Regenerative Skills

1. Making micro farms work through lean planning, with Ben Hartman

I’ve been observing an interesting trend in the regen ag space. The concept and awareness of regen ag has been growing exponentially with many people exploring ways to start their own farms and to participate in and support those who are already involved. At the same time the current economic situation and the complexity of regulations, paired with skill worker shortages, and other challenges are leading people to burn out or quit altogether. It’s no joke how complex and difficult it can be to r

Dec 01,2023 58:27

2. Low tech solutions for erosion and water management with Neil Bertrando and Jeff Adams

We live in a time when everyone seems to be looking for high tech solutions for every problem. Maybe it's due to all of the new tech that has come out in recent decades with lofty promises of new frontiers, or the fact that so many of us are removed from regular interaction with the natural world, but I genuinely believe that technology is more over-applied and responsible for more problems than it usually solves. For that reason I always like to see when professionals advocate for low tech solu

Nov 24,2023 01:26:36

3. Working with wastewater and learnings from Biosphere 2, with Mark Nelson

I’ve been lucky in recent months to be able to speak to people who’ve been leaders and change makers in the regenerative space for a significant amount of time. Building on that knowledge and experience I got to speak with Dr Mark Nelson. Mark is Chairman of the Institute of Ecotechnics, head of Wastewater Gardens International and has worked for several decades in closed ecological system research, bioregenerative space life support, ecological engineering, restoration of damaged ecosystems, d

Nov 17,2023 01:22:39

4. Reviving heritage foods through landrace farming, with Glenn Roberts

A few months back when I covered the topic of landrace gardening and crop breeding, I had no idea what a passionate and knowledgeable community around the world that I was tapping into. The seed savers and plant breeders who I’ve been in touch with, including quite a few who are part of the Discord community for this podcast, are working on everything from quinoa crosses for tough climate staple crop production, to the domestication of silverweed, adapted varieties for low maintenance, and so mu

Nov 10,2023 01:26:11

5. John Kempf on the trends and future of regenerative agriculture

My guest today needs no introduction if you’ve been paying attention to the regen ag scene in the last decade, but just in case you’re new to this topic and community let me catch you up to speed John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host and teacher. He is passionate about the potential of well managed agriculture ecosystems to reverse ecological degradation.It is John’s mission to have these regenerative models of agriculture management become the mainstream globally by 2040.In addit

Nov 03,2023 01:27:15

6. Will Harris reflects on his career and his return to giving a damn

Oct 27,2023 01:06:20

7. Key insights from reviving soils around the world, with Matt Slaughter

Though we’ve covered many aspects of soil health on this show in previous episodes, this is an area of scientific and agronomic study which is constantly growing and evolving. It seems that there are a growing number of specialists who are pioneering research in very specific and detailed aspects of soil health which helps to expand our overall picture of the ecosystem under our feet. At the same time it’s essential to be able to translate all of this advanced biology, chemistry, and even physic

Oct 20,2023 01:29:42

8. Building a regenerative food system in Europe, with Patricia Wiklund

This week I want to build on the panel discussion that I started previously in the panel episode with the group from the Alpbach forum. In that conversation we looked at various visions on what a regenerative food system could look like from representatives from Nestle, Agrana, and a conservation farmer. Today I want to bring another perspective into this idea of building healthy and resilient food systems from a friend of mine who has been working on this by connecting stakeholders throughout t

Oct 13,2023 01:04:43

9. From planting to harvest. How to care for your fruit trees, with Suzan Poizner

Oct 06,2023 01:17:10

10. Ecological regeneration through profitable farming with Jake Takiff

Any of you who’ve been following the show this season will remember one of my favorite episodes from the beginning of the year in which I documented a water restoration job I went out to Nicaragua to go in collaboration with Restoration Agriculture Development, the contracting company founded by Mark Shepard. There I worked under the guidance of Jake Takiff, RAD’s dryland restoration specialist and the lead designer on that job. I got along famously with Jake and learned a ton from working along

Sep 29,2023 01:25:23

11. Visions for a regenerative food system in Europe

At the end of August I had a unique opportunity to attend the European Alpbach Forum in Austria, as I was invited by organizers at Nestlé to moderate an event they were organizing. This was a unique session that included a guided hike in the Alps around the town and a discussion centered on the core themes of which structures, innovation, incentives, models, and mindsets are necessary to enable the transition to regenerative food systems. As listeners of this show already know, I’ve explored the

Sep 22,2023 01:05:19

12. Pioneering regenerative dairy production, with Phyllis Van Amburgh

At this point I’ve covered a wide array of practices and management styles that fall under the broad umbrella of regenerative agriculture. Some could be considered traditional while others are more modern and innovative and they span continents, climates, biomes and industries. Nonetheless I’ve noticed a pretty big gap that I’ve yet to cover in detail that I hope to begin to fill in today. Dairy farming has been under sharp criticism in recent times. Scrutiny over everything from the appropriate

Sep 15,2023 01:18:33

13. Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business: Part 2

This is part two of the conversation started last week with Akiva Silver. Co-owner of Twisted Tree nursery and homestead. If you haven’t yet heard the first part, you can find the link in the show notes for this episode on the website at regenerativeskills.comYou’ll remember from last week that one of the first projects I encourage people to do when starting any land based project is to start a plant nursery. Not only will you start the long process of coaxing plants into maturity which is wort

Sep 08,2023 27:49

14. Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business: Part 1

After the last few weeks of focus on the intricacies of Holistic management and building community in agriculture, I wanted to go back to some technical information on specific farming enterprises. One of the most common questions I get asked from listeners and clients who are starting new projects is about where to begin. Those of you familiar with permaculture will know of the common advice to live and wait a full year on your site before beginning to design and implement your vision. This tim

Sep 01,2023 31:02

15. Championing the alternative to a farm free future, with Chris Smaje

I’ve been watching an interesting and important discussion play out for a number of years now within the environmental movement and ecological farming community. It appears that on one hand we have a group that is convinced by the data that farming to feed a population which is growing exponentially through traditional land based means is doomed to be an ecological detriment. Our current system should instead be replaced with high tech solutions such as vertical farms and laboratory processes to

Aug 25,2023 01:08:58

16. Matt Powers on discovering the world under our feet with soil microscopy

One of the emerging practices in the regenerative work space is that of citizen science. This covers an infinite range of scientific specialties, but I’ve especially seen amazing things come from two areas in the last couple years. These would be mycology and the study of soil. That isn’t to say that traditional institutions aren’t making advances in these fields, but passionate amateurs have also been leading some incredible innovations in these areas. Incredibly, at the center of both of these

Aug 18,2023 01:21:22

17. Building community for farmers with Klarien Klingen

Since last year much of my work with Climate Farmers has been in building the European farmer community and creating connections so that members can learn from each other. I admittedly don’t have a lot of prior experience with this so I went looking for experienced and successful community builders to mentor me in the process. One of the most helpful and inspiring people the this search put me in touch with is Klarien Klingen, one of the primary organizers of the Dutch agroecological community c

Aug 11,2023 51:55

18. Ian Robertson, Ed Brown, and Ben Taylor-Davies on the knowledge and mindset needed for regenerative farm transitions (redux)

I’ve touched on this topic briefly in previous interviews, but it bears repeating. Agriculture around the world is going through a critical moment. The skyrocketing prices of petroleum products, meaning most agriculture chemicals and fertilizers as well as machinery fuel, is causing a tipping point for many farm businesses. Operations that have long been dependent on these synthetic inputs are facing tough decisions. Do they double down and continue to keep their land on life support, sticking w

Aug 04,2023 01:24:16

19. Leveraging native plant communities and ecological succession for regeneration, with Henry Anderson

One of my favorite topics to explore on this show is how other people with unique skill sets and talents look at the natural world and the ecological design process. I’ve been fortunate in my network of designers, educators, farmers, and academics to peer into the specialties of ecological understanding and design thinking from many points of view, and today is one of those opportunities. I first met Henry Anderson through a design project that our mutual friend Juan Pablo was working on in Port

Jul 28,2023 01:40:25

20. Joseph Lofthouse shows how anyone can get started with landrace gardening

I’ve been looking forward to today’s session for a good couple months now. Though it’s been years since I got excited about seed saving and heard the first little bits of the ideas around landrace gardening, I only recently got a window into its real potential. I honestly feel a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know more about landrace plant breeding until recently since it’s the reason we have pretty much all the domesticated and semi-domesticated varieties of food that you can find all over the

Jul 21,2023 01:19:13

21. Helen Atthowe shares her secrets for long term ecological farming success

A lot of my work these days revolves around communicating with farmers around Europe who are at various stages of a transition towards regenerative management. For many different reasons farmers are looking for solutions outside of the conventional industry of chemical and technological manipulations and are rediscovering the potential of partnering with natural cycles and processes. Though there are a handful of examples of growers who’ve been pioneering these practices around the continent, th

Jul 14,2023 01:21:31

22. Reflecting on the journey and my learnings after 300 episodes

Welcome to a very special episode of the regenerative skills podcast. This is the 300th episode that I am publishing today, and to make the occasion I wanted to try something new. At this point the show has grown immensely from where I started it and I would imagine that most of you who are tuned in now haven’t been here since the beginning. For that reason I’m going to revisit the origins of this show and explain the context in which this podcast was started, how it’s evolved along with my own

Jul 07,2023 01:28:32

23. William Horvath helps build effective processes for farms and homesteads

Today’s episode touches on a very timely topic for me. I’m currently developing a program to assist European farmers in their transition to regenerative management of their farms, and the big challenge is to make a program that is relevant for the vast array and contexts and differences that farmers across this continent are working from. No set of information is appropriate. No one teaching style is going to connect with everyone. Even the regulatory frameworks and incentive structures can vary

Jun 30,2023 01:08:56

24. A new formula for integral and long lasting development work with Daillen Culver and Lailani Yats

Today’s episode is going to require some context for anyone who’s not familiar with the origin of this show.Back in 2017 when I started this podcast I was doing an internship with my friend and mentor Charlie Rendal on bamboo building in Lake Atitlan Guatemala. I had been traveling back and forth from Guatemala for a number of years.I had originally gone down there with a friend to learn Spanish and I ended up coming back for years to see friends and just because I love that country.In my time t

Jun 24,2023 01:06:11

25. Mark Shepard’s field manual for hydrological restoration on any farm

Since the three part series that Nick and I recorded about the vast array of drought mitigation and recovery solutions for people in different living situations we’ve gotten a lot of follow up questions from listeners who want to go deeper into this subject. Luckily one of my friends and mentors who’s had an outsized influence on my educational journey and inspiration to work with farmers and land managers in helping them to make the most of the water resources has just come out with a new book.

