The Permaculture Podcast

Building Soil

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
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

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
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

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast
 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 






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


,
Related Interviews

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



Learn More

Remembering Dan Palmer

GoFundMe: Support for Dan Palmer’s FamilyCW: Death, Grief, and LossIt is with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news that Dan Palmer, of Making Permaculture Stronger, passed away suddenly in the first week of August, 2022. Dan was an activist, designer, permaculture practitioner, and teacher. He was also the driving force behind numerous events and organizations including permablitz, Very Edible Gardens, Holistic Decision Making, the still-in-progress film Reading the Landscape, and his blog and podcast.I knew Dan half as well as I would have liked, but am thankful for the many long hours we spent in conversation over the years, separated by half the world, asking what we could do to make one another, and by extension permaculture, stronger. My thoughts are with his partner, children, and other loved ones. If you are someone who prays, I ask you to offer words into the universe for those who are hurting. You can also use the link above to donate to a GoFundMe for his family during this time of transition. 

Natural Farming and Masanobu Fukuoka

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast
 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 






This episode begins with a history lesson on Natural Farming and the work of Masanobu Fukuoka and leads into a conversation comparing and contrasting that method and his ideas to Permaculture, delivered in the voice and words of someone who was present in both movements from their earliest days, the late Larry Korn.


Resources




The One-Straw Revolutionary



Learn More

Terra Preta and Biochar - Mark Ervin

 
Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 
The guest for this episode is Mark Ervin of GreenGro Biologicals. He joins me to share his passion for terra preta soil and biochar and how he turned that love into an entrepreneurial business bringing a regenerative product to market. Along the way, he shares the difference between simply burning something and calling biochar versus creating a carbon-rich, mineralized biochar, the importance of nutrient ratios for sustainable growing, and much more.
 
More Information on Terra Preta and Biochar
Terra Preta (Wikipedia)
Biochar (Wikipedia)
The Biochar Solution by Albert Bates
Burn by Albert Bates and Kathleen Draper
Related Interviews
Dr. Elaine Ingham - The Soil Food Web
Eric Toensmeier - Drawing Down Carbon: Agroforestry and Climate Change
Permabyte: Biochar, Gasification, and Woodlot Management
Mary Johnson - An Introduction to Nutrient Dense Farming
Connor Stedman - Carbon Farming - Soil
 
Learn More

Rachel Kaplan - Urban Homesteading

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast
 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 






This episode on Urban Homesteading with Rachel Kaplan is the conversation that started me down the road of what the show has become known for: long-format, interview-driven, guest-focused conversations you won’t hear anywhere else. It is also the first interview I ever recorded for The Permaculture Podcast so, unless you were here in the early days of the show or took a deep dive into the archives at thepermaculturepodcast.com in later years, it’s one you’ll hear for the first time, today.


Resources




Urban HomesteadingRachel Kaplan - EcoSomatic ActionK.Ruby Blume - Rogue RubyThe Institute of Urban HomesteadingDaily ActsNorth Bay Institute of Green TechnologyGrey Water Action



Learn More

Chris Salisbury - Wild Nights Out

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast
 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 






Our guest for this episode is Chris Salisbury, author of Wild Nights Out. He joins us to share his work acclimating people of all ages to nature through experiences and encounters in a world shrouded by the dark, so we may do the same for others in our lives, whether as professional educators, parents, or community members. Throughout the interview, Chris shares ways to find nature all around us and extends an invitation so that we can discover, or rediscover, the joy, majesty, and mystery of night.


Resources




Wild WiseWild Nights OutWilderness Awareness School8 Shields InstituteThe Art of MentoringSharing NatureInstitute for Earth Education



Learn More

Andrew Magazine - Craft Butchery

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market
Donate Directly: via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast
 
Want to listen to more conversations about Permaculture? Browse the extensive archives of the show. 






This episode is a guest interview from my friend Drew Grim of Schoolhouse Life, as he sits down with Andrew Magazine to discuss the art and craft of whole animal butchery, as it applies to the homestead. Throughout, Andrew shares tips from his professional experience as a craft butcher on setting up one’s workspace, how to select the right tools and equipment for this work, and how raising and butchering our own animals is an act of care, compassion, and an ethical way to include meat in our diet.


Resources




Applied Anatomist (Website)Applied Anatomist (Instagram)Wonderland Hollow (Andrew's Farm with Christina Chumbley)The Schoolhouse Life Podcast



Learn More