Rancho de la Libertad

rancholibertad@climatejustice.social

Land stewardship collective seeking sovereignty from colonial and oppressive ways of being. We are a part Indigenous-owned ranch raising sustainable, place-sensible food and rewilding the land. We take no income from this work and much of our food is given away to others. Located in the Mojave desert near what is called "Joshua Tree" California

Posts

Post #4396883
It's here! Finally we're ready to officially announce "Becoming Stewards Where We Already Are". Four Saturdays in September, online: this is a four-part course on what changes when you stop treating yourself as standing outside the ecosystem you live in. You do not need land! A good part of this is the argument that your "site" is not your "property", but rather is every place, flow and relationship you can actually reach and affect, which for one person...
Post #3970052
Paid post just released today, providing a framework for starting a zero-waste lifestyle using the kitchen as a starting point! We give a thorough examination of what our key waste-producing habits likely are and several concrete solutions for each -- considering which are going to ultimately reduce waste at all points in the process and not just help us reduce the amount *we* throw in the trash. Please remember that every paid subscription helps us keep the ranch running in lieu of other in...
Post #3937048
Sometimes folks are like "what qualifications do you have for talking about [native plants, permaculture, closed-loop farming, rainfall patterns, survival strategy, etc]?" And I think that's so wild. There are folks out here with biology and environmental science degrees that no doubt comprehend a topic through a framework I don't, at least not on that level, and they're making policy and running the environmental nonprofits in this region. But there's something reall...
Post #3876663
There's something called the Cadiz pipeline that could potentially drain every aquifer in the Mojave to continue supplying water to industrial farms and coastal cities like LA and San Diego. Given that Star and I were displaced from those exact cities, well, it's complicated! We now have nowhere to go if the water runs out, and it's getting harder and harder to reconcile the world even within our spiritual framework. It feels, sometimes, like we're marching towards inevitable d...
Post #3774336
The July newsletter for paid subscribers is going to be an introduction to going zero-waste: what that means, some considerations for doing it, and why you want to keep food out of the landfill. Now, none of this seems very groundbreaking, perhaps, but I'm going to get into some of the deeper considerations of not just "what" to compost, but how to even go further and truly utilize everything to fill further needs in your own environment. As always, we're going to take our sp...
Post #3663918
Hey friends, per our recent mutual aid request, here's our update. If you follow @Siiin@pagan.plus, you've already seen something like this, but I figured folks here may be able to support, too, and we're also launching some Ranch related stuff to try to bring in more cash that you all may find exciting! We've added a page on our website with a service we've dubbed "homestead coaching", but which is more like permaculture design on a much more intensive scale. Eve...
Post #3588091
RE: https://climatejustice.social/@rancholibertad/116859378803941655 Y'all have been amazing! So far we've met $560/$2000 of our goal. If you're feeling like donating to an Indigenous land steward and his family today while the city wastes tax dollars on fireworks that pose huge wildfire risk in the midst of an already extreme summer -- well, now's the time! And we love you, and let's all try to get through this.
Post #3571764
Alright friends, we worked to get this out today at what is for most of you the beginning of one of the hottest weeks in your region. We're used to living through temperatures sometimes as high as 126 F and often over 110 -- and we've learned a lot. Not a single one of these tips involves running your air conditioner or making expensive alterations to your home, because we understand that all of us are living through climate change with whatever resources we currently hold and nothing mo...
Post #3570442
!!!! ATTENTION: URGENT MUTUAL AID REQUEST !!!! Hello friends! We really don't like doing this, but we haven't gotten paid and despite the company's insistence originally that that pay would come Monday, now it's kind of seeming like... they just don't have the money and might not be paying anyone but they aren't doing layoffs, they're just expecting everyone to keep working. We have three kids to feed! We have animals we need to keep fed and watered! We're a c...