Jun 16,2023 01:30:38

26. A holistic look at physical health and well-being with Crystal Honeycutt part 2

Just checking in while still on a short holiday. I just dropped my mom off at the airport at about 3 yesterday morning after a wonderful week of her visiting us, my sister, and her girls at the farm. It’s been such a blessing to have almost all my favorite women under the same roof for a time. My family is scattered all across the world, so these moments when a number of us can be together is really precious to me, and a big motivation of why Alba and I moved out here to begin with. Though we on

Jun 09,2023 48:54

27. A holistic look at physical health and well-being with Crystal Honeycutt

Over the next two weeks I’m going to be taking some much needed recharge time with my family here on the farm. I've got my little sister Emily here and her three little girls Selma, Rawan, and Lujane who came from Kuwait city to spend the summer with us, and my mom who just arrived on Wednesday who will be spending a week with us. We’ve got outdoor education time around the farm (which we call Jungle School), a number of fairs and local festivals in the area we’re going too, and a lot of good fo

Jun 02,2023 51:04

28. Neal Collins on designing health, community, and connection into our built environments

May 26,2023 01:22:43

29. Drought: Part 3. Mitigation strategies for large and regional scale projects.

Welcome to the final episode in mine and Nick’s 3 part series on drought. In the first episode we talked about how drought was affecting our two homes at the moment. His home on the island of Tenerife, and my own in Northeastern Spain. We went over the definition of drought and some common myths and misconceptions, as well as the major factors that can make drought more common and severe. In the second episode we turned to look at the myriad of options that are available to mitigate and even rev

May 19,2023 01:08:28

30. Drought: Part 2. Solutions and opportunities for small and medium scale.

Continuing with our deep dive into drought, my good friend Nick Steiner and I are going to move now from defining drought and the its myriad of causes and factors that make it worse, to a wide range of solutions and opportunities available to people who are living in different environments and with different access to land and space. You may not be surprised to hear that we ended up running long and so I split the episode into two parts. In this session we cover mostly the order of consideration

May 12,2023 01:09:21

31. Drought: Part 1. The myths, misconceptions, and causes

It’s that time again. In todays’ regenerative round table, my good friend Nick Steiner and I give updates on our respective projects. Him on the Island of Tenerife and myself in the mountains of central Catalunya in Spain. In the update we talk about some of the challenges we’ve been experiencing this year. The big topic at the moment for us, and many other in this area of the world, is drought. Partly because Nick and I live in parts of the world where drought is a common factor we’ve been rese

May 05,2023 57:44

32. The genius of plant adaptation to stress in their environment, with Harriet Mela and James White

A couple weeks ago I had a wonderful conversation with my good friend Harriet Mela, the independent researcher from Austria who has helped push the boundaries of soil science and plant physiological understanding. We focused last time on how plants handle water stress, specifically drought and the management practices that can either help or inhibit their natural adaptation to this stress. Harriet also made it clear that she had a lot more to say on this topic and behind the scenes we talked abo

Apr 28,2023 01:12:31

33. A holistic view of health to reach your optimal performance, with Dr Gerrit Keferstein

Today I’m going to dive deeper into the broad topic of holistic health and wellness for this ongoing series that I started with Richard Perkins a couple weeks ago. In this episode we’re going to take a step back and analyze wellbeing with a perspective from the world of high performance athletics. Now I would imagine that for many of you this probably sounds a bit off-brand in comparison to my usual focus on ecological restoration and farming, but bear with me. Even though my guest today, Dr. Ge

Apr 21,2023 01:31:03

34. What does a transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture actually look like? With Michael Reber

Today’s interview has been in the making for me for a couple years now. I first got to know Michael Reber through the pioneer program with Climate Farmers that I directed two years ago. Through that program we guided farmers from around Europe through existing online regenerative farming courses and helped them to adapt the information and techniques to their own businesses and contexts. By this point Michael had already gone through a few major transitions on his own farm and was in the process

Apr 14,2023 01:17:56

35. Could this be the most versatile tool for homesteads and small farms? Zach Loeks explains

Many of you will remember my guest today from the three other interviews I’ve done with him over the years. Zack Loeks is a good friend and a maverick of many regenerative skills and knowledge. From growing up on a permaculture homestead in northern New Mexico as a kid, to farming commercially in Canada, teaching edible ecosystem design through Ecosystem U, designing and installing edible ecosystems and many more side projects, I’m always thrilled to catch up with him. In the past I’ve interview

Apr 07,2023 01:02:30

36. Richard Perkins on the process, preparation, lifestyle, and enjoyment of whole food

Now that I’m spending so much time out on the land here at the new farm I’m becoming a lot more conscious of my health. Nutrition has been really important for me in the last handful of years as I’ve struggled to overcome the chronic digestive issues that plagued me until my 30s. Over time I’ve dug deeper into whole food nutrition, fermentation and the gut microbiome, the importance of healthy fats and unpasteurized products, and quite a few others. At the same time, I’ve read and researched a l

Mar 31,2023 01:25:24

37. A step by step guide to making your own microorganisms and natural fertilizers with Lorenzo Costa

Today I’m going to give you a window into the series of Skill Exchange calls that I host regularly for the members of the Climate Farming community. The community is open to any active farmer in Europe and together we’ve co-created an online learning space for farmers to connect with one another, share ideas and knowledge, and receive support from their peers.This series of Skill Exchange calls is part of my ongoing effort to create a free library of farmer’s presentations on tips and abilities

Mar 24,2023 01:14:45

38. The key to growing more resilient and nutrient dense food, with Julia Dakin

In my work with farmers and clients I’ve always looked for the leverage points where small actions can lead to the largest changes and progress. Where is it that a beginner or novice can invest some resources and make big leaps rather than burning out for small results. In fact, as I’m in the early stages of renovating my own house and farm, this is a source of constant reflection for me as well.This line of thinking has led me to focus so much on water, since basically all life is dependent on

Mar 17,2023 54:35

39. Working with water on the frontline of European desertification

If you’ve been following the episodes so far this season, you know I’ve got a lot of projects and travels going on right now. Since the episode I recorded in Nicaragua, I’ve also been on a project on the island of Madeira and just two days ago I got back from a 9 day trip to Portugal. Though I haven’t been able to record everything like a diary the way I would have liked to, today I did get a chance to sit down with Nick Steiner who was with me every step of the way during the tour around three

Mar 10,2023 53:11

40. Post pandemic zero input gardening and a vision of a biointegrated human future, with Shane Simonsen

I’ve got a treat for you all today. After almost 3 years, I’ve got Shane Simonsen back on the show. For those of you who are not familiar with Shane, I’ll give a quick intro and then point you to the links to the two previous shows I recorded with him because they’re really worth while. Shane is a biologist who has a fascinating project on 40 acres in Queensland, AU centered around the concept of zero input farming, which also happens to be the name of the popular blog he’s written about it, whi

Mar 03,2023 01:20:20

41. Nicole Masters on the important role of coaching to unlock your farm’s potential

One of the most important resources we’ve been working to create for our network of farmers here in Europe through my work at Climate Farmers is what we’ve called our coach matching service. We’ve long since seen that one of the hurdles that farmers face in their transition to regenerative agriculture is either one of two things. Either not the right specific information and support based on their unique context, or as is more common in the internet age, too much information to the point of over

Feb 24,2023 01:00:11

42. Re-evaluating the long term. Key considerations for my context and personal vision of success.

The mindset required to find and purchase the land and home that my partner and I are now living in is not the same mindset required to develop and invest in the long term journey of being here. This has become obvious to me as new opportunities and collaborations come up in my work life and I find myself falling into the old habits and tendencies that I've become used to in the previous years. I'm now in a position in which I need to take some steps back, look at the whole that we are managing

Feb 17,2023 01:09:02

43. Harriet Mella on the science of water handling and drought resilience in plants

Those of you who’ve been following this show for a while have watched my fascination with water and its role in every ecosystem grow over the years. By now, between my professional experience, the courses I’ve taken, and the research I’ve done, I feel quite competent in working with land in a practical way to restore its cycles and functionality on the land. Where my understanding is still lacking is in the cutting edge science of the way that plants use and interact with water. I’m no research

Feb 11,2023 01:25:26

44. Diary of a water restoration design and install

Welcome to the first epsiode of season 7! So much has happened in the month between the last episode where I introduced my partner Alba and our new home and farm in Spain. There have been a lot of projects both inside the house, out on the land, and within our own businesses. One of the new developments that came up is that I was invited to assist on a watershed restoration design and install project with a company that I've admired and looked up to my whole career, Restoration Agriculture Devel

Feb 03,2023 01:12:18

45. A first look at our regenerative project in the new year!

2022 has been an intense year for me behind the scenes. I don't often talk about my personal life here on the show, but I've had some major milestones this year that I'm excited to share with you. It's been a long journey of almost 4 years since leaving the project that I cofounded with my two colleagues in Guatemala around the time that I started this podcast, until now when my partner and I are recently moved into our new little farm in the mountains of Catalunya in Spain. In this episode, for

Dec 30,2022 01:04:26

46. Nick Steiner and Oliver Goshey on the scope of water cycle restoration options for any project size

I’ll keep today’s intro real short because this is a long episode. The short of it is that my good friend Nick Steiner and I have been diving real deep into the topic of landscape hydrology and water cycle restoration both on our own properties and through our work with clients and farmers all around Europe. In the process we’ve become complete nerds about this topic and all of the incredible potential that working with water systems can have for the ecology and quality of life where it’s applie

Dec 23,2022 01:41:05

47. Zach Weiss and Lorenzo Costa break down the design and process for restoring the water cycle of Tuscany

It’s not often I get to do interviews in person, and it’s not often that I get a chance to go to Italy to visit amazing farms and take a course on regional scale landscape hydrological restoration either. In fact this was my first visit to Italy at all. All of these fortunate circumstances came together at the end of November, a couple weeks ago, thanks to the incredible efforts and coordination by my friend Ed Cutler, the director of the Tuscany Environment Foundation. Early on Ed invited me to

Dec 16,2022 01:04:55

48. Scott Zona on the gardener’s guide to biology

Today’s session, in contrast to the more challenging subject of the last two weeks, will take me back into my comfort zone, namely, nerding out about plants and how bizarre and amazing they are. I don’t claim to be a plant expert, far from it. I’m more like a fanboy of a stadium band that has been around forever pumping out the hits and that I only found out about recently and act like I discovered them. I hope those of you who’ve been growing and studying plants your whole lives will forgive me

Dec 09,2022 01:08:16

49. Jake Leguee gives a perspective from modern technological farming: Part 2

Today we’ll be wrapping up the second in a two part interview that I’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time. If you missed the first part of the interview then I really recommend that you go back and listen to it before this second half to get the proper context. As a quick recap, I’ve been speaking with conventional and industrial farmers for some time, not only to better understand the industry and the management practices they use, but also to understand the people who manage these

Dec 02,2022 59:34

50. Jake Leguee gives a perspective from modern technological farming: Part 1

Today I’ll begin the first in a two part interview that I’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time, but let me give you some background context before we get started. It’s no secret that I’m a major proponent of regenerative agriculture and many of the different methodologies, practices, and concepts that this wide label contains. I believe strongly that our generation has an opportunity and an obligation to reconcile our food production system with the natural world that we depend on an

Nov 25,2022 01:08:35

51. Laura Lengnick on the principles of building climate resilient farms. Part 1

It’s been a wild couple of weeks for me and as a result I’m struggling a bit to catch up. After the 5 day regenerative Design course at the Green Rebel farm in Miravet, Spain, then the three day Climate Farming conference at Schloss Kirchberg in Germany, and I’m now on a short break visiting the small farm of a good friend of mine in Dessau between events before a week long team retreat with the Climate Farmers team in Brandenburg. When I get back I’ve got tree planting events lined up in the Py

