My name is Jennifer and I live on an urban permaculture property in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I've named the property "Dolce Verde" (Sweet Green) because it is an oasis of green in the desert.

Dolce Verde is a small historic property near the city core. Developed on only 1/6 acre of land, the property includes: sunken vegetable beds for water harvesting, citrus and deciduous urban orchards, chickens, compost piles, graywater capture, outdoor shower, passive solar design, mulched basin rainwater sponge and more.

Dolce Verde is more than an active permaculture site in the middle of the 6th largest city in the US - it's also a retreat to rebuild my health and the health of my community. Not only has Dolce Verde served me as I've struggled with a debilitating auto-immune disease, but it has brought new life to my neighborhood, making us more sustainable in the process.

Long live Permaculture!

Working with nature: Planting summer legumes and melons

Cycling nitrogen-fixing legumes through several planting beds and planting ground covering melons in infiltration pits.

More prepping for warm season crops

Installing another infiltration basin and prepping up the trellises for passive cooling.

Chop (peck) and drop

Cycling out a pea crop and replacing with tomatoes.