The area also has an abundance of natural and sufficient water sources, springs and streams, which are vital to the household, vegetation, and wildlife of the area. The north end of the property is bounded by Strawberry Springs, which is known to run year round. Warm Springs runs parallel to Old Skaggs Springs Road, and carries all the rain runoff to Lake Sonoma.

The secondary water source is a new well put in 2021. It pumps up to our 7 tanks above the houses.

• The original spring, at about 1500 ft. supplies seasonal water to tanks above the Main House
• Two 1000 gallon tanks collect water from three springs above the Ranch House
• Infrared water filters were installed in both houses in 2018, to conform to Cottage Food Operation
• Average rainfall is 30 to 50 inches while 2019 brought 120 inches.

It seemed like an obvious step to install solar, given the goal of trying to be as self-sustainable as possible.The arrangement of buildings, along with the surrounding hills allowed solar panels to be accessible but nicely hidden. Over 75% of the power is now being supplied by solar and the remaining from PG&E.

• Added permitted solar panels in 2017
• Nominal kW DC System Power: 12.180
• Number of Solar Panels: 42
• Module: Solarworld Sunmodule Plus 29
• Panel W Rating (DC): 290

The three goats and four sheep are utilized as grazers throughout the property, mainly to reduce fire hazard, as they keep down overgrown brambles, thistles, weeds and fields, while providing abundant fertilizer to the soil. The property is divided into fenced pastures so they can be rotated around when needed.

• The sheep live in the original Sheep Barn built at the beginning of the 1900s
• The two black faced sheep are Norfolk
• The smaller mother and son are Dorper sheep (don't need shearing), and the son has some Barbados Black Belly thrown in

The three goats are on the property also help keep the grasses and other foliage well trimmed. They are living weedeaters, and will eat any and all plants trimmings, garden goods or orchard fruit thrown over the fence. They also prove to be quite entertaining, as they each have their own personality.

• The two without ears (the breed), mother and daughter, are La Manchas
• The other one with floppy ears, is the people loving Nubian
• They LOVE their Goat Palace!

The beehives insure the garden and orchards plants are well pollinated, encourage the health and productivity of bees in Sonoma County, while providing award-winning honey. The Ranch has had between two and four hives throughout the years.

• Won 1st place at the Harvest Fair for our Amateur Extracted Honey Wildflower Honey, light type

The property is mostly wooded land with streams, springs, and second growth forests. Site topography is primarily steeply sloping, oak and redwood forested hillsides with open meadows and level areas interspersed throughout the site. The immediate acreage surrounding the living compound is primarily moderately sloping open meadow.

On the west side, the high ridge defines the property border. On the east side, Strawberry Creek runs along most of the property line.

Big Dream Ranch is the steward of the surrounding forests on the property that include redwood, a variety of oaks, bays, maples and other species of trees. This land was extensively logged in the 1800's and then again when sheep ranchers wanted pasture, not wooded areas. Many of the hardwood trees are blowdowns; either from old age, or disease. The old growth Redwood are called “buckskins”; pieces (commonly 50 to 60 rings an inch) left behind from previous logging. After decades of lying on the forest floor, the bark and sapwood are long gone, but the heartwood is still beautiful.

• A Sustainable Harvest Permit (NTMP) was added in 2009 which allows harvesting of wood in keeping with a conservation plan set out for the property and it belongs to the property in perpetuity
• Some of the milled wood from the Ranch has been sold for the construction of one of a kind furniture, living spaces and even guitar bodies
• Much of the wood is also used around the property for projects like decking, benches, tables and sheds

You can’t talk about living in Sonoma Country without talking about the issue of fire. Big Dream Ranch has been very fortunate to have not been touched by any of the fires in the County.

The Ranch borders Lake Sonoma so is considered part of the “Lake Sonoma Watershed”. The significance of this is:

• Lake Sonoma/Dry Creek Fire Dept. and several other environmental Agencies have been very proactive in holding educational sessions for those of us in the watershed. Their goal is to help us understand how to fortify and protect our property from fire risk. Lake Sonoma provides water to over 600,000 households.

Our properties, particularly if structures burn, would create runoff to the Lake Sonoma that would toxic to the intended public water use of the dam.

• It is in their best interest, and ours, to have our properties maintained to prevent this from happening. This also means that during fire events, the Fire departments are particularly aware and watchful of our properties. They maintain a very vigilant eye and patrol heavily in areas surrounding the watershed including our local Old Skaggs Springs Road.
• Being this close to Lake Sonoma also makes it easier for planes to access water for drops on our properties nearby, if necessary.

• In order to maintain a property that poses less fire risk, we have created a number of grazing pastures in our “compound” that surround our buildings. We have 3 goats and 4 sheep whose sole purpose is the make sure brush and debris are minimized. A variety of pastures lets us rotate their grazing throughout the year.
• All the roofs of the structures on the Ranch are metal. This prevents ash and particularly embers from catching fire on the buildings.
• There are fire sprinklers installed on top of the roof of the Main House to be able to wet down the house and particularly the surrounding deck.
• A sump pump is available at the pool to be able to pump water out if necessary.
• We have a “water wagon” available at all times which carries a 250-gallon water tank along with commercial fire hoses and pump on a wheeled trailer that can be moved around as needed.

• Periodically we have hired professional tree trimmers to prune the large oaks within our compound, so weight, health, and skirt height are maintained. PGE also inspects all of our trees near power lines on a regular basis, and is responsible for maintaining those trees in accordance with fire safety and electrical lines.
• As mentioned in the Land & Wood section, we invested in an NTMP ( Non-Industrial Timber Management Permit) that goes with the property. It required extensive water, soil, timber, and ecological surveying to qualify for the Permit. Recently the County has offered a variety of programs, to help property owners like ourselves, take advantage of clearing and analysis options that are tied to helping reduce the cost of those efforts and subsequent fire risk. Having an NTMP is very beneficial when applying for these programs.

• Being in the Coastal mountains of Sonoma County, this property has different weather conditions than the Sonoma County Hwy 101 valley corridor or the eastern hills and mountain range. We typically get more rain, an average of 30 - 50 inches per year.
• Because the “compound” part of the property sits in a bowl-like area, we tend to get much less wind at 900 ft than the tops of the ridge or our neighbor's properties that face west.

• We are somewhat more protected from the severe impact of high winds. Our wind pattern also favors a northwest to southeast direction.
• So far, at least, the red flag days here have been much less severe than in other parts of the County.