Oct 29,2022 44:22

52. Ask me anything: Students from the regen design course interview ME!

Welcome to a very special episode. For the first time on this show I've given the mic over to the participants on my regenerative design course and told them they can ask me anything. This was completely unplanned and came out of some of the many amazing conversations with the group in the evenings. Many of the people who came out to learn with us here on the Green Rebel farm are long time listeners of the podcast and they were excited to take on a leading role on this episode. They also saved m

Oct 14,2022 55:46

53. Blake Cothron on growing berries and other small fruit for profit. Part 2

Today I’m back with part 2 of my interview with Blake Cothron, the author of the new book “The Berry Grower: small scale organic fruit production in the 21st century.” Just in case you missed the first part of this episode, Blake Cothron is an organic farmer, educator, professional horticulturist and small business owner in Stanford, Kentucky, USA. He has been a grower for over 25 years and has been operating an organic plant nursery business for almost 10 years. His specialties are small fruit

Oct 07,2022 59:57

54. Blake Cothron on growing berries and other small fruit for profit

I’m super excited to share with you all what is about to be a deep dive into one of the most promising and often overlooked small farm enterprises, small fruit and berry growing. In order to get the scoop on berry growing, I went straight to the source to speak with Blake Cothron, the author of the new book “The Berry Grower: small scale organic fruit production in the 21st century.” Blake Cothron is an organic farmer, educator, professional horticulturist and small business owner in Stanford, K

Sep 30,2022 56:15

55. Regeneration is for everyone! Stories from the Regenerative Skills community

Today I’m excited to share a special episode which comes from a presentation I gave about two weeks ago with Gaia Education, an leading organization in providing education in sustainable development.Through Ecosystem Restoration Camps, the NGO that I used to work with, I have co-facilitated the design portion of their Ecosystem Restoration Design course for the last few years. Now, for the first time they’ve made the course available for open rolling registration, which means you no longer have

Sep 23,2022 40:24

56. Elvira Di’Brigit on why we farm. Stories from growers of the Capay Valley

A lot of my work at the moment is centered around building community and connecting people across Europe who are on a journey into regenerative agriculture. As I learn more and more about the farmers that I’m working with and their challenges and desires for the future I’m struck by the stories that unfold. Stories of legacy, perseverance, experimentation, recovery from adversity, hope, and so much more. As I work to gather and record these stories and to connect these people so we can better co

Sep 16,2022 34:58

57. Lynn Cassels on their journey to starting a successful farm with no prior experience

It’s no secret that the farmer population in Europe and many other places has been diminishing and growing older for a long time now. There are however still lots of younger folks who are interested in becoming farmers, but are struggling to get their foot in the door. Barriers to entry such as high land prices, high startup and infrastructure costs, lack of loan options, bureaucratic difficulties in inheritance, and a steep learning curve if you don’t already have experience farming are holding

Sep 09,2022 01:11:30

58. Mateusz Ciasnocha on understanding the coming changes to the European common agriculture policy (CAP)

Ever since moving to Europe three years ago, I’ve been working to understand both the differences and similarities between the cultural, societal, and governmental background that I’m more familiar with from the USA and Mesoamerica compared to Spain and the larger European Union. Especially since my work is centered around agriculture and how we can set up the infrastructure to assist growers on this continent who want to shift to regenerative management, I need to first gain an understanding of

Sep 02,2022 59:01

59. Learnings and reflections from starting our own regenerative projects with Oliver, Nick, and Jacob

This week I wanted to get back to one of my favorite formats from the early days of this show in which I just take the time to speak with some of my close friends and collaborators about what we’re working on. Today I grabbed my good friends Nick Steiner and Jacob Evans. Nick is one of my closest colleagues in my work with Climate Farmers. He leads the Academy at the company and has spearheaded the coach matching service where we put farmers in touch with other farmers and experts who can help t

Aug 26,2022 01:09:00

60. Patrick Worms on the history and future of agroforestry

I’ve been taking it easy since my sister and her little girls are over visiting from Kuwait for the month and my Granny on the Isle of Man was also able to stop by for a week. So for that reason I’m going to rebroadcast one of my favorite episodes on agroforestry from two seasons ago with Patrick Worms. I hope all of you out there are also finding time to unwind and enjoy this summer despite all the challenges and extremes we’re experiencing. With regenerative agriculture and agroforestry increa

Aug 19,2022 32:08

61. Paul Nicholson opens the fascinating world of plants, botany, and horticulture

Though we’re quite a few episodes into this series on tree planting and agroforestry already, I had a unique opportunity to go back to the roots and explore some of the fundamentals of the plant kingdom and how we can actively work to preserve the wonder and diversity of vegetative life. The truth is that the challenges of climate change and ecosystem mismanagement aren’t only having an effect on humans and animals. Despite the fact that plants make up the vast majority of living biomass on eart

Aug 12,2022 59:27

62. Mark Krawczyk on coppice agroforestry and woodland management: Part 2

Welcome back to another episode in this ongoing series on tree planting and agroforestry. Today we’re going to pick up where we left off last week in our conversation with Mark Krawczyk about the practice of coppicing woody perennial plants and woodland management as a whole. For a quick recap, Mark Krawczyk is the author of the new book Coppice Agroforestry: Tending trees for product, profit, & woodland ecology. Mark is an applied ecologist, educator, and grower incorporating the practices of p

Aug 05,2022 44:52

63. Mark Krawczyk on coppice agroforestry and woodland management: Part 1

Welcome back to another episode in this ongoing series on tree planting and agroforestry. So far we’ve taken a broad look at many types of reforestation and how to integrate trees and woody species into farming systems, but there’s another side of the coin in this conversation. Today we’re going to start another two part session focusing on the management of woody perennials, specifically the practice of coppicing. In order to get a better understanding of this ancient woodland management system

Jul 29,2022 48:55

64. Philipp Gerhardt on the climate and culture transforming potential of agroforestry (Part 2)

Welcome back to this ongoing series on tree planting and agroforestry. This week we’ll wrap up the two part interview I did with Philipp Gerhardt, the founder of the website baumfeldwirtschaft.de (which translates basically to tree farming) and managing director of Deutsche Agroforst GmbH. He is considered a leading expert for keyline design in Central Europe and is active in research projects and as a lecturer in seminars. As a pioneer in agroforestry, he has developed new approaches with his t

Jul 22,2022 59:20

65. Philipp Gerhardt on the climate and culture transforming potential of agroforestry

Welcome back to this ongoing series on tree planting and agroforestry. This week will be the first of a two part interview I did with Philipp Gerhardt, the founder of the website baumfeldwirtschaft.de (which translates basically to tree farming) and managing director of Deutsche Agroforst GmbH. He is considered a leading expert for keyline design in Central Europe and is active in research projects and as a lecturer in seminars. As a pioneer in agroforestry, he has developed new approaches with

Jul 15,2022 53:11

66. Byron Joel on the fascinating coevolution of humans and oak trees

Welcome to a special episode edition of this ongoing series focusing on tree planting and agroforestry. So far I’ve had a lot of interviews talking about tree and perennial systems and we’ve mostly looked at things from a macro perspective. Today we’ll take a closer look at one of the most incredible families of plants that are present in the majority of temperate ecologies around the world, the family Quercus, more commonly known as oaks. Here to give us a window into the undervalued world of o

Jul 08,2022 01:03:15

67. Ben Law on the way of the woodsman

Welcome to a special episode edition of this ongoing series focusing on tree planting and agroforestry. Often when we think about agroforestry we think first about food. Orchards of fruit and nut crops are certainly an important aspect of agroforestry, but so is the responsible harvesting and care for woodlands for building materials and fuel. For a long time now I’ve admired the work of Ben Law who’s a woodsman, permaculture practitioner, and author of many books on developing, tending, and usi

Jul 01,2022 41:40

68. Hannah Lewis on the mini-forest revolution

Welcome back to this ongoing series on tree planting and agroforestry. As I’ve been researching this topic for years I’ve begun to see a spectrum of tree planting concepts that look like a gradient based on the diversity in the system. On one extreme you have monoculture orchards and timber plantations which are just a single species on large tracts of land, and on the other extreme you have syntropic agroforestry for productive systems and what are known as Miyawaki forests for native reforesta

Jun 24,2022 59:04

69. Dani Baker on why it’s never too late to start your home-scale forest garden

Just as promised from last week’s episode exploring the wide and unknown varieties of fruit and nut trees for cold climates, we’re going to go deeper into getting forest gardens established in frigid zones. It turns out there are tons of planting options for people who live in hardiness zones 6 and below. There are even some advantages in maintenance and pest pressure since you get a long dormant season and the low temperatures prevent a lot of warmer climate pests from reproducing. To learn mor

Jun 17,2022 59:15

70. Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano on the wealth of options for cold hardy fruit and nut trees

There are so many interesting perspectives to approach this topic from and today we’re going to hear from two people who turned a personal love of plants into a thriving botanical garden and nursery. Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano started creating a botanical garden in their backyard 22 years ago by planting native trees, shrubs, perennials and unusual edibles. Soon after they became interested in bog plants, hardy cacti, woodland species and non-native trees as well. Together they fenced in 3 a

Jun 10,2022 01:15:04

71. Harry Greene makes the case for profitable investment in agroforestry

Welcome to a brand new series. Over the next months we’ll be exploring a wide variety of perspectives and knowledge about tree planting, agroforestry, forestry management, and everything to do with woody perennial species. In the last couple years you’ve probably seen tons of articles and promotions about reforestation and tree planting initiatives around the world. Many of these are tied to specific climate change mitigation metrics as it becomes more and more apparent just how vital trees are

Jun 03,2022 01:07:01

72. Zac Barton on building community in a foreign country

Today is the last episode of the series on building community. Though there remains so much to say on this subject, I wanted to wrap up this endlessly complex and nuanced topic with a discussion about the challenges and learning of integrating into a foreign community. I have a lot of my own thoughts and stories on this, but I also immediately thought to check back in with a friend of mine who’s been on this show before in a previous series on homesteading, and who’s had similar experiences whic

May 27,2022 01:03:44

73. Allan Savory, Ana Digón, and Rudolf Buehler on building community in agriculture

As we come to the end of this series on building strong communities, I wanted to revisit one of the most impactful conversations I had from last season. Last year you may remember that I released an 11 episode series of expert panels focused on various aspects of regenerative agriculture. In the final panel session I recorded a discussion with Allan Savory, Ana Digón, and Rudolf Buehler all of whom have been catalysts for for the creation of community for growers and land stewards around the wor

May 20,2022 59:59

74. Looby Macnamara on the use of permaculture principles for social and cultural emergence

Over the last decade I’ve begun to see a subcategory of permaculture learning start to gain attention. As more and more people encounter the principles of this ecological design framework and experiment with different ways of applying it in their lives there’s been an emergence of social permaculture to integrate the patterns of nature to tackle inner challenges. The wonderful book Human Permaculture: Life Design for Resilient Living by Bernard Alonso and Cécile Guiochon was my first introductio

May 13,2022 44:07

75. Taryn Lane on how to mobilize a community to reach net zero

As I continue to explore the knowledge and wisdom of people around the world working to build and strengthen their communities, I’ve been uncovering inspiring examples of local initiatives striving for a carbon neutral future. Inspired to act by the global efforts to reduce nonrenewable fuel dependence and to uncouple their essential infrastructure from fossil fuels, communities have taken it upon themselves to do their part to transition towards a sustainable future even if governments at the n

