Welcoming Alma Oasis: A Deep‑Dive Q&A With Our New Content Partner

From the very beginning at Homestead Horizon, one of our core aims has been to collaborate with knowledgeable creators across the wider homesteading world. We want our membership to enjoy the richest possible experience, shaped by varied perspectives, practical expertise, and real‑world insight from people who live and breathe self‑sufficient, land‑connected lifestyles. Bringing different voices into our space strengthens the community, broadens our collective understanding, and ensures that our readers have access to guidance that is both diverse and deeply rooted in lived experience.

With that in mind, we are delighted to introduce Alma Oasis as Content Partners of Homestead Horizon

Founded in 2023, Alma Oasis was created from the shared vision of two individuals inspired by both the beauty of everyday life and the urgent environmental challenges facing our society.

Their aim is to encourage the environmentally curious to rethink their relationship with the planet and to inspire meaningful behavioural change, whether large or small.

Their mission is grounded in the belief that building an ecological lifestyle and livelihood is one of the most rewarding and effective ways to confront the complex crises of our time. In contrast to traditional institutions that often prepare people to function as “cogs in the industrial machine”, Alma Oasis seeks to offer accessible online courses that encourage students to question the unsustainability of modern systems.

Their platform supports learners through forums, open discussion with instructors, and a model rooted in praxis rather than theory. While understanding sustainable societies is an important first step, Alma Oasis ultimately aims to guide students towards the practical, hands‑on work of creating alternative, regenerative ways of living.

We are so excited to welcome Alma Oasis into our community, and readers can expect to see more collaborations between us over the coming months! Their mission aligns closely with our own: empowering people to reconnect with nature, build practical skills, and create more sustainable, resilient lives.

This article takes the form of an in‑depth Q&A, where we explore what Alma Oasis is all about. We’ll discuss their mission, their educational philosophy, the thinking behind their courses, and how they support people on the path to self‑sufficient living.

It offers a chance to learn directly from a team dedicated to helping individuals build meaningful, grounded lifestyles. For anyone pursuing a more homestead‑centred way of living, it’s a practical starting point.

We started Alma Oasis as two environmentally curious individuals ourselves. With Thalia’s background in environmental science, the seed was planted early through her time spent with communities in Fiji, Borneo, India, and Madagascar, where she assisted with ecological work. While Brad specializes in nutrition, he is deeply interested in the connection between human choices and the well-being of the Earth.

In the 21st century, the signs of our growing disconnection from nature are impossible to ignore. What motivated the creation of Alma Oasis was the desire to help reunite this relationship. Many people care deeply about the planet but lack accessible, grounded pathways to turn that concern into meaningful action. Our motivation was to bridge this gap by creating a learning space rooted in science, tradition, and a direct relationship with the natural world. The platform brings together disciplines such as herbalism, forest and ocean therapy, natural building, and regenerative land stewardship, all taught by practitioners who live what they teach.

What we most often observe is a shift in how students see themselves in relation to the world around them. Many arrive with concern, even grief, about the state of modern civilisation, alongside a sense of uncertainty about where to begin. What we aim to show is that these ways of life are not new or unattainable; they are a return home. Once students begin to see how simple it can be to live ecologically, as Indigenous cultures have done time and again, the path forward feels far less daunting.

Students also begin the course with long-held assumptions about consumption, productivity, and success. As they progress, these concerns shift into a sense of agency, grounded in values of care and reciprocity. They leave with tangible skills, whether it’s working with plants, designing regenerative systems, guiding nature-based practices, or making thoughtful choices about food, shelter, and energy.

Our Forest Therapy (Sylvotherapy) course was developed with the understanding that humans are not separate from nature, but an integral part of it. Drawing inspiration from traditional forest bathing practices, the course explores how mindful immersion in forest environments supports the reawakening of our senses and a renewed sense of belonging.

Through guided practices such as tea ceremonies, journaling, sit spots, nature mandalas, and more, participants learn to slow down. These practices activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping people move out of fight or flight mode and into a state of presence, safety, and connection.

Beyond personal wellbeing, the course encourages a deeper ecological awareness. As participants reconnect with forests on a felt, embodied level, care and responsibility for the natural world naturally follow. This inner shift lies at the heart of the wider transformation we hope to inspire, one that encourages people to protect their local environments. By understanding that human health is inseparable from the health of forests, individuals become more grounded and motivated to live in greater harmony with themselves, their communities, and the Earth.

Permaculture as “permanent agriculture,” is about rethinking how we grow food. Rather than relying on crops that must be replanted each year, Tobias Roberts, the creator of our Permaculture Design course, focuses on perennials on his farm in El Salvador. These plants return season after season and place less strain on the soil, require less water, and avoid the repeated disturbance caused by tilling and replanting. He’s integrated a diverse mix of fruit and nut trees, medicinal perennials, and edible understory plants. For Tobias, perennials capture the essence of permaculture: living systems that strengthen over time and give back more than they take.

When it comes to self-sufficiency, Earthships have completely captured our attention. These homes are designed to be entirely off-grid and self-sustaining. You could be living in the desert with tropical bananas growing in your living room, or in the middle of a snow-covered landscape with a warm interior and no heating system. Earthships use passive solar design, greywater systems, rainwater harvesting, and recycled materials to create homes that work with the environment. We’ve attended over four workshops so far, and each one brings a fresh perspective. It’s a hands-on, exciting way to explore ecological and off-grid living.

We asked Tobias this exact question when visiting his farm. He said there is a lot of work involved, but people shouldn’t be afraid of that. He referred to the indigenous concept of Buen Vivir or “the good life”, and what these communities said was simple: the good life means living well in community, tending to land, growing crops and providing in a way that sustains both people and place. 

Drawing from Wendell Berry’s philosophy, the first step is not doing more, but paying closer attention to where you already are. From this perspective, the journey doesn’t begin with grand plans, but at home - with the land, space, or community you already inhabit. By learning its rhythms, observing the soil, the seasons, the movement of water, and the plants that already grow there, we develop attentiveness. And it is this attentiveness that builds respect and helps us move away from extractive ways of living.

So, simply start where you are! Plant a vegetable or herb garden. Get your feet in the soil however you can. And if possible, visit a nearby permaculture farm - talk to the farmers and learn from them!

One day, we hope to be stewards of the land, finding a home where the wilderness blends into the landscape. This would be a space where we could host retreats and workshops focused on community and nature (re)connection. That vision has been with us since the very beginning, and it continues to guide our work every day.

We believe that regenerative change happens not only through large systems but also through the choices individuals make in how they live, heal, and relate to the Earth. Alma Oasis is our way of helping others find that path through education, but what is knowledge without action? People need to live by what they learn, otherwise that knowledge has no place to go and the inspiration falters.

By offering online courses, we hope students translate the theory into practical, embodied skills. We actively encourage students, while reading or listening to our courses, to step away from the material and go outside whenever they feel called.

To conclude with the words of David Attenborough, “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”

We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to Brad and Thalia, co-founders of Alma Oasis, along with the wider team for taking the time to share their insights, mission, and experiences with our community. Collaborations like this are at the heart of what we aim to build at Homestead Horizon, and we’re very much looking forward to working together more in the months ahead.

Please feel free to join the conversation below and help us welcome our new friends to the Homestead Horizon community. If you’d like to explore more of their work, be sure to check out their content here and don’t forget to follow them on Instagram to stay connected with their latest courses, ideas, and updates.

Don't forget to leave a comment in the member discussion below and let us know your thoughts on this new partnership!

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