Below is a chronological timeline archiving all the posts about Earthly Wilds that we have released publicly so far.

Earthly Wilds BIPOC Community Sanctuary

A Working Draft of Our Vision and Commitments

Posted By the Racial Equity Team (RET) on 8/21/2025


During yesterday's community meeting about Racial Equity, RET asked Twin Oaks to donate some land, enough for the creation of a new FEC community that would be led by and centered around Black, Indigenous, and people of color. A community which we have decided to name “Earthly Wilds”. This wouldn’t just be another housing option or a side project. It’s a space where POC can live and organize without the barriers and challenges many of us have faced at Twin Oaks Community. A place where safety, culture, and autonomy come first. A place where white allies with a proven track record of support and accountability would also be welcomed to become members alongside POC, helping to build a stronger, more inclusive community. All Twin Oakers would still retain access to hike the land, explore the trails and enjoy the forest, even as non-members of this new community. Earthly Wilds Community would also have different policies designed to remove barriers that POC face here at Twin Oaks, things like strict “property codes”, “vehicle codes”, barriers to families joining, an inflexible labor system, money system, or communication styles that are based on white cultural norms, etc, all of which can make it hard for people to feel fully included or comfortable here.


What follows is not a final blueprint, or a top-down plan. It’s a living document, shaped by the values and labor of those who will actually inhabit this vision. We expect this to be debated, revised, expanded, and collectively transformed by the people who are building Earthly Wilds Community, not just dreaming it.


Our Core Values

Earthly Wilds Community stands for collective survival, freedom, equity and liberation.
We oppose:

We affirm:

These are not just aspirational slogans. They are the filters through which decisions will be made and priorities set.

The Land We Intend to Build On

We are actively seeking a land donation from Twin Oaks Community to serve as the foundation for this project. The exact parcel of land has not yet been determined, as we want this choice to reflect both the input of Twin Oaks and the guidance of experts. Our plan is to hold an open consultation process, while also bringing in, if possible, a permaculture design consultant who can help us evaluate the land’s natural features, such as soil quality, water access, and ecological resilience, so that the site selected will support long-term sustainability and wise stewardship of resources.

Desired features include:

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Governance and Decision-Making

We reject hierarchical power structures, not just as an idea, but in practice. Power will be exercised horizontally and with consent. Being anti-hierarchical is about dismantling rigid, imposed power structures. Prioritizing marginalized voices is about repairing inequity and ensuring true equality of participation. Rather than contradiction, they reinforce each other. Anti-hierarchy creates the space, and centering marginalized voices ensures the space is actually just. Anti-hierarchical systems recognize that oppression doesn’t vanish just because you flatten formal structures. People bring in societal baggage. Actively uplifting marginalized perspectives helps prevent old hierarchies (like racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism) from creeping back in informally.


Decisions will primarily be made by those most directly affected by them. All decisions must align with our core values unless those values are formally amended by full consent.


Starting as a small group, we'll begin with a consent-based decision making model like what RET currently uses: any member can make a proposal, proposals pass if no one objects within a defined time frame; objections must come with friendly amendment to the proposal, in order to have a healthy balance of “oppose” and “propose”.


As we grow, we may use direct democracy to elect “temporary delegates”, not to command, but to facilitate, manage, or honcho specialized time-bound tasks. Delegates would:

Since power is rooted at the base, and ultimately returns back to it, this type of democracy should not be confused with “representative” democracy, which is a hierarchical power structure.


Money and Economy

We begin with donations of land, materials, and money, to get started. But long-term, we will fund ourselves through community-owned, anti-capitalist worker-co-op businesses, such as:

The financial goals are:

Members would be allowed to have outside incomes, but they would be expected to donate a portion back to the community, depending on their income level.


Labor Systems, Accountability and Accessibility

We will not impose a rigid labor system from above. Instead, laborers will decide for themselves how to organize their work.

Open questions include:

These questions are intentionally not being answered here. What we do know is this: those who labor should lead. Labor systems will be shaped by the laborers themselves. This is about trust, not control. That is why these questions will not be answered in this document. These questions will be answered by the people who would be most directly affected by them.


