New organic farm and research center focused on foraging and self reliance.
Arizona
We are starting an organic farm and research center from scratch to grow vegetables, herbs & gluten free grains etc, while also experimenting with permaculture, algae culture, and zero carbon farming. We also harvest wild growing foods from the desert on and around our farm. Our long term goal is that we intend demonstrate a system in which foods can be produced using ingredients grown on site with no petrochemicals consumed in any step of the process (other than equipment procurement) . In addition we are currently developing irrigation control and other systems based on solar powered microcomputer systems. We are currently constructing several water harvesting projects including separate projects for rainwater greywater and runoff water. We also intend to start construction on sunken greenhouses soon.
The intention is that this farm will provide food for the inhabitants of the land while acting as a facility to research and demonstrate methods and systems of permaculture, algaeculture and zero carbon farming which are usable by others with similar sustainable & organic local food enterprises. Our goal is to demonstrate zero carbon food production by growing sorghum along with other crops and using those as ingredients. We will also be installing a solar power system to provide needed electrical energy for all of the processes involved.
We currently have two of the vegetable plots finished and we are now bringing in our second wild food harvest. We are currently installing solar power to create an off grid system for our farm and some of our housing. We are also in the planning and beginning stages of our rainwater harvesting project and our greywater harvesting.
You can see above that these are all grand intentions, and we are in the process of building all of the above taking many steps at a time but not quite ready for prime time so to speak. This means that any helpers that come to us now have a chance to develop all of the above from the ground up. Although we are growing some of our own vegetables and have planted a small orchard we are not yet a working farm, more of a work in progress.
Our current resources include:
10 acres of fenced land with existing garden plots and a small orchard.
Many wild growing bean trees. (Palo Verde, Ironwood and Mesquite).
Occupied house, available trailer and RV and camper and available RV hookups and tent sites.
Lots of equipment and supplies and tools.
Workshop with various machines and equipment.
Electronics hardware & software development workshop.
Fully equipped mobile commercial kitchen onsite. (not in current use)
3000 watts of solar panels
Our location is in a VERY rural Sonoran desert location 25 minutes from the city of Maricopa (stores and restaurants etc available) and 45 minutes from the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. No public transportation is available. This is ideal for someone who loves the desert, there are thousands of square miles of wilderness desert adjacent to our location. We can provide occasional rides into town if needed, but not necessarily very often. We do have satellite internet and wifi and cell coverage depending on the carrier.
Sorry but we cannot host any helpers who are accompanied with minor children.
Organic methods: Our gardens and orchard are fully organic but we are not certified.
Certifications: We do organic gardening but we are not certified.
Current projects: We are currently adding more garden plots, adding 2 more rainwater harvesting tanks, and finishing connecting our greywater harvesting system. We are also continually improving our irrigation systems.
We hope to start soon with our runoff water collection project, a sunken greenhouse and a temperature controlled storage room.
Internet access available
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Grain farming
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Bakery
Natural cosmetics fabrication
Traditional crafts
Methods or systems
Permaculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
4.1
Hectares
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10
Acres
Michael
Member since 2018
Languages spoken:
English
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 2 days
Arizona
Reviews
Jack
United States
•
March 2026
I had a great time here. Mike and Peggy are very knowledgeable about the Arizona desert and there was always an interesting project to work on. Would recommend.
Eve
United States
•
January 2026
I stayed here for about three months. I’m grateful for several things: Mike shared a lot of practical knowledge with me (cars, tools, electronics, solar), and the food was genuinely good. WWOOFers were sometimes treated to meals, and I mainly stayed because I enjoyed the other WWOOFers.
However, there are important things future volunteers should know. Although the listing stated 25 hours per week, in practice the hours were not clearly tracked. There was a set start time but no consistent stop time, and I was asked multiple times to help on my days off, including watching a family member. When I raised concerns, it was not received well.
Most of the work was cleaning and household labor rather than farming. The home operates in an eco-friendly way, with very specific methods, but instructions were often vague while expectations were strict. This led to frequent misunderstandings.
Communication was difficult. Requests were often phrased as directives, even on scheduled days off. Issues were often relayed indirectly rather than discussed with me directly, and I didn’t feel my perspective was asked for before conclusions were made. Personal boundaries were also an issue for me, particularly around being photographed after I had asked not to be.
For transparency: the household uses human manure systems, and some food is sourced weekly from a food bank.