May 06,2022 51:52

76. Ian Robertson, Ed Brown, and Ben Taylor-Davies on the knowledge and mindset needed for regenerative farm transitions

You can now get connected to the vast network of experts, consultants and coaches who are part of the Climate Farming network. We know that making the transition to profitable regenerative agriculture is hard enough, but without support from people with experience and who understand your unique context, you can waste needless time, money, and effort along the way. So don’t do it alone. Just click on the link below and we’ll help you find tailored assistance that can fasttrack your transformation

May 05,2022 01:23:58

77. Jill Cloutier, Scott Mann, and Oliver Goshey on the launch of the Regenerative Media Alliance

Learn more about the Regenerative Media Alliance and our events and resources here!I’m very excited for today’s episode, because it’s been in the works for quite a long time. For years I’ve been thinking about how to connect with some of the other podcasters and content producers that I’ve admired and learned from. My initial motivation after all was to contribute something to the incredible body of work being built online and made available for free. These resources are behind my own profession

Apr 29,2022 52:33

78. Sarah James on the natural steps for regenerating communities

In today’s episode I’m going to bring us back to an aspect of strengthening community that I first began to explore in this series with David Holmgren and Charles Marhon. Back then we looked deeply into how suburbs and towns can work at a foundational level to regenerate their communities through civic planning and collaboration through each level of local government. In today’s episode I spoke to Sarah James, the co-author of the book The Natural Step for Communities which provides inspiring ex

Apr 22,2022 46:49

79. Kim Deans on the power of financial planning to transform your farm

You can now get connected to the vast network of experts, consultants and coaches who are part of the Climate Farming network. We know that making the transition to profitable regenerative agriculture is hard enough, but without support from people with experience and who understand your unique context, you can waste needless time, money, and effort along the way. So don’t do it alone. Just click on the link below and we’ll help you find tailored assistance that can fasttrack your transformation

Apr 19,2022 01:06:44

80. Natalie Topa on emergency regeneration for communities in need

Today I want to build on the focus of last week’s episode with Morag Gamble in which we explored the challenges and opportunities for environmental and societal regeneration in refugee communities. One of the people that Morag mentioned in the interview who is also pioneering regenerative work with refugee communities was Natalie Topa. I immediately recognized that name from an inspiring webinar that I’d watched in which Natalie presented her work and design methods from her experience working i

Apr 15,2022 01:17:02

81. Morag Gamble on hope for regeneration in refugee communities

Learn more about Morag Gamble's online permaculture training here!As we continue to dive deeper into this series on how to build strong communities I wanted to take the time to try and understand some of the unique challenges of some of the most difficult community circumstances. I’m talking specifically about refugee settlements and communities of displaced people. It’s unfortunately true that camps and shelters for people who’ve been forced to move are growing massively in recent years. Confli

Apr 08,2022 01:06:13

82. Timothy Parton on the steps to weaning your land off chemical inputs

Click here to be matched with an expert consultant or mentor for your regenerative farm journey!Agriculture around the world is at a critical moment. We find ourselves between simultaneous crises in which the long term effects of the pandemic continue to shine a light on the instability of our global food system, all while the war in Ukraine is resulting in a shortage of grain and synthetic fertilizers. The full effects of these scenarios are still a long way from being felt, but I can tell you

Apr 05,2022 53:41

83. Jacob Rodenburg on engaging young communities through nature reconnection

Learn more and register for the Profitable Syntropic Agroforestry course today!Fill out this form to receive free trees and planting support as well as a consultation call with OliverAs we continue in this ongoing series on building strong communities, I wanted to take a step back and focus on the youngest members whose needs and considerations are often overlooked as the adults take charge and make decisions. Childhood education, especially nature reconnection and environmental knowledge has co

Apr 01,2022 48:25

84. Dr James Gruber on the key principles of how communities thrive

In this ongoing series on building strong communities, we’ve already taken a look at the buildings and infrastructure that are more conducive to regenerative living and connected populations, but I want to return to a broader range of contexts and applications from around the world in this episode.Much like the first session from this series with Zach Weiss in which he profiled amazing examples from across the globe of communities who have come together to achieve incredible transformations of t

Mar 25,2022 01:07:27

85. Nicole Masters on what it takes to be an effective agricultural consultant

Click here to be matched with an expert consultant or mentor for your regenerative farm journey!Today I’m excited to announce a completely new thread to this podcast. I’ve teamed up with Climate Farmers, the company that I’ve been working with for over a year now, that is working to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe by assisting farmers in their transition toward regenerative management of their land and businesses. At the beginning of this year our whole team invested a lot of time in re

Mar 23,2022 01:27:17

86. Charles Marohn on the keys to designing strong and resilient towns

Learn more and register for the Profitable Syntropic Agroforestry course today!Fill out this form to receive free trees and planting support as well as a consultation call with OliverI’ve often wondered what in the world goes on in the thought process behind the planning and design of the newer towns that I’ve lived in. In the case of really old places, the layout and architecture always made more sense to me. Streets are laid out with orientations to sun patterns or for ease of access to import

Mar 18,2022 01:16:55

87. David Holmgren on the hidden regeneration potential of the suburbs

Learn more and register for the Profitable Syntropic Agroforestry course today!Fill out this form to receive free trees and planting support as well as a consultation call with OliverI’ve had the privilege of being able to travel to many places around the world to design and manage projects for organizations and clients, and the one constant that I find whether it’s getting a natural home off the ground, planning an agroforestry plantation, or even remotely consulting with someone on their dream

Mar 11,2022 01:39:33

88. Zach Weiss on the power of community collaboration to revive rivers and bring back the rain

Zach Weiss on the power of community collaboration to revive rivers and bring back the rain

Mar 04,2022 50:42

89. Neal Spackman on the planning and considerations behind the regeneration of large landscapes

Welcome back. Today we’re going to continue with this focus on the design process of regenerative projects at various different scales. We’ve already covered small and residential scale projects with Rob Avis, homesteading projects aiming for self sufficiency with Drew Grim, farm scale and production focused projects with Darren Doherty, and today we’re going to cap it all off with an intimate look at the most ambitious large scale projects that aim to transform whole ecosystems while creating a

Feb 25,2022 01:28:38

90. Darren Doherty on the evolution of the Regrarians regenerative farm design framework

Learn more and register for the Profitable Syntropic Agroforestry course today!Fill out this form to receive free trees and planting support as well as a consultation call with OliverAs we continue through this series on regenerative design we’ve taken a look at small and residential scale projects with Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture, last week we explored the homestead scale with Drew Grim from The Schoolhouse Life, and this week we’re getting into the larger scale of properties and how regener

Feb 18,2022 01:20:54

91. Drew Grim on designing for the homestead scale and managing your time.

Last week I started off this series on the regenerative design process, first focusing on small scale and residential properties, let’s take the next step up and look into homesteads. Homesteading is something of a unique concept to colonial American culture and the term was coined during the homesteading acts of the 1860s. That said, there are plenty of similar concepts in other parts of the world. The ones that I’m most familiar with are small-holdings and crofts, from England and Scotland res

Feb 11,2022 01:00:56

92. Rob Avis on the challenges and opportunities in designing for small spaces

Check out New Society Publisher's sustainability practices for digital readingWelcome to the very first episode of Season 6 of this show. This podcast has undergone a lot of changes and evolutions since I began as the Abundant Edge podcast back in 2017 in Guatemala. Back then I was working mostly in natural building designing homes and managing construction sites for friends and clients around lake Atitlan, now it’s been two and a half years since I moved to Spain to be with my partner, and afte

Feb 04,2022 01:23:33

93. Getting ready for another year of Regeneration: Season 5 finale

If you have a restoration or reforestation project anywhere in Europe, click the link to fill out a short information form and see if you’re eligible to receive free trees and support in planting them. This can be a project of almost any size so don’t hesitate and check today to receive all the support you need to get your planting project off the ground and into the ground!If you're early in the process of starting an ecological restoraton project and you want to learn how to make your own your

Dec 31,2021 32:55

94. Nigel Palmer’s guide to DIY garden amendments

Let's start 2022 off as the YEAR OF REGENERATION! Join the community call with me, Koen from "Investing in Regenerative Agriculture," and Dimitri from "The Regenerative Agroforestry podcast" at 7pm CET on January 10th. Sign up through this link. Don't hesitate, places are limited to 100. The topic of fertilizers and inputs for farming is a contentious one. Most chemical options either use mined minerals or petroleum products through destructive industrial processes that may improve yields, but c

Dec 24,2021 35:15

95. Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business Part 2

Welcome back everyone. This is part two of the conversation started last week with Akiva Silver. Co-owner of Twisted Tree nursery and homestead. If you haven’t yet heard the first part, you can find the link in the show notes for this episode on the website at regenerativeskills.comYou’ll remember from last week that one of the first projects I encourage people to do is to start a plant nursery. Not only will you start the long process of coaxing plants into maturity which is worth beginning as

Dec 17,2021 28:23

96. Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business Part 1

After the last few weeks of focus on the intricacies of Holistic management and building community in agriculture, I wanted to go back to some technical information on specific farming enterprises. One of the most common questions I get asked from listeners and clients who are starting new projects is about where to begin. Those of you familiar with permaculture will know of the common advice to live and wait a full year on your site before beginning to design and implement your vision. This tim

Dec 10,2021 31:01

97. Building community in agriculture: Expert panel 11

Welcome to the 11th of the monthly expert panel discussions, and our final panel of this year. Each month I've been hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. In this session I hosted a discussion on building community in agriculture with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Euro

Dec 03,2021 59:26

98. Allan Savory on managing complexity holistically: Part 2

Welcome back to the second part of my interview with Allan Savory. If you haven’t yet heard the first part of the session you can find the link in the show notes on the website. Make sure you check that out first if you haven’t already.Last week we covered some of Allan’s insights into where he’s putting his efforts at his stage of his career and the aspects of Holistic Management that are tough for many to grasp despite the simplicity of the practice. He also made the important distinction that

Nov 26,2021 01:12:59

99. Allan Savory on managing complexity holistically: Part 1

this interview has been on my podcasting bucket list for a long time. Like so many others, I’d been intrigued by Allan’s work since I saw his iconic TED talk a few years back. The promise of the ability to restore grassland ecologies through carefully managed grazing made so much sense to me. Allan adeptly explained how he learned to mimic the migration patterns of herd animals on the plains in the African savannah by bunching them together to imitate predator pressure, and then move them throug

Nov 19,2021 01:12:11

100. Innovative marketing and sales strategies for farms: Expert panel 10

Welcome to the 10th of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.In this session I hosted a discussion on innovative marketing and sales models for farms with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Euro

Nov 12,2021 57:30

101. Greame Sait connects the dots from soil to human health: Part 3

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scal

Nov 05,2021 36:22

102. Greame Sait Connects The Dots From Soil To Human Health: Part 2

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scal

Oct 29,2021 35:54

103. Greame Sait connects the dots from soil to human health: Part 1

I’ve been working on a very special project with Climate Farmers for the last few months and I’m proud to say we’re finally ready to announce our new Pioneer Program for farmers in Europe. For this round we’ve partnered with a long time hero of mine, Darren Doherty and his Regrarian’s platform, to bring the most complete regenerative farm training program together with our unique Carbon+ credits for transition finance assistance. The Regrarian’s online program is built around their expanded scal

