In this series on water, the one area that I've left out so far is the urban landscape. In this week’s episode I got to chat with Jerry Yudelson, the author of 13 full-length professional and trade books on green buildings, integrated design, green homes, water conservation, building performance and sustainable development. Dubbed ‘The Godfather of Green’ by Wired Magazine, Jerry’s passion for optimizing the built environment is reflected by his many years of professional experience in the green...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 361
As the importance of the water cycle to global climate regulation has gained attention in the last few years, I’ve also seen an emergence of voices working to explain the science and the details of the intricate workings and contributors to the nuance of water cycles. One of my favorites and one I’ve come to count on to consistently expand my understanding about working with water is that of Ali Bin Shahid, an engineer turned permaculturalist based in Islamabad Pakistan working to capture the rh...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 360
So much of the conversation around water revolves around its scarcity. Today we’ll get a chance to explore how to manage water regeneratively when the challenge is having too much. As arid zones become drier, the opposite is proving true for humid zones. The North American eastern seaboard is looking like an emblematic case of this. As storms become stronger and charged with massive evaporation from warmer temperatures and a warmer ocean, flooding erosion and saturation are becoming bigger issue...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 359
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 regenerative agriculture in Europe. In this panel I got to speak with three of the most experienced and influential educators working on this from a farming perspective. Since landscape hydrology and its proper function is often overlooked in its importance in ...
Sep 20, 2024•55 min•Ep. 358
Continuing today with this ongoing series on waterway regeneration and a deep dive into marine ecosystems, I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Von Herzen. Brian is an ocean scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, though much of his career has been in Silicon Valley where he developed innovative technical solutions for companies like Pixar, Dolby and Microsoft. Brian is also the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit The Climate Foundation, an institute working to regenerate life in...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 357
Today I want to continue with a deeper dive into the topic of water, literally, by going to the furthest point downstream, where terrestrial water enters the ocean. Marine ecosystems are much less understood by the general public for a variety of reasons, but our actions on land have a direct effect on the health of our oceans too. Luckily there are incredible teams of people looking to address these issues with promising new solutions and over the next couple of episodes I’ll be highlighting a ...
Sep 06, 2024•45 min•Ep. 356
While the climate change narrative has mostly focused on the concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, we’ve ignored the essential role that the water cycle plays in regulating global temperatures. In this series I’ll be speaking to an incredible list of scientists, farmers, and restorationists who are dedicated to reviving the precious waterways of the world. From the urban environment to the deep seas, our actions will determine whether...
Aug 30, 2024•58 min•Ep. 355
My guest today is here to demystify one of the aspects of permaculture design that I hear the most questions about, but also one of the issues that I see folks most entrenched in their viewpoints about. I’m talking about earthworks; one of the first aspects that people implement and the most permanent change made in a landscape. Today I’ve got Douglas Barnes, author of “permaculture earthworks” and owner director of EcoEdge Design Ltd. to answer our questions and take the guess work out of the s...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 354
I spoke with David Spicer, affectionately known as Doc Spice, an accomplished permaculture designer who has specialized in earthworks installation. Having taught and worked on various projects extensively within Australia and internationally, in places such as Morocco, Jordan, Palestine and New Caledonia, Doc has worked in a broad array of different soil types, topographies and climatic zones. He’s also a valued member of the Permaculture Sustainable Consulting team headed up by Geoff Lawton and...
Aug 16, 2024•49 min•Ep. 353
In keeping with the theme of water regeneration this month I spoke to Rob Avis, the co-author along with Michelle Avis of their book in the New Society Essentials series called Rain Water Harvesting. Rob and Michelle founded Verge Permaculture, an award-winning design, consulting and education company in Calgary, Alberta after years of international training in renewable energy and regenerative design. Since its founding, Verge has helped more than 1000 students and clients to design and create ...
