The Permaculture Podcast

The Power of Fiction to Create Permanent Culture

Over more than a decade, The Permaculture Podcast has explored the landscape-based practices which lead to permanent agriculture, as well as the invisible structures necessary, as individuals and in our community, to create permanent culture.Today’s episode examines our ability to create culture and continues the 12th-anniversary celebration of The Permaculture Podcast, as Alasdair Stuart joins me to share his insights on how media and culture influence the community and countries we live in, and how those stories shape who we are and our experiences. Through those lenses, Alasdair and I look at representation in media, the importance of inclusion and diversity as creators and consumers of fictional works, the importance of cultivating kindness, and changing outlooks on mental health.We also share how we find hope through storytelling, on the page or through the screen, as we face an uncertain future, and invite you to join us on that journey.If you’re not familiar with Alasdair, he is the co-owner of Escape Artists Incorporated, which produces the wonderful short-fiction podcasts Cast of Wonders, EscapePod, PodCastle, and PseudoPod. Alasdair is also the regular host of the horror podcast PseudoPod, where he not only introduces the author, narrator, and fright to follow but also shares his commentary and critique on the story for each episode and how that unique tale fits into our lives and world.As you might imagine when a pair of media-loving folks who grew up immersed in comic books, TV shows, movies, and games of all kinds come together to talk about how those works create our society and a vision for the future, it leads to nearly continuous references to the personal and pop culture that shaped us and that we see as continuing to mold current generations. If you love anything like Dr. Who, video games, Terry Pratchett, Tik Tok, Henry Rollins, Heavy Metal, or George Carlin, there is each of those and so much more somewhere in today’s interview.You can find Alasdair's at alasdairstuart.com. While you are there, be sure to sign up for his newsletter, The Full Lid. He is also on Twitter @alasdairstuartEscape Artists Incorporated and their amazing slate of podcasts are at EscapeArtists.Net.I’d also like to give a big thank you to the artist SerHawke for allowing me to the drawing of Alasdair in a She-Hulk T-shirt as the cover image for this episode. Their commissions are open and you can find them on Twitter @serhawke.I enjoyed this conversation with Alasdair because of how he points to the ways media, in whatever form it might take from TV shows to spoken word albums to podcasts, can have an impact on us as individuals and help us develop or change our worldviews. How media as a shared experience can create a culture or subculture we feel at home in and want to be an active participant in. Media can create a cultural zeitgeist that changes a country or the world.As we permaculture practitioners share our vision of the future through fiction, such as Utopia by Geoff Christou 470 by Linda Woodrow, it shows others what is possible. As we share the stories of our lives and experiences through podcasts or memoirs, we link the past to the present and share them with others. This work, of telling our stories with voice, body, and bones, is vital to what permaculture has to hold now and for future generations.If you have a story inside of you, find a way to tell it. Your voice matters.Before closing this episode, I’d like to give a hearty thanks to Alasdair for joining me, as this conversation was a special one for me, as it’s been a dream of mine to interview Alasdair after hearing his voice—both his literal, spoken voice and voice as an expression for his point of view and talent as a writer—all those years ago when I downloaded my first episode of PseudoPod. It was a pleasure to have this experience and chat like old friends.I continue to tune in to PseudoPod and remain a dedicated listener because I am inspired by Alasdair’s message that we can shine a light into the darkness and find hope, even when we face real monsters in the world. That hope, along with a story well told, reminds me that we are not alone, that there are others like us in the world, and we can stand together with others, whatever comes in the days, years, and decades to come.Until the next time, listen to an episode of PseudoPod while you spend each day discovering the media that inspires you while creating a culture that takes care of Earth, your self, and each other.

Rosemary Morrow’s Journey to Permaculture

For nearly 40 years, Rosemary’s work as a teacher has brought permaculture directly into the lives of her thousands of students. As an author, she has touched innumerably more. As her students became teachers and other teachers used her works in their classrooms, her ideas and methods continue to ripple through the world and reach even more.With this reach, her work touched has touched my own, first as a student, through her book Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture, and later as an instructor, when I used that book as one of the student texts for the course paired with the companion book to that, Earth User’s Guide to Teaching Permaculture.Now, we celebrate Rowe’s newest book, from Melliodora Publishing, Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, with a series of conversations covering her thoughts on the breadth of permaculture as a practice, interwoven with stories from throughout her journey.To start things off, I knew a lot about Rowe’s writings, but not about her early life, how she came to permaculture or her career as a teacher and author. So, we begin where so many interviews do on The Permaculture Podcast, with a conversation about her biography and background, which includes some insights into the development and growth of permaculture over the years, the kinds of character and teacher Bill Mollison was, and how Rowe reframes permaculture education into a local, lived experience, whether she’s teaching in Australia, Vietnam, or Cambodia.Support the PodcastDonate Online: Via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcastYou can find Rosemary's books, including Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, at the PermaculturePrinciples.com store.As we close this conversation and prepare for the others which will follow, I’d like to re-extend the invitation for you to answer Rowe’s questions: 
What is your country? 
Do you speak a language from there? 
Do you know how the indigenous peoples lived on that land?
Visit Our Series PartnersPermaculture PrinciplesMelliodora PublishingAbundant Earth Foundation

