Regenerative Skills

Today I have a remarkable guest, Rachael Forster, who works with a cutting-edge non-profit organization called “Tamar Grow Local.” Normally I like to give an overview of the speaker and their projects and expertise before the start of an interview, but though I tried to do that, Rachael and Tamar Grow Local are both quite tricky to sum up. Their initiatives and goals in the community are very far...

Welcome to the first episode in season 2 of The Abundant Edge Podcast! We have so many exciting interviews and information coming up for you in 2018 and this week's session is a perfect example of that. Today we're going to be speaking with Mark Shepard of New Forest farm in Viola, WI and author of Restoration Agriculture, one of the most iconic books on profitable regenerative production methods...

Wow! Here we are on the last episode of season 1 and I have a really valuable interview for all of you to wrap up the season. Over the last year we've talked so much about the regeneration of landscapes and ecosystems through permaculture as well as natural building techniques and materials, but to end on a bit of a different note, I spoke with Breanne Gibson, founder of Circular Nutrition to talk...

My guest today is here to demystify one of the aspects of permaculture design that I hear the most questions about, but also one of the issues that I see folks most entrenched in their viewpoints about. I'm talking about earthworks; one of the first aspects that people implement and the most permanent change made in a landscape. Today I've got Douglas Barnes, author of “permaculture earthworks” an...

I have a very knowledgeable and experienced guest from the world of natural building for ya'll, Rohan Sutherland from Earthship biotecture is here to talk about one of the most famous and recognizable icons of the natural building movement in the last 30 years. Rohan began in international social and environmental work before getting involved with earthship biotecture after being inspired by their...

In this special episode I'll be giving a detailed look at the design criteria that we use here at Abundant Edge to work on all kinds of regenerative projects. What's important to know about the design criteria list is that it's meant to be a concise and easy-to-follow guide to making responsible and insightful choices. The list is constantly evolving and updating with the experience gained by the...

This is one of the most delicious applications of large scale permaculture I can think of. Just the idea of chocolate, cardamom and coffee makes my mouth water. In this episode Neal Hegarty of Abundant Edge interviews Lorenzo Maniet, the owner and director of El Porvenir cacao finca in Guatemala. El Porvenir is the most impressive agroforestry system you'll ever find in which large scale cacao, ca...

I'm especially happy to bring you today's interview because I'll be speaking with one of the natural builders who's most influenced and helped me out to get to where I am today running a profitable natural building and regenerative design company. His name is Charlie Rendall and he's the owner of Return to the Forest, a natural design and building firm in the next town over from me in San Marcos l...

Most of you will already be familiar with the name Joel Salatin and his immense and incredible work with Polyface farm and all of his books, but you've probably never thought of him primarily as a businessman. In this episode we get to talk to Joel about his new book "Your Successful Farm Business" which he describes as a graduate level resource for anyone aspiring to make a living in a regenerati...

This is honestly one of my favorite interviews that I've yet done and I'll tell you why. In this interview I got to talk with one of my heroes in the regenerative farming world, Richard Perkins. Many of you probably already know Richard and Ridgedale farm from all of the amazingly informative videos and seminars he's put out on YouTube. I came across Richard about 8 months ago and nearly binge wat...

I have an unusual interview for ya'll today since I actually wont be the one conducting the interview. Instead, Neal Hegarty, one of the lead designers and team members here at Abundant Edge will be taking the reigns since he's actually known Alex Kronick of Caoba farms in Antigua Guatemala for years and is good friends with him. Now I call Alex, the most impressive permaculturalist you've never h...

I've gotten a lot of requests over the last few months from people asking if I can do more on woodworking and especially timber framing, so today's episode is for you good folks. Today I'll be speaking with Skip Dewhirst, who has been a professional wood worker for more than 30 years and has taught over 100 classes in furniture making, woodworking, timber framing and natural building at places lik...

I'm really excited for today's episode because I get to talk to a close friend of mine, Jeremy Fellows. Now Jeremy has been studying and working in permaculture for ten years and has tons of experience in botany, horticulture and soil science. He and I actually first met when we were hired to collaborate on a project for a client here in Guatemala and we've been friends ever since and have continu...

