Land Stewardship
Last edit: 7/8/24
What if we work on a living situation that is part of a consciousness of connecting with Life? That would include the land itself.
Land stewardship is about a mind set - it means "caring". Not because its profitable, but because its the right thing to do. This includes no trash on the ground, not polluting in general, composting, energy efficiency, water protection and conservation, soil building and conservation, native plants and wildlife, etc. In my spiritual leanings, the body is the sole vehicle I have to navigate this journey with - taking the best possible care of it is a spiritual act. Taking care of the land is an extension of the same principles.
The vision here is to "develop" the land in a responsible way - not just to take a stand that development in and of itself is evil. We keep having babies - essentially the real problem behind development. "We" always need more housing. Unfortunately, its the conscious people who are having fewer babies... the population is still being increased - by people with less conscious values...
Soil is a core element of Life itself. Soil and water conservation authorities have somewhat missed the boat though. Their primary focus is to protect the water quality, which is unquestionably of major importance - erosion pollutes water and kills sensitive wild life. However, they are not addressing the actual "soil" - which includes organic matter that supports plant life. There are ways to build soil. When developing land, it takes much more time and effort (and cost) to collect "soil" before reshaping the land with heavy equipment. And to collect and "compost" vegetation rather than haul it off in dump trucks to be disposed of. And to improve soil by integrating organic matter into the soil...
In the human waste stream, solid waste is primarily fiber - not very nutrient rich. Its still organic fiber which is important for soil texture and good for the soil microbes which in turn produce nutrients. (Just like in our digestive system!). For many many decades, microbes have been our enemies (based in fear). They are key to all of life itself. We need to change our relationship to microbes pretty much across all fronts. Composted solid waste is safe. It can be challenging to convince people of that for food crops, but maybe more easy to convince them to use it for landscaping and forestry applications. Urine is where the nutrients are in the human waste stream and its sterile - there is potential to convert it into major nutrient rich plant food (nitrogen) and turn that waste products into real value. (And potential to kill plants if done improperly).
Significant effort has already been invested in creating compost on this property from the natural vegetation that has been removed from the property.
Effort is needed to control invasive plants, and there are techniques to do it other than spraying poison on everything - which always ends up in the ground water and poisons the stupid humans. Effort is needed to establish (desirable) native plants. There is potential for some nursery activity for native plants. Poison ivy is a native plant, and its food for wildlife. Humans are the only species with allergies to it - so native or not, its generally in our best interest to keep it out of our human traffic areas - not an non-native invasive, but still on the remove from this land list.
This community is intended to be a "no grass lawn" community. We'll still hear the neighbors mowers etc not that far away, but not that ongoing lawn maintenance noise in our own neighborhood right outside our windows. At what point in history did we decide that a home needed to have a "grass" yard to be a home - to have a place for our children to play? I believe it started out as a display of wealth. (My brother and I ran off into the woods to play. The lawn was just a chore to mow.)
Trees are valuable assets on the land. Its important to not cut them all down. However, it can also be valuable to let in natural light and air flow. There is a balance that needs to be found in combining human habitation and agriculture with trees, vs the forest / nature preserve that is all about trees and nature. Vegetables require full sun to produce fruit. Septic fields and roads require clearing of trees. Many animal species, including humans, prefer the "edge" of the forest (riparian zone), not the wide open, or the dense forest. A comprehensive plan that considers all of these elements makes sense for a conscientious development with land stewarding practices. This including thinning tress to assist the remaining selected trees to grow in a healthy manner (not tall and skinny competing for sunlight), and selecting which trees to keep based on the health of the trees, species diversity, and wildlife support.
We live in the mountains. Hillsides are a challenge for agriculture, but it can be done. South facing hillsides like this land are beneficial for combining trees and sunny spaces for growing vegetables, and passive solar homes. It does not take much acreage to produce plenty of vegetables for many people. There is some potential for forest farming, trails, and livestock. Again, it involves a comprehensive plan to plan the whole property in a way to bring all the pieces together.