Today we meet Jordan Mara of Mind and Soil. He will discuss his company mission, how gardening can be one of the best activities for our mental health, some of the research into specific soil microbes that help our brains and so much more. This is a very exciting and inspiring episode, and Jordan shares about following his bliss to start Mind and Soil, details on how to be involved with his free online workshops, and at the end we dive into the four components of attention restoration theory, wh...
Apr 07, 2021•42 min•Ep. 83
This is the second part of the interview with Judy Fitzpatrick of Microbiometer. Today we deep dive into microbiology and the workings of the microbial marketplace. We discuss the current state of research, the balance between competition and cooperation of soil microbes, and the environmental influences on these microbes. Then we discuss what some of the cannabis growers are doing to foster microbial balance and why they love growing in soil. Judy shares how the stress response affects flavor a...
Mar 19, 2021•29 min•Ep. 82
Today we meet Judy Fitzpatrick, cofounder of Microbiometer. The first few minutes of this episode, Judy shares her back story, her history in medical diagnostics and then about cofounding soil microbial biomass measurement company, Microbiometer. Judy shares about the distinctions of different available types of soil testing on the market, which is very enlightening. She explains the process by which scientists breed and study bacteria in the lab setting to create strains with a specific purpose...
Mar 09, 2021•30 min•Ep. 81
Today we meet Leo Horrigan, a documentary filmmaker with the Center for a Livable Future at John’s Hopkins University. He is helping us understand the food system from farming to food access, and creating educational programs around their research. We learn the five most important components to look at as we repair our food system. Leo shares about a lot more including how farming and carbon will always be linked and about how we are studying the prairies and soil to make sure we can restore and...
Feb 25, 2021•37 min
Today we meet Hunter Buffington, Executive Director of the Hemp Feed Coalition. We talk hemp as an animal feed, why it isn’t legal for animal feed yet, some of the roadblocks in the US and Canada, and how the Hemp Feed Coalition is working to change this. Then Hunter shares details about cannabis plant byproducts, many of these potentially being animal feed. We learn a few specific ways that the listeners can be involved with progressing the agenda of the Hemp Feed Coalition Directly. Then we he...
Feb 18, 2021•23 min•Ep. 79
This is the second half of the interview with Nina Folch of Compost Santo. She shares about why she likes composting in the winter, how she looks at microbes in the microscope, and some of the realities of running a Soil Food Web Lab as a career.
Feb 03, 2021•29 min•Ep. 78
Today we meet Nina Folch of Compost Santo located in Northern New Mexico. She is a student of the work of Dr. Elaine Ingham and others, and I’m so grateful to her for sharing so openly about the composting business she manages, the things she most loves about this work, and some of the challenges they have faced while the business has grown over three years. IF you are interested in composting as a business and are are interested in the details of running such an operation, this is an episode fo...
Jan 05, 2021•26 min•Ep. 77
I’ve been wanting to have an show for a while about the benefits of getting children back into nature. I recently read, Last Child In the Woods, now a classic book from 15 years ago about nature-deficit in children. If you have younger kids in your life, today’s interview is with Jenny Bailey co-creator and author of a new book series for younger children, including a soundtrack which is featured at the intro to this episode. The series is called, Tales from Mother Earth, and Jenny will be talki...
Nov 10, 2020•20 min•Ep. 76
This is Episode 75 with John Craig the master composter who runs grassroots nonprofit, We Compost, located inside the Farm and Food Lab in the Great Park at Irvine, California. John tells us how to get started in composting, some basic methods to try, and some of the experiments they are doing with worms and composting at the Farm and Food Lab. Then he shares the components of good composting and about his composting symbol that he has created for people to use while promoting and normalizing co...
Nov 03, 2020•24 min•Ep. 75
Today we learn from Tom Marrero of Wakefield BioChar. He shares the background and history of biochar, plus the research and background that led him to start his family business. For those of you excited for a composting specific episode again, I promise that will come soon. So what exactly is biochar, what can it do and what can it not do? Tom tells us all of this and why it is used for soil health and remediation. The last portion is about the different types of biochar and the process of maki...
