Biodynamics Now! Investigative Farming And Restorative Nutrition Podcast

Sarah Flack is the author of the Chelsea Green book Organic Dairy Production (2011) and, more recently, The Art and Science of Grazing: How Grass Farmers Can Create Sustainable Systems for Healthy Animals and Farm Ecosystems (2016). She is a nationally known consultant on grazing and organic livestock management. Sarah Flack is uniquely qualified as a teacher in the grazing movement in that she has both scientific training and intensive hands on experience with livestock, not only on her family's farm but, because of her long time work as a certifier and consultant, on many grazing enterprises, both small and large. She grew up on a Vermont family farm that used management-intensive grazing and mob stocking. She later studied Holistic Planned Grazing and pursued graduate studies on pasture management at the University of Vermont. She has written extensively about grass farming and is known for teaching workshops that take a practical approach to applying the science of grazing. Sarah has successfully helped m

Welcome to Episode 28 of the biodynamics now Investigative Farming and Restorative nutrition podcast. Your host is Allan Balliett. Scott Pittman taught Permaculture courses around the world for six years with Bill Mollison, the founder of Permaculture. Scott is the director of Permaculture Institute USA in Santa Fe, which he co-founded with Bill Mollison. With 30 years of teaching and doing permaculture under his belt, Scott Pittman is one of the foremost teachers of permaculture in the world. He has taught the Permaculture extensively on four continents. He is the founder of the Permaculture Drylands Institute and co-founder of the Permaculture Credit Union. The Permaculture Institute is active in North and South America. Scott's experience includes working with indigenous and traditional people worldwide, design projects that range from backyards to thousand-acre farms and activism in promotion of sustainable living. Scott is the lead teacher for most Permaculture Institute programs. He holds Diploma in Edu

Today's guest is Andrew Moore, author of Pawpaw: In Search of America's Forgotten Fruit. PawsPaws are the largest edible native fruit in the US. As much as this book is an encyclopedia of pawpaw knowledge, it also investigate the deeper questions about American foodways— how economic, biological, and cultural forces combine, leading us to eat what we eat, and sometimes to ignore the incredible, delicious food growing all around us. If you haven’t yet eaten a pawpaw, this book won’t let you rest until you do. The show notes for today's conversation are at bdnow.org The largest edible fruit native to the United States tastes like a cross between a banana and a mango. It grows wild in twenty-six states, gracing Eastern forests each fall with sweet-smelling, tropical-flavored abundance. Historically, it fed and sustained Native Americans and European explorers, presidents, and enslaved African Americans, inspiring folk songs, poetry, and scores of place names from Georgia to Illinois. Its trees are an organic gro

Peter Burke has been teaching garden classes since 2006, when he started presenting workshops on Indoor Salad Gardening, Square Foot Gardening, Extending the Garden Season, and many more techniques that empower gardeners. He also started the dailygardener.com website to support the need for specialized seeds for Indoor Salad Gardening. Peter lives and gardens in Calais, Vermont, with his family. His book is on Chelsea Green. It's called: Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening: How to Grow Nutrient-Dense, Soil-Sprouted Greens This book is an inviting guide for both !rst-time and experienced gardeners in rural and urban environments. No matter what size home you live in, there’s room for a garden of soil sprouts. In fact, Burke has grown up to six pounds of greens per day using just the windowsills in his kitchen and mudroom. Soil sprouts are also an engaging project for kids and can be used in the classroom to teach students basic educational concepts like math and science. Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening offers 

Welcome to episode 25 of the Biodynamics Now! Podcast. Our guest today is Toby Hemenway, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of permaculture design in America. Toby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden the first major North American book on permaculture, which was published by Chelsea Green in 2009. His most recent book is The Permaculture City, is also published by Chelsea Green. The Permaculture City provides a new way of thinking about urban living, with practical examples for creating abundant food, energy security, close-knit communities, local and meaningful livelihoods, and sustainable policies in our cities and towns. The same nature-based approach that a good permaculturist uses so beautifully for growing food—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies perfectly to many of our other needs. Toby illuminates a new way forward through examples of edge-pushing innovations, along with a deeply holistic conceptual framework for our cities, towns, and suburbs. Th