FAQ

  1. What does the name "Earthly Wilds” mean?
    • The word “Earthly” affirms practices like permaculture, companion planting, ethical animal husbandry, agroforestry, these methods which align with Indigenous and African diasporic traditions, while supporting soil health and biodiversity. “Earthly” also keeps the vision grounded in the reality of this planet, and our cultural histories on earth. It is about healing generational trauma, rebuilding culture, and creating just, sustainable futures right here, not somewhere abstract or idealized. It signals that this is not just some “happy little bubble utopia” where people can just stick their heads in the sand ignoring all the suffering happening in the “mainstream” world, but rather a community rooted in the struggles and beauty of the real world. The word “Earthly” also roots the vision in the material, living systems of the planet, the soil, the sun, the water, and the ecosystems that sustain life. It implies a worldview where Humans are not separate from nature, but participants in its cycles. Where the land is not a resource to be extracted, but a relative to be honored. Where “sustainability” isn’t a greenwashed marketing trend, it’s ancestral knowledge, lived practice, and a necessity for our future survival on this planet.
    • Historically, the “Wilds” were seen by colonial and imperial powers as dangerous, uncivilized, untamed places to be feared, conquered, “civilized,” or erased. But for Black, Indigenous, and other oppressed peoples, “The Wilds” have often been a refuge, a site of freedom. Maroons and fugitives fled into forests, swamps, and mountains to escape slavery and live freely in community. Indigenous peoples have preserved language, ceremony, and culture by retreating from colonized zones into ancestral “wild” lands. The wild is where people escaped surveillance, domination, and forced assimilation. The word "Wild" speaks to freedom from control and domination, especially from white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, and colonial systems. It implies reclaiming freedom, space, and land outside of imposed systems. "Wild" also speaks to liberation of the self, a shedding of imposed identities, binaries, expectations, and restrictions. It is a space to live in our bodies freely, especially for queer, trans, and gender-expansive POC reclaiming space outside of normative oppressive structures. In this context, “wild” isn’t chaotic, it’s sovereign and indomitable.

  2. Isn't it a contradiction to claim to be “opposed to hierarchy” while also being “BIPOC lead”?
    • Hierarchy = rigid, formalized, top-down authority (e.g. one group commands and another must obey)
    • Centering marginalized voices = a corrective structure, not a command structure. It’s about redressing historic imbalance, not creating a permanent caste system.
    • So, being BIPOC-led doesn’t mean BIPOC people have coercive authority over others; it means the community recognizes that liberation requires centering those historically silenced.
    • When it comes to matters of race or colonialism, BIPOC voices are given epistemic authority, similar to how you’d defer to a mechanic about fixing a car. It’s not hierarchy, it’s respect for knowledge rooted in experience.

  3. Are you giving up on racial equity within Twin Oaks?
    • Supporting Earthly Wilds Community is not the same as abandoning Twin Oaks racial equity. Twin Oaks can and should continue its own work of culture change, accountability, and policy reform. Earthly Wilds addresses a different but related need, creating a BIPOC-led space on this land where safety, autonomy, and self-determination are possible. These efforts work on different scales but complement each other.
    • Not every BIPOC person will want to focus on reforming a majority-white community from the inside. Some will, and some will need a sanctuary of their own. Supporting Earthly Wilds alongside Twin Oaks’ internal work is not abandonment, it is taking racial equity seriously by allowing multiple approaches to exist and reinforce each other.

  4. Will this community accept BIPOC families with children?
    • Yes. In contrast to Twin Oaks, Earthly Wilds will explicitly be open to BIPOC families with children to join. We believe that those BIPOC children should also have access to Twin Oaks schools (PDU, Unicorns, Forest school, etc) for education and social opportunities. This would also benefit Twin Oaks white children too. In order for them to not grow up to become racist, Twin Oaks children need to actually be exposed to kids of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds to be friends with. This would be a mutually beneficial relationship for both communities.

  5. “Why make it BIPOC-centered? Isn’t that reverse racism?”
    • No. It’s not exclusion, it’s healing. BIPOC have spent lifetimes navigating white-dominant spaces. We deserve one space where we don’t have to explain ourselves before being believed, or shrink ourselves to fit.

