Jaime de Zubeldia is one of the primary stewards and residents of ReZoNation Farm. He was introduced to gardening and beekeeping as a child, and studied biology before earning a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Arizona. Jaime’s career began in land development, but his concerns over our society’s rapid consumption of resources compared with historical research of the demise of past civilizations, led him to question the long-term sustainability of cities and the rampant consolidation of food and seed industries. He believes that community-based, resource-efficient farming will be key in restoring the health of our soils, and in turn our communities.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Day One…Or Shall I Say Year One?

Wow...three easy steps to blogging? Wish I knew it was this easy before. It wouldn't have taken me two years to start.

I guess I'll start off by introducing this blog. The purpose here is to track ongoing progress, or lack there of, of a monumental project in the Desert. Yes I meant to capitalize Desert. Sort of how spiritual individuals capitalize God - I do it out of respect. I'll explain.

The Desert, the Sonoran Desert to be exact, is where I'm located. About 20 miles west of Tucson, Arizona and 6 miles west of the intersection of Manville Rd. and Anway Rd. (Google Earth it) in a region known as the Avra Valley. I have great respect for the Desert as it can be the most unforgiving environment. My goal is to develop a working model of a retrofitted sustainable food producing system from basically nothing in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. I guess I like a challenge, but more importantly I understand the people and the climate here more than other places I have lived. The sunsets and multiple growing seasons also tend to offset the negative benefits of the scorching midday heat and destructive monsoon storms.

After a year of protracted and thoughtful observation and planning, this project is now 6 months old. I'll go into the details of it later as the notion of creating this blog comes at 3am and in 4 hours the garden needs to be watered. Sleep is a luxury these days, but the work is rewarding.

Why write a blog about a crazy food security project in the desert? I guess, like many before me and around the world, I have a message. The best way to convey it is by showing something tangible to those that live around or near me. Something they can feel with all their senses. This soon to be farm in the Desert is that message. A message that says there's something else to look forward to if you're not too proud and you're willing to work hard for it. And hard work it is. Fortunately, if things go as planned, it gets easier over time. After all, this is essentially a study of Energy. Use it wisely in all it's forms and you'll be rewarded. Ignore it and the Desert either conquers or consumes you.

Lastly, this project serves as a way to reflect on, study, and record the workings of a rural community as it relates to industrialized civilization. How these entities interact to resolve or in most cases ignore the constraints put upon them by problems that are global in nature attests to our human character and calls into question our ability to reign in the ego. Controlling the impetus of greed that seems to dominate our motivations then becomes the central most fundamental problem inhibiting progress or healing of a society. Farming The Desert is then an attempt to open a door to a new path of interacting with our environment including others around us. The fight over a disproportionate amount of resources has always been a central them in human history. However, we were all, in the not too distant past, much more dependent on each other for survival.