Deirdre Heekin is the author of An Unlikely Vineyard. She is the proprietor and wine director of Osteria Pane e Salute, an acclaimed restaurant and wine bar in Woodstock, Vermont. Heekin and her husband and head chef, Caleb Barber, are the authors of In Late Winter We Ate Pears (Chelsea Green, 2009), and she is also the author of Libation: A Bitter Alchemy (Chelsea Green, 2009) and Pane e Salute (Invisible Cities Press, 2002). Heekin and her husband live on a small farm in Barnard, Vermont, where they grow both the vegetables for their restaurant and natural wines and ciders for their la garagista label. An Unlikely VineyardThe Education of a Farmer and Her Quest for Terroir Is it possible to capture landscape in a bottle? To express the essence of place—its geology, geography, climate, and soil—as well as the skill of the winegrower? That’s what Deirdre Heekin and her husband have set out to accomplish on their tiny, eight-acre hillside farm in Vermont—in their quest for terroir. “Terroir is about mud and st

Kaayla T. Daniel PhD, CCN Co-author of NOURISHING BROTH Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN is Vice President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, on the Board of Directors of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food. Dr. Daniel has been a guest on The Dr. Oz Show, PBS Healing Quest, NPR's People's Pharmacy, and many other shows, and shared the stage with Dr. Mark Hyman, J.J. Virgin, Gary Taubes, Charles Poliquin, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Sally Fallon Morell, Joel Salatin, David Wolfe, and other prominent health experts. She is known as The Naughty Nutritionist® because of her ability to outrageously and humorously debunk nutritional myths.   Nourishing Broth An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World Written bySally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN   The follow-up book to the hugely best-selling Nourishing Traditions, which has sold over 500,000 copies, this time focusing on the immense health benefits of bone broth by the found

The Heal Your Gut Cookbook interview with Hillary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett Simple, delicious, family-friendly recipes for those following the GAPS Diet.   With more than two hundred straightforward, nutrient-dense, and appealing recipes, The Heal Your Gut Cookbook was created by GAPS Diet experts Hilary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett to help heal your gut and to manage the illnesses that stem from it.   Developed by pioneering British MD Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who provides the book’s Foreword, Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) refers to disorders, including ADD/ADHD, autism, addictions, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, stemming from or exacerbated by leaky gut and dysbiosis. GAPS also refers to chronic gut-related physical conditions, including celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes type one, and Crohn’s disease, as well as asthma, eczema, allergies, thyroid disorders, and more. An evolution of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, the GAPS Diet will appeal to followers of the Paleo

Lovel is a master gardener who understands that we live not on the earth but in it, with miles of life above and below us in an interdependent and interconnected matrix of life. I met him just as he was beginning his life in biodynamic agriculture, and know the passion he brought to a subject that is part metaphysics and part science. You will experience it in this book. It is a path that must be both mastered intellectually and experienced personally to be comprehended. The thing about a properly functioning biodynamic system, whether it is a private garden or a commercial activity, is that even if you don't understand the world view, you cannot argue with the best fresh ear of corn you have ever eaten, or a tomato so good you just have to go, “Oh my.” The proof is in the pudding, as the cliché has it. My wife is a biodynamic gardener. Her garden produces enough produce, fruit, and berries for us to eat all year, and share generously. I had been eating organic, but not biodynamic, food for 40 years. When Ron

Stephen Harrod Buhner EARTH POET   Stephen Harrod Buhner Stephen Harrod Buhner is an Earth poet and the award-winning author of ten books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine. He comes from a long line of healers including Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States under Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Elizabeth Lusterheide, a midwife and herbalist who worked in rural Indiana in the early nineteenth century. The greatest influence on his work, however,has been his great-grandfather C.G. Harrod who primarily used botanical medicines, also in rural Indiana, when he began his work as a physician in 1911.   Stephen's work has appeared or been profiled in publications throughout North America and Europe including Common Boundary, Apotheosis, Shaman's Drum, The New York Times, CNN, and Good Morning America. Stephen lectures yearly throughout the United States on herbal medicine, the sacredness of plants, the intelligence of Nature, and the states of mind necessary for successful

