In Practice

This page outlines the means and methods (the "how") by which we're carrying out the objectives of Sage Garden Ecovillas.

To find out more about those objectives and the ideas and motives (the "why") behind them, see:
The About tab
The Sage Garden Ecovillas blog
The Sage Garden Service Group site

1. Today

This section describes the current state of development at Sage Garden Ecovillas.  You can also take a video tour.

1.1 Perennial Plants

Plant	Location	When Planted	Benefits
Olive (5)	Throughout	1982?	Food, shade, habitat
Creosote	NW	1982?	Aroma, medicine
Aloe	N	Spr 2014	Medicine, pollinators, food
Fig: blackjack, kadota (2)	S	Spr 2014	Food, shade
Pomegranate: wonderful (2)	NW and E	Spr 2014	Food
Native mesquite	NW	Fall 2014	Shade, food, habitat
Hackberry: canyon	NE	Spr 2015	Shade, food, habitat
Elderberry	E	Spr 2015	Food, shade
Ironwood	E	Spr 2015	Shade, food, habitat, nitrogen-fixing
Goji berry	E	Spr 2015	Food
Pomegranate: Kashmir blend (2)	S, E	Spr 2015	Food, visual screen
Wolfberry (2)	E	Fall 2015	Food
Jojoba (5)	E	Fall 2015	Food, windbreak, visual screen
Orange	E	Spr 2016	Food, shade
Almond	SE	Spr 2016	Food, shade, windbreak
Peach	E	Spr 2016	Food, shade, windbreak
Banana (4)	E	Spr 2016	Food, shade
Mulberry	E	Fall 2016	Food, visual screen
Apple: gala	E	Fall 2016	Food, shade, visual screen
Pineapple guava	E	Fall 2016	Food, shade, visual screen
Curry leaf	E	Fall 2016	Food, shade, visual screen
Plum	E	Fall 2016	Food, shade
Avocado: fuerte	E	Fall 2016	Food, shade
Pear	N	Fall 2016	Food, shade
Hackberry: desert	NE	Fall 2016	Food, shade
Pine: Afghan (3)	N arc	Win 2016	Shade, windbreak
Grapes (3)	S	Win 2016	Food, shade, visual screen
Fig: VdB	NE	Spr 2017	Food, shade
Pistachio (2)	S	Spr 2017	Food, shade
Barbados cherry	NE	Spr 2017	Food, shade
Frankincense	S	Spr 2017	Shade, resin
Ironwood	N arc	Spr 2017	Shade, windbreak, visual screen, food, habitat
Palo verde	N arc	Spr 2017	Shade, windbreak, visual screen, food, habitat
Moringa (3)	S	Spr 2017	Shade, food
Rosemary	S	Fall 2017	Food, aroma, pollinators
Grape	S	Fall 2017	Food, shade
Jasmine	NW	Fall 2017	Food, aroma
Sage: mountain	S	Fall 2017	Aroma
Guamuchil	N arc	Fall 2017	Food, visual screen
Jujube	S	Fall 2017	Food, shade
Avocado: hass	E	Fall 2017	Food
Hibiscus	E	Fall 2017	Food, pollinators
Lime: Thai	E	Fall 2017	Food
Tea tree	NE	Fall 2017	Shade, visual screen, medicine
Dragonfruit (3)	N,E	Fall 2017	Food
Senna (5)	N,E	Win 2017	Nitrogen fixing, pollinators
Fairy duster: baja (4)	E	Win 2017	Nitrogen fixing, pollinators
Blackberry (3)	N,S	Win 2017	Food
Tipu (2)	N,E	Win 2017	Nitrogen fixing, shade
Wattle (2)	E	Win 2017	Nitrogen fixing, shade
Mango	E	Win 2017	Food, shade
Senna (2)	E	Spr 2018	Nitrogen fixing, pollinators
Fig: panache	SE	Spr 2018	Food, shade
Fairy duster: pink (3)	N	Spr 2018	Nitrogen fixing, pollinators
Jasmine (2)	S	Spr 2018	Food, pollinators
Ice cream bean (2)	E	Spr 2018	Nitrogen fixing, food, shade
Apple: fuji	E	Spr 2018	Food, shade
Rosemary (2)	E	Fall 2018	Food, aroma, pollinators
Sage: mountain	N	Fall 2018	Aroma
Acacia: desert carpet	N	Fall 2018	Nitrogen fixing, groundcover
Banana (2)	E	Fall 2018	Food, shade
Milkweed (5)	E	Fall 2018	Pollinators
Date palm (4)	N	Fall 2018	Food, shade
Apple: anna	N	Fall 2018	Food, shade
Pomegranate: Utah sweet	E	Win 2018	Food, pollinators
Apricot: katy	N	Win 2018	Food, shade
Pine: Italian stone (2)	E	Win 2018	Food, shade
Juniper: blue rug (2)	E	Win 2018	Food, cover

