Revolution,
disguised as gardening.
Our permaculture project in the mountains near Valencia
Rayo del Sol is a small off-grid eco project run on permaculture principles, 40 minutes from Valencia. Over thirteen years we have shaped this hillside into terraces, gardens and a slowly growing food forest, all powered by the sun and watered by the rain. It is our attempt at a simpler way of living, and you are welcome to come and stay inside it for a while.
The idea
A living example you can walk around in
We built a place that actually runs on the ideas, so you can see sustainable living working in practice. The point is to show that a lighter way of living is genuinely doable, and to share what we learn with the people who come to stay, help and grow. Some of it is hard, most of it is joyful, and all of it is out in the open for you to see.
How it works
How the place runs off-grid
Power comes from eight solar panels, with batteries to see us through the evenings. Water is caught from the rain and used for the garden and the house, with the village spring water as backup, so there is never a shortage. The toilet is a composting eco-toilet, the two showers are open-air and use natural soaps, and the washing water is reused for the flowers. Food scraps go through a three-bin compost and back into the soil. The land itself is shaped with berms and swales to hold water and slow erosion, and planted with natives to keep the whole thing in balance.
Conservation
The whole place is set up to waste as little as possible. Rainwater is caught and used for the garden, washing water is given a second life on the flowers, and every food scrap goes through the compost and back into the soil. We plant natives to keep the ecosystem in balance, and shape the land with berms and swales so the rain soaks in instead of running off. None of it is high-tech. It is mostly common sense, applied patiently over the years.
What grows here
The terraces give us almonds, a lot of them, along with olives, figs, grapes, apricots, walnuts, peaches, pears, apples, plums and cherries. There are herbs all year, thyme and rosemary especially, and after the rain the ground fills with wild asparagus, wild garlic and greens you can eat. A food forest is slowly taking shape, and an annual vegetable garden fills in the rest. Guests are welcome to walk the land, taste what is in season, and pick up a little of how it all fits together.
building since 2013, one bit at a time. Some of what we've put in:
Getting involved
Come and get your hands in the soil
You do not have to do a thing here, but plenty of people want to. Take the sustainability tour of the land, lend a hand in the garden, or come for longer as a volunteer on Workaway terms and learn permaculture by doing it. Spaces for volunteers are limited and fill quickly, so get in touch early if that is calling you.
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In short, it is a way of designing how you grow food and live so it works with nature, using less and wasting less. Here that looks like terraces, a food forest, caught rainwater, and compost that feeds the soil.
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Not exactly. It is an eco project run on permaculture principles, more a home and a garden than a commercial farm, though it does feed the table.
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Yes. Walk the land on a sustainability tour, help in the garden, or join as a Workaway volunteer for a longer, hands-on stay.
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Yes. Solar power, caught rainwater, a composting toilet and open-air eco showers, with village spring water as backup so you are never short.
Come and live a little lighter.
Come and stay in the middle of it, for a few days or a season, and see how a simpler way of living feels.
