Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 8:48PM There are many things in life that I enjoy, but not many that bring the gratitude of gathering with friends and joining in the ancient ritual of eating backyard wood fired pizza. This video documents and explains how to build your own wood fired cob oven. In later videos we will show a number of ways to cook in the oven. Enjoy!
Monday, November 21, 2011 at 1:46PM 
With quick annual veggie production at Higher Elevation well underway we are moving into the second phase of implementation. We we moved in the backyard was fairly unusable space in the traditional sense. The yard mostly covered in a cement slab and what was not covered dropped steeply into the canyon. The soils are very sandy and very prone to erosion merely from walking on them. To even begin to utilize this region meant that we would need to stabilize the slope and allow for access and planting.
Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 4:17PM 
Well it has been over a month of playing with the aquaponics system. Two of the three beds are planted up and producing some veggies. We have started with kale, broccoli, arugula, chilies, pac choi, peas, chives, strawberries, and lots of lettuce. On the fish side of things we only have a single plate sized catfish caught in San Diego River Watershed and few guppies purchased at the local pet store. The fish at this time do not seem to be producing enough nutrient for all the veggies and so the next step is increasing the fish load. Anyone know where to purchase 25-40 small bluegill locally?
Monday, October 3, 2011 at 9:55AM 
Higher Elevation has spent the last week building and tuning our first foray into the world of aquaponics. For those people who are unfamiliar with the term “aquaponics” it is a system that combines both aquaculture or the raising of fish with hydroponics that grows plants in a nutrient water solution. Traditional aquaculture produces a lot of dirty waste water and traditional hydroponics requires external nutrient inputs to keep the plants happy. By combining the two systems we create a synergism where the high nutrient fish waste water is cleaned up and feeds the plants. Both the fish and plants win as they are each able to meet their needs and each other’s waste products go to helping the other.
Monday, August 22, 2011 at 11:18AM 
Many people new to permaculture become overwhelmed with the process of implementing a new permaculture garden design. They don’t quite know where to start or look at all of the projects that they would like to see happen such as raising chickens, fish, veggies, fruit, compost, and whatever other elements that fit into the garden design and almost become paralyzed with where to begin. One mantra heard through many permaculture circles is to “start at your front or back door” and then work out from there. This is a very helpful starting point as it not only gives you a physical place to begin, but one can work on a small project, which is not nearly so daunting as trying to take on the whole project at once.