Farmers Markets, Figs, and The Kale Yard

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In this episode, an old friend returns. Together, we relax and celebrate the 12th anniversary of The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann.
Erin Harvey, and I met one another and became friends in 2010 when we took our Permaculture Design Course with Ben Weiss and Dillon Naber Cruz in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After graduating, Erin returned to Ohio to begin her own farm, The Kale Yard.Erin was one of the first guest on the show, back in early 2013, when we talked about how she started The Kale Yard. If you haven’t heard that, you’ll find a link to that interview in the show notes.Today, we talk about how life has changed over the last decade, including The Kale Yard transitioning from a Market Garden to a nursery business, and Erin’s current role as a farmers market manager and what that means for both her, the farmers, and the community they serve. We also spend some time on her interest in propagating figs and other plants; the role of a hoop house and greenhouse on her farm; and what Erin sees in her future.Related EpisodeStarting a Small Scale Farm - Erin HarveyResourcesThe Kale YardKeller Market House

Starting a Small Scale Farm

This month marks the 12th anniversary of The Permaculture Podcast with Scott. To celebrate this latest milestone, I asked my friend Erin Harvey to join me again to discuss how her life and work have changed since we graduated from our Permaculture Design Course on October 10th, 2010, and the show began. In preparation for that new conversation, here is my first interview with Erin, recorded and released in the Winter of 2013. Note: This is from the earliest days of interviews on the podcast and does not benefit from later improvements in microphones or recording tools.Resources: The Kale YardThe Organic Farmer's Business Handbook (Chelsea Green Publishing)

Creating a Miraculous Abundance

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Today's guest is Perrine Hervé-Gruyer author, along with her husband Charles, of Miraculous Abundance: One Quarter Acre, Two French Farmers and Enough Food to Feed the World.
 
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Wild Fermentation

 
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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, 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.
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Building Soil

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In this episode, Natalie Bogwalker shares her technique to quickly build soil for growing food in a temperate climate. You can watch the video of Natalie’s work on soil building at Wild Abundance, which is where today’s audio comes from, at: YouTube.com/ThePermaculturePodcast 
Find out more about Natalie, her work, and Wild Abundance at: WildAbundance.Net

Bee the Change

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The guest for this episode is John Kotab to discuss his book Bee the Change, a travelogue about his discovery of what we can do to save bees and other pollinators.Find John, his permaculture consulting business, and his books at:cotabconsulting.com

Edible Perennials and Broadscale Permaculture

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.MarketThis episode is a remaster of my first interview with Eric Toensmeier, originally recorded in the early days of the show way back in 2012 when I still lived on the land in Pennsylvania. I’m sharing this as a follow-up to the most recent episode before this one where Eric joined me for another interview to talk about his current work on Alley Cropping. Depending on when you are listening to this, if you haven’t heard that show, definitely give it a listen. You’ll find that right before this one in the archives.If you are not familiar with Eric and his work, he is the author of numerous permaculture and permaculture-adjacent books, all of which I highly recommend for your library. Most recently, that includes Carbon Farming: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security. Another title where Eric is the sole author is Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to Zuiki Taro, a Gardener’s Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-grow Edibles. He is the co-author, along with Dave Jacke, of Edible Forest Gardens and also wrote Paradise Lot with Jonathan Bates, the former of which is probably his most popular title in the permie community.Our conversation begins with Eric’s bio. He then answers some listener questions on perennials, then delves into perennial plants, the broad-scale application of permaculture, and removing some of the fear factors of implementing a forest garden. Throughout you will hear both of us touch on plants we would like to see improved and simple ways anyone who is growing a garden can help domesticate and improve edible perennials.- You can find Eric at PerennialSolutions.org- His latest venture, The Perennial Agriculture Institute, is at PerennialAgriculture.Institute.- You can also read Eric’s current writing and support his ongoing efforts at patreon.com/erictoensmeier.ResourcesEric ToensmeierPerennial SolutionsPerennialAgriculture.InstituteEdible Forest GardensKeyline DesignUSDA PLANTS DatabaseBooksBilly Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Field Guide and Cookbook (Out-of-Print. Bookfinder.com link)Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol DeppeCreating a Forest Garden by Martin CrawfordEdible Water Gardens by Nick Romanowski (Out-of-Print. Bookfinder.com link)The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable GardeningReturn to Resistance: Breeding Crops to Reduce Pesticide Dependence by Raoul RobinsonUncommon Fruits for Every GardenWild Urban Plants of the Northeast - A Field Guide

Alley Cropping with Eric Toensmeier

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In this episode, Eric Toensmeier returns to share some of his research on alley cropping, from his forthcoming book on this subject which he is writing in cooperation with Interlace Commons, an organization spreading the benefits and evidence of agroforestry, including alley cropping, with farmers.


Resources




Perennial SolutionsEric's PatreonInterlace CommonsKernza Perennial GrainAgroforesterie (Book)AGROOF (French Agroforestry Organization)Alley Cropping (Univ. of Missouri Center for Agroforestry Training Manual - PDF)Savanna Institute


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Stream Restoration and Riparian Corridors - Dr. Bern SweeneyThe Savanna Institute - Keefe Keeley



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