  6. “Won’t this divide Twin Oaks?”
    • It might reveal division that’s already here, but that’s not the same as causing it. Earthly Wilds offers a new option, not an ultimatum. And if your values align, then nothing stops us from being in mutual solidarity.

  7. “Does this mean you’re leaving Twin Oaks?”
    • Some might, some won’t. Our goal is not to poach Twin Oaks of its members. Dual membership is an option. But even if we live next door, we’re not disappearing. We’re growing something new. If that feels like abandonment, ask yourself why it feels like betrayal to no longer be the center.

  8. “How is this not just a power grab?”
    • We’re not seeking to control Twin Oaks. We’re creating our own decision-making structures on our own land that serve those who have been marginalized.

  9. “Aren’t you just doing what Twin Oaks already does?”
    • No. This is not a copy. Earthly Wilds is explicitly BIPOC-centered and rooted in cultural reclamation. It doesn’t shy away from politics; it organizes around them.

  10. “You’ll be draining Twin Oaks’ resources.”
    • We’re not taking, we’re creating. We’re bringing new people, new skills, and new energy. Any support Twin Oaks offers will be returned in the form of resilience, reputation, and alliance.

  11. “What if it fails?”
    • Then we’ll learn, adapt, and try again. Failure is part of building anything worthwhile. But the real failure would be doing nothing while BIPOC members keep cycling in and out of Twin Oaks, exhausted, unseen, and disillusioned by the very idea of “communes”. If this whole project does completely dissolve, and a successor group is not found to replace Earthly Wilds, then Twin Oaks can simply reabsorb the land again.

Thank you for reading all of this. Earthly Wilds is an invitation to grow something alongside you: a BIPOC-centered sanctuary rooted in survival, liberation, and care for the land. We hope you’ll see this as a seed worth tending together, in mutual support and solidarity.



-RET


Determining Which Plot of Land would be Suitable for Building a New Community

Posted By Miles Rose on 9/25/2025


For those who aren’t familiar with the names of each plot of land that twin oaks “owns”, here’s a map:

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In addition to many long hikes on each plot of land, we have also overlaid several maps to create this useful composite that includes a contour map showing elevations, property lines, and the purple line is a hiking trail around the perimeter which we used to explore various areas to consider for this project.

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After much deliberation, we feel that the most suitable plots to locate a new community are:

  1. The Monacan Land
    • due to its large road frontage, its clear delineation from Twin Oaks Central Property, and the comparatively gentle slopes as seen on the contour map which would make building structures easier. Aerial drone footage available here
  2. The Clearcut “Troutland”
    • Due to the lack of existing claims and low usage of the steep sloped area that is currently covered in thorny vines, there is likely to be less pushback against us. However, road access would be a bit challenging as it would require driving up the EC path from West Old MTN Road. There is also the possibility of using a bush hog machine to clear some of the vines in order to extend the high south pasture into the clearcut, combining the Dairy Crew’s pasture land with Earthly Wilds land as a joint venture of collaboration between our two communities. Aerial drone footage available here
  3. The Riverland
    • Since this land is under the dairy crew’s jurisdiction, there is likely to be less pushback against us, however the existing pastureland would need to be avoided, in addition to avoiding the marshy floodzones. The light blue areas on the contour map show the highest region of this land plot.

We invite input from members of Twin Oaks Community in order to help us make this decision.


-Miles Rose



Earthly Wilds, Land Reparations, Monacan Land

Posted By the Racial Equity Team (RET) on 12/8/25

Earthly Wilds is working to build a community to help repair the relationship between BIPOC and the land. It has a nominal labor budget of 400 hours. As of this writing, Earthly Wilds' members are RET members: Miles, Trout, Jeli, Seya, and Sebastian.


We all come to community with different ideas about what it means to be on the Land. Land Theft is the acknowledgment that hundreds of years of racist policies have disenfranchised many peoples from the land, farming, and the generational wealth therein. Loss of lands is a defining trauma in many these communities. Land Reparations are a tool to build bridges between communities that suffered these losses, primarily Indigenous and Black, and the White communities and individuals who continue to benefit from this generational wealth.


