Satoyama Homestead

Gardening outside the lines.

Maktub مكتوب (Arabic) adj. "It is written." Has both connotations of "records of things that were" and "signs of things that might yet be."

"...Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it's all written there." Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking." Stephen Hawking

We are often asked whether we grew up in an agrarian setting (nope) or how we otherwise came into our knowledge of dirt, plants, bees, and chickens. The short answer: reading, asking questions, talking to experts, more reading, and (finally) trying things for ourselves. Reading is fundamental, because it is a method we can all independently use to encounter new words; and because words are the basic building blocks of thoughts and ideas in the same way that atoms are the building blocks of matter and cells are the building blocks of the body. (Of course, Sarah might be a little biased...)

Part of our mission at Satoyama Homestead is to freely exchange knowledge and ideas about sustainable stewardship of the land. The Satoyama stewards will recommend resources for further exploration on this page. (Have a resource to add? Contact us!)

Until we have a chance to post those resources, we hope you enjoy this book spine poetry from our own library shelves to whet your appetite!

In Our Own Backyard

The Gifts of Plants

Dare to Survive

Be Present

Portable Compost*

*An old roommate of Sarah's claimed to have met Guru Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now (shown above). Seizing his opportunity, the roommate asked Guru Ram Dass, "What is the meaning of life?" "Portable compost" was his answer... and it's hard to argue with that!

Satoyama Homestead 里山

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