Small off-grid homestead in the hills of Cazadero, a small town in Western Sonoma County
California
We have a small off-grid homestead in the hills of Cazadero, a small town in Western Sonoma County. It is 30 minutes from the Pacific Ocean and an hour and 15 minutes to the town of Santa Rosa. We are 45 minutes to the Russian River and 2.5 hours to San Francisco. Back in the 1970s my grandparents established the ranch we live on called Gualala Ranch: an old sheep ranch divided into 64, 40 acre parcels. It continues to be a thriving community with really great neighbors and it is what makes us unique. We live on one of the 40 acre parcels; a forested northwest facing hillside, with our two children (ages 6 and 10), 4 dogs, 1 cat, 22 goats, and chickens, ducks, and turkeys. We have a seasonal creek and two springs that run year round. We are opening the forest for grazing, fire preparedness, agriculture, gardening, and building projects. We practice permaculture and holistic land management with rotational grazing. We make compost and compost tea and are microbiology enthusiasts. We are working towards being self-sufficient and we practice biodynamics and closed loop systems. We milk our goats and make fresh cheese every week during the season. We like to ferment and preserve whatever we can.
We have a large enclosed space below our wood shop with a camp kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room to stay in, or you can bring a tent. We have a composting toilet and a rustic remote shower with hot water. We recommend good shoes, clothing layers (it can be really hot and really cold). Be aware that we have mosquitos, ticks, yellow jackets, rattle snakes, scorpions, and other forest predatory animals. We are entirely on solar power so power is limited. We do have internet access.
Things to do nearby include going to the ocean, Fort Ross and Salt Point State Parks, and the Russian River. There are tons of ways to get out and explore nature nearby. There is also a private reservoir and creek access on our ranch.
Organic methods: compost tea, compost, manure, bio-char, crop rotation, cover cropping, biodynamic preparations, rotational grazing of goats, closed loop system, plant ferments, lactobacillus serum
Certifications: We raise crops and livestock for ourselves to sustain our homestead and sell organic compost tea. We do not sell our products anywhere outside of our local community. We are micro-scale.
Current projects: tree and sucker clearing/cutting, brush hauling/piling, pile burning, firewood harvest, chipping, livestock and poultry tending, rotational grazing (moving electric fences and livestock), compost and manure work, small building projects including natural material gathering, skinning logs, and alaskan milling with wood from the land, garden bed building with natural and repurposed materials and masonry, rock wall building, fencing fruit trees and other perennials, gray water projects and filter ponds, creek work including clearing creek from brush and check dams to raise the water line in the creek bed, gardening, transplanting, and planting annuals, trees, and perennials, spring renovation and plumbing (extending water lines).
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Sheep or goat farming
Dairy farming
Forestry
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Green Building
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
Holistic management
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
16.2
Hectares
|
40
Acres
Melissa
Member since 2022
Languages spoken:
English, Spanish
Response rate: 69%
Response time: typically within 5 days
November 2025
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Open
Planned visit
Closed
California
Santa Rosa Airport, San Francisco Airport, Santa Rosa Bus Depot, Santa Rosa Amtrak, Petaluma SMART Train
Reviews
Jake
United States
•
October 2025
This was my first WWOOFing experience, and it was great! David, Mel, and family were so sweet and welcoming. Their off grid homestead is beautiful, and they are very connected with their neighbors / invested in their community. They were great hosts; very accommodating with my food restrictions, and always checking in to see what it was that I wanted to be doing and learning. David was a great teacher, taking a lot of time to answer my questions, and walk me through every process. Goats, dogs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, redwoods, chainsaws, quads, fresh fruits & veggies, and really yummy home cooked meals. It doesn't get much better than that. Mel and David were even kind enough to bring me to visit their friend & neighbors vineyard. It all felt sort of like being airdropped into someone else's family for a week... homey, sweet, informative, and FUN!
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Connor
United States
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May 2025
I had an amazing time with Melissa, David, and family during my week at their homestead. The property was beautiful and the work was fun. David spent a lot of time explaining the tasks at hand and teaching me about the homesteading practices they do. The meals they prepared were great! They were always flexible about what tasks I felt comfortable doing and made sure I had what I needed and was comfortable. I hope to spend time with them again in the future!
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Rock
United States
•
July 2024
Our family of four stayed with David, Mel, Aria, and Arlo 5/1/24 till 6/6/24. They are tucked away on a very secluded little parcel in the hills and redwoods of Sonoma County. It is a beautiful place and they have a little piece of off-grid paradise. We stayed in our little camper, but they have a little guest room in a separate building with a composting toilet and they finished setting up a nice little outdoor shower and dish sink which made us right at home. We had the opportunity to help with building their annual compost pile - this entailed lots of scooping of goat winter bedding as well as gathering wood chips and green matter. We also helped make and apply compost tea - something David knows a great deal about having previously had a compost tea business - as well as daily chores around the goats, chickens, ducks, and dogs. We helped clear trails for goat fencing, move the goats, milk the goats, plant and tend to the garden, lay drip irrigation, as well as make cheese, healing salve, and play and explore. We also helped with tree felling and burning as part of the wildfire management of the property. David was a great teacher with all things chainsaw. We are grateful that we had an opportunity to collect sea salt on the coast as a family adventure. We mostly did separate meals, but Mel and David took care of grocery shopping for most things for us and we enjoyed at least a weekly meal together. Mel and David were great with our whole family.
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Norma
United States
•
October 2023
Melissa, Dave, and their kids were so lovely and welcoming! I came up for a short stay with an injury, and they were very accommodating and careful to check that I was okay with every task. We kept it light but I still got to do a variety of things I was interested in. So glad we got the chance to talk about composting and biodynamic practices, which Dave was happy to answer my questions about. Unfortunately I got sick and had to cut my stay short but I had a great time, the property was beautiful, and I would for sure visit again.
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John Grady
United States
•
October 2023
I had a great time at this homestead. Melissa and Dave have a lovely family and a beautiful property, with lots of redwood trees and goats. They were very generous and made sure I had everything I needed during my stay. I got to milk goats and mill lumber, and also learned about the long term effects of logging. It might be a better fit for someone with their own transportation, as they are fairly remote. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
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