The purpose of Earthly Wilds is to set aside part of Twin Oaks' property as sovereign space for a new community built around the concept of Land Reparations. This act will provide an opportunity to heal from the generations of trauma, in a space that is BIPOC centered. It is not meant as a gift of generosity, but more of an accounting both for what was lost in past eras, and how that loss reflects the conditions of our own time.


Earthly Wilds honors that this is ancestral Monacan land, and we intend to be in respectful conversation with the Monacan Nation about ways we can materially support them. Our purpose is to create a BIPOC sovereign community here as a form of reparations for historic Black and Indigenous land dispossession. We are not claiming to represent or replace the Monacan Nation. We support their sovereignty while also claiming space for our own healing and reparative work.


For thousands of years, Native Americans lived on the land we now call Virginia, in ecological balance with it. From the early 1600s, white colonists systematically displaced Indigenous communities, attempted genocide, and deforested the landscape, while enslaving Africans to work the land. After the Civil War, Black people faced sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, and systemic barriers to land ownership. Over the last hundred years, 90 percent of Black owned land in the American South was lost due to violence, forced migration, and local, state, and federal programs designed to prevent generational wealth accumulation.


In the late 1960s and early 1970s, mostly white, middle class college students embraced the back to the land movement, re-appropriating the imagery of homesteading and pioneering. At the same time, rural Black communities were under threat. Lynching by the KKK, being denied USDA loans, and other systemic barriers made it deadly and dangerous for Black people to participate in these spaces. It is not surprising that the "resurgence of homesteading" and the "back to the land movement" remained overwhelmingly white during that time. Twin Oaks was founded in this historical context, and so it has benefited from these stacked historical injustices.


Today, Twin Oaks still carries much of that history, yet it also holds the possibility of creating something new that addresses these injustices. That is the purpose of Land Reparations and the vision of Earthly Wilds Community. To restore connection, sovereignty, and justice to the land, while re-imagining what intentional community can mean.


The aptly named “Monacan Land” has become a focus of our intention to build a community that re-imagines the relationship between people and the land. It is close enough to Twin Oaks to build a relationship based in healing of historical traumas. It is far enough away from the center of Twin Oaks to claim BIPOC sovereignty over the land. And it is close enough to the Communities Conference Center to be relevant in the movement.


We envision Earthly Wilds as a force that brings people and entities together. We hope to build a relationship with Twin Oaks Forestry, and continue that historical stewardship of the Land as a collaborative effort. We want Twin Oakers to continue to enjoy the hiking trails of Monacan Land. Our vision is one which we share the Earth.


Understanding Land Reparation is key to expanding the concept of community that is truly egalitarian, and supports people and cultures historically marginalized by Land Theft. We strive to provide a place where BIPOC can heal from generational traumas in the safety of community, in sovereign space, upon the Land. So much generational wealth of Black and Indigenous communities has been handed over to Whites over the centuries, and it lives in our community. We hope to make a sincere gesture in reassigning sovereignty over a portion of that land, and build a future that strives for equity and balance in community.


-RET



Earthly Wilds Community Updates:
Logistics, Fundraising, Land Trust and Shared Stewardship

PB RET 12/27/2025


Earthly Wilds Community is a BIPOC-led project emerging from the Racial Equity Team (RET), building a new intentional community grounded in land reparations, ecological stewardship, and communal living. While the community centers the leadership, voices, and needs of BIPOC members, it is open to allies of all races who are committed to supporting our mission and participating in a diverse, inclusive community. As of this writing, the project is currently stewarded by RET members Miles, Trout, Jeli, Seya, and Sebastian, along with Shilpa, who is not a RET member but is an active part of Earthly Wilds Community.


Recent Progress

Over the past several months, Earthly Wilds Community has made concrete steps. It is now a listed member community on the BIPOC Intentional Communities Council website, our story was promoted in their newsletter, and we'll also be featured in a mini documentary series! We have secured a fiscal sponsorship through the Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC). This Fiscal Sponsorship will allow Earthly Wilds to temporarily receive tax deductible donations under the FIC’s nonprofit umbrella while we work toward creating our own Earthly Wilds Foundation 501c3 nonprofit. Once our own nonprofit is in place, we will no longer need the FIC to process donations for us. We are currently raising funds to cover the costs associated with creating our own 501c3 nonprofit. Friends and allies who want to support Earthly Wilds Community through donations (or who know potential donors) can email us at ret@twinoaks.org with potential leads.


