Explore a Santa Fe Permaculture Food Forest

Tour an urban homestead oasis! Visit the home of The Raincatcher’s owner, Reese Baker, and learn how you can add edible landscaping, fruit/nut trees, recycled greywater and year-round greens to your property. Reese and his family turned bare, non-descript yards into a food forest lush with shade trees, flowing water, fish, chickens, and a kids playground – complete with a treehouse! What are you looking to enhance your landscape with? Get some ideas here then and let us know. Photography by Jennifer Davidson Photography.

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Landscaping

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Greywater

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Edible Landscaping

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Permaculture

This recycled greywater stream is fed by an outdoor shower off the master bedroom, hidden to the right by a bamboo screen.

A recirculating greywater stream keeps oxygen levels in the pond high and promotes biological breakdown of any soaps and oils that are missed in the greywater wetlands. Greywater comes from the showers, sinks and laundry from the house.

The soothing sounds of moving water come from a bubbling brook that recirculates 24 hours a day to keep the pond clean and healthy for plants and wildlife.

An abundance of fresh apples is the reward for using edible landscaping – trees that provide shade, privacy, wind protection and sweet harvests!

This lush greywater pond is home to fish, frogs, salamanders, garden snakes and turtles. Natural biological filters – water lilies, reeds, cattails and water celery – all keep the water clean and clear.

A brilliant Maximillian Sunflower – low water needs, perennial, and a Southwest native.

A pool made of rocks collects greywater and sustains fruit trees and the plants in the guilds under them. The water keeps the soil moist for the surrounding plants all season long.

Take the bridge to the secret garden on the north side of the property where it is coolest and tall grasses grow by the brook. A drought tolerant grassy area of triathlon dwarf fescue adds to the welcoming shade of the apple tree.

Native plums from hardy trees that are accustomed to New Mexico's dry climate.

Raspberry, nanking cherry, service berries, and black currants thrive under the maple tree and ponderosa pine, creating permaculture guilds and adding greenery to the front yard walkway.

Boulders in the landscape create a nice break between different architectural elements. This beauty was placed for its ability to pool water for birds, bees and other insects after a rain.

Amazing what you can fit into one yard – cold frames for fresh greens and herbs year-round, fruit and nut trees, berries, an herb garden, greywater catchment and a birdbath to attract birds to help with insect control.

The view from the top of the tree fort showing apples, cherries, nanking cherries, cornelian dogwoods, mulberry and grasses. A good example of the thick, close plantings of a food forest, creating different stories and allowing for a cooler and moister habitat.

Fresh kale, greens and herbs from the cold frames are enjoyed all year long.

The front garden with cold frames for greens year round, and greywater pools (mulched beds) that have a totally separate source for the front yard and its fruit trees. Nectarines, peaches, apricots and a medley of beneficial wildflowers and edible shrubs commingle happily under the canopy.

A close up of Hall's Hardy almonds in the food forest. With beautiful, profuse flowers in the spring, the almonds grow within this soft shell while a harder almond shell develops inside. They are ripe and ready when the seam opens.

Kale and parsley beds in one of the year-round cold frames.

The food forest's chicken coop (off to the left, out of frame) provides a regular supply of fresh eggs. Cisterns do double duty as the structure's walls and for water catchment storage, holding 3,000 gallons of rainwater for irrigation. The area outside the coop is filled with currants, ivy vines, a pear tree, flowers, horseradish, Gro-low Sumacs and thimble berries.

A comfrey plant flourishes under the apricot tree, joined in this under-tree guild by chives, strawberries, cat mint, walking onions, rhubarb, thyme, oregano and bee balm.

Apple trees and other fruit trees provide quick snacks for the kids playing outdoors.

Sunlight streams through trees planted on the west side of the property, which keep the house and garden area much cooler during the summer months.

An herb and edible plant spiral under the apricot tree with rosemary, oregano, thyme, onions, dill, scallions, iris, sage and strawberries.

A geranium flower adds color to the landscape. Some geranium varieties are edible and can be used in salads and for other culinary purposes.

A tree fort! Nestled in the trees of the food forest, this sturdy fort is the outside retreat for the kids 8 months out of the year. A place to play, sleep over, eat dinner, fly a space ship, sail a boat and enjoy being outside.

Ria swings under the oaks and junipers that are surrounded by service berries, currants and elderberries below.

A fairy sanctuary built by Ria and Zeb to attract gnomes, elves and fairies – inviting magic into their world and creating with their imaginations as they play in the garden.

"Wild man" Zeb enjoying the natural playground that the lush food forest provides – a green oasis right in the middle of the city.

A quiet corner of the garden holds a shrine to honor the family's beloved family dogs.

Maximillian Sunflowers and Morning Glories add color and vertical screening to the landscape. Native to the central and southwestern United States, the Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), grows wild in rangelands and prairies. Butterflies and bees love the sweet pollen, and songbirds gain sustenance from the abundant seeds. In home gardens, the plant thrives in well-drained soil and bright sunshine.

Strawberries grow under the nectarine tree as part of a permaculture guild. Guilds are groupings of plantings that all work together and benefit each other by bringing nutrients to the surface, protecting the soil from sun and wind exposure, and providing food and cover for wildlife and people.

A view from the backyard towards the greywater wetlands and pond. Under the apple and cherry trees, a bridge crosses over the wetlands with a grassy area on the north side under the trees, keeping everything cool and easily watered.

Mulched pathways prevent soil compaction and are a great substrate for beneficial fungus to grow in, and it also holds moisture for the food forest. Seen here are walnut and oak trees, ground covers to protect the soils from the sun and wind, and pathways that access both sides of the yard.

Besides providing shade, privacy and adding to the landscaping, apple trees offer fresh fruit in abundance – over 150 pounds of apples were harvested in this season.

Sound interesting? Email us about your project needs. The RainCatcher offers consultations and estimates for a fee of $100, including travel time. We look forward to hearing from you!