Oct 26, 2020•24 min•Ep. 74
Today Jennifer Lauruol will tell us about the ecologically-minded area of Lancaster England where she lives and some of the community and research programs they have there around sustainability and food security. She talks about how she markets herself as an edible landscape designer, helping to restore spaces with native plants using permaculture concepts and getting people interested in healthier garden spaces. She goes into how she is able to get suburbanites to come around to the idea of nat...
Oct 11, 2020•37 min•Ep. 73
You are listening to Episode 72 of the Get In My Garden Podcast. Woniya was runner up on the survivalist show Alone, Season 6, where she survived two and a half months in the far northern region of Canada. Today she shares her ideas for how to foster the right mindset and have a high chance to surviving in any environmental conditions, some simple practices we can all use to open our senses to our environments and how to connect with our landscape wherever we are located. Then Woniya talks about...
Jul 15, 2020•25 min•Ep. 72
Today we meet my new friend Kyle Perry, second generation horticulturist and regenerative farmer based in Tennessee. We discuss his two new businesses, Beer Kashi and Native Soil Company and learn about the double fermented kashi he is created from spent brewery grain. Then we talk about his fungal dominant soil product he has created and the awesome bioreactor he is using. We also talk about alternative uses of kashi grains, no-till farming and vermicompost. You can find Kyle and his companies ...
Jul 07, 2020•16 min•Ep. 71
Today we meet Elton Ray James, cannabis grower and lifelong mushroom activist, co-creator with his wife of the largest mushroom growing group on Facebook. He shares how he ended up developing a cannabis business with a California micro business license and what that can mean for growers getting into the industry. Then Elton discusses how mushrooms can open the mind to a lifelong thirst for knowledge, and some of the very awesome visions he has for developing his farm into an entheobotanical tour...
Jul 01, 2020•19 min•Ep. 70
This is Part 2 of my chat with natural farmer and community activist Marco Thomas in Petersburg, Virginia. We talk more about the IMO solutions, Korean Natural Farming principles and building up the farmers market culture in his city. His mission is to share with his community and teach them that it is possible to feed a family low-cost, nutritious food off a small piece of urban land. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen from, and if you didn’t hear the first half of the interview, list...
Jun 20, 2020•18 min•Ep. 69
Today we learn more about Korean Natural Farming and making indigineous microorganism solution from Marco Thomas an urban gardener and natural farmer based in Virginia. His mission is to share with his community and teach them that it is possible to feed a family low-cost, nutritious food off a small piece of urban land. This interview will be published in two parts, so subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen from, and hear the second half later in the week. Today, Marco discusses the first...
Jun 17, 2020•18 min•Ep. 68
We are back with William Padilla-Brown discussing how to grow mushrooms in a hugelkultur mound, how a myco-focused permaculture lifestyle has benefitted his young son, and then he shares some of the most interesting things he is working on right now such as mushroom breeding for traits and understanding their DNA. William is a great example of a super-learner who is working towards a healthier world. He always has many interesting current and upcoming projects which he will share at the end of t...
Jun 13, 2020•10 min•Ep. 67
This is the third segment with Casey Ernst and Keisha Wheeler of Catalyst BioAmendments, a composting and soil company they run with business partners, Zach Ellis and Gregory Munn in Northern California. You can follow their adventure on instagram @catalyst_microbe_adventure, and you can follow mine @getinmygarden. If you want to hear more from them, you can tune in to some of the earlier episodes this past several weeks. In this episode we learn the backstory of how two soil food web geeks took...
Jun 10, 2020•9 min•Ep. 66
This is Episode #65 of the Get In My Garden Podcast, and today we are back with Steve Abbott of Abbott’s Family Farm discussing considerations when getting started as a market gardener and how to bootstrap your way to profits. Steve shares what he has learned about the importance of building relationships at the farmers market and building your loyal customer base. Then he talks crop considerations and rotation strategy. If you are considering market gardening, you can also listen to more conten...
Jun 04, 2020•16 min•Ep. 65
This is Episode #64, and today we’re back with William Padilla-Brown who was on the podcast last year sharing about edible algae, and today he shares about how he has set up his new hugelkultur mounds for gardening and what he is planning for a new spiralina pond. He shares some more details about how he is successfully growing, testing and harvesting this algae and how he eats it. Spirulina is basically one of the most nutrient rich and protein dense foods available used throughout history as a...
