The Permaculture Podcast

The Wild Wisdom of Weeds

My guest for this episode is Katrina Blair, author of the wonderful book The Wild Wisdom of Weeds from Chelsea Green Publishing. Katrina lives in Durango, Colorado at Turtle Lake Refuge, home to the Turtle Lake Community Farm and Wild Food CSA, and Local Wild Life Cafe.

Around the World in 80 Plants

My guest for this episode is Stephen Barstow, author of Around the World in 80 Plants. Together, we talk about his incredibly diverse garden in Norway where he grows over 2,000 edible plants in a rather small space. We begin with his background and how he came to have an interest in edibles, from his beginnings as a foraging vegetarian, to his beginning to eat and collect plants from wherever he traveled. He shares with us his love of edible ornamentals, or what Stephen calls edimentals, and he also recommends some to start with when first beginning to introduce more of these species into your garden. Resources Edimentals.com (Stephen’s Website) Around the World in 80 Plants (Chelsea Green Publishers) Around the World in 80 Plants (Permanent Publications) Sturtevants Edible Plants of the World (PDF. Large File)

Plants as People Care

My guest today is Nathan Carlos Rupley. A member of my permaculture community, he spends his time as a stay-at-home dad, self employed-artist, and aspiring hunter-gatherer.
When not hanging out with his family or walking in the woods, you can find him reading about a wide range of subjects including simple living, foraging, native agriculture, natural building, “primitive” technology, philosophy, applied ecology, theology, and much more. He brings this knowledge to the table today as we discuss what he’s learning from the native plants of his ancestors.
The exploration of these plants and the related cultures provide insights into his place in the world and where he comes from. This leads to a conversation that ranges around a variety of thoughts including how we can learn more about plants and their uses by studying folk and Latin binomial names. What understanding ancestral plants can teach us about our identity. The impacts of colonization, on the colonized and colonizer. And being good mentors and ancestors now and for the future.
You can email Nate at nathanrupley@yahoo.com, with any comments, or questions, if you want to rewild your yard, or, if you’re ever in Central Pennsylvania, would like to join him for a foraging class or plant walk.
ResourcesNathan Carlos Rupley (Website)Nathan Carlos Rupley (Patreon)Nathan_Carlos_Rupley (Instagram)Gathering on YouTubeSamuel Thayer / The Forager’s HarvestSteve BrillBackyard Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew SealWild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Peter Del TradiciFandabi Dozi (YouTube)Ron Eglash - The fractals at the heart of African designs (TED Talk)

Mushroom Cultivation and Mycoremediation

My guest for this episode is Tradd Cotter, a microbiologist, and mycologist who, along with his wife Olga, owns and operates Mushroom Mountain near Greenville, South Carolina. He is also the author of the book Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation from Chelsea Green Publishing. In this interview, we talk about his book, the science of microbiology and mycology, entrepreneurship, and also touch on the power of mushrooms for remediation.

Eager

My guest for this episode is Ben Goldfarb who joins me to talk about his book, Eager: the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter. Drawing from his work and our experiences in resource management, conservation, and environmental education we talk about the role beavers had in creating and shaping the landscape, history, and people of the United States, and the importance of reintroducing and protecting beavers to return the world to the wetter, boggier place it once was. Resources Ben Goldfarb Eager The Methow Beaver Project Thinking Like a Mountain - Aldo Leopold The Beaver Institute Worth a Dam

Wild Fermentation

My guest for this episode is Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation, The Art of Fermentation, and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. If you’ve practiced any kind of fermentation and went looking for a recipe, a reference, or just read about the wee yeasties and bacteria that transform our foods with their microbial magic, then you’ve probably read something by Sandor, and I recommend reading even more.
Resources:Wild Fermentation (Sandor's Website)Wild Fermentation (The Book)The Art of FermentationThe Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved

Surviving the Future

This is the second half of the conversation with Shaun Chamberlin, editor of Lean Logic and Surviving the Future, on the work of David Fleming. This time we focus on Shaun including his background, current activities, and what it means to bear David's Legacy. Along the way, the conversation touches on a variety of subjects related to our work in the modern world, including the role of education, the apolitical need for action in the future, and what we can do to live inexpensively and with directed intent. This is candid, on both of our parts, as we share more of our own private stories as much as the public. Find out more about Shaun and his work at DarkOptimism.org.Resources Lean Logic (Chelsea Green Publishing) Surviving the Future (Chelsea Green Publishing) Dark Optimism (Shaun's Site) Schumacher College The Moneyless Manifesto  - Mark Boyle The Dark Mountain Project The Transition Timeline The Happy Pig (Permaculture Magazine UK) The Power of Time Off  (TED Talk)

Lean Logic - The Life and Work of David Fleming

Shaun Chamberlin, the editor of Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It and Surviving the Future, joins me to discuss the life, work, and importance of the late David Fleming (1940 - 2010). Resources Lean Logic (Chelsea Green) Surviving the Future (Chelsea Green) David Fleming (Wiki) Shaun Chamberlin The Transition Timeline Rob Hopkins and The Transition Town Movement (Interview) Transition Network Transition US Richard Heinberg Michael Meacher (Former UK Environment Minister) Ron Oxburgh LeanLogic.net (First publication of David’s manuscript) The Dark Mountain Project Jonathon Porritt

Climate Change and the Path Ahead

Giulianna Maria Lamanna, of The Fifth World, drops a huge two-part question in this episode:
Are there people in the permaculture community talking about climate change and the impact of global warming on invasive species?
Is it our responsibility as permaculture practitioners to create new ecosystems for the changing climate?
This leads to a conversation where we discuss:
Preserving native ecosystems
The creation of novel ecosystems
The role of exotic species
The influence of human disturbance
The impacts of erosion.
We’re also asked to examine our role in tending the wild, and what responsibility, if any, we have to domesticated species such as chickens. In doing so, can we take back the stewardship of our own habitat?
(A remastered episode. Original Release: 25 May 2017)

The Soil Food Web

Today's guest, in an interview recorded by co-host David Bilbrey, is the microbiologist and soil researcher Dr. Elaine Ingham. In this episode they look at:
The microbiology of soil
The impact of this life on the health of our plants and agricultural system
How we can be citizen scientists
The power of a microscope to bring all these ideas together, right in front of our eyes.
All wrapped in a framework so we can understand the importance of healthy, living soil for human well-being, as individuals, participants in a community, and citizens of the world. Find out more about Dr. Ingham's work on soil microbiology at soilfoodweb.com. Her classes and other work with Environment Celebration Institute at environmentcelebration.com.Related InterviewsDan Kittredge - Nutrient Dense FoodsStephen Harrod Buhner - The Citizen ScientistElizabeth Farnsworth - GoBotany! and Citizen ScienceResourcesDr. Ingham’s CVSoil Food WebEnvironment Celebration InstituteDr. Ingham's Online ClassesEcological Monograph (1985 - PDF)EcoThinkIt