Glen Atkinson , Astrologer, Biodynamic Gardener, Homeopath and Philosopher. His endevours have been focused on developing the agricultural and medical work of the turn of the 20th century German philosopher, Dr Rudolf Steiner. Glen began working with Dr Steiner's indications in 1976 and has since made developments in several fields.  His innovation and understanding of Dr Steiner's suggestions have come firstly from recognising the fundamental similiarity, between the traditional Astrological world view and Steiner's suggestions. Then from experimentation and observation. A simple yet innovative theory of manifestation - The Atkinson Conjecture - has become the basis for his many practical activities. Glen accepts that, all the forces and activities talked of in Dr Steiner's Agriculture Course exist within the electro magnetic spectrum, and that the physical Universe is big enough to be 'God' . Hence, what can be known and proven, forms the basics of his observation, reference and practice.   There are severa

Steve Crimi is the publisher of Logosophia Books in Asheville, NC, and one of the keepers of the Alan Chadwick Archive. He and his wife Krys ran Philosophy Farm, an biodynamic/permaculture farm in the mountain of Western NC for over a decade. He has given talks internationally on Biodynamics, Sacred Geometry and the Sacred Origins of Western Civilization, and can be reached through www.logosophiabooks.com. A blog containing some of his writings is found at http://open.salon.com/blog/stevecrimi.  The English born Alan Chadwick came into the world on July 27, 1909. Born into the upper class of Edwardian society, Alan was exposed at a young age to a variety of aesthetic pursuits, gardening being chief among them. As a youth the mystic Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner heavily influenced him. Steiner's theories, though largely disregarded by the wider academic community, found a stronghold in the mind of young Alan. Later in his life Chadwick would combine what he learned from Steiner with French gardening tec

What if you created a system of agriculture that solved many of today's problems around nutrition and farming and it was being destroyed by the very same degenerated food system it was seeking to replace? Community supported agriculture is a social movement that arose in the US in the late 1980s because people recognized a need to produce healthy, clean, safe, ecologically sound and spiritually energized - foods while caring appropriately for  the environment. It was clear then as it is today that agriculture within the pressures of the  current economic system is subject to so many degrading economic forces that it is incapable of producing foods that provided the nutrients necessary for proper human health and development. While there are larger issues at stake when children (and adults)  are developing with only a fraction of the nutrition required to reach their full potential,  we can see these nutritional short comings in increasing rates of cancers, allergies and intestinal problems. In addition,  the

Our guest this evening is author and social visionary Richard K. Moore. Richard is an American expat who escaped from a successful Silicon Valley career to Wexford Ireland where he spends his time communicating to the world through several blogs and websites about how We the People can organize into a truly democratic and sustainable new society in the face of the hyper-capitalism that is destroying our health and well-being on every level. I first became aware of Richard's work  through his article Escaping the Matrix, which appeared  in Steward Brand's The Whole Earth Review back in 1999. Using the metaphor of "the red pill" from the movie The Matrix, Richard opened my eyes to the deceit that passes as 'the official truth' in the mainstream media and our daily lives. 1999 was a much simpler time. SInce 911 it's not uncommon for even popular tv shows to accept that we cannot trust our government. In 1999, even after the revalations of the Pentagon Papers or The People's History books, though, it wasn't qui

The secret to avoiding calcium-related osteoporosis and atherosclerosis While millions of people take calcium and Vitamin D supplements thinking they're helping their bones, the truth is, without the addition of Vitamin K2, such a health regimen could prove dangerous. Without Vitamin K2, the body cannot direct calcium to the bones where it's needed; instead, the calcium resides in soft tissue (like the arteries)—leading to a combination of osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, or the dreaded "calcium paradox." This is the first book to reveal how universal a Vitamin K2 deficiency is, and the risk (in the form of cancer and diabetes, among other ailments) the absence of Vitamin K2 poses. Written by Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a popular health expert on Canadian television and radio, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox sounds a warning about the popularity of the calcium and Vitamin D craze, while illustrating the enormous health benefits of Vitamin K2 in making the body less susceptible to dental cavities, hear