Aug 08, 2024•47 min•Ep. 352
If at any point you’ve been interested in water harvesting in dryland contexts, it’s almost impossible that you’ve missed Brad Lancaster’s work. His pioneering activities and projects in Tucson, AZ have propelled a movement of water wise landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and smart water reuse all around the world. While so many of the examples I’ve highlighted in this series relate to actions and strategies for working with the land, a huge majority of Brad’s work is focused on the urban and su...
Jul 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 351
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 ...
Jul 19, 2024•24 min•Ep. 350
I had done one other episode in the past on the topic of floating wetlands that I’d like to revisit today as we continue with this series on regenerative water solutions. In today’s episode I got to speak with Bruce Kania of Floating Island International which developed their patented Biohaven floating island technology as a solution to algae-ridden and nutrient impaired waterways since 2005. Since then they´ve launched over 9,000 island systems worldwide as solutions to a variety of problems fa...
Jul 12, 2024•57 min•Ep. 349
Today we’re going to take a look at fresh water systems and specifically, how to decontaminate them through biological methods. Some of you may remember an interview I did with Tom Duncan about his floating wetlands and how they can be used to clean up excessive nutrients and pollutants back in season 1. Today I’ll be expanding on that technique since it´s gained a lot of traction and floating islands are popping up all over the world to help deal with contaminated rivers, lakes, and ponds. I’ll...
Jul 05, 2024•57 min•Ep. 348
One of the most crucial natural environments for the health and stability of landscape hydrology are wetlands. They also usually happen to be areas of the highest density of wildlife and biodiversity when they are healthy and functioning well. At the same time wetlands in all their different forms are highly endangered, being the targets for milenia of drainage and infill in order to make use of them for cultivation. Yet recovering and rebuilding wetlands is not only possible, it can be an affor...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 347
Continuing with my series highlighting badass local people around my community here in Spain, I was really pleased to be able to share this conversation that I had with a new close friend of mine and soil health advocate extraordinaire, Isadora Shmidt. I was first passed Isa’s contact by another good friend, Noemi, who is also part of the Soil Food Web graduate network. Isa created Terra Viva, her consulting and soil analytics company operating from her home base of Manresa, a small city about a...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 346
I have to admit, there is an unsung hero behind many of my favorite interviews of the past couple years. Connections and recommendations to some of the people who I’ve learned the most from in some recent discussions with people like Phyllis Van Ambraugh, Ben Taylor Davies, Ian Robertson, Ed Brown, and others have all come from a good friend of mine Andre Antunes who you’ll finally get to know on this episode. I met Andre first in a car ride with our mutual friend and the co-founder of Climate F...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 345
As I continue to make connections and find people in my local area who are working on regenerative projects and supporting progress in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, I’ve been amazed at the talented, courageous, and inspiring people that I’ve come into contact with. I’ve already interviewed a few in recent episodes such as Sara Garcia, and Aline Moerbeke, and I’m pleased to add another local badass to that list in today’s conversation. For frequent listeners of this show, you’ll remember that ...
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 344
Today we’ll be continuing with the second part of my discussion with Anne Van Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands. In case you missed the first part, I recommend going back for some context where Anne spoke about how she and her partner Ricardo got started in Farming and the evolution of their farm at the original location. In this second half we’ll pick up where Anne begins to talk about their new farm, how they found it, and the vision they have for it’s development. We also talk about ...
May 31, 2024•49 min•Ep. 343
Today’s conversation is the first of a two part conversation with Anne Va Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a few years. Anne and her husband Ricardo and I met for the first time at the first Climate Farmers conference in Germany 3 years ago. By then they were already building a reputation in the Dutch regen ag scene as leaders and innovators. Since then they’ve continued to take a leading role in bringing visibility to regenerative farming, t...
