ABOUT homestead Earth
A Southern Maryland Homestead
I started a homestead! I bought a house on 6 forested acres in 2015 in exurban Southern Maryland a.k.a. SOMD (in the USA) and a few years ago I finally decided to put my land to work (and work my land). Living on a Southern Maryland Homestead is a unique experience that I’ve come to cherish. I’m a mechanical engineer by trade, but spent so much time at my job that I didn’t have the time to do all the homesteading activities that I wanted to. I’ve taken a step back from my career to try to lead a more purposeful and intentional life in tune with the Earth.
Food is Love
The name Homestead Earth is derived from my Bluesky handle @SpaceshipEarth, which is a term popularized by Buckminster Fuller to describe the Earth as a closed system like a spaceship with limited resources and humans as the crew that needs to work harmoniously together for a better society. So, in my mind, we all live on a mega-homestead together, and should strive to shepherd our little corners of it to the best of our abilities for the greater good. For my part, I live in a new growth forest in the heart of Southern Maryland and, like many new growth forests (i.e. forests that have been logged and re-planted with saplings), they are relatively devoid of fruit producing plants – which puts a real hamper on the local biodiversity. On my 6 acre Southern Maryland Homestead, the only fruit producing plants were wineberries (a type of raspberry), paw paw trees, and holly trees (not for humans). I’ve made it my mission to turn my land into a thriving food forest for the wildlife and to create abundant harvests with minimal effort through agroforestry, permaculture, native berry plants and native flowers, intercropping/companion planting, and regenerative agriculture.
Native Plants Coloring Books
As I’ve become more involved on my homestead, I’ve come to learn that I like to stay busy, and I really like native plants and fruit trees and just permaculture in general because the amount of work required is reduced each year. Perennial plants become established, fences are already built, and I have time for other pursuits. So, I started a print-on-demand website for coloring books and coloring shirts of native plants and other more commercial subjects, like unicorns. It is certainly interesting from a web development perspective (one of my many hobbies), but also it has pushed me to get more involved in local, state, and national nature and native plant organizations.