1.2 Programs

Shared Organic Gardens

Status: implemented
We grow organic food on the premises.  All residents are welcome to harvest food for their use.

Improvement Addenda

Status: implemented
An improvement addendum is a written agreement attached to the lease agreement, in which the owner agrees to make an efficiency improvement to a residence, and the resident agrees to a defined rental increase (paid for by the reduction in utility bills) for a defined period.

Cooperative Maintenance

Status: pilot
The cooperative maintenance program gives residents a reduction in rent in exchange for helping with defined maintenance tasks.

1.3 Other Practices

Compost

We make compost from kitchen scraps and use it to feed our trees and other plants.

House Meetings

All residents are invited to a monthly house meeting, where announcements and group decisions are made.

LED Replacements

LED replacement bulbs are provided to all residents free of charge, for use on-site.

Priority Poker

We use literal poker cards to rank our current personal priorities of various aspects of maintenance / renewal of the site. Residents use "hands" of cards ranked 10 - Ace on a field (often we use a whiteboard) separated into 5 - 10 areas to indicate our answers to the question, "If we had an extra $100, or an extra 4 hours to work, or an extra 30 minutes of meeting time, where would we want to spend it?"

2. Tomorrow

This section describes what efforts are coming up next.

2.1 Priorities

Below are the current priorities, based on inputs from residents using a process called priority poker.  Higher numbers indicate higher priorities.

Focus Area	Priority
Efficiency Improvements	10
Indoor Maintenance	8
Gardens	4
Outdoor Facilities	4
Outdoor Maintenance	4
Indoor Amenities	0

2.2 Projects

Below are the projects in the "hopper" (i.e. all the projects that are not yet complete).  The status of each project is shown (planning, preparation, or execution), along with the relative cost in terms of work time, money, and dedicated space, and the relative benefit in terms of the environment, food yield, saved time and energy ("T&E"), personal enjoyment, and learning.

Project Name	Status	Projected Cost			Projected Benefit
		Time	Money	Space	Env	Food	T&E	Enjoy	Learn
Labyrinth	Done	High	Med	High	Med	Med	None	High	Med
Laundry lighting	Exec	Low	Med	None	None	Low	Med	High	Low
Bike rack	Done	Low	Med	Low	Med	None	Med	Med	Low
Dual panes	Done	Low	High	Low	High	None	High	Med	Low
Irrigation projects	Done	Med	Med	Low	Med	Low	High	Low	Med
New garden plots	Done	High	Low	High	High	High	Med	High	Low
Vermicompost	Plan	Low	Low	Med	High	Low	None	None	Med
Extend graywater	Done	Med	Low	Low	High	Med	Med	None	Med
Attic fans	Plan	Med	Med	Low	High	None	High	Low	Med
Tags for plants	Done	Low	Low	Low	Low	Low	None	Med	Med
Gates	Plan	Med	Med	Low	None	None	Low	Med	Low
Infiltration Trench	Done	High	High	High	High	Med	High	Med	Med
Cistern	Plan	High	High	Med	High	Med	Med	Low	High
New A/Cs	Done	Med	High	Low	High	None	High	Low	Low
Rabbit house	Plan	Med	Med	Med	High	High	None	Med	High
Chicken coop	Done	Med	Med	Med	High	High	None	Med	High
Pond	Plan	Med	Low	Med	High	Med	None	High	High
Grape Trellis	Done	Med	Low	None	None	Low	Low	High	High
Food Forest II	Exec	Med	Low	Med	High	High	Med	High	High
Signs	Plan	Med	Low	Low	None	None	None	High	High