don’t talk much unless there is something important to say.
What I am looking for is a woman intern…maybe in the future, to become a partner. No wages. There is a lot of room for a yurt or a tepee, or whatever you want to put up. I can help you set up a solar system and you are welcome to share my kitchen cabin and greenhouse shower…..anything I have, you can use.
There are little requirements for what you have to do in return. You are welcome to share my garden, or start your own. The weather ranges from 45-60 during the day, 30-40 at night in winter. Summer ranges from 80’s thru May then 90-100 thru late October. I grow food year around here.
Mainly I just need someone who can help me at times I need help. I just put up another greenhouse and it would have been nice to have some extra hands.
I’d like someone who could pick up curbside orders of food in town, and the monthly Azure Standard delivery. I only shop twice a month so it’s not a big job.
You have to have your own transportation…..I can share my truck with you for picking up supplies and such but there is a need for a second vehicle in case of an emergency or if you care to work in town. It’s 20 minutes to town. Small town but we have Walmart, major grocery stores, Aldi’s. Palm Springs is an hour away.
I won’t be deciding right away. I want to get to know the person….at least online for a little while.
Age is not a factor. But health is. No smokers or persons who use drugs. I am vegan but if you aren’t that is fine.
This is not city living. My place isn’t pretty but it fulfills all the functions of providing long term self sustainable living
This is an unincorporated area…..we have almost no government oversight here. Everything is dirt roads off the main two lane roads. No streetlights. I have two neighbors but it’s not close.
Me: Ex nurse. Ex construction worker. Ex Martial Arts instructor. Still am a TCM Specialist. Avid cook. I have almost every known cooking appliance known to mankind.
There is a full complement of work out equipment here and I do Taiji almost everyday.
I play harp, bamboo flute and steel tongue drums. I have a violin but have not yet had the time to pick it up.
Lastly, I am Chinese/Korean American. It’s a big part of my life…I am Taoist. I mention this last because if you are anti any of these things or overtly religious….this isn’t a good fit for you. It’s fine if you believe in a god, but I don’t want to get into discussions about it.

Ben Zumeta wrote:That sounds a lot like permaculture to me.

No. Everything but the older mulberries are in pots

7 feet. I have the btm 1’ covered with OSB then the cedar plank above it…making the fence 7’ high. In some areas instead of OSB i have hardware cloth. It depends on what i have in that area and how hot that spot is as to whether i need some air to get in or not

The fence poles must be set in concrete or the fence will eventually be pulled down by the wind

I put steel poles in for longevity- it is surprising how fast the years go by so using steel pipe assures that putting poles in is a one time deal

Use emt electrical clamps to hold 2x4’s length wise between poles to fasten planks and bottom layer to

You can also use galvanized metal panels instead of planks but that will add heat in significant amounts

Be sure and always use deck screws instead of nails. Nails will back out as the wood dries out

I thought about whether I should post my two cents worth regarding people thinking they are good judges of character....professionally trained or otherwise.  I worked in the mental health field for a number of years....specifically, in state mental institutions.  My advice is not to get too cocky about thinking you have it all down pat and can accurately, 100%, judge the character of a person.  Number one rule when working with severely mentally ill psychopaths is remembering that they (and some sociopaths) have NO conscience.  What does this mean?  Well....A person with no conscience does not put off those "vibes" that we pride ourselves as having as our skill set in making those judgements about whether someone is dangerous or not. We only have to look through newspaper archives and confirm that.  I have worked with psychopaths.....trust me on this....there are many that give off no indication at all that they are a bad seed. In fact, just the opposite. Serial killers for instance, are able to kill so many because they are able to give off this essence of well-being...a person that is kind and considerate and has your best interests at heart.

I just finished reading a case study where a man posed as a back-backer. So sociable and friendly.....puppy dog eyed kind of guy.  You don't want to know what he did, and how many he did it to.

Use common sense.  Number two rule is don't trust someone you don't know, no matter how affable they appear.

This does not mean you have to skulk around in fear.  It means you don't trust someone until that someone has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.....that they are completely trust-worthy.  Me, I don't have a fear based molecule in my body....but I would hesitate quite strongly to have people I don't know parading through my property.  In the 1950's, the time I grew up, this wasn't so.....but times have changed and drastically so in the last year. Be Wise.

