Homesteading in a desert is harder than almost anywhere else you could try it. Temperatures swing wildly between day and night, the air is dry, the soil is stubborn, and the nearest hospital may be an hour or more away. Plenty of people do it anyway, and the ones who last are the ones who planned for the land before they fell in love with it.
This guide covers the decisions in the order you will face them: whether the lifestyle suits you, how to judge a parcel, how to get water and power, how to build, and what to plant and raise once you are there.
Decide whether the desert is right for you #
A homestead is more than a house. It is a family’s residence plus enough surrounding land to raise crops or animals, and it usually means subsistence farming, home food storage and some small-scale making of your own goods. Do that in an arid region and every one of those pieces gets harder.
Still, the appeal is real. You are far from city noise. You learn to meet your needs for food, water and shelter with the fewest resources possible, which is a survival education in itself. And living independently on cheap land tends to cost less over time, since you pay less for property and utilities.
Deserts also differ a great deal from one another. Elevation changes what you can plant and harvest. Temperature range, soil type and rainfall vary region to region. Before you commit, work out which problems you will face and whether you have an answer for each one. These are the three that catch people first:
| Challenge | What helps |
|---|---|
| Baking heat makes growing anything difficult | Use shade cloth, and lay out crops so they get the right amount of sun. Which way your house faces matters too, because it can either shade the garden or throw heat back at it. |
| Frequent high winds dry plants out fast | Put up natural or built barriers. Trees and large shrubs block wind and add shade. Walls or fencing are better still, and straw bales around the garden work when you cannot build. |
| Few cell towers, so little or no connection, even in an emergency | A cellular booster can pull in a weak signal. Satellite internet needs no towers at all, only an antenna pointed at the sky. |
Timing matters as well. February and early March are the best months to start in the desert, because the heat is bearable. Watch for frost, which will kill young crops quickly.
Buying land in the desert #
Cheap property is the usual reason people look at desert land. It is also the reason people get burned. Some parcels have thin soil cover, zoning restrictions or poor water access, and the least expensive plot is rarely the right one. Spending a little more on land that suits homesteading is usually money well spent. Check these things before you sign.
Water. You need water to grow anything. Unless you are close to a town with mains supply, expect to drill a well, so find out how deep the water table is and whether the site suits a well. Test soil and water for pollutants, silt and anything dangerous before you buy.
Power. Your chances of connecting to the grid, and the cost, depend on how far you are from civilization. Rural customers are sometimes the last to get power back after an outage, so factor in the price of an emergency generator.
Medical help. Find out which emergency services cover the area and how long they take to arrive. In some places, depending on weather, even a helicopter can take an hour.
Communication. Check for phone service and broadband. The internet is now where many homesteaders find forums, growing advice and remote work, and more people are settling in far-off places because they can earn a living online. If there is no service, find out whether a landline can reach the property.
Getting around. Ask yourself whether you could walk to the nearest town if something went wrong. Even car trouble can turn dangerous out there. Hauling supplies to your land by the pickup-truck load is slow and expensive, so know the time and money limits you are working with.
harvest it, store it, reuse it #
You will need a lot more water than you think. It covers your own household, your garden and your livestock, and the desert gives you very little of it. Treat every source as worth capturing.
Rainwater #
Rain is scarce but not absent. Divert roof runoff from the gutters into barrels or a tank. Even a small system can cover some of your needs, and it means you are not spending expensive well or hauled-in water on showers, dishes or the garden. Before you build, check local law, because some states restrict rainwater harvesting.
Larger systems send gutter water to cisterns, which you can use for crops that need more water than others.
Wells #
A well is the easiest and most dependable source, which is why a property that already has one can be worth a higher price. Drilling your own is a gamble. In rocky desert ground a deep bore can cost thousands of dollars with no guarantee you will ever hit groundwater.
Storing water in the heat #
Storage takes more thought in the desert because of the intense heat. Build a shed with plenty of airflow. If you can, add a second cover or shelter over the first, so the sun does not beat directly down on the structure that holds your water.
Greywater #
Water from baths, sinks and washing machines can go straight to the garden. Instead of sending it down the drain, undo the pipe under the sink and redirect it into a bucket. Use it for irrigation rather than flushing it away.