ALL IN THIS TEA   Crusading American tea importer David Lee Hoffman supports China's endangered organic farmers by searching out fine, chemical-free teas for sale to the American quality tea market, a market of Mr Hoffman's creation. Mr. Hoffman, who has been called the Indiana Jones of tea, may be the ultimate do-it-yourselfer. But the county has issues with the 30 or so structures he has built over the years. "My love of the planet is greater than my fear of the law" David Lee Hoffman He's been called "The Indiana Jones of Tea" by nothing less than The New York Times, more accurately, though, he's the best candidate I've seen for the title of "The Worlds Most Interesting Man."  Here's just a few of his qualifications for that title: As a young man, invented a unique sonic cleaning system for cleaning valueable ancient textiles, artifacts and fine art that is used to this day by major museums Spent over 10 years as a consciencous objecter wandering over 100 countries He was amongst the first Americans to

Mark Shepard is an agriforester and permaculturist He founded and manages Forest Agriculture Enterprises and runs New Forest Farm an 106-acre commercial scale perrennial agricultural ecosystem that was converted  to a self suffecient food forest from a row-crop annual grain farm. Trained in mechanical enigineering and ecology, Mark has combined these two passions to develop equpment and processes for the cultivation, harvesting and processing of forest-derived agricultural products for human foods and biofuel. Mark is a certified permacultlure designer  who took his training directly from permaculture founder Bill Mollison .  As a student of Mollison, Mark brings a robust masculinty into his permaculture work, working with the larger patterns of the land rather than focusing on the rather dainty features that are often put  forward  by American permies. Mark teaches agroforestry and permacluture around the world. He lives with his family in Richland County Wisconsin Mark is the author of Restoration Agricultu

Peg Shafer and Jean Giblette are two of the most important Asian Medicianal herb growers and teacher in North America Peg Schafer is the author of the  wonderful Chelsea Green book The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm: A Cultivator's Guide to Small-Scale Organic Herb Production Including chapters on cultivation as well as herb quality, conservation, and medicinal use. Pegs website .chinesemedicinalherbfarm.com is full of resource links for herbalists and horticulturists. (in fact there a link to  a complete course in medicinal herb production taught by Peg and Jean through the University of New Mexico and it's free!) Jean Giblette is a medicinal plant grower, an Asian medicinal plant conservationist, a teacher, an investigator in Chinese medicinal plant production research, and contributor to Mending the Web of Life: Chinese Medicine and Species Conservation. She can be reached at www.highfallsgardens.net. The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm A leading light in the field of medicinal herb cultivation, The Chinese Medic

Paul Jaminet, Ph.D., was an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Paul’s experience overcoming a chronic illness led the Jaminets to develop the views of aging and disease presented in Perfect Health Diet. Suffering from chronic illness and unable to get satisfactory results from doctors, husband and wife scientists Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet took an intensely personal interest in health and nutrition. They embarked on five years of rigorous research. What they found changed their lives— and the lives of thousands of their readers. In Perfect Health Diet, the Jaminets explain in layman’s terms how anyone can regain health and lose weight by optimizing nutrition, detoxifying the diet, and supporting healthy immune function. They show how toxic, nutrient-poor diets sabotage health, and how on a healthy diet, diseases often spontaneously resolve. Perfect Health Diet tells you exactly how to optimize health and make weight loss effortless with a clear, balanced, and scientifically

Alan Chadwick was a brilliant master gardener, a visionary, and an extraordinary source of inspiration for many horticulture students and professional gardeners, past and present. Through those who worked with him, and the constant stream of luminaries, writers, practitioners, and students who visited his magical gardens, Chadwick influenced an entire generation of American gardeners, whether directly or indirectly. In his fertile, productive gardens, Chadwick proved that by following his methods, yields of four to six times the U.S. commercial average for fruits, vegetables, and grains could be achieved, using one-eighth of the water, a quarter of the fertilizer, and one-hundredth of the energy per pound of food produced. To Chadwick, gardening was in part a spiritual endeavor: an element in the quest for the inner sense of man, a means of shedding light on a vision of creation and nature. He was fascinated by the mystery of nature and the power of its cycles; he saw nature essentially as a giver and forgive