>>2659452Takes a long ass time but it can be worth it - life is comfy in desert, no bugs or neighbours. Here is a rough plan, based off of Bill Mollison's Permaculture
>settle next to boulders/canyons/large rock formationsthere is some rainfall in the desert, the problem is that the absence of top soil makes the landscape very unstable and chaotic - landscapes exist on a spectrum between forest (high ecossistemic order, maximum stability of topsoil) and desert (no ecossistemic order, completely chaotic shifting sands) - order is what garantees water and other resources are kept in an area, and keeping the water is the most important thing for any settlement
>design features that will retain waterfind the natural path of least resistance that water will take as it flows and use dams or swales to retain it. There will be evaporation and absorption, but what is important is that, when it falls, you can stop it for as long as possible
>plant permies around these areas of increased moistureAdding biomass will be crucial to colonizing the area, these plants will be high maintenance and take a long ass time to grow but they'll add shade (which will slow down evaporation) and organic material to slowly stabilize the topsoil you are building