Oct 22,2021 38:25

104. Charles Dowding teaches the essentials for a productive no-dig veggie garden

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. This is one of the many community building activities that I’ve been organising to help to connect farmers around Europe to some of the best emerging information available, and to get their most important questions answered from our experts around the world. In this session I had the chance to speak with Charles Dowding in Somerset in England

Oct 15,2021 30:50

105. Ray Archuleta, Ademir Calegari, and Ben Taylor-Davies discuss regenerative arable farming

Welcome to the 9th of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.In this session I hosted a discussion on regenerative arable farming with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe.In this panel I in

Oct 08,2021 01:17:14

106. Eric Toensmeier outlines the roadmap to implementing a carbon farming solution

Today’s episode has been a long time coming for me. I’ve followed Eric Toensmeier’s work since I first started learning about permaculture and I found his first book “Paradise Lot” about his work in transforming a tiny suburban dirt patch into a perennial food oasis at his home in Massachusetts. Since then Eric has written many other titles that have kept an eerie pace with my own work and focus over the years. “Perennial Vegetables” was great fodder for my learning in Guatemala with indigenous

Oct 01,2021 54:24

107. Anthony Arvanitakis on cultivating a holistically healthy lifestyle

Welcome back everyone. Today I’m going to explore a topic that has been important to me for a very long time, but that hasn’t been explored much on this show so far. I’m talking about personal health and fitness. Now of course this is a very multifaceted subject, and everyone will have their own ideas of what diets, exercise plans, mobility routines, as well as mental and spiritual practices are essential, and that’s great. This interview is going to focus on physical fitness and what it means t

Sep 24,2021 01:04:26

108. Harriet Mella demystifies cutting edge soil science for ideal plant health

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. This is one of the many community building activities that I’ve been organising to help to connect farmers around Europe to some of the best emerging information available, and to get their most important questions answered from around the world. In this session I had the pleasure of speaking with Harriet Mella, an independent research scient

Sep 17,2021 31:39

109. How to make and analyse high quality compost: Expert panel 8

Welcome to the 8th of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. In this session I hosted a discussion on how to make and analyse high quality compost with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. In this panel I invited t

Sep 10,2021 56:47

110. Stefan Sobkowiak on running a profitable regenerative fruit orchard

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. In this session I had the good fortune of introducing Stefan Sobkowiak to our group. Many of you who’ve been listening to this show for a while will remember the last interview I did with Stefan in the last season during the series on agroforestry. Stefan is one of my favorite sources for practical and honest techniques for managing the whole

Sep 03,2021 39:50

111. Will Harriss of White Oak Pastures on the bigger picture of a regenerative farm business

Over the last handful of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of managing an ambitious new project in my role with Climate Farmers, an organization working to build the infrastructure to scale regenerative agriculture in Europe. We call it the Pioneer Program. What this is essentially is a collaborative effort between us and some of the most prominent and experienced educators in regenerative agriculture. In this first program we partnered with Richard Perkins of Ridgedale Permaculture in Sweden and his

Aug 27,2021 31:50

112. Nathan Fournier on The business side of regenerative landscaping and community restoration

It was a couple months ago that Nathan Fournier joined the Patreon community and we began a correspondence. I quickly realised that he had followed a similar path as I did in getting into ecological design. Nathan first studied engineering and pursued that career path only for a short time before realising that there was a lot missing in the pursuit. Fast forward to today where he’s running a successful ecological landscaping service offering edible gardens, tree planting, and much more to a wid

Aug 20,2021 46:18

113. How to repair the hydrological cycle of a landscape: Expert panel 7

Welcome to the seventh of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.In this session I hosted a discussion on the importance of restoring proper hydrological function in a landscape and the steps to achieving it with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organisation working to advance r

Aug 13,2021 57:03

114. Shane Simonsen is back to outline the refinement of his “Zero-Input” agriculture experiments

Today’s session is an interview that I’d been looking forward to doing for a while. Since last year in fact, when I found Shane Simonsen’s blog and began corresponding with him online. That correspondence turned into one of the most popular and talked about episodes from that season due to the ingenious way that Shane approaches farming his land in Northeastern Australia. In that first interview Shane gave an overview of the experiments in biological succession and food production on his homeste

Aug 07,2021 01:14:00

115. Ivo Degn And Philippe Birker On The Climate Farmers Journey And Mission: Part 2

This episode is the second part in our interview with the cofounders of Climate Farmers, an organization I’ve been working with for almost a year now that is working to build the infrastructure for regenerative agriculture in Europe. In the first part of the interview from last week we’ve covered the challenges of modern farming in Europe and the niche that Climate Farmers is hoping to occupy in the transition to a regenerative agriculture future in Europe. We talked about our own strategy of fo

Jul 30,2021 22:31

116. Ivo Degn and Philippe Birker on the Climate Farmers journey and mission: Part 1

If you’ve been listening to more than a few episodes this season, you’ll certainly have heard me mention a few times that I’ve been hosting the monthly expert panel discussions with Climate Farmers, an organisation that is working to promote regenerative agriculture in Europe. The truth is that there’s a much bigger story behind that collaboration and a whole lot more going on than just the panel discussions. Today I want to begin to share the story and the journey that my colleagues and I have

Jul 23,2021 34:35

117. The broad applications of the holistic management framework: Expert panel 6

Welcome to the sixth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more.In this session, I hosted a discussion on the holistic management framework with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe.In this panel I got to speak with t

Jul 16,2021 59:56

118. Leilani Yats on the nuances and aspirations of regenerative travel

A topic that I’ve been exploring personally for a long time is the concept of regenerative travel. I’ve been travelling my whole life in some way or another from when I was born in Tokyo, Japan and then emigrated to the US with my family when I was 7, through moving 9 times as a kid to taking off independently when I was 17 and traveling and working around the world. Travel has been a lifestyle for me more than a hobby or vacation and I’ve often wondered if my actions and contributions to the pl

Jul 09,2021 37:29

119. Gabe Brown on how to restore soil and ecological health on a massive scale

A lot of the farms that come to mind when I think of regenerative agriculture are smaller, more diverse and quite intensive, with many different crops and animals working in closer proximity with many stacked functions and a niche business model, but what can be done for all those vast fields of monoculture plantings of crops like corn, soy, and wheat that take up so much space in the heartland of the midwestern and western US? Are there regenerative solutions for these massive farms of thousand

Jul 02,2021 51:17

120. Sven Kallen on How to restore the dry and degraded lands of Europe

Three weeks ago I published the episode with Tomas Viguurs on circular mushroom production here in Catalunya and I gave a sneak peak at the second interview I did that day with Sven Kallen. Well today the wait is over and we’re going to dive into the details of Sven’s work of reforestation and agroforestry in some of the most degraded and endangered areas of Europe from the Iberian Peninsula which includes Spain and Portugal, and the Mediterranean basin. This includes many of the most popular va

Jun 25,2021 37:40

121. Farm economics with Mark Shepard and Michael Ableman: Expert panel 5

Welcome to the fifth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. In this session, I hosted a discussion on farm business finances with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers, a non-profit organization working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. In this panel I got two of my favorite voice

Jun 18,2021 49:24

122. Zach Loeks on how to inegrate perennial plants in a market garden: Skill building call 2

Welcome to the second of the Regenerative Skill Building calls that I host with Climate Farmers, a new organization working to promote regenerative agriculture across Europe. These calls are specifically designed for our growing community of farmers around the continent and regenerative agriculture consultants. We listen to their interests and concerns online and then reach out to the experts who can best answer them and offer guidance. In this second call, I was joined by my good friend Zach Lo

Jun 11,2021 01:04:25

123. Closing the loop on gourmet mushroom production

I’ve been making some really cool contacts here in Catalunya recently, and even though site visits and trips out to projects have been stalled as the country only slowly starts to open up, I’ve been jumping at any chance to get back out in the field. One of the projects that I’ve been most excited to get back to see since my first visit back in December is the farm at Mas Rajols and the gourmet mushroom growing operation that it hosts called Mycelio. I first got invited to come to see them by my

Jun 04,2021 36:19

124. Richard Perkins helps troubleshoot your market garden

Get Richard's Mini Series!And all the free resources that come with itThere’s two quick things I want to mention before we get to the interview. The first is that these skills calls are a new feature of the show that I’ll be running with Climate Farmers in our ongoing effort to support and promote regenerative agriculture in Europe and are now going to be offered live every two weeks. These calls will feature interviews and presentations from experts and innovators in farming from around the wor

May 28,2021 52:28

125. Regenerating the biology in your soil: expert panel 4

Welcome to the fourth of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned in the past, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel.In this session, I hosted a discussion on regenerating agricultural soil with my friends and colleagues at

May 21,2021 01:02:39

126. How to tell better stories

I remember distinctly the time that a storyteller came to my middle school when I was in 7th grade. At that point my school experience, like for many others, consisted of being talked to all day by someone at the front of the class while I struggled to pay attention and not fidget. But this was different. This woman’s story and the way she told it managed to hold an auditorium full of 12 and 13 year olds in silent attention hanging on her every word. I remember how she raised and lowered her voi

May 14,2021 33:27

127. Invest, Curate, Mend: A manifesto for our clothing

If you don’t know her from her books, Fibershed and Harvesting Color you’ll likely remember Rebecca Burgess from the panel discussion two weeks ago that I hosted with the team at Climate Farmers in which she and Aroa Alvarez Fernandez spoke about the potential of regenerative fashion and textiles to transform the current clothing industry. After that discussion I felt compelled to speak to her again to explore some of the options that are available to everyone to rediscover the value in our ward

May 07,2021 28:07

128. Investing in regeneration: how to rethink your wealth

On this show I’ve often taken a strong focus on the actions that we can all take to restore ecosystem function and productivity, whether it be planting trees in an agroforestry system, repairing the hydrology of a landscape, or building our homes with natural materials. I’ve centered around these topics because frankly, they’re the ones I have most experience with and can speak about with some confidence, but there are also many other angles on regeneration that are equally important. Many of yo

Apr 30,2021 27:56

129. Exploring Regenerative Fashion: Expert panel 3

Welcome to the third of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned before, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel.In this session, I hosted a discussion on regenerative fashion with my friends and colleagues at Climate Farmers

Apr 23,2021 01:03:04

130. Step 1 in building your permaculture property: With Verge permaculture

Let's take a look at the 1st step in the process of creating a design for building your permaculture property. In working in regenerative design for a while and being connected with many other people who make their living this way, myself and a lot of others have begun to identify patterns in the questions and troubles that people reach out to us consultants and designers for. I haven't been in this line of work though nearly as long as the team at Verge Permaculture and so it felt really good t

Apr 16,2021 38:56

131. The history and future of agroforestry

With regenerative agriculture and agroforestry increasingly becoming popular topics in environmental and even political circles. I wanted to do a one-on-one session with one of my favorite speakers in this sphere, Patrick Worms. Many of you frequent listeners will remember him from the panel discussion on agroforestry two weeks ago that I hosted with Climate Farmers. I got to know Patrick’s work and perspective more intimately as part of the online course on ecosystem restoration design that we

Apr 09,2021 30:38

132. How to plan and succeed with your own reforestation project

Since last week’s episode was an expert panel discussion on agroforestry, I wanted to expand on that theme and help to bring some practical and actionable information on how to plan your own reforestation project. I reached out to Michael Pilarski first since I’m helping to organize and launch the knowledge exchange platform for Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and as an advisory council member, Michael has a ton of experience and knowledge on this subject. In today’s episode we’ll cover the most im

