Over the last handful of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of managing an ambitious new project in my role with Climate Farmers, an organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe. We call it the Pioneer Program. What this is essentially is a collaborative effort between us and some of the most prominent and experienced educators in regenerative agriculture. In this first program we partnered with Richard Perkins of Ridgedale Permaculture in Sweden and his ...
Aug 27, 2021•32 min
It was a couple months ago that Nathan Fournier joined the Patreon community and we began a correspondence. I quickly realised that he had followed a similar path as I did in getting into ecological design. Nathan first studied engineering and pursued that career path only for a short time before realising that there was a lot missing in the pursuit. Fast forward to today where he’s running a successful ecological landscaping service offering edible gardens, tree planting, and much more to a wid...
Aug 20, 2021•46 min
Welcome to the seventh of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. In this session I hosted a discussion on the importance of restoring proper hydrological function in a landscape and the steps to achieving it with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organisation working to advance ...
Aug 13, 2021•57 min
Today’s session is an interview that I’d been looking forward to doing for a while. Since last year in fact, when I found Shane Simonsen’s blog and began corresponding with him online. That correspondence turned into one of the most popular and talked about episodes from that season due to the ingenious way that Shane approaches farming his land in Northeastern Australia. In that first interview Shane gave an overview of the experiments in biological succession and food production on his homeste...
Aug 07, 2021•1 hr 14 min
This episode is the second part in our interview with the cofounders of Climate Farmers, an organization I’ve been working with for almost a year now that is working to build the infrastructure for regenerative agriculture in Europe. In the first part of the interview from last week we’ve covered the challenges of modern farming in Europe and the niche that Climate Farmers is hoping to occupy in the transition to a regenerative agriculture future in Europe. We talked about our own strategy of fo...
Jul 30, 2021•23 min
If you’ve been listening to more than a few episodes this season, you’ll certainly have heard me mention a few times that I’ve been hosting the monthly expert panel discussions with Climate Farmers, an organisation that is working to promote regenerative agriculture in Europe. The truth is that there’s a much bigger story behind that collaboration and a whole lot more going on than just the panel discussions. Today I want to begin to share the story and the journey that my colleagues and I have ...
Jul 23, 2021•35 min
Welcome to the sixth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.In this session, I hosted a discussion on the holistic management framework with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe.In this panel I got to speak with t...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr
A topic that I’ve been exploring personally for a long time is the concept of regenerative travel. I’ve been travelling my whole life in some way or another from when I was born in Tokyo, Japan and then emigrated to the US with my family when I was 7, through moving 9 times as a kid to taking off independently when I was 17 and traveling and working around the world. Travel has been a lifestyle for me more than a hobby or vacation and I’ve often wondered if my actions and contributions to the pl...
Jul 09, 2021•37 min
A lot of the farms that come to mind when I think of regenerative agriculture are smaller, more diverse and quite intensive, with many different crops and animals working in closer proximity with many stacked functions and a niche business model, but what can be done for all those vast fields of monoculture plantings of crops like corn, soy, and wheat that take up so much space in the heartland of the midwestern and western US? Are there regenerative solutions for these massive farms of thousand...
Jul 02, 2021•51 min
Three weeks ago I published the episode with Tomas Viguurs on circular mushroom production here in Catalunya and I gave a sneak peak at the second interview I did that day with Sven Kallen. Well today the wait is over and we’re going to dive into the details of Sven’s work of reforestation and agroforestry in some of the most degraded and endangered areas of Europe from the Iberian Peninsula which includes Spain and Portugal, and the Mediterranean basin. This includes many of the most popular va...
Jun 25, 2021•38 min
Welcome to the fifth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. In this session, I hosted a discussion on farm business finances with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. In this panel I got two of my favorite voice...
Jun 18, 2021•49 min
Welcome to the second of the Regenerative Skill Building calls that I host with Climate Farmers, a new organization working to promote regenerative agriculture across Europe. These calls are specifically designed for our growing community of farmers around the continent and regenerative agriculture consultants. We listen to their interests and concerns online and then reach out to the experts who can best answer them and offer guidance. In this second call, I was joined by my good friend Zach Lo...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 4 min
I’ve been making some really cool contacts here in Catalunya recently, and even though site visits and trips out to projects have been stalled as the country only slowly starts to open up, I’ve been jumping at any chance to get back out in the field. One of the projects that I’ve been most excited to get back to see since my first visit back in December is the farm at Mas Rajols and the gourmet mushroom growing operation that it hosts called Mycelio. I first got invited to come to see them by my...
Jun 04, 2021•36 min
Get Richard's Mini Series!And all the free resources that come with it There’s two quick things I want to mention before we get to the interview. The first is that these skills calls are a new feature of the show that I’ll be running with Climate Farmers in our ongoing effort to support and promote regenerative agriculture in Europe and are now going to be offered live every two weeks. These calls will feature interviews and presentations from experts and innovators in farming from around the wo...
May 28, 2021•52 min
Welcome to the fourth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned in the past, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel.In this session, I hosted a discussion on regenerating agricultural soil with my friends and colleague...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 3 min
I remember distinctly the time that a storyteller came to my middle school when I was in 7th grade. At that point my school experience, like for many others, consisted of being talked to all day by someone at the front of the class while I struggled to pay attention and not fidget. But this was different. This woman’s story and the way she told it managed to hold an auditorium full of 12 and 13 year olds in silent attention hanging on her every word. I remember how she raised and lowered her voi...