This may suit very flexible volunteers, but it was not a good fit for me.
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Reply from Michael
We feel there are important items to point out about this review. It is correct to state that communication with eve while she stayed here was difficult. We experienced numerous instances when work assignments such as watering plants or making sure that chickens had food and water were not done and attributed to communications difficulties. Also on one occasion on a weekend day (day off in other words) we asked her to make a sandwich for my mother for lunch and include her for dinner after which we were told that eve expected a day off work since that made the day a work day. Clearly expectations about what constitutes a work day were not clearly spelled out.
Regarding personal boundaries we were told that she did not want her photo taken and in addition she wanted her hair covered at all times, however later she stated she was not sure about these things. One day it rained and there was a strong runoff across our property so we took a video the runoff which by chance included her standing in the running water and she did not object in any way. Later on she demanded that we delete the video of the biggest runoff on our property in years and angrily denied not being clear about this boundary.
In fact we have been complemented by wwoofers regarding not exceeding the scheduled work week and and many have specifically expressed how they felt safe and respected here, so eve's feeling about our lack of respect for boundaries or work limits are far from universal.
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Morgan
United States
•
May 2025
I felt like its hard to integrate into their family culture and the trip ended early. Polite people; just wasn't a great fit for me. Thanks Mike and Peggy
Joe
United States
•
April 2025
I was really impressed with what Michael has going on at Desert Life Ranch. I was excited to learn about the regenerative systems he has in place and about growing food in the desert. Unfortunately, we did not see eye to eye on what the point of WWOOFing is. Micheal was expecting me to perform electrical work as my work/trade, since I'm an electrician by trade. But I didn't feel that that was appropriate, and I was clear that the reason I WWOOF is to learn about regenerative systems and food cultivation.
My WWOOF profile shows my reasons for WWOOFing:
1)Become a better steward of the planet
2)Build community and make new friends
3)Learn self-sufficiency or homesteading skills
Because I was not ok with doing electrical for my WWOOF hours, I was asked to leave. That's the first for me. I really wish I could have stayed and learned new things.
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Reply from Michael
This review is not correct, we were not a suitable host for Joe because he asked to be allowed to work one hour for every three that the other woofers were working. We do not require woofers to work in any specific area, in fact very few of our woofers are professionals in the fields our work involves, but some are, and this is not a problem for us at all.
We do ask for 4 hours per day 5 days per week of helping us out around the place and it is 100% normal for that work to be in an area not in the woofers professional experience. We make that clear in our correspondence prior to each woofers arrival, so it came as quite an unpleasant surprise to us that Joe wished to work 1 hour for every three the other woofers were helping out and that caused us to feel we were not the right host for him. As we stated in our review of Joe we feel he could be an excellent woofer for another host, just not for us due to the request for special arrangements made after his arrival as we feel any such special treatment should be arranged prior to arrival. Joe stated prior to his arrival that he was a professional electrician so we were naturally looking forward to his help, he did not make any statements prior to his arrival about requiring special reduced work arrangements.
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Julien
France
•
February 2025
A wonderful spot! I had a great time there. There were a lot of other woofers at the same time, but there was plenty of space and privacy for everyone.
Michael is creating a fantastic place centered around self-sustainability, and he’s doing a great job at it. He can also turn into the best tour guide at any moment!
Gloria
Mexico
•
August 2024
-The hosts ensured that there was food available for us to cook with at all times.
-We learned about three types of trees on the property and participated in some outdoor tasks like watering plants, feeding chickens and fish, weeding, and digging holes for plants.
-We were provided with accommodation in an RV. Although it wasn't super clean, it had air conditioning and a reasonably comfortable bed.
-Michael, one of the hosts, took us on two trips to the mountain with his friends. These outings were educational and enjoyable, providing insights into farming and homesteading. His friends (both named Peter) were extremely nice, welcoming, and had fascinating life stories.
-Pat, Michael's mom is a very sweet lady with a positive attitude and great stories.
-They have an adorable dog named Freckles.
-Despite the farm's description emphasizing gardening, aquaponics, and sustainable construction, most of the tasks we did were house chores, such as cooking, cleaning, organizing food, folding laundry, and occasional outdoor work. It would be beneficial for future volunteers if the hosts clearly communicated the seasonal variation in tasks and matched tasks more closely to volunteers' interests and the farm's stated goals.
-The ranch requires a lot of organization and needs people who are willing to clean, organize, and have patience for many ongoing projects.
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