Apr 02,2021 31:10

133. The potential of agroforestry: Expert panel 2

Welcome to the second of the monthly expert panel discussions. As I mentioned last time, each month I’ll be hosting discussions and debates between some of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture, soil science, restoration land management and more. If you’re a subscribing patreon member, you’ll also be invited to the live events and the open Q&A for listeners after the panel. In this session, I hosted a discussion on agroforestry from three distinct perspectives with my friends and

Mar 26,2021 01:02:58

134. How to Make biochar enriched compost for epic veggies

It's time we take a look at How To Make Biochar Enriched Compost For Epic Veggies. A lot of what I spend my time on these days, between working with Ecosystem Restoration Camps, Climate Farmers, and running this show, is researching techniques and solutions for people who are working to regenerate damaged landscapes, either for generally healthier environments or for rich and abundant farmland. Since a lot of both of these goals revolve around the health of the soil as a foundation for mycorrhiz

Mar 19,2021 28:31

135. How to start a profitable Elderberry farm

How To Start A Profitable Elderberry Farm. Since I first arrived in the northeast of Spain a year and a half ago, I’ve been obsessed with getting to know the native plants in my area. I’ve been blown away by just how many edible and medicinal plants are all around me and growing in the most unlikely places, from cracks in the concrete and the edges of parking lots to erosion gullies and whole forests of rosemary and thyme. I’m sure anyone who has studied plant medicines knows that some of the mo

Mar 12,2021 28:17

136. How to build a One Rock Dam to regenerate an erosion area

In today’s episode I spoke with Van Clothier about an innovative and subtle water erosion mitigation technique, and how to build a one rock dam. I know this might seem oddly specific, but after an interview with Brad Lancaster last season, he talked about how he’s been learning from people like Van and his mentor Bill Zeedyk about smaller, less intrusive interventions that can have profound effects on the health of a watershed. The truth is that there are so few watersheds and water bodies left

Mar 05,2021 24:47

137. The Future of Regenerative Agriculture, expert panel 1

Welcome to the first edition of our monthly expert panels. This first edition starts off strong by addressing one of the most talked about issues of our time; understanding the future of regenerative agriculture. For this panel I teamed up with my friends and collaborators at Climate Farmers. Together we're working to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. For this panel we assembled and all-star list of some of the most prominent voices in the movement today. Benedikt Bösel joining us from

Feb 26,2021 01:03:13

138. How to Create a School Garden program

How to start a school garden programFor this week’s episode I reached out to Kaci Rae Chirstopher, the author of the new book The School Garden Curriculum, about how to create a school garden programKaci is the volunteer Farm and Garden Educator for Oregon's Redband Ranch. She was also previously the School Garden Coordinator for the Springwater Environmental Sciences School and the Outdoor Educator for ERA. Her passion is fostering a healthy land ethic, personal empowerment, and environmental l

Feb 19,2021 28:38

139. How to create an edible ecosystem

Zach Loeks, author of the edible ecosystem solutionhave you ever wondered what the difference between a garden and an edible ecosystem is? Do you want to know how you can create one in you own yard? In this episode with author Zach Loeks from the Ecosystem Solutions Institute, you learn all that and more. We'll walk you through how to choose your site, even if all you have is a 5ft by 5ft patch of earth. From there we'll look into orienting the garden spot, improving the soil, and choosing your

Feb 12,2021 25:39

140. How to Ask Better Questions for a regenerative future

To kick of the new season of the Regenerative Skills podcast I wanted to set the tone by highlighting the invisible secret to all the successful design decisions I've ever made. Learning how to ask better questions has so much power to reshape the way we see the world and how we audit our own processes and choices. In this first episode I speak with two women who've been inspirations to me as a designer. Jill Cloutier of Sustainable World Radio and Carol Sanford, the author of "The Regenerative

Feb 05,2021 25:23

141. Working with nature to build soil health, with Robert Pavlis

After last week’s session with Matt Powers, I want to add a second perspective on soil and the new science behind how we can restore it to health in our own gardens. For that perspective I got back in touch with Robert Pavlis who was first on this show a few seasons ago to talk about building natural ponds. Robert has been an avid gardener for over four decades. He is the owner and developer of Aspen Grove Gardens, a 6-acre botanical garden that features over 3,000 varieties of plants. As a spec

Nov 27,2020 01:16:45

142. The fascinating new science of regenerating soil, with Matt Powers, author of “regenerative soil”

Now that I've wrapped up the series on waterway regeneration, I wanted to transition into a two episode deep dive into an essential component of water cycle health and how it affects the land by analysing the most elemental component of a healthy ecology, and that of course is soil. There’ve been a ton of new developments and research in this field in a very short time as scientists and agronomists alike are uncovering new insights into mineral cycles, the soil food web, plant and mycological re

Nov 20,2020 01:09:52

143. Regenerating lakes and ponds with floating islands, with Bruce Kania of Floating Island International

We’ve covered a ton of angles to this topic already, from fixing broken water cycles on the land with keyline planning and earthworks, to marine ecosystem restoration through conservation and even farming. In today’s episode I got to speak with Bruce Kania of Floating Island International which developed their patented Biohaven floating island technology as a solution to algae-ridden and nutrient impared waterways since 2005. Since then they´ve launched over 9,000 island systems worldwide as sol

Nov 13,2020 01:00:09

144. Reviving urban waterways with floating wetlands, with Galen Fulford from Biomatrix Water

Welcome back friends and family to this ongoing series on waterway regeneration. In the past three episodes I focused on marine regeneration through conservation as well as farming. Today we're going to take a look at fresh water systems and specifically, how to decontaminate them through biological methods. I'll be sure to put a link to that interview in the show note on the website in case you missed it. Some of you may remember an interview I did with Tom Duncan about his floating wetlands an

Nov 06,2020 58:10

145. Regenerating coral reefs with art and community, with Celia Gregory of the Marine Foundation

Welcome back friends and family to this ongoing series on waterway regeneration. We’ve covered so many approaches to this subject up until now, and over the last two weeks I’ve been exploring regenerative solutions to the environmental degradation of marine ecosystems. Today we’ll be looking closely at some creative ways of protecting and even reseeding coral reefs in my interview with Celia Gregory. Celia is the founder of the Marine Foundation, an Eco-arts organisation that uses art for change

Oct 30,2020 48:10

146. The massive potential in marine permaculture, with Brian Von Herzen

Continuing today with this ongoing series on waterway regeneration and a deep dive into marine ecosystems, I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Von Herzen. Brian is an ocean scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, though much of his career has been in Silicon Valley where he developed innovative technical solutions for companies like Pixar, Dolby and Microsoft. Brian is also the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit The Climate Foundation, an institute working to regenerate life in

Oct 23,2020 01:02:06

147. Diving deep into ocean farming,with Joost Wouters of the Seaweed Company

Over the last month, I’ve been focusing on interviews with people who are pioneering the repair and regeneration of the water cycle as it pertains to landscapes. We’ve explored the installation of ponds and dams, permaculture earthworks and water retention landscapes as well as keyline design and planting the rain in drylands. These are all great interventions at the beginning of the water cycle’s journey, but today I want to start a deeper dive, literally, by going to the furthest point downstr

Oct 16,2020 49:07

148. How to plant the rain in drylands and beyond, with Brad Lancaster, author of the Rainwater Harvesting books

In the last handful of episodes we’ve explored permaculture earthworks for water harvesting landscapes and keyline design on large scales. As a complement to those topics I got in touch with Brad Lancaster, the author Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, volumes one and two which have recently been re-released as expanded new editions.Brad is an expert in the field of rainwater harvesting and water management whose work I’ve been following for a long time. He is also a permaculture teac

Oct 09,2020 01:06:33

149. Making the most of your water on any farm, with Mark Shepard, Author of “Water for Any Farm”

Since the last two episodes focused on earthworks, specifically water retention and catchment features, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite interviews that really helped me to understand the fundamentals of keyline design and how many different configurations it could take, even on the same piece of land. The keyline system was pioneered of course by PA Yeomans in Australia back in the 1950’s and has been a guide for farmers and land restorationists ever since.Back at the beginning of this se

Oct 02,2020 01:18:57

150. A Permaculture guide to Earth Surgery, with David “Doc Spice” Spicer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSoKv2x4H0oTying in perfectly with last week’s interview with Zach Weiss about building ponds and water harvesting features, I spoke with David Spicer, affectionately known as Doc Spice, an accomplished permaculture designer who has specialized in earthworks installation. Having taught and worked on various projects extensively within Australia and internationally, in places such as Morocco, Jordan, Palestine and New Caledonia, Doc has worked in a broad array of d

Sep 25,2020 51:30

151. The Facts And Stories Behind Waterway Restoration, With Judith Schwartz

As we continue into this series on waterway regeneration, I reached out to Judith Schwartz, a wonderful author who tells stories to explore and illuminate scientific concepts and cultural nuance. Her two most recent books, Water in Plain sight, and The Reindeer Chronicles both feature incredible case studies of the importance of a healthy water cycle, to the health of our ecosystems and global climate regulation. Judith is known for taking a clear-eyed look at global environmental, economic, an

Sep 11,2020 01:11:48

152. How we can overcome the looming water crisis in our cities with “the Godfather of Green”Jerry Yudelson

Welcome back to the second episode in this series on waterway regeneration. In this series we’ll be looking into the often overlooked role of the water cycle and its effects on the climate crisis. I’ll be speaking with experts and innovators about how repairing the hydrological cycle and the health of our waterways can lead to the restoration of all sorts of ecological services and the health of entire ecosystems as a result. In this week’s episode I got to chat with Jerry Yudelson, the author o

Sep 04,2020 01:05:44

153. Why regenerating our oceans makes both public health and economic sense, with Dr. Enric Sala of National Geographic’s Pristine Seas Project

Welcome to the first episode in a brand new series focusing on waterway regeneration. In the last few years of hosting this show it’s become vividly clear to me just how important and yet overlooked an issue that the health of our water cycles are. While the climate change narrative has mostly focused on the concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, we’ve ignored the essential role that the water cycle plays in regulating global temperatu

Aug 28,2020 58:35

154. Steps to food security: saving seeds, with James Ulager, author of Beginning seed saving for the home gardener

Today’s guest is James Ulager, the author Beginning Seed Saving for the home gardener, and though this certainly isn’t a talk about farm scale seed saving and propagation, I thought it was essential to include in this series. In my opinion, seed saving and selective breeding is one of the best ways that anyone with even a small yard or garden can participate in ensuring the food security of future generations. We live in a time when governments have deemed it possible to patent seeds and own gen

Aug 21,2020 01:01:17

155. Bringing farmland back into the hands of our communities, with Ian McSweeny of The Agrarian Trust

One of the biggest challenges that I’ve heard repeatedly both in the interviews in this series on regenerative agriculture as well as with peers and clients that I’ve collaborated with, is the difficulty for aspiring farmers to get access to land. This is true back in the States as well as in Europe and other parts of the world where I’ve traveled, and it’s part of a much larger problem in the trends of land ownership that reduce land to a commodity. As prices for land soar and the rapidly aging