Mulch helps you keep what you have. It holds moisture in the soil and shades the ground from the sun.
Power for a desert homestead #
Homesteading is meant to be off-grid, and you will still want power and heat through the cold months, even if you run fewer appliances. Most people homesteading in open desert use solar panels. Panel costs have dropped around 80% over the past ten years, and that trend is expected to continue for a while.
Solar water heating is one of the best ways to get cheap hot water. The sun’s radiant energy heats the water, which is then piped into the house. Low and high deserts can both use it anywhere there is sunlight. Make sure the system is big enough to meet all your hot water needs, even in winter, and conserve where you can. Limiting water use also saves energy, though it may mean doing without a washer, dryer or dishwasher.
If you prefer a low-electricity lifestyle, a generator is a sensible option. Small ones are cheap and can run a small home. They come in gas, propane and diesel, and a gas model is the ideal choice if you only expect to use it occasionally. A generator also makes an excellent backup if your solar inverters fail and you urgently need air conditioning. Many are portable, which helps if you are building a pig pen a few hundred feet from the house.
Building in the desert #
Shelter comes first once you have decided to stay. Desert houses are built differently from houses elsewhere in the country, and the choice of materials is the first step. Wood is common in most regions, but it is often a poor fit here. Heat and dry air warp and twist even good timber, which is why it is used sparingly in Southwest homes.
Look for stone or ICF concrete, which stand up to the climate and help keep interior temperatures moderate. Treated and tinted windows cut cooling costs and block the sun’s rays. If you are buying an existing house, look for one that already has window treatments, since that saves money.
Soil and gardening #
Start with a soil test, because it tells you where on your property to plant. You will find either sand or dry clay. Clay is highly alkaline, while sandy soil leans acidic, so some crops may not suit the native ground. Compost, and a lot of it, is the best fix for both.
Add compost in alternating layers with the native soil, then keep a routine and disturb the bed as little as possible afterward so microbial activity can take hold. If you can, plant where the soil is darkest, since results there will be noticeably better. Making compost is simple: food scraps, lint, cotton and similar material go into a bin and rest for a while. Do it daily and you will soon have plenty.
Shade #
Shade does two jobs. It shelters the crops from the sun, and it raises yields. The most natural way is to plant tall trees near sensitive crops such as tomatoes. Spruce does well in most deserts. You can also build a shade structure or hang an overhead net, which works well. Good shade cloth lasts through several summers without costing much.
What to plant #
Choose plants for your particular location, and expect to experiment. Some crops adapt to the soil poorly, while others suit it rather well. Elevation matters a lot here.
A good way to begin is to find out which native plants have grown in your area for the past few hundred years. Study the conditions they grew in and copy them. Plant early in the year, so crops have time to establish and offer shade before the heat arrives. In winter, heat reflected off walls can keep the garden from getting too cold.
| Heat-tolerant crops | Cold-tolerant crops |
|---|---|
| Beans | Arugula |
| Corn | Carrots |
| Cucumber | Crinkle cress |
| Eggplant | Garlic |
| Melons | Kale |
| Pepper | Mustard |
| Squash | Onion |
| Tomato | Spinach |
If you can, grow fruit trees. Of everything you might plant, fruit gives the best return on investment, and surplus fruit has a ready market in barter.
Livestock #
Animals give you food and companionship, and they bring you closer to self-sufficiency. Chickens and ducks supply eggs and white meat. Goats give milk and red meat. Chickens are the best choice if you want to be fully self-sufficient, because their feed conversion ratio is low.
Keep in mind that some animals eat a great deal of hay or grain. You need to grow enough fodder to meet that appetite, and you may still have to buy some or all of the feed. Protect your animals from the wind just as you protect your plants.
Before you start #
Desert homesteading asks for careful preparation and careful use of resources. Save water wherever you can, and plant only what suits your climate. Do your research, make an honest effort, and the lifestyle can pay off. By learning to produce what you need, you rely less on stores, and rising living costs hit you less hard.
Water is the limiting factor in dry country, and the food and water guide lays out the options. For planning basics see how to start a homestead, and for a very different climate compare mountain homesteading essentials.