May 24, 2024•56 min•Ep. 342
A couple weeks ago I was invited to speak on a panel discussion about soil health for the release of a new issue of REVOLVE magazine. Established in 2010, REVOLVE inspires climate action by keeping you informed about the circular economy, ecosystem restoration, the energy transition, sustainable mobility and water resources. Their latest episode focuses on the importance of soil and how to restore the health and function of soil through the perspective of researchers and practitioners. Along wit...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 341
Continuing on the theme of last week’s episode in which I spoke with Jessica Robertson about community food forests, we’re going to go deeper into the practical knowledge and skills that anyone can develop to create their own plant nursery, propagate their favorite varieties, and get their own garden or food forest established quickly and cheaply. Joining me for this dive into DIY plant breeding and propagation is David Goodman, better known to his fans as David the Good. David is a gardening au...
May 10, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 340
With the growth in popularity around permaculture and food forests, even people without access to their own land are looking into opportunities to come together and create beautiful edible landscapes that everyone can access on public land. Enter community orchards or food forests. These are increasingly being grown on abandoned lots, local parks, or forgotten strips of land that caring neighbors take interest in and decide to grow perennial food and medicine crops on. Yet as the number of peopl...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 339
So much of what inspires me and that I hope to highlight on this show comes from an ever growing awareness of the incredible superpowers that humans have that emerge from our relationship with the natural world around us. Our senses coupled with adaptability, the skill of collaboration and the inventiveness of our creativity have allowed humans to find a niche in almost every major biome on this planet. Whether it’s forming a symbiotic relationship with the semi-wild reindeer of the arctic circl...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 338
I’m really lucky that I have been collaborating with book publishers since the early days of this podcast. It gives me access to all of the books from the authors that I interview and the full catalogs of most of the publishers too. As a result I have a pretty good overview of the new literature that comes out on the topics that I focus on in this podcast. Under these conditions, It’s rare that a single book stands out so much in my mind for the quality and importance of the ideas in it, and for...
Apr 19, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 337
world of insects. Though there are only a handful of bugs and invertebrates that humans consider edible, productive, or beautiful, they are an essential element in any healthy ecosystem. All too often the ones that we don’t derive beauty from or direct use from are considered an annoyance at best or actively destroyed and eradicated in all too many cases. It’s long overdue that I highlight just how valuable insects are to out world and our own wellbeing on this show, and to help me to do that in...
Apr 12, 2024•54 min•Ep. 336
I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months to interview quite a few people that I admire, who’ve told me about their fascination with beekeeping. Over and over again I’ve heard about the incredible insights into overall ecological health and the amazing reflections of ecosystem function that can be observed through managing bee hives. I got a window into the world of natural beekeeping back in May of 2022 when I co-hosted a Climate Farmer’s community event at Wilmer’s Gaerten, a regenerative...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 335
Despite the popularity of permaculture, homesteading, regen ag, and all these other buzz terms we hear, many of the people promoting these ideas, including myself, are quite new and inexperienced. It’s still rare to find people who can offer insight and wisdom from decades or a whole lifetime of living with regenerative systems. Sure, you can still find quite a few hardy old timers who know a lot about resilience and self sufficiency, but even though there is a ton of wisdom to be gleaned from t...
Mar 29, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 334
Though I’ve highlighted this before on this show, it bears repeating. So many of the stress factors on farms are caused by money. Either not being able to generate enough, being in debt, not having control over the expenses and cash flows, or another one that I see time and again, not paying yourself a salary and just hoping for a profit at the end of the year. Though this is hardly the most interesting part of the work for anyone I know who farms, it doesn’t change the fact that a farm is a bus...
Mar 22, 2024•54 min•Ep. 333
In the process of researching the area that I now call home, and working to understand the context and history of the land, I’ve uncovered some fascinating information. The Iberian peninsula made up mostly of Spain with Portugal along the Atlanitc coast and Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains has been dramatically transformed through thousands of years of human history, to say nothing of prehistoric and geological times. Caves and monuments point to some of the earliest evidence of human habitatio...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 332