Post #2761762
Just released the free May newsletter, titled &quot;On Food Sovereignty&quot;. It is at once a cautionary tale and clarion call for the work we must do for liberation - which cannot only include marching but which must include cultivation. Indigenous peoples have fought this fight now for generations, and it&#39;s time that others understand its importance and join in creating networks of aid rooted in ground and not the economies of empire. https://rancholibertad.com/on-food-sover...
Post #2761761
Hello friends of the so-called Fediverse, Rancho de la Libertad is attempting to hire a farm manager. It&#39;s a role related to project management and administrative assisting, but ideally we&#39;re looking for someone either stoked to train up their animal husbandry and gardening skills or someone who already has some knowledge in these areas. Please read all bullets, as this may be one role but it also could be two or so smaller roles if folks find this with specialized experience...
Post #2761760
&quot;I bought a NEW electric car and installed new solar panels on my roof with great big Tesla batteries and good lord I&#39;ll save some money in seven years if we don&#39;t talk about the car payment and installing the EV charger in my garage and the software I now pay for for the life of the gar (which won&#39;t be more than ten years anyway). But you know what, the break-even for the planet was on DAY ONE so whoduhthunkit I&#39;m giving myself a good ol&#39; pat on...
Post #2761759
The bats last night were spectacular. I kid you not I saw one the size of a raven in the garden. Dozens swooping and dipping and maneuvering throughout the West garden, nibbling on all the odd flying insects buzzing around. I am so curious where the bats roost during the day - it cannot be on our property so they must fly down from the mines in the mountains. I very much wish to make some bat boxes or similar encouragement for them, they&#39;re my favorite wildlife I think. #Bats #Wildli...
Post #2761758
I think sometimes we come across as too harsh or cynical, but that&#39;s precisely because we know what&#39;s possible when we let go of certain pretenses and start doing the work. We know we can do it, collectively. We might not have the power to right every wrong, to save all things, but we can and should keep trying to cultivate more and more wilderness, more and more biodiversity, more and more sanctuary for all beings. And perhaps in the midst of it all we find that this was the ver...
Post #2761757
Some else *ahem* @emsenn says this here a lot but uh The purity politics do get tiring. Not like anyone expects you to really think like &quot;who will this offend&quot; about everything, but what if we sat down, took a deep breath and said &quot;in what ways might my post reiterate a point that incessantly talks over the people I maybe don&#39;t want to be talking over? In what way am I centering myself and way of life by assuming that x kind of action *must mean* x negative in...
Post #2305145
Preparing to shut down the garden for summer as temps just hit 110s (after a week of perfect 70s no less). Pulled what corn I could, only four ears matured this season but we'll dry and store it and try again at the end of summer. The squash are still holding on, most of the sunflowers are about ready to cut and bag, and I'll be caging the tomatoes to see if they'll produce through the summer. Our kale is little but I'll be cutting it this week, and there are a few onions to pull...
Post #2269992
Proud mama hen hatched two baby chicks early today, and we&#39;re hoping for more over the next few days. She&#39;s staying on the nest, so she seems fairly certain more are coming! #Chickens #RanchoDeLaLibertad #Chooks #Chicks #SmallFarm
Post #2114555
We accidentally created a mutant cross-pollinated squash. I&#39;d heard of this, and perhaps it&#39;s happened to us before with the fodder squashes from last season (those were dreadful to me but the pigs didn&#39;t care, I thought it was more about where they were grown than their genetics), but this time it&#39;s... delightful. Most likely one of our ronde de nice summer squashes crossed with delicata, since those are what happened to grow nearby, and it&#39;s sweet like a...
Post #1776096
Apparently chaotic gardening that is actually quite intentional: We are digging the greywater channel deeper after adding a charcoal &amp; rock base biofilter. This aims to reduce soil salting by minimizing water evaporation directly from the channel and forcing the water to be pulled *up* through the soil via the plant roots. Current seedlings in this basin are getting top water but when their roots can be expected to be slightly deeper they&#39;ll be left to only seek water from the...