Aug 14,2020 59:33

156. Uniting women in agriculture for a regenerative food future, with Lisa Kivirist

Lisa KiviristThough this series on regenerative farming has covered a ton of different farming models, land management techniques, food production methods and design methods, one of the glaring absences in the perspectives I’ve included has been that of women, and I’m well aware of it. I did reach out to a lot of women farmers in an attempt to set up interviews, but many of them either didn’t want to be interviewed or were simply too busy to be able to schedule a call. I can imagine that with al

Aug 07,2020 58:07

157. Applying syntropic farming methods for dryland regeneration, with Jacob Evans

Over the years I’ve been hearing about a new pedagogy of land management that has been gaining in popularity, especially in agroforestry circles. The trouble for me has been that until recently a lot of the resources have been in portuguese, and so I kept my eye on it from a distance. Syntropic farming is a term first coined by Ernst Gostch, a swizz farmer who emigrated to Brazil in the 80’s and pioneered this new form of farmland management on his land in Bahia. But today, to speak about the pr

Jul 31,2020 01:01:53

158. Restoring Spain’s degraded farmland with regenerative agroforestry, with Alfonzo Chico de Guzman, president of AlVelAl

As I’m slowly becoming better connected here in Spain in the last year, one of the main projects in regenerative agriculture that keeps coming up in my research and the conversations that I have, is a fairly new project called AlVelAl which is located in Southern Spain, roughly in between the cities of Granada and Murcia. The name AlVelAl relates to the first letters of the comarcas (or counties) where the initiative started: Altiplano de Granada, Los Vélez and Alto ALmanzora. Today, the AlVelAl

Jul 24,2020 53:13

159. Regenerating the rainforest by growing cacao with Alejandro Solano of Choco Mashpi

Though I’ve spoken to some great orchardists through this podcast, many of them are growing cold tolerant trees in far northern climates, but I wanted to get a perspective on running a holistically managed orchard in the tropics to explore how the beneficial interactions between some of the most prized tree and perennial products in the world can be grown in a way that fuels the restoration of these incredibly biodiverse and robust ecosystems. I’ve known quite a few orchardists from back in Guat

Jul 17,2020 48:44

160. What would agriculture look like with zero inputs? with Shane Simonsen, author of zero-input agriculture

Though I’ve been inspired by all the amazing examples of regenerative farming through the people that I’ve interviewed through this series, there’s one glaring commonality between all of them and that’s the fact that the success of their enterprises all rely heavily on the destructive infrastructure that we currently have in place to get the organic and feed inputs for their enterprises, the seeds or young animals that they then raise, and the fossil fuel system that then transports their food p

Jul 10,2020 01:11:38

161. Is permaculture still relevant to small farms and local food security? With Loren Luyendyk of Permaculture Intl.

Permaculture has done an incredible job of raising awareness of natural land management techniques and teaching people to observe and read the patterns of the natural world to inform their interactions with the environment, but it often gets criticized for being impractical when it comes to apply its methods to profitable farming enterprises. There’s a long running line of questioning on this show, especially when I’m speaking with producers and farmers about where they have to compromise their

Jul 03,2020 01:10:50

162. Creating the tools, resources, and community for a regenerative future in farming, with Ray Milidoni of Farming Secrets

Ray MilidoniThough regenerative agriculture has made huge leaps forward in the last decade, it still only accounts for a very small percentage of the farms around the world and even less in over developed countries. While we still have a long way to go make ecological land management practices the norm around the world, there are a lot of people dedicated to accelerating the progress of recent years by creating educational platforms, mentorship programs and creating community collaboration aroun

Jun 26,2020 56:21

163. Pioneering the urban farm revolution, with Michael Ableman, author of Farm the City

Michael AblemanWelcome back to another episode in the ongoing series on Regenerative Agriculture. Up until now I’ve spoken with growers and producers on cutting edge of profitable regenerative landbased enterprises and management techniques in rural areas, but there’s also a growing movement to produce food closer to where the heaviest concentration of people are, and that’s in cities. While the basics of growing food are fairly universal, there are a lot of uniques challenges that farmers in th

Jun 19,2020 49:48

164. Stewarding the holistic health of a community orchard

In the past I’ve talked to quite a few orchardists and agroforestry practitioners, especially in the series on Reforestation and Agroforestry at the end of last season, but I was really glad to be introduced to Michael Phillips’ work by a great friend of the show, Nick from Minnesota. After speaking late last year with Stephan Sobkowiak, Nick recommended that I look into Michael’s incredible books for an even deeper dive into the soil health and biological spraying mixes that MIchael has develop

Jun 12,2020 01:00:53

165. Is hemp the answer to a regenerative future for American agriculture? with Doug Fine, author of American Hemp Farmer

I’ve been meaning to get in touch with someone who could explain to me the nebulous and exploding new farming industry around the ancient yet newly legalized hemp plant, and I found a gold mine of information in Doug Fine, the author of Hemp Bound and American Hemp Farmer. Doug is known as a solar-powered goat herder, comedic investigative journalist, and pioneer voice in cannabis/hemp and regenerative farming. He has grown hemp in four US states, and the genetics he’s developed are in five more

Jun 05,2020 48:56

166. How to restore soil and ecological health on a massive scale with regenerative agriculture, with Gabe Brown, author of from dirt to soil

A lot of the farms that come to mind when I think of regenerative agriculture are smaller, more diverse and quite intensive, with many different crops and animals working in closer proximity with many stacked functions and a niche business model, but what can be done for all those vast fields of monoculture plantings of crops like corn, soy, and wheat that take up so much space in the heartland of the midwestern and western US? Are there regenerative solutions for these massive farms of thousand

May 29,2020 53:03

167. Essential tools to accelerate agricultural land regeneration, with Rhamis Kent, Co-director of the Permaculture Research Institute

My guest today is someone who has been an inspiration to me since I first began to study permaculture almost a decade ago. Rhamis Kent has been the man behind the scenes for some incredible regeneration projects around the world through his work with the Permaculture Research Institute in the middle east, north and eastern africa, the Iberian peninsula, and many other regions of harsh and challenging climates. Though Rhamis is someone that I could talk to for days about so many different ecologi

May 22,2020 54:23

168. Can we make ecological agriculture mainstream by 2040? With John Kempf, author of Quality Agriculture

Welcome back everyone to another episode in this ongoing series on regenerative agriculture. Before we get started today I want to give a quick shout out. Before starting this series I’ve been in contact with a listener of the show named Nick who has been incredibly generous and helpful in sending me links and information about other practitioners in the field that I should check out. I’ve learned so much from the ideas he’s sent me so I just wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks to Nick

May 15,2020 57:37

169. Championing a regenerative farming revolution in Europe, with Richard Perkins, author of Regenerative Agriculture

Welcome back everyone to this ongoing series on regenerative agriculture. Last week we kicked off with an interview with Joel Salatin and in this session I’ve got another great interview with one of the most influential regen ag practitioners in Europe. There are a lot of inspiring voices in the regenerative agriculture community, but few have done such a thorough job of documenting and publishing every step of the development of a small profitable farm the way Richard Perkins has done with Ridg

May 08,2020 01:24:58

170. Joel Salatin has hope for a post-COVID regenerative agri-culture

My guest today needs little introduction. Joel Salatin has been one of the most prominent voices in regenerative agriculture for many years now and I thought he’d be the perfect person to not only kick off this new series on regenerative agriculture, but also for his optimistic perspective on the future we are collectively heading into as our countries continue to grapple with the social and economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic and its response. Though I had always planned to speak with Joel

May 01,2020 01:03:25

171. A guide to resilient living wherever you are

Download the free ebook belowWelcome to another special episode! This week we’ll be wrapping up the series on modern homesteading by reviewing some of the most important information from the last 7 interviews. In those episodes we covered a ton of exciting topics from some of the best authorities in their fields from animal husbandry, becoming self-sufficient by living off your land, myth busting, small enterprise planning, making money on your homestead, and much more. I’ll also be giving some

Apr 24,2020 01:01:52

172. Building a more resilient life and investing in community, with Nicholas Burtner from The School of Permaculture

Today’s guest, NIcholas Burtner, is a permaculture designer, consultant and educator through his organization The School of Permaculture. I caught Nicholas in a good moment for this interview because like many of us he’s in a period of transition with his family in which they are looking to move to a more resilient and independent homesteading lifestyle. Though he’s been gardening and working on self sufficiency projects from his suburban home for years, he and his family are looking to expand t

Apr 17,2020 01:05:24

173. How to build resilience in your life in a rapidly changing world, with Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design

My guest today is someone I’ve followed and looked up to since I first began to learn about permaculture and homesteading. Ben Falk is not only a badass homesteader and self-sufficiency pioneer, he’s also an accomplished designer and consultant, primarily through his company Whole Systems Design. For years I’ve even had a video tour of his property in Vermont saved on my computer that I watch from time to time as inspiration for what can be done on a small degraded plot if you take the time to o

Apr 10,2020 55:03

174. From Manhattan to the Redwood Forest. An inner journey of rewilding, with Ayana Young of “For the Wild”

In this ongoing series on homesteading I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve given us really practical information on how to make the transition to a more self-sufficient way of life and connect with nature in the process. We’ve explored how to start businesses on your land, grow and produce your own food, as well as forage for wild food and medicine. In this episode we’ll take a look at the softer side of the homesteading lifestyle in talking about the inner transformations and the feelings con

Apr 03,2020 54:19

175. How to produce fresh food year-round, even in cold climates! With Pam Dawling, author of “The Year-Round Hoop House”

In the first half of this interview I spoke with Pam Dawling, the author of “The Year-Round Hoop House'' about the most important information about siting, building, irrigating and soil care for extending crop growing in hoop houses. I tap in to Pam’s extensive knowledge of feeding 100 people in the Twin Oaks Intentional Community in Virginia, mostly from her 30’ by 100’ hoop house and the details of that particular setup. In the second half of the interview we turn to a topic that so many of yo

Mar 20,2020 54:46

176. Creative ideas for building your homestead on a budget, with John Moody

Welcome to another episode in this ongoing series on homesteading. In this session I reached out to John Moody, the author of many books including “DIY Sourdough, The Elderberry Book” and the one we’ll be focusing on today “The Frugal Homesteader.” John is also the founder of Whole Life Services and Whole Life Buying Club and is the former executive director of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Like many of the people interviewed in this series, John decided to make a major transition in

Mar 13,2020 01:08:48

177. Is it Realistic to Produce All Your Own Food? with Deborah Niemann, author of “Homegrown and Handmade”

Continuing with this ongoing series on homesteading, I reached out to Deborah Niemann, the author of many books including “Homegrown and Handmade, Eco-thrifty, Just Kidding and Raising Goats Naturally” which is now in its second edition. She also blogs at thriftyhomesteader.com, hosts the podcast “For the love of goats' ' and co owns Antiquity Oaks, a small farm in Cornell, Illinois. Like nearly everyone in this interview series, Deborah didn’t grow up on a farm or a homesteading lifestyle at al

Mar 06,2020 01:09:48

178. Essential things to consider when making the shift to a homesteading lifestyle, with Natalie Bogwalker of Wild Abundance

In the past I’ve done a lot of episodes focusing on specific skills and enterprises that people integrate into a regenerative lifestyle, but in this series I’m going to be speaking with people who’ve put a bunch of those pieces together into a lifestyle centered on positive interactions with nature and a move towards self sustainability. Homesteading is a general term that originally comes from the homesteading acts in the United States which were a series of laws enacted between 1862 up until t