Land Trust Agreement

Much of the earlier conversation around Earthly Wilds focused on why land reparations matter. This paper focuses on the practical side: how land reparations could work at Twin Oaks, and what measures will protect the land itself, even from us. Our proposal is to transfer the land title of “The Monacan Land” into a legally binding Land Trust. This Land Trust will remove the land from sale or privatization while allowing it to be stewarded according to clearly defined purposes written into the Trust. The Land Trust is intended to be a durable, long-term structure designed to outlast any single group of people.


Draft clauses to incorporate into the Land Trust Agreement between Twin Oaks and the Earthly Wilds Foundation

  1. The land will be intended for BIPOC-led communal living, reparative justice, and ecological stewardship.
  2. Ecological stewardship is understood to include sustainable human habitation, food production, ecological building, and regenerative land practices.
  3. Economic activity on the land must be community-owned and mission-aligned, intended to support collective livelihood, land care, and long-term sustainability. Private profit derived directly from land-based activities is prohibited.
  4. If Earthly Wilds Community dissolves or is no longer able to serve as the active steward, it will be responsible for selecting a successor group with substantially similar mission, values, and practices. If no such successor group is identified within two years, Twin Oaks will become the default beneficiary, with the land remaining in Trust.
  5. Twin Oakers have a long-term relationship with “The Monacan Land” through hiking, camping, and quiet recreational use, and this relationship is intended to continue in ways that remain in harmony with the land and residents.
  6. The Twin Oaks Forestry Crew is recognized as long-standing stewards of “The Monacan Land.” Their forestry work, firewood collection, and land care practices are honored and intended to continue as part of an ongoing relationship of shared stewardship, coordination, and mutual respect.

Next Steps

We are currently inviting any interested Twin Oakers to comment on this o&i to provide input on these Land Trust clauses. Over the coming weeks, we will finalize the Land Trust Agreement and continue detailed conversations about “The Monacan Land”, including coordination with Forestry and other key stakeholders.


This process ensures the land is protected in perpetuity, serves a reparative and ecological purpose, and supports durable, accountable stewardship while honoring existing community relationships.



-RET


RET reply to River(Of Forestry Crew) comment about Earthly Wilds BIPOC Community

Posted by the Racial Equity Team (RET) on 1/14/26



-RET


EARTHLY WILDS COMMUNITY LAND REPARATIONS 101

Posted by the Racial Equity Team (RET) on 2/14/2026


intro

This document is designed to provide clear, factual information about Earthly Wilds land reparations and address common misconceptions. It is intended as educational material to get everyone on the same page before the February 25 2026 community wide meeting (*meeting postponed). By sharing this information in advance, we hope to reduce repetition and allow the discussion to focus on next steps rather than re-explaining points that have already been addressed.


Part 1: Why Land Reparations Matter in Twin Oaks Context

Land reparations respond to centuries of land theft, exclusion, and dispossession experienced by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color through colonization, genocide, slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining, and discriminatory land policies. Twin Oaks was founded during the back-to-the-land movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time when predominantly white communities were able to acquire and steward land, meanwhile Black and Indigenous communities were actively blocked through violence, discrimination, and economic barriers. Like many white intentional communities from that period, Twin Oaks benefited from these white supremacist conditions, even while pursuing egalitarian ideals.


Reparations acknowledge this history and take material steps to support healing of land-based racialized trauma, while providing BIPOC autonomy and sovereignty. Earthly Wilds exists to create BIPOC-led sovereign space as a form of repair, not as an internal expansion of Twin Oaks. Land reparations are not charity, gifts, or rewards. Framing reparations as “Twin Oaks giving away free land” misunderstands the purpose entirely.


