9 years ago, Mark and Kelley bought a 93+ acre dilapidated off grid citrus orchard in the desert. The couple has faced hardships and setbacks with off grid living. They struggled to rebuild after a devastating fire burned their RV, a vehicle and the power shed. Also, Mark was fired from Area 51 (yes, THE Area 51) during COVID due to the vaccine mandate. However, these two don’t let things hold them back from long! Check out their story here…

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Mark isn’t actually a rocket scientist. He’s actually an electrical engineer, but he works in aerospace on “government birds,” satellites, and other projects such as the DART asteroid defense system. Believe me when I tell you that Mark has a “beautiful mind!” He currently commutes to California for work Monday through Friday but spends his weekends at home on the farm with Kelley.

Before Mark worked for the government, he spent a good part of his career doing telecom contracting. He set up cellular networks, did routine maintenance and troubleshooted network issues all over the country. Jobs would range from a few months to a few years in each location. Mark lived in his 40′ Newmar bus and traveled around the country, before he decided to put down roots literally and figuratively in the desert and do off grid living on a 93+ acre citrus orchard.

The Citrus Farm

The farm has a sorted history of improper care and bank repossession before Mark and Kelley moved in. The orchard originally had 3,000 trees but most died during drought and watering system issues long before they purchased the property. Together, they are slowly bringing back the orchard and discovering what works and what doesn’t in the farming business (Pomegranates were a surprising flop when it came to market time).

Currently, the farm grows navel oranges, Arizona sweet oranges, tangelos, Oro Blanca white grapefruit, pink grapefruit, lemons, and even a type of very light pink grapefruit. The infamous pomegranate grove is also still there.

The first two years that Mark and Kelley worked the orchard, they picked fruit and took it to local swap meets and farmer’s markets to sell it. Time went by and COVID happened so there weren’t any outdoor markets running. Locals still contact them to purchase citrus, but picking, marketing and selling their crop continues to be a challenge.

Off Grid Solar POWER

It takes quite a solar system to power everything, as you can imagine! The farm runs two 5 hp well pumps producing 100 gallons a minute and a 15 hp 660 gallon/minute water pump on 4″ water lines for irrigation. Fortunately, Mark is just the engineer for the job, although he freely admits that his power shed is like the mad scientist’s workshop.

Mark has approximately 134 solar panels in use which deliver 350 amps to the charge controllers to charge batteries each day during peak charging time. He has eleven 51.2 volt LifePo4 batteries (soon to be sixteen). Mark also has twenty-four 2 Volt 1130 AMP Lead Acid Batteries to make 48 volts (which mere mortals know can’t run on the same system at the same time as the LifePo4 batteries, but Mad Scientist Mark’s got a way…) He also has 6 Outback Inverters setup to make 21.6 kw 3-phase power. Mark uses two 6 kw parallel 240 split phase inverters for the house power. He has a 5 kw inverter that runs the shop/power room including the mini-split AC unit for cooling the system. Mark uses Midnite Charge Controllers, because “they’re the best.” Mark consults on solar system setup and troubleshooting, so when he says something is the best, believe him.

Everyone in the desert has one particular challenge here: mice love to eat wiring – anywhere and everywhere. Mark and Kelley’s property is no exception. However, they solved the mice problem by adopting a feral cat. Since the cat adoption, no more vehicles or machinery has been damaged by the mice!

Home, Sweet Off Grid Home

Mark and Kelley’s off grid living arrangement is a former “picking shed” for the farm. They have remodeled and expanded it into cozy home for two. Since they are quite a ways from town, Mark and Kelley run 4 refrigerators and 4 freezers for food storage. Since they live on solar, they keep a close eye on how many amps each appliance draws and were quick to evict their previous old refrigerator which was less efficient than all 8 of the current appliances PUT TOGETHER!

Mark keeps plenty of equipment and vehicle around the farm. He repairs his road when it washes out during rain storms and get back and forth to town. Mark recently got some equipment working again so he can mow the grass and weeds from the extremely wet winter we’ve had and actually “see” the trees in his orchard. There are plenty of projects and work to do with a farm this large.

Mark and Kelley love their cozy home and are currently finishing an add-on to make it 2 full bedrooms and a separate dining area. Kelley is very happy with her home. However, there’s still one big item on her wish list: a large in-ground swimming pool, which Mark has agreed to build for her… someday.

Living Off Grid for Retirement

Fortunately for the farm, Mark’s retirement plans involve spending every day tinkering and working to better it. He’s got a list of projects like everyone else, but the scope of his projects are slightly different. He’s got a 1990’s Ford Ranger he plans to convert into an electric vehicle and an old well drilling rig that he plans to use to put 4 more wells on his property (to go with the 2 existing wells).

Mark can’t stand to be bored and loves to keep himself very busy. His previous side businesses were water hauling and well drilling. He currently offers solar system consultations in his “free time”. He’s the first person to tell you that off grid living is not cheap or easy. It’s always challenging. Fortunately for the orchard, Mark loves a challenge.

Mark and Kelley truly believe that anything can be accomplished when you have the right knowledge and equipment. They are looking forward to retirement together on their little piece of off grid heaven. The best years are truly yet to come!

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