Feb 28,2020 01:01:37

179. 11 Inspiring Examples to Give You Hope That the World’s Forests can be Regenerated

After 11 interviews with experts on native reforestation, holistic orchard management, water retention landscapes, perennial crop agriculture and more, I learned a lot of new things about the state of the world's forests and the tools and knowledge we have to regenerate them. In this special episode wrapping up the series on reforestation and agroforestry I’ll break down some of the information and statistics that will help you understand the major role that forests play in maintaining a healthy

Feb 21,2020 01:13:31

180. how to grow a mature Native forest in just a few years, with afforestt founder Shubhendu Sharma: 146

Welcome to the last interview in the Reforestation and Agroforestry series. We’ve covered so many important aspects of this topic in 10 interviews over 4 months. I’ve spoken to homesteaders regenerating cloud forests in tropical climates, tech companies with more than 20 tree planting initiatives around the world, agroforestry and orchard advocates and everything in between, and this last conversation is the icing on the cake. If you’ve ever wondered how to restore a mature native forest in reco

Feb 14,2020 01:07:22

181. Mark Shepard on how to make the most of your water on any farm

Welcome everyone to the first episode of a brand new season of the Abundant Edge podcast. I can’t believe I’m starting the fourth year of this little pet project that I had three years ago after I had just moved to Guatemala and was wrapping up an internship on bamboo building, and now here I am, having moved to north eastern Spain and with more than 50 thousand of you incredible folks tuning in to this show every month from all around the world. I’m so happy to be able to keep this show going a

Feb 07,2020 01:19:03

182. Checking in with Granja Tz’ikin and the season finale, with Neal Hegarty: 144

Here we are! The end of 2019 and season three of this podcast. For those of you who’ve been following this show for a while you know that I went through a lot of big changes this year, most notably a big move from the permaculture farm startup that I worked on for for about 16 months in Guatemala. From there I took some big trips through southern Mexico and the US and a bit in Canada to where I finally settled down in the Catalonia region of north easthern Spain. Though I live really far away fr

Dec 27,2019 46:48

183. Turn your orchard into a resilient ecosystem with these steps! From Stefan Sobkowiak of Miracle Farms: 143

We’ve covered so many different ways to approach reforestation, both with native species and mixes of natives and orchard trees. In today’s session I wanted to focus on fruit orchards and I got to speak with the wizard behind Miracle Farms and the film, “The Permaculture Orchard” Stefan Sobkowiak. I’ve been a fan of Stefan’s work for a while and have spent a lot of time on his excellent youtube channel where he offers tons of tutorials and solutions to practical aspects of managing a whole ecosy

Dec 20,2019 01:04:53

184. Why forests are key to the future of agriculture, with Darren Doherty, co-author of the Regrarian’s Handbook: 142

The last time I caught up with Darren Doherty for this podcast was back in season two. We talked a lot about his background and entry into ecological agriculture and how that journey informed his development of the Regrarian’s platform and outlook on the potential of regenerative farming. I recently caught up with him again to investigate the new chapter of the Regrarian’s handbook which he and his team just released. Chapter 5 of the 10 in the book which are being relseased one by one in digita

Dec 13,2019 49:44

185. Even the driest deserts can be regenerated. Here’s how! With Neal Spackman of the Al Baydha project: 141

I had the pleasure of catching up again with Neal Spackman, one of the primary designers and organizers of the Al Baydha project in Saudi Arabia.The Al Baydha project began in 2009 with a long list of lofty ambitions. Among them they aimed to improve the local economy, act as a model for sustainable development in the Arabian Peninsula, reduce dependence on government handouts for the community, and store and harvest rainwater in the landscape through the restoration of the savannah ecosystem wh

Dec 06,2019 53:15

186. A strategy for a global shift to perennial agriculture, with Professor Peter Kahn from Rutgers University: 140

In all the research I’ve been doing for this ongoing series on reforestation and agroforestry I’ve struggled to find any reports or serious articles that outline the potential steps to transition the world’s agricultural model on a large scale from one that’s based on annual crops and the intensive cultivation that they require to one based on perennial crops. The advantages are obvious, from a decrease in soil disturbance and fertilization due to the natural cycles that keep roots in the ground

Nov 29,2019 45:43

187. How your web searches can help reforest the world, with Pieter Van Midwoud, lead tree planting officer at Ecosia: 139

Continuing with this series on reforestation and agroforestry, I got the chance to speak with Pieter Van Midwoud, the lead tree planting officer of the search engine company Ecosia. I’ve been using Ecosia as my default search engine for a couple years now because of their claim to plant trees around the world with the profits from ad revenue every time you search, but I wanted to know more about how their tree planting initiatives actually work.In this interview Pieter and I start by talking abo

Nov 22,2019 01:01:12

188. Alley cropping as a remedy for slash and burn agriculture with James Potter from the Indga Foundation: 138

The first three interviews in this ongoing series on reforestation and agroforestry have highlighted small personal projects on private land, each with a different person in south or mesoamerica whose primary motivations are to restore the forests and biodiversity of their land. In all three cases producing a viable agricultural product was an important aspect of the project and one which brought in funds to keep the operation running, but profitable agriculture wasn’t the primary goal for any o

Nov 15,2019 48:53

189. Restoring degraded land to agro-cloud-forest with Kristen Krash of Sueño de Vida: 137

I was first introduced to Kristen Krash through Atulya Bingham, the well known author and natural builder who’s been on this show a few time. She told me about this incredible little project in Ecuador focused on regenerating the native cloud forest and off-grid living, and that I had to speak with Kristen about her journey. When I got to chat with Kristen I was amazed at how well she knew her bioregion and the experience she could speak from about getting her dream project off the ground with h

Nov 08,2019 01:17:00

190. Regenerating native forests on a large scale with Alex Kronick of Caoba Farms: 136

I’ve been so fortunate to get to speak directly with so many people who have created incredible examples of permaculture abundance and ecological health and resilience through this podcast, and though I’ve also gotten to visit many permaculture projects and practitioners, many of the ones I’ve seen in person are either just in the early stages of getting off the ground, or haven’t quite found their balance between financial and ecological prosperity. The best examples that I’ve seen in person ar

Nov 01,2019 01:02:41

191. Restoring Native cloud forest in southern Mexico, with Jairo Rodriguez of Teyoapa Farms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-lAJKPsQ0U&t=6sToday I’m going to kick off a new series focusing on reforestation and agroforestry. I’ve been motivated to return to this subject as it seems to be unusually pressing these days. The wild fires in the western USA and in the Amazon rainforest are not only destructive to those regions in isolation, they also have major ripple effects across the globe and in our collective resiliency. I’ve been fortunate to work directly with people and organizations

Oct 25,2019 01:03:09

192. Voices of natural and alternative building, an Abundant Edge special episode

I haven’t done a special episode in a long time, in fact I haven’t done any at all this season and it’s been a while since I’ve done a Regenerative Round Table since I’ve been transitioning from the farm where I lived with my colleagues in Guatemala until May of this year to where I am now, which is a small town about a half hour north of Barcelona in the beautiful Mediterranean region of Catalunya in Spain. In the last few months I backpacked up through southern Mexico, spent a month visiting f

Oct 18,2019 01:27:25

193. Meet the team that’s making cob legal, an interview with members of the Cob Research Institute: 133

Today’s episode is very important in that there’s a limited window of time for those of you, especially in the USA who care about natural building and want to see cob and other natural building materials legalized and approved by building authorities to help this happen. An incredible opportunity is coming up in the last week of October, which is just over a week from now when members of the Cob Research Institute, some of whom you’ll hear interviewed in a minute, will present a proposal for cob

Oct 11,2019 01:20:06

194. The essential guide to lime. Plasters, paints and cretes, with Aulya Bingham from “The Mud Home”

I’ve talked about many different building materials through this series, but one of my all time favorites often gets overlooked because it isn’t commonly used as a structural element. Lime in all of its various forms as a plaster, paint, mortar, grout, poured floor or even in newer applications like hempcrete, has so many advantages and applications in just about any style of natural or conventional building. That’s why I reached out to the “Mud Witch” Atulya Bingham, who’s been interviewed twic

Oct 04,2019 01:00:25

195. Benito Steen of “The Nito Project” on exploring new natural building techniques and teaching around the world: 131

Today’s guest, Benito Steen is one of the people that I’ve most had requested from you listeners to do an interview with, in large part because of the success of his YouTube channel called “The Nito Project” where he works with his younger brother Panther to make beautiful educational videos on natural building techniques, earthen plasters and even the japanese method of making polished clay balls called Dorodango. Benito is the first of my guests who grew up in natural buildings since his child

Sep 27,2019 54:35

196. The best options for home scale renewable energy with Dan Chiras, author of “The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy: 130

We’re now well into this on-going series on natural building and design, and we’ve covered bamboo building, rocket stoves, design at the building and community levels, and so much more already. One of the biggest topics that I haven’t yet explored on this podcast and has always interested me is the subject of renewable energy. Renewables have been in the media for a long time both branded as a solution to our collective reliance on fossil fuel energy and also criticized for being too expensive f

Sep 20,2019 01:03:48

197. Does aircrete have a place in natural building and regenerative living? With Daniel Allen of Tiny Giant Life: 129

Until getting to know Daniel and his understanding of building design and healthy living, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do an episode on aircrete. I’ve focused only on natural building techniques and materials up until this point because I honestly believe that nature provides all the materials we need to build high quality and healthy structures. But since Daniel comes from the perspective of natural building experience and because I like to remain open to new ideas and not become too much of a pur

Sep 13,2019 47:38

198. Limecrete and renovating old homes with natural materials, with April Magill of RootDown Design: 128

I finally had the chance to do a follow up session with one of my favorite natural builders, April Magill. She’s not only an accomplished architect, builder, and educator through her company “Root Down Design” and the American College of the Building Arts, she’s also constantly experimenting with new techniques and materials as you’ll hear in this episode. Back in the first interview that I recorded with April, we dissected rammed earth and how she was working to revive the craft for all its pot

Sep 06,2019 58:48

199. The architecture of healthy communities and designing for connection, with Mark Lakeman of Communitecture: 127

As I continue to explore the topics of natural building and ecological design in this ongoing series, I had the pleasure of speaking again with Mark Lakeman. Mark has been a big inspiration to me through the architectural work he’s done at the community level, and in exploring what it takes to design neighborhoods and gathering places that help humans to reconnect to their sense of place and overcome the colonial infrastructure that continues to separate us from each other and from lifestyles th

Aug 30,2019 01:29:50

200. The most efficient stoves in the world and how to make them, with Kirk “Donkey” Mobert of Sundog School of Natural Building: 126

In this continuation of the series of regenerative building and design, I checked in with a good friend of mine and a hero in the rocket stove and masonry heater sphere. Kirk Mobert, more commonly known as Donkey, is the founder of the Sundog school of natural building in northern California and has literally been on, and in, the ground through the development and maturation of rocket stoves and all of the innovations and advances for the last 20 odd years. This session might be a little heady f

Aug 23,2019 01:21:53

All Episodes (200) From new to old From new to old From old to new

All Episodes (200)

From new to old

From new to old From old to new