ABOUT

Luke
“Gribley”
Costlow

Hi! I’m Luke “Gribley” Costlow.

I’m a husband to Macon (a letterpress artist), father to Dorothy (a toddler and force of nature!).

I’m a thru-hiker, mountain-lover, and Appalachian homesteader.

I’m a permaculturalist, citizen scientist, amateur ecologist, and mushroom enthusiast.

I’m a worm composter, garden digger, and a flockster (or a chicken tender, if you please).

I think big, laugh loud, work hard, and pause often just to take it all in. I like old things, fixed things, repurposed things, and things that are thoughtfully designed to perform their functions and withstand the test of time.

I like vinyl records, acoustic music, and learning how to play it. I like hand tools and learning how to use them.

And, apparently, I like writing long-winded explanations of myself, so feel free to read on below if you’d care to know more about me and how I got to where I am now.

In which…
I hiked the
Appalachian Trail.

I hiked the entire 2100+ mile Appalachian Trail in 2012.

For the first time in my life, I was immersed in the natural processes of the ecosystems through which I walked.

I started to pay close attention to the tiny details all around me. For one, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather and the terrain because they have real impact on a person traveling by foot.

But most importantly, as I came to understand one layer of the interconnectedness of the natural world, awe and curiosity drew me into a rich cycle of digging deeper for more understanding.

My trail name, “Gribley,” is the name I went by on the Trail. It is the name of the protagonist of my favorite childhood book, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

In this joyful ode to resilience through communion with Nature, Sam Gribley, a 10-or-so-year-old boy packs his pocketknife, a ball of twine, and his toothbrush and leaves home to go live out in the Catskills on great-great-grandpa’s old mountain farm.

He hollows an ancient hemlock in which he makes his home. He trains a peregrine falcon to hunt for him. He swims, fishes, builds, dreams, forages, rambles, and befriends the animals in his woodland homestead.

I always wanted to run away and live in the woods. My thru-hike was that opportunity, so I took Sam Gribley’s name for my own.

In which…
I began
gardening

Once my miles were finished and I returned to “the world,” I wanted to keep living in a manner that was closely connected to the land.

Though a mere beginner, I planted my first backyard garden, took workshops, and learned how to grow food in a way that was beneficial to both the gardener and the garden.

I expanded my knowledge to learn more about how forest ecosystems are regenerative and self-sustaining by nature, and that we human beings can achieve our agricultural goals by tapping into these same rhythms.

I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and other books in this realm. I realized that regenerative agriculture is a beautiful vehicle for human connection to Nature.

For several years, I devoured every local workshop, farm tour, lecture, and written resource I could get my hands on.

In which…
I bought my land
and homestead

In late winter of 2018, my wife Macon (trailname: Daystar - we met on the trail!) and I bought our first home.

It is a quirky stucco “hobbit-castle” perched at 2800’ on a steep south-facing slope overlooking the Mud Creek valley in Laurel Park, Henderson County, North Carolina, ancestral Cherokee Lands. In all, I manage 11 acres of mostly forested Appalachian paradise.

Managing paradise is a lot of work though! This I learned quickly.

Our forests were full of invasive vines that were killing the trees and choking out the understory. Our soils were thin and eroding due to poor management practices of the past. There was not enough sun for proper gardening.

I bought some overalls and got to work, but I lacked the holistic vision to see how the whole system could work together as a harmonious ecosystem.

I searched everywhere and tried to find a mentor, a coach, a designer, a planner — anyone who could just “tell me what to do.” That person just didn’t exist.

So I began my formal training in Permaculture and earned my Design Certification in the field.

With this new framework of knowledge, I set to work on implementing my design on my homestead. Each day bears more fruit, more beauty, and more resiliency in the face of our uncertain future.

Now we have chickens and ducks (with a clever little pond system), structures I’ve designed and built, four-season gardens, fruiting trees, vibrant compost using worms, chickens, and fermented compost teas.

Every season brings more life and fertility to our land. Every hour of labor creates more interconnection between the holistic web of my homestead. Every new species brings great diversity which in turn brings greater resiliency.

We share our land with friends and family through community work days and our Full Moon Potlucks. We gather with friends new and old on the night of the Full Moon every 28 days and share a meal and our gratitude for the abundance of life.

In which…
I share my
experience and skills
with the world

Gribley Permaculture is my way of helping folks along the same path I am walking.

I really wished I could have some help and encouragement back when I first bought my land.

I had, for the first time in my life, the opportunity and awesome responsibility to steward my land for the health of all the plants, fungi, insects, animals, and people who live here, but I just couldn’t see the whole picture; couldn’t see the forest for the trees, as they say.

I love the problem solving, the seeking to understand, a life devoted to working with Nature, and existing peacefully within its rules, beauty, and mystery.

I would love to get to know you, observe and understand your land, and help you grow in your relationship to your patch of this beautiful planet.

I can’t wait to help you steward your land.

- Gribley