Our guest today is Lydia Doleman, an accomplished natural builder and educator as well as the founder of “flying hammer,” a natural building company based in southern oregon. The company focuses on pushing the boundaries of affordable and energy efficient housing, training people and communities in various building skills, and infusing the dreary urban fabric with structures that reflect beauty, s...

We're really excited about today's guest Robert Pavlis. Robert is a master gardener who has designed and cultivated his own world class private botanical garden on his property in Ontario, Canada and is the author of both gardening myths and building natural ponds. In today's episode we'll be focusing on natural ponds, and Robert's successes and learning experience in mimicking nature to bring all...

My guest today is Matt Powers, the inspirational author of The Permaculture Student, both 1 and 2. He's also the creator of three successful kickstarter campaigns building advanced courses for permaculture designers as well as educators for many different age levels on a broad range of topics including regenerative landscape management, vegetable gardening, forest farming, and much more. In this i...

Today I have a guest with a truly remarkable story and journey into natural building. Atulya Bingham is the author of “Mud Ball” and Mud Mountain, both of which cover her incredible experiences moving to the countryside in Turkey and learning to build her own home with earth bags. She has also written numerous educational manuals on earth bag building, clay plasters and much more as well as bloggi...

This week's interview is with a good personal friend of mine who is an awesome farmer and experimenter with plants, especially trees. I first met Brock Barker through some mutual friends when he came down here to Lake Atitlan to co-teach on a PDC with some colleagues of mine. Now Brock is the founder and owner of “The Brockoli Patch,” a permaculture farm and orchard outside of Lafayete, Louisiana...

This is gonna be a pretty special episode in that I'll actually be interviewing a man who has seen an incredible transformation in “conventional” farming during his lifetime. My guest is Roland James, but to me he's my Grandpa. Now Roland grew up in a small farming community in the midlands of England near the southern border of Wales. He well remembers the very first tractors coming onto his fami...

In this episode I got to interview one of my personal heroes Erik Ohlsen. Now Erik wears a lot of hats, he's the founder and director of both Permaculture Artisans, a landscape and design company, and the Permaculture Skills Center, an amazing trade school based in sepastapol ca. Erik also writes and publishes books for adults and children with his company, Storyscapes. In this interview Erik talk...

I'm really excited about today's guest. In this episode I'll be speaking to Tom Duncan, one of the visionary leaders behind Aquabiofilter, a water cleaning and regeneration company based in Melbourne, AU. Tom has been involved in some of the most ambitious and successful watershed cleanup operations in history with major projects in China, Malaysia, and Australia that have helped to restore lakes,...

My guest today is Pete Widin, founder and owner of Artisan Environments, LLC and the creator of The Professional Permaculture Designer online course . I reached out to Pete after reading an article he wrote for my friend William Horvath's page Permaculture Apprentice in which he wrote about some of his best tips and strategies for attracting your ideal clients for a permaculture design business. N...

today's episode is going to be a bit unusual in that I'll be stepping over to the other side of the microphone as my good friend and permaculture blogger Mike Vair Haley writer of the blog Permaculture Hami asked me to do an interview with him for an article. Mike is a teacher/traveler spending this year going around the world and documenting interesting sustainable designs along the way. He also...

Rhidi D'CruzMark Lakeman I have an extra special interview for all of you today. In this episode I've got not one, but two visionary change makers from the community restoration non-profit City Repair, which is based in Portland Oregon. I've got Ridhi D'Cruz, the co-director of City Repair, and the founder and co-director, Mark Lakeman. They each come from very different backgrounds, but have unit...

My Guest today is Elvira Di'Brigit, the author of the new book “Why We Farm” which is an investigation into the whole truth about life as a modern day farmer. Viewed through the lens of the environment within the Capay Valley of northern California, each chapter features a different model of farming. In each profile, farmers share the stories behind their work and their lives on the farm; the busi...