About

What is Rancho Relaxo?

Rancho Relaxo was formerly the home of two-hundred fifty or so scrapped cars, old tires, fuel tanks, transmissions, scrap metal, concrete and garbage. Together with my wife and our four kids, we picked, piled, plumbed and painted our way to a place that we could be proud of and where our kids could safely play. But, we didn’t stop there. After completing four years of research on the state of the world, we decided the best use of our land was to incorporate Permaculture Design into the property, and display a new way of living in harmony with natural systems. Then, we started inviting lots of fun, interesting people to come and visit, and to help share the ideas with the rest of the world.

Our family believes that combining the best global ideas for efficient resource use, organic food production, and sustainable living, regardless of economic conditions, is a responsible and achievable choice. Drawing on our experiences as international travelers, we began transforming our five acres into a Permaculture Demonstration Farm. Our goal is to produce all of our own energy and food for our family of six while teaching others how to do the same. The farm fosters social interaction through integrated meeting spaces and events, and we offer tours to share ideas with schools, community groups, government agencies, and more.

Here's a fun video that talks about where we came from, and what Rancho is all about.
Grab some popcorn, the tissues, and buckle up for a little demolition derby footage too!

T H E T E A M

Our Founders

Juli Gillies - CEO

Juli's Bio

Jeff Gillies- CEO

Jeff's Bio

Sage Gillies

Renn Gillies

This video is one of a series that features students of Verge Permaculture (now called 5th World):

"Juli and Jeff Gillies are demonstrating a wide array of permaculture homesteading techniques on their 5 acre parcel near Rocky Mountain House, AB. Over the last few years they have transformed their land - an old junk yard - into a beautiful and productive garden, complete with food forest and up-cycled raised beds. They've used their technological know-how and a "get-er-done" approach to test everything from solar electricity and heating to rainwater harvesting, energy efficient retrofits, food storage, and large scale soil production through their business Taimi Soil Projects. Their acreage has quickly become a leading example of off-the-grid homesteading solutions for cold climates."

Code of Conduct for Rancho Relaxo

After hosting many events over the past 20 years at Rancho Relaxo, we've come up with a list of guidelines in order to help prevent incidents and promote connection, peace, and joy within our guests. The Rancho Code of Conduct helps communicate our expectations to our guests in order to ensure they (and we) have the best experience possible.

Awards

Juli & Jeff Gillies have won several awards for Rancho Relaxo including the Martha Kostuch Environmental Stewardship Award in 2012, and the Travel Alberta Growing Rural Tourism Entrepreneurship Challenge (1st Place 2016).

Need help transforming your own place?

Taimi Soil Projects is our other company that helps Central Alberta families to establish food production and permaculture systems in their own yards, whether they live in an apartment or on an acreage. TSP specializes in building high-fertility soil that will grow lush, productive, gardens of nutrient-dense foods.

www.TaimiSoilProjects.ca