“Loans” Are Incompatible With Reparations. Loans preserve debt, leverage, and conditionality, reproducing the same power dynamics that reparations are meant to interrupt. Asking a BIPOC-centered reparations project to incur debt to access land already held by Twin Oaks maintains long-term institutional control and undermines sovereignty, autonomy, and economic freedom. While loans may be appropriate for internal expansion projects, they are incompatible with reparative justice. If the solution mirrors the systems that created the harm, it is not reparative.


Land reparations also don’t depend on business plans. Earthly Wilds does have business plans to support long-term sustainability, but they are not the basis for reparations. Conflating the two shifts the conversation away from repair and back into capitalist gatekeeping. If Earthly Wilds were requesting a loan or purchase agreement, business plans would be required. Earthly Wilds is not. Reparative justice is not contingent on profitability, revenue projections, or financial reassurance. Understanding this context clarifies why Earthly Wilds exists, how it differs from prior community creation models like Acorn, and why questions about loans or precedent are fundamentally different from questions about land reparations.


Part 2: Land, Policies, and Pushback

It is valid for community members to feel attachment to “The Monacan Land” they have cared for, logged, or hiked. Labor matters, and history matters. At the same time, stewardship or emotional attachment does not create permanent entitlement, especially when the land was historically acquired through settler colonial systems that excluded Black and Indigenous people. Reparations expand who can steward the land while honoring existing relationships, not erasing them. Twin Oaks Forestry Crew work, hiking, and recreational access are respected and incorporated into shared stewardship and coordination plans.


Concerns about the land remaining “undeveloped” are rooted in colonial thinking that equates human presence with ecological harm. For thousands of years, Black and Indigenous peoples, in Africa and here in North America, actively stewarded land, creating sustainable and hospitable landscapes. Low-impact habitation, ecological building, and regenerative practices continue that stewardship; they are not violations of ecological integrity. Arguments invoking “undeveloped” to block the community risk reproducing the same logic that excluded Indigenous peoples from ancestral lands.


Some have expressed concern that differences in car use, personal income, property codes, or internal regulations could create friction with Twin Oakers. Earthly Wilds will have its own governance, policies, property codes, and norms, which will differ from Twin Oaks. It is important to note that Twin Oaks already neighbors people and other communities with vastly differing policies, and this diversity has long been tolerated. Sovereignty over land and community includes the right to define internal norms and practices while maintaining coordination and mutual respect with neighboring communities.


Part 3: Land Trust and Continuity

Earthly Wilds Community will not “own” the land. “The Monacan Land” title will be placed into a legally binding Land Trust, which holds title for specific purposes: BIPOC-led communal living, reparative justice, and ecological stewardship. Earthly Wilds Community will be the current steward and beneficiary: members will live on, care for, and build sustainably on the land in alignment with the Trust’s purposes. The Trust ensures the land cannot be sold, privatized, or repurposed in ways that contradict its mission, even if Earthly Wilds dissolves. If Earthly Wilds dissolves or cannot continue stewardship, the Trust holds the land for a future BIPOC-led community with similar mission and values. If one cannot be found, land title reverts back to Twin Oaks again. This protects the land from privatization or misuse, making reparations durable and future-facing. Core principles written into the Trust include: land for BIPOC-led community, ecological stewardship (including sustainable habitation and regenerative practices), mission-aligned economic activity, identification of a successor group if needed, and continued Twin Oaks recreational access oordinated with forestry stewardship.


BIPOC-centered community and land reparations have been openly discussed for six months as of this writing. On August 20, 2025, RET hosted a full community meeting on “land reparations.” On August 21, an O&I paper with details, plans, and FAQs was shared. On August 30, Earthly Wilds was publicly announced at the Communities Conference, BIPOC Sanctuary Dome (video available at EarthlyWilds.com and Twin Oaks Discord, Racial Justice channel). Several additional O&Is have been posted about this topic since then, even an o&i by the previous Planners expressing tentative support. In January 2026, we posted two additional o&i papers, one further explaining the morality of “why” land reparations matter in the historical context of Twin Oaks, and another paper about “how” land reparations could be legally and logistically actualized here.


Part 4: Renunciation

We as RET do not support Marcel, her actions, or her statements around Earthly Wilds. We are furious at her attempts to thwart our work to create safer spaces for BIPOC in the Communities movement. We do not condone her actions and she is not acting at the request of any RET members. She is using our work for her personal gain.


