The Permaculture Podcast

In this episode, Chris Knapp, one of the founders of Maine Local Living School in Temple, Maine, returns to talk about their immersive educational experience, The Understory. During our conversation, Chris shares how this program came to be, his influences, and the knowledge, skills, and encounters he and his fellow instructors seek to impart to students during the multi-week, onsite program. If you are interested in permaculture and what permaculture education can look like beyond the Permaculture Design Course, or you are an instructor looking to build upon your existing curriculum and offerings, this is an interview to dive into. Find out more about Chris, the school, and The Understory at MaineLocalLiving.org.

My guest today is Chris Knapp, an instructor and one of the founders of Maine Local Living School, a homestead and education center in Temple, Maine. In this conversation, Chris shares how he came to develop a deep love for the land and created a connection to the place he calls home. This is an experience he seeks to share with each of his students, whether school-aged children, young adults transitioning to adulthood, or adults seeking a change in their path on their journey through life.   Find out more about Chris, the school and programs, including The Understory, at MaineLocalLiving.org. Chris will be back on the show for the second part of our conversation, as we dive into The Understory and what Chris and his fellow instructors seek to impart through this immersive homesteading and permaculture experience. Until the next episode, or I hear from you, spend each day deepening your sense of place, while taking care of Earth, your self, and each other.

This is the second in a series of three guest episodes from Shane Sater. A naturalist and writer based in Montana, USA, Shane shares his deep passion for nature and community through writing and recordings like this one, bringing together his education in environmental science, botany, and field biology with his experiential work in community, integrating the wonder embodied relationship with nature to the human experience. In addition to this work and with a love for all creatures, Shane feels a special affinity for silk moths, stinging nettles, cottonwoods, and meadowlarks. Read more of Shane's nature writing and view the photographs from his journey in the natural world at WhatsGoingOnBlog.org.

My guest for this episode is Sam Thayer, the expert forager and author. You can find Sam's personal experience working with wild foods in his books, The Forager's Harvest and Nature's Garden. Resources  Sam Thayer The Forager's Harvest Nature's Garden Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate

My guests for this episode are Violet Brill and her father “Wildman” Steve Brill. Violet and Steve are foragers from New York. Violet assists her father on his plant tours, leading groups of people and teaching them about wild edibles. You can find out more about Violet and Steve at wildmanstevebrill.com.

Chef and writer Sara Bir joins me to share her work as a foodie and author of The Fruit Forager’s Companion, from Chelsea Green Publishing. Using her book and those experiences as a place to start, we explore her interest in wild fruit and foods, including first falling in love with the paw paw, and about how shared experiences, in the forest or around the table, bring us together. You can find Sara on her website sausagetarian and her book at Chelsea Green. I also recommend following her on Instagram, if you’re on there, as she posts some really great pictures about food. Just as with her website, you’ll find her there as sausagetarian. Resources Sara Bir (sausagetarian.com) Sara on Instagram The Fruit Foragers Companion (Chelsea Green)

This episode is the first in a series of guest permabytes from Shane Sater. Shane, a naturalist and writer based in Montana, USA, has a deep passion for nature and community which he explores through his writing where he brings together his training in environmental science, botany, and field biology with his lived experiences in his community, speaking to wonder and the embodied relationship with nature that all of us can have. Throughout his journeys, Shane feels a special affinity for silk moths, stinging nettles, cottonwoods, and meadowlarks - among many other of Earth’s creatures. Read more of Shane's nature writing at: https://whatsgoingonblog.org/ 

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.

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)

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 ances

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.

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

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 Fermentation The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved

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)

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

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)

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 Interviews Dan Kittredge - Nutrient Dense Foods Stephen Harrod Buhner - The Citizen Scientist Elizabeth Farnsworth - GoBotany! and Citizen Science Resources Dr. Ingham’s CV Soil Food Web Environment Celebration Institute Dr. Ingham's Online Classes Ecological Monograph (

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 E

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 permacultur

Donate To The Podcast!  Via PayPal -or- Venmo @permaculturepodcast Join our Patreon Community! ----- 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