Clau.....Bravo!  It always warms my heart to hear of others who walk this Path and over-come the challenges day by day.  I just finished watching a great movie on YouTube called July Rising.  It is very true to life about a young woman trying to farm alone after she inherits her grandfather's farm.  Most commenting only saw failure and heartbreak at the end.......but she walked away with a ton of money....enough so that she could start small, pay cash and never be beholding to others.  This is a great lesson....learning to be truly self-sufficient.  You can't be if you owe others money for your piece of heaven. Thank you Clau, for sharing your Journey with us.  My dwellings are also small on my land....and nothing is more wonderful that sitting here looking out the window and seeing, all around me, the fruit and nut trees, the gardens.....the birds singing in the trees.  I can't imagine any other way of living.

Abraham Palma wrote:Hi, Purity, may i ask, do you bury your pots?

No.  When I first started all that was available were Air Pots and Root Trainer Air pots.  I had a lot of trouble with them. With all the holes, they were drying out so fast I could hardly keep up with watering.  Then I found the Oxy pots on Amazon.  I don't know what it is, I can't see a real difference in how they are made but they don't dry out more than a normal pot and even if they are dry and you start watering them, the water doesn't run out the holes first. Really happy with them.  The two brands I was originally using, I had to wrap shade cloth around the outsides, then they worked fine.  With the Oxy's didn't have to do that.

What I do is I put each pot in one of those tubs you see at Home Depot - the ones with the yellow lids. I elevate them on the thin red bricks, then I keep the bottom filled with water up to the bricks.  It serves two purposes: humidity and it keeps the ants off the trees. We have a LOT of ants here in the desert....it was the only way I found that keeps them off the trees.  I feed my Great Pyrenees one of those little jars of baby food pork for her morning meal.  I've started using them for weighting down the branches I am espaliering.  I was tying the branches to the holes on the tubs but the ants just walk up the string.  So this works really nice. You can use a empty jar (hole drilled thru the lid so you can insert a wire/string) and then as they are trained you can gradually add water to the jars or add more jars.     I use the 7 gallon pot for normal trees/veggies and the 12 gallon for standard trees I have pruned into bushes.

If you buy your perlite/coir/vermiculite in bulk and using the coir brick as a measurement - one brick coir, verm and perlite, you can fill 3 of the 7 gallon Oxy pots.     If you buried an Air Pot it would defeat the purpose of using one. The holes are there so that as the root contacts the hole it recoils from the air and instead of continuing to grow and encircling the pot, it puts out a new root instead. That is why you can keep fruit trees and such indefinitely in these pots. They will create thousands of tiny little hair roots which allows them to use the moisture and fertilizer more efficiently than a plant in the ground.  You can see that by looking at roots of trees you are putting in the ground - the roots are really thick so not as efficient.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Jennifer.....regarding you keeping the old house + the new.  Draw up a list. Put all the things in favor of keeping the old, and a con list....will it make you money or will the money come at the cost of not being able to devote time to the new?  Emotions run strong in this kind of situation.....I found lists cut through the clutter and show me the bottom line better.  Calculate time + money spent on the old house - what if something happens and you don't get the price you wanted for it?  If it was me, I'd jettison the old house. I am 75, I've been through a lot of questionable decisions.  Sometimes although I didn't realize it, those questionable  decisions had as a foundation of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Don't underestimate the amount of time and money you will spend on setting up the new place.  I have been a frugal lass in that manner.....But I've spent $200k on my 3 acre property and it still looks like it belongs in the Appalachia's.  Look at what a 2x4x8 costs right now.  And we can expect this situation of rising costs to get a whole lost worse.....common sense. The other thing to consider is that the time you spent on getting the old house ready.....could impact you seriously if things continue to get worse in the U.S.

I think a lot of us have to let go of the way it used to be, and what used to work and face the facts that this situation in America requires going back to the drawing board and revamping thought structure as to how we used to do things and upgrade.  Look at the cost of a good tree now? From a reputable nursery you are talking $50-60 with shipping.  I just paid $58 for a 3 year old specimen white pom.  That's crazy.  My nursery guy in Texas who sells avos, is asking $70 + $40 shipping for one avocado tree.  

On losing all the work you did on the family plot - look at it as a trial run.  Everything I've built on this property I've ended up rebuilding or moving it to some where else on the property, often multiple times. Its amazing how every time you build something, down the road you look at it and say "well, you know" - LOL. Keep us posted on your journey.