In this stimulating conversation with Regenerative Land Designer and Educator Javan Bernakevitch, we discuss life design and why it's important. According to Javan, if we don’t design our lives, someone else will. What are the signs of an undesigned life? Some of them include: not knowing what you’re good at, a lack of direction, being directed by past events, problems saying no, and having a hard time making decisions. In this interview, we talk about practicing values-based decision making and...
Dec 03, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 171
Join us on a journey to India to explore the inspiring Beejvan project, a remarkable two acre demonstration farm and community-based initiative in Karjat, Maharashtra, India. In this interview with co-founder Sanjana Krishnan, discover how Beejvan is revitalizing the land, promoting biodiversity, and empowering the local community. Sanjana was inspired to start Beejvan when she returned to Karjat a, a place she had loved as a child, to find that the rivers had dried up, soils were depleted, the ...
Sep 08, 2023•43 min•Ep. 169
Episode 169: Is Permaculture the best option that we have to meet the demands of an unpredictable future? In this lively conversation with Rosemary Morrow, Margie Bushman, and Wes Roe, we discuss the potential Permaculture holds in restoring degraded ecosystems around the globe. Rosemary Morrow is a Permaculture designer, teacher, and earth restorer. She is the author of numerous publications including Permaculture Teaching Matters and T he Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture. Rosemary is the...
Jun 03, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 169
What does water want? What happens when we allow water to be water? Author Erica Gies explores the concept of Slow Water in her new book Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge. Slow Water approaches are unique to each place and work with natural systems. Slow Water is key to greater resiliency and offers multiple benefits including reducing floods, droughts, and wildfires. The Slow Water movement asks where our water comes from and examines the impact that our water treatmen...
Jan 25, 2023•54 min•Ep. 168
Learn how to garden like nature from writer, horticultural consultant, and educator Dr. Lee Reich. We start with an audio tour of Lee’s award winning “farmden," which is more than a garden and less than a farm. Packed with plants, including Paw Paws, Hardy Kiwi, Gooseberries, Figs, and Filberts, Lee uses his land as a test site for showcasing his gardening techniques. After 40 years of tending the land, Lee not only grows healthy fruits and vegetables, but also lots of fertile soil and compost. ...
Sep 13, 2022•56 min•Ep. 167
Episode 166: Did you know that oceans make life possible on our planet? Even if we live far from the coast, our lives are influenced by the ocean. Oceans generate oxygen, capture carbon, shape weather, and provide habitat for countless creatures. To learn more about these vast, yet fragile bodies of water that make our planet unique, beautiful, and able to support life, I speak with world renowned ocean scientist and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle. In this inspirational interview, Sylvia shares her t...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 166
Episode 165: This special episode introduces the Regenerative Media Alliance, a project I have been working on for quite some time with fellow podcast producers Oliver Goshey and Scott Mann. The Regenerative Media Alliance or RMA is a cooperative group for podcasters and media creators working in the Permaculture, sustainability, and regenerative fields. Podcasting can be a bit lonely. If you're like me and you produce your podcast in your "Shoedio" (also known as a bedroom closet), you know how...
May 18, 2022•50 min•Ep. 165
Episode 164: Are you a fan of Raptors or birds of prey? Members of this large group of magnificent birds include hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. For many of us, seeing raptors in cities and in the wilderness is awe-inspiring. To learn more about these amazing birds, I am joined by Lisa Owens Viani and Allen Fish, co-founders of the nonprofit Raptors Are the Solution (RATS). We begin by chatting about the wonders of raptors and why Lisa and Allen have devoted so much of their lives to helping t...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 164
Episode 163: What if you could replace your monocrop grass lawn with a “solar powered regenerative system that stores carbon while creating habitats”? You can! Learn how in this informative episode with Owen Wormser. Did you know that the average lawn is a a biological desert that needs vast amounts of resources to stay alive? By replacing your lawn with a meadow, you can sink carbon, retain water, provide habitat, attract pollinators, create beauty, and save money. Owen fills us in on how to tr...