May 14, 2021•33 min
If you don’t know her from her books, Fibershed and Harvesting Color you’ll likely remember Rebecca Burgess from the panel discussion two weeks ago that I hosted with the team at Climate Farmers in which she and Aroa Alvarez Fernandez spoke about the potential of regenerative fashion and textiles to transform the current clothing industry. After that discussion I felt compelled to speak to her again to explore some of the options that are available to everyone to rediscover the value in our ward...
May 07, 2021•28 min
On this show I’ve often taken a strong focus on the actions that we can all take to restore ecosystem function and productivity, whether it be planting trees in an agroforestry system, repairing the hydrology of a landscape, or building our homes with natural materials. I’ve centered around these topics because frankly, they’re the ones I have most experience with and can speak about with some confidence, but there are also many other angles on regeneration that are equally important. Many of yo...
Apr 30, 2021•28 min
Welcome to the third of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel. In this session, I hosted a discussion on regenerative fashion with my friends and colleagues at Climate Fa...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Let's take a look at the 1st step in the process of creating a design for building your permaculture property. In working in regenerative design for a while and being connected with many other people who make their living this way, myself and a lot of others have begun to identify patterns in the questions and troubles that people reach out to us consultants and designers for. I haven't been in this line of work though nearly as long as the team at Verge Permaculture and so it felt really good t...
Apr 16, 2021•39 min
With regenerative agriculture and agroforestry increasingly becoming popular topics in environmental and even political circles. I wanted to do a one-on-one session with one of my favorite speakers in this sphere, Patrick Worms. Many of you frequent listeners will remember him from the panel discussion on agroforestry two weeks ago that I hosted with Climate Farmers. I got to know Patrick’s work and perspective more intimately as part of the online course on ecosystem restoration design that we ...
Apr 09, 2021•31 min
Since last week’s episode was an expert panel discussion on agroforestry, I wanted to expand on that theme and help to bring some practical and actionable information on how to plan your own reforestation project. I reached out to Michael Pilarski first since I’m helping to organize and launch the knowledge exchange platform for Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and as an advisory council member, Michael has a ton of experience and knowledge on this subject. In today’s episode we’ll cover the most im...
Apr 02, 2021•31 min
Welcome to the second of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned last time, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel. In this session, I hosted a discussion on agroforestry from three distinct perspectives with my friends...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 3 min
It's time we take a look at How To Make Biochar Enriched Compost For Epic Veggies. A lot of what I spend my time on these days, between working with Ecosystem Restoration Camps, Climate Farmers, and running this show, is researching techniques and solutions for people who are working to regenerate damaged landscapes, either for generally healthier environments or for rich and abundant farmland. Since a lot of both of these goals revolve around the health of the soil as a foundation for mycorrhiz...
Mar 19, 2021•29 min
How To Start A Profitable Elderberry Farm. Since I first arrived in the northeast of Spain a year and a half ago, I’ve been obsessed with getting to know the native plants in my area. I’ve been blown away by just how many edible and medicinal plants are all around me and growing in the most unlikely places, from cracks in the concrete and the edges of parking lots to erosion gullies and whole forests of rosemary and thyme. I’m sure anyone who has studied plant medicines knows that some of the mo...
Mar 12, 2021•28 min
In today’s episode I spoke with Van Clothier about an innovative and subtle water erosion mitigation technique, and how to build a one rock dam. I know this might seem oddly specific, but after an interview with Brad Lancaster last season, he talked about how he’s been learning from people like Van and his mentor Bill Zeedyk about smaller, less intrusive interventions that can have profound effects on the health of a watershed. The truth is that there are so few watersheds and water bodies left ...
Mar 05, 2021•25 min
Welcome to the first edition of our monthly expert panels. This first edition starts off strong by addressing one of the most talked about issues of our time; understanding the future of regenerative agriculture. For this panel I teamed up with my friends and collaborators at Climate Farmers. Together we're working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. For this panel we assembled and all-star list of some of the most prominent voices in the movement today. Benedikt Bösel joining us from...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 3 min
How to start a school garden program For this week’s episode I reached out to Kaci Rae Chirstopher, the author of the new book The School Garden Curriculum, about how to create a school garden program Kaci is the volunteer Farm and Garden Educator for Oregon's Redband Ranch. She was also previously the School Garden Coordinator for the Springwater Environmental Sciences School and the Outdoor Educator for ERA. Her passion is fostering a healthy land ethic, personal empowerment, and environmental...
Feb 19, 2021•29 min
Zach Loeks, author of the edible ecosystem solution have you ever wondered what the difference between a garden and an edible ecosystem is? Do you want to know how you can create one in you own yard? In this episode with author Zach Loeks from the Ecosystem Solutions Institute, you learn all that and more. We'll walk you through how to choose your site, even if all you have is a 5ft by 5ft patch of earth. From there we'll look into orienting the garden spot, improving the soil, and choosing your...
Feb 12, 2021•26 min
To kick of the new season of the Regenerative Skills podcast I wanted to set the tone by highlighting the invisible secret to all the successful design decisions I've ever made. Learning how to ask better questions has so much power to reshape the way we see the world and how we audit our own processes and choices. In this first episode I speak with two women who've been inspirations to me as a designer. Jill Cloutier of Sustainable World Radio and Carol Sanford, the author of "The Regenerative ...
Feb 05, 2021•25 min
