The best place to start is where we are now. There are three main categories of projects we are working on; they include energy efficiency, solar power and growing organic food. I have completed heating and cooling load calculations to determine what upgrades need to be done to conserve energy. The original plan was to switch to solar electric then add solar heat and domestic hot water and while doing these projects start growing organic food.
Our plans like most are subject to change and they continue to change. The project that has changed the most is growing organic food. Last year we had four raised beds but the biggest problem is wind and our solution is to build a walapini (below ground green house). The size of the walapini is 28 feet long 15 feet wide and 6 feet to the bottom. There is a papercrete wall (recycled paper and cement) at ground level to support the top which will be tilted to the south. When completed there will be eight raised beds. The Google Earth image below from 2/15/2015 shows the incomplete walapini at the top right and the trenches for the drip irrigation water lines which have been completed.
There are also fruit and nut trees we have planted including apricot, pomegranate, apple, almond pistachio and walnut. This projects would not be complete without native plants and trees and that will be a topic for another post.