Jan 31, 2022•54 min•Ep. 163
Episode 162: Is the future nuts? According to our guest Michael Judd, it definitely is, but in a good way! In this fun and informative interview, Michael shares his vision of a bountiful and food secure future where nut tree orchards and farms abound. Resilient perennial crops with a multitude of ecosystem services, nut trees improve soil health and stability, provide habitat for animals, increase diversity, and offer nutrient rich food. Michael is an advocate for the Chestnut and we talk in det...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 162
Growing an herbal apothecary garden at home is fun and easy. Learn how to start your own in this informative interview with longtime organic farmer Alena Steen. We begin the episode by talking about the benefits of growing medicinal herbs and then move into the nitty gritty of soil preparation, watering, and harvesting. Alena explains the concept of "benevolent neglect" and talks about how this type of growing can actually increase the medicinal qualities of herbs. Alena shares some of her favor...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 161
Episode 160: Lonny Grafman has worked with hundreds of communities around the globe assisting them with projects across a broad spectrum of sustainability. In this inspiring episode Lonny reflects on his decades of work and shares his knowledge and experience about how to build more resilient communities. Lonny talks about his early beginnings as an activist, how he became a “practivist,” and why he believes that empowering community resilience is the most vital component in creating and impleme...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 160
Step into the vibrant and beautiful world of living color with natural dyer, designer, and artist Sasha Duerr. Sasha takes us on a journey from Soil to Studio. We learn how creating and working with dyes made from plants, seaweed, and other natural materials can increase our ecological and botanical knowledge, foster collaboration, and have a beneficial impact on ecosystems. Natural dyeing offers us multiple opportunities to participate in solutions. Food scraps and green waste can transform old...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 159
Episode 158: Longtime organic farmer Mark Sturges believes that when we create a better habitat for beneficial insects, we create a better habitat for ourselves. Mark is a master compost maker whose compost is filled with life. When Mark creates compost, he encourages the "whole neighborhood" to move in. The cast of characters in Mark's neighborhood are vast and include beetles, rotifers, fungi, nematodes, springtails, enchytraeids, and Beauveria bassiana- an insect "eating" fungi. Mark and I ch...
Oct 19, 2020•50 min•Ep. 158
Episode 157: Do you want to grow healthy food? Are you excited to start a garden, but don't have a yard? In this fun and informative interview with plant lover and regenerative farmer Acadia Tucker, we learn how to start a verdant and productive container garden at home. Acadia tells us why she feels it's important to grow at least some of our own food and how this simple act can positively impact the world. Acadia believes that gardening is a civic duty and isn't just for people who have yards....
Sep 06, 2020•52 min•Ep. 157
Learn how your clothing choices can change the world in this episode with writer Elizabeth Segran. Elizabeth tells us the grim news first. Did you know that the fashion industry is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gases? That’s more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. About 100 billion articles of clothing are manufactured yearly. Clothes that don't sell are often thrown in a landfill or burned at the end of a season. This massive overproduction has a detrimenta...
May 31, 2020•36 min•Ep. 155
Episode 154: When medicinal at risk plants need help, United Plant Savers (UPS) comes to the rescue! Known as the "consciousness of the herbal products industry" because of their work with at risk medicinals, UPS staff and members have their feet on the ground and their hands in the soil protecting and growing these healing plants. The former site of a contour mine, the 379 acre UPS Botanical Sanctuary in South Eastern Ohio is now home to nearly 400 plant species. In this interview with John Sto...
May 01, 2020•51 min•Ep. 154
Episode 153: Put down that shovel and start a no-till perennial garden! In this fun and informative interview, Permaculture Designer and Teacher Morag Gamble shares her tips about how to create an abundant and thriving organic oasis. Morag's garden in Queensland, Australia has more than 200 plants. In this episode she shares some of her favorites with us including Sweet Potato and Pumpkin. Did you know that you can eat the leaves of both? We focus on soil health and how to build fertility throug...
Feb 29, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 153
Episode 152: Famed cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg talks about his new film Fantastic Fungi that highlights the fascinating and often hidden world of the fungi beneath our feet. Renowned for his time lapse work with flowers, Louie has now turned his lens toward the fungal kingdom with astonishing and beautiful results. In this episode, we do a deep dive into Fungi and the many solutions that they offer us at this critical time, including: Carbon sequestration: Fungi are a climate change solut...
Dec 14, 2019•49 min•Ep. 152
Episode 151: What if we could heal broken ecosystems, toxic landscapes, and poisoned water? My guest today is Dr. John Todd, ecological designer and author of the new book, Healing Earth- An Ecologist's Journey of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship. John Todd boldly travels to places that others try to avoid: toxic waste sites, oil spills, leaking landfills, and damaged waterways. Using the tools of nature to remediate these areas, John and his colleagues do good things in bad places. An e...