Jun 02, 2020•10 min•Ep. 64
Today we learn about the Soil Food Web, what exactly it is and then we explore some of the basics of fungi in the environment and how plants interact with them. We talk with Casey Ernst and Keisha Wheeler of Catalyst BioAmendments, a composting and soil company they run with business partners, Zach Ellis and Gregory Munn in Northern California. Follow their adventure on instagram @catalyst_microbe_adventure.
May 29, 2020•7 min•Ep. 63
Today we connect with Steve Abbott of Abbott’s Family Farm in Sumner, Maine. He is successful market gardener and farmers market organizer and has lots of great information to share about successfully running a farmers market business, farming only a small piece of land. We will dive into the most critical components of making a market gardening business successful and profitable. Steve has built a his business supplying his produce to his rural community via the market and his CSA delivery serv...
May 26, 2020•17 min•Ep. 62
Hi everyone, The is the Get in My Garden Podcast. I hope you are all safe and happy and making the best of your at-home time! This is episode #61, and we meet Keisha Wheeler of Catalyst BioAmendments, a composting and soil company she runs with her business partners Casey Ernst, Zach Ellis and Gregory Munn in Northern California. Follow their adventure on instagram @catalyst_microbe_adventure. Keisha is also very involved with Elaine Ingham’s online Soil Food Web School, which is where I origina...
May 11, 2020•8 min
Today we meet Elizabeth Lake, a long-time supporter of the podcast and local beekeeper and pollinator activist. She talks about her adventures in beekeeping, her local activism and building a community around her interests. Then she gives a breakdown of different types of bees and her learnings about native bees who are most hard to observer and research. Elizabeth share about the impact of honeybees on native bee habitat and the debates going on about this, the relationship of bees to specific ...
Apr 06, 2020•37 min
Today we meet entomologist, researcher and author Douglas Tallamy. the book is called, Nature’s Best Hope, a new approach to conservation that starts in your yard. He shares about plant and insect interactions, ornamentals and how they are affecting the local food webs, and his ongoing research on invasive plants. Then Douglas gives a directive for creating a sustainable relationship with the earth, focused on our yards and three-dimensional, native landscapes. His category of keystone plants th...
Feb 25, 2020•27 min
This is Episode 58 of the Get In My Garden Podcast, and we are back with Wyatt Bryson of Jewels of the Forest, makers of mushroom jerky. Wyatt is also an educator and researcher via his company Mycolab Solutions and has over 15 thousand subscribers on his youtube station, where he share the methods and strategies of growing mushrooms. He updates us on his work and current research such as CO2 usage and mushroom scents and flavors, hundreds of different compounds in mushrooms with many applicatio...
Feb 09, 2020•28 min
Today we have back Dan Long, Georgia Beekeeper discussing the life of bees and beekeeping in the winter. Dan covers shares some details about native bees and their lifecycles which are very different from honey bees, He tells us about what beekeepers can do for honeybees in years of shortage or if honey has been over harvested, and the number one thing we call an do as gardeners to help bees going into the future. Dan shares about how the large-scale beekeepers manage their hives in winter by mo...
Jan 14, 2020•22 min
Today we are back with Sara Schuster of the Tending Seeds podcast sharing about fire cider, fermenting, foraging and preservation as we approach winter. She updates us on her projects, how her podcast and herbalism businesses are evolving, and how she is building a community to sustain her homestead and teaching lifestyle. Sara tells us what she has learned about successful fermenting, microbial diversity and making koji with fermenting legend Sandor Katz.
Dec 20, 2019•32 min
Today we meet Sebring Frehner of Sebring Seeds. He covers a lot of interest subjects such as microdosing cannabis, the soil science behind cannabis growing, and some of the newest products related to this. We learn about the nutrient cycling advantage of living organic growing systems and the process of breeding high CBD cannabis strains. He shares how he developed his non-profit called Sebring Seeds which has been his vehicle to distribute over 40 thousand high CBD cannabis strain seeds to pati...
Nov 12, 2019•57 min
Episode #54, Integrated Pest Management and Career Opportunities in Entomology with Amanda Skidmore by Aaron Moskowitz, Interviewing the brightest minds in Mycology, Soil Science, Natural and Agricultural Ecology, Technology and EcoBusinesses.
Oct 29, 2019•37 min