Back in September, we shared that we were moving to Placerville to establish our homestead and your adventure basecamp. Al-hamdu lillah, we are happy to report progress!

We arrived here at winter’s doorstep and had to prioritize settling in and chopping wood for the stove before the rain and snow came. We got our garden plot dug out and planted with fava beans, winter peas, spinach, and garlic. We heaped up the beginnings of our compost pile and once the weather turned, we got busy replacing the rotting timbers in the chicken run in anticipation of our birds that arrived as wee chicks by post.

It was touch and go with that bundle of peepers, but we’re excited to share that we’ve now got seven chickens in the coop. They’re Plymouth Rock hens that have acclimated beautifully and just may start laying within the next month or so, insha Allah.

Four goats are on their way this coming weekend, two pregnant does and two young bucklings. The does are expected to kid this summer, and we’re hoping that will give us plenty of time to learn the ins and outs of raising goats before we’re inundated with babies!

We’ve put up fencing and built a couple of shelters. We still need to to build a few more structures and stock up on some basic medicines, feed, and supplies. But we think we’re just about ready.

And none too soon! Our Anatolian Shepherd needs a job. He’s been tearing up the place just looking for things to do. This is an animal bred for a purpose: guarding livestock. Without that outlet, he gets bored. He spends his days and nights outside roving his pen and chewing up anything he can find. We take him out for perimeter walks daily, giving him a chance to survey the property. He’ll dash off into the forest and come back with the severed leg of a deer or long-dead coyote which he’ll gnaw and crack on for awhile.

Homesteading is about setting up and eventually closing systems. The dog looks after the animals and at least some of them will become his food. The chickens clear the garden of pests even as they provide fertilizer through their droppings. Food scraps and garden clippings feed the chickens, and the chickens feed us with their eggs and eventually their flesh.

It will be some time before we learn to balance all the variables, but we’re learning our lessons as we go. We’re learning about each other and the land and the Creator of it all.

But everything is better shared, and we’re excited about the next phase of development which is much more about you.

As mentioned, this is your adventure basecamp. Local backpacking, climbing, rafting, hiking, skiing, and fishing opportunities abound and, with God’s help and permission, we plan to pack our calendar with all of these offerings and more. In the meantime, we’ll be building out our campground and outhouse. We’ve got a couple of terraced areas earmarked for more permanent accommodations: perhaps a yurt or a rough-hewn cabin. We’d like an archery range and a good friend put in a request for an axe-throwing area.

We’d like to see most of this up and running by the summer of 2023, insha Allah, but this is long work.

We’re laying a foundation for what we believe is some paradigm-shifting stuff: reconnecting believing folk to their legacy as custodians of the Earth. And the only thing better than enjoying the fruits of that possibility is being counted among those who made it possible. All of this will take time and energy and money, none of which we have in surplus. If you’d like to come by or otherwise lend a hand, there’s a really good chance we’ll take you up on your offer.

Most of the men and women we encounter through this work don’t quite get it. We’ll set up an activity, invite others to participate, and we’ll all have a good time getting to know each other in some wild place or another. And that’s usually the end of it. Most of our relationships are short, leaving only memories.

That’s beautiful, but that isn’t the work. That’s how we pay the bills (along with our day jobs).

The work is in finding that handful of people, through events, this blog, and our virtual forums, who understand the value of building a community centered on our role as stewards of creation. The Outlanders, the people who understand that we are only passing through, guests in a house of miracles that must be appreciated, studied, and preserved for the lessons it may offer others.

There is very little preexisting infrastructure to support a culture of feral Muslims. If you are called to be outside, if you find your peace in wild places, if you recognize the Hand of God in the forests and deserts and oceans of the world, who will hold you up?

We aim to, insha Allah.

Be sure and check out this short video with some highlights from the last four months.

Keep us in your prayers and we’ll keep you updated, insha Allah.

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