Conclusion

By understanding the history, purpose, and structures of Earthly Wilds land reparations, we can enter the February 25 meeting informed, aligned, and ready to focus on how Twin Oaks can act in ways that honor both justice and shared stewardship. (*meeting postponed)


-RET


Earthly Wilds Community Layouts, Visualizations and Permaculture Plans

Posted by Miles Rose on 2/15/2025


By popular request, here's a sample of the visualizations, layouts and permaculture plans for Earthly Wilds Community! As an example, this scaled map layout is designed to demonstrate what one small single acre could hypothetically look like under Earthly Wilds stewardship, in proportion to the massive 60 acres of “The Monacan Land". ( 3D models by Miles Rose )


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This scale is to proportion any concerns that “this here land ain't big enough for the both of us”, an unfortunate scarcity based mindset amidst the abundance of land that Twin Oaks “owns”.

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Rather than being treated as isolated individual components located far away from each other with separate unrelated management styles, this design shows tiny houses, vegetable rows curved on contour, raised herb gardens, poultry rotation, native pollinator wildflowers, hoophouse, pond, orchards, all treated as closely interconnected components of the same unified cohesive mini ecosystem design. Outputs from one component are the inputs to the neighboring component. Systems which require more human attention are located closer to dwellings compared to more passive systems. This is a holistic design science, informed by Systems Ecology, Permaculture, and Afro-Indigenous land management practices.

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Poultry + gardens are an interconnected labor saving rotation system where chickens prepare upcoming garden beds by tilling, weed removal, and fertilization, and are in turn fed by garden scraps tossed in from next to their portable enclosure. This is a soil building machine which will slowly march across the area, helping to mitigate the thin topsoil currently at that location, building depth, organic matter, and compost over time.

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Yurts, A frames, and other small inexpensive unobtrusive shelters are nestled into a productive landscape of fruit trees and raised beds filled with kitchen herbs and salad greens, all accessibly located just steps away from where it will be eaten.

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Access to direct sunshine is needed for hoop houses, vegetable gardens, and solar panels. This is why hugging along the southern border of The Monacan Land would be the ideal location for this design, since the neighbor's property immediately south has been clearcut, allowing lots of southern sunshine to pour into this area.

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This 14’ x 14’ cabin has all of the comforts of home on a small footprint, designed using simple methods and inexpensive materials. Features a kitchenette, bathroom, dining room, entertainment area, and retractable loft ladder to the bedroom.

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A small area can produce high yields if designed in 3 dimensions, inspired by the multiple layers of growth in a forest. (Image source Chelsea Green Publishing)

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Raised vegetable beds curved to match the natural contours of the hillside serve multiple functions. When it rains, they slow, spread, and sink water, preventing erosion and flooding, while reducing irrigation needs. They make hillside agriculture feasible, which expands the available possible site locations. (Image source: peace corps)

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Frequently Asked Questions:

QUESTION: Would this remove land from existing uses or interfere with forestry work?

ANSWER: The intent is to use a very small, clearly defined portion of currently underutilized land while maintaining surrounding natural forest integrity. The design emphasizes compactness and clear boundaries rather than sprawl, and is meant to coexist with ongoing Forestry and land stewardship practices rather than disrupt them.


QUESTION: Would this affect the experience of quiet, privacy, or solitude for hikers/campers?

ANSWER: Earthly Wilds is intentionally designed to be visually unobtrusive, and integrated into existing landscape features. The goal is to preserve the sense of quiet, peaceful solitude and immersion in nature that current hikers and campers value, while using only a small, defined area of the land.


QUESTION: Are these structures temporary or permanent?

ANSWER: Both. Some shelters are lightweight and flexible, while others are small, code compliant cabins designed for long term use. This mix allows adaptability over time without large scale or visually dominant construction.


QUESTION:How would this impact the surrounding environment?

ANSWER: The design emphasizes soil regeneration, water retention, Native pollinator wildflowers, erosion prevention, and biodiversity. Techniques such as raised beds on contour, tree based systems, and minimal ground disturbance are intended to improve land health over time rather than degrade it.


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Source: Poet Christopher



-Miles Rose