Oct 07, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 151
Episode 150: Join us for a mind and heart expanding conversation with Dr. Monica Gagliano about her research in plant cognition and her direct experiences with the botanical world. A pioneer in the field of Plant BioAcoustics, Monica's peer-reviewed work has furthered the concept of plant sentience. Monica's experiences with plants have altered her life, her research, and are the subject of her new book, Thus Spoke the Plant . In this interview, Monica talks about her experiments with plants- in...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 150
Episode 149: Incredible Edible is an urban gardening project in Todmorden, England. Started in 2008, as a conversation between friends and envisioned as a revolution of kindness, Incredible Edible has transformed the market town of Todmorden into an edible oasis. In this interview, Incredible Edible's co-founder Mary Clear tells the story of how she and her friends turned their worry and fear into action by planting food in public places; potatoes and kale at the Railway Station, runner beans in...
Jan 18, 2019•43 min•Ep. 149
Episode 148: Sanandi Farm is a 33 hectare organic, biodynamic, Permaculture farm located near Valle de Bravo, Mexico. In 1998, two brothers, Dieter and Andreas le Noir, purchased the land and then began the work of regenerating and restoring the health of the soil. Using Permaculture principles and Biodynamic Farming techniques, Sanandi is now a beautiful, verdant oasis that is Demeter certified with a thriving medicinal herb pharmacy and line of herbal remedies. In this interview, Sanandi's Com...
Aug 18, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 148
Episode 147: How can we mend our broken relationship with the Earth and create a world where people and land are good medicine for each other? In this interview, plant ecologist, author, and professor Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about what she has learned from plants, plant intelligence, and how the simple and profound act of paying attention to the living world can change our lives. Robin speaks about how human exceptionalism finds its place in language, the grammar of animacy, and the import...
Jun 12, 2018•48 min•Ep. 147
Episode 146: Learn about the field of arboreal archaeology and why historic fruit trees are important in this interview with John Valenzuela. John is a Permaculture Teacher, Designer, and Horticulturist who specializes in tropical permaculture, rare fruit, and ethnobotany. In this episode, John talks about the benefits and resilience of trees, fruit history, what to look for in choosing fruit trees for your climate, and what plants he would take to a deserted island. The plants that we discuss i...
May 11, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 146
Episode 145: Have you heard about Paw Paws, North America's largest indigenous edible fruit? Native to 26 states in the US, Paw Paws are immortalized in songs, poems, and place names throughout the country. Paw Paw fruit can weigh up to two pounds each and have a delicious and unusual tropical flavor, reminiscent of a mango, banana, pineapple, and cherimoya blend. In this fun and informative interview with Edible Landscape and Permaculture Designer Michael Judd, we learn how to propagate, grow, ...
Mar 13, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 146
Episode 144: Do you live in a city and want to grow your own herbal medicine? In this episode, urban farmer and community herbalist Bonnie Rose Weaver shares the joys of growing medicinal plants in an urban environment. In 2014, Bonnie launched the seed to bottle apothecary 1849 Medicine Garden , a project that taught urbanites about the benefits of locally grown plant medicine. 1849 included an herbal CSA- or community supported agriculture program where members receive herbal tinctures created...
Jan 15, 2018•54 min•Ep. 144
Episode 143: How would Nature farm? Can degraded, infertile land be regenerated? Can agriculture become a healing beneficial system that mitigates climate change? To answer these questions, I speak with farmer Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farm located in Swoope, Virginia. When the Salatins moved to the farm in 1961, there wasn't enough soil on the land to hold up a fence post. Over fifty years later, Polyface is an oasis of organic matter and one of the most fertile farms in the US. How di...
Nov 22, 2017•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 143
Episode 142: Have you ever thought of going to the International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC)? Held every two years, switching between continents at different locations, the IPC is a gathering of Permaculture designers, teachers, and enthusiasts. This year, the IPC is held in India , which is celebrating 30 years of permaculture! To learn more I spoke with Margie Bushman & Wes Roe of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network . In this interview, Margie and Wes discuss Permacult...
Oct 20, 2017•32 min•Ep. 142
Episode 141: Larry Kandarian is an organic farmer and ancient grain advocate. In this episode, Larry takes us on a whirlwind tour of Kandarian Organic Farms where he grows over 200 varieties of plants. As you'll hear in the interview, Larry is a man with a mission- growing the most ancient and nutrient-dense grains he can find and providing the world with alternatives to modern wheat. I first became aware of Larry and his work when I saw an ad for a talk he was giving at our local seed swap enti...
Aug 23, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 141
