Design, Implementation & Management Systems for Creating RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS on Your Land
Functional, abundant landscapes are not something you achieve by luck, they are something you create by design.
Design
Good design emerges from observation and connection with place. It cannot be imposed. It is a methodical process through which your values and Quality of Life goals are clarified and aligned with the inherent characteristics of your land and natural pattern.
Implementation
Implementation is how your homestead landscape and systems of production are established to maximize desired returns while minimizing near and long-term costs. It’s about the right thing, in the right place, in the right order, at the right time.
Management Systems
By aligning what you do and how you do it with the inherent characteristics of your landscape you unlock it’s true generative potential. How you manage your landscape and the web of life that inhabits it allows you to leverage the exponential power of Nature.
“Casey brought an impressive breadth of information and understanding that was well beyond the scope of collective knowledge within our organization. This was true in initial conversations and throughout the many weeks of design process. Also, our process of designing involved roughly 40 people giving input in a variety of dynamic ways over numerous occasions, Casey’s facilitation of this was masterful and very engaging for these participants.”
~ Matt & Kriya Miller – Co-Executive Directors, Human Nature School
A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO RESILIENCE ~~~
Something the mainstream culture will never encourage…
Resilience is the ability to maintain optimal function amidst disruption. It is not something you can buy ‘done for you’ to put on the shelf for later. It is a product of the simultaneous application of context-appropriate design, regenerative management and adaptive mindset. This leads to a stronger, healthier ecosystem that is better because you are a part of it. If you’re looking to become more resilient to the economic, environmental and social disruptions of this era, this is how you do it. Becoming more resilient is an inside-out process – you have to think, do and become from within first – then the physical environment catches up
The Process For Building A Homestead That Works For You By Working With Nature
Design
Implementation
Management
Harvest
The Road To Prosperity…
There’s a big difference between having a homestead that works for you and working for your homestead. Homesteads, by definition, are productive systems. But when it comes to energy in vs. energy out, not all homesteads are created equal.
This is why you see lots of homesteaders come to resent the very things they once loved – like their chickens, or their vegetable garden, their house or their property itself. This doesn’t happen because they are fickle. It happens because they’re burnt out.
Burn out can present differently depending on the person and the place. Its roots, however, are always the same: too much input for too little return. This energetic imbalance is fundamentally unsustainable.
Burn out occurs when elements and systems are imposed on the landscape without regard for the situational context rather than emerging from it. When a thing or process is fighting Nature instead of working with it, burn out is inevitable.
The world of Sovereign Homesteading is a land where we design from emergent patterns informed by site-specific context down to the finer details, get clear on the why that drives the what, and build systems that align with the landform and natural patterns to create that magical synergy where your Quality of Life needs and ecosystem integrity are in perfect harmony.
Where I Work
Sovereign Homestead Design is currently based in eastern Tennessee. Much of my design history is based in the Mediterranean and dryland climates of coastal and inland California. I also work nationally throughout the United States.