Forest Alchemy w/ Mike & Ally

Sometimes life falls apart. Sometimes it unfolds. In this episode of Forest Alchemy, we sit down with author Kristy Halvorsen, whose book Perfect Unfolding explores what happens when you stop trying to control every outcome and start listening for what life is actually asking of you. Kristy didn’t always live this way. She began her career as a mechanical engineer, later spent fourteen years as a...

After many months away, Forest Alchemy returns with a conversation that feels like a remembering. We sit down with author Julie Brams to talk about her new book The Nature Embedded Mind and the quiet but life-changing idea that nature is not a backdrop to human life, but kin, relationship, and home. Together we explore separation from nature as a real wound, the healing that becomes possible when...

🌳 Episode 8 – Feeding Ourselves with Trees (with Elspeth Hay) 🌳 In this episode we sit down with Elspeth Hay — writer, radio host, and author of Feed Us With Trees. What began as a simple curiosity about acorns and eating from trees grew into a conversation that wove together food, history, and healing. 🌰✨ We dive into: 🌿 The forgotten role of nut trees in feeding entire communities for thous...

On this episode of Forest Alchemy, we gather in circle with some of the incredible humans who stayed through Sunday morning of our very first Root to Rise Skillshare weekend. What started as a closing conversation became a heartfelt exploration of what community really means—how it shows up in times of change, how it restores hope, and how it gives us strength to keep creating a new way of living....

In this episode of Forest Alchemy, we sit down with our dear friend Nikki Janowiak—a TRTP (The Richards Trauma Process) practitioner at Land of Light in Paw Paw, Michigan. Nikki shares her journey into trauma healing work, the power of addressing the unconscious mind, and how TRTP helps people rewrite core beliefs and step into empowerment. We also dive into conscious parenting, the importance of...

This episode takes you straight to the heart of the Pyro Music Festival in Grand Junction, Michigan, where we wandered through music, mud, and magic asking a simple but powerful question: What does community mean to you? You’ll hear voices from musicians like Chase Makai, Willie from Pillars of Rome, and Amber Echo, festival friends, and fellow community builders from near and far. We talk about p...

In this episode of Forest Alchemy, we sit down with legendary permaculture teacher and designer Keith Johnson, who’s been walking the permaculture path since 1978—the very year Mike was born. 🌱 Keith shares stories from the early days of the movement, his work with Permaculture Activist magazine, and how a life devoted to regeneration has shaped his world. We also get a personal tour of his lush...

This week, we plopped ourselves down in the garden with our dear friend (and fellow founding weirdo) Liberty Bane for a slightly rain-soaked conversation about how Soul Fire Forest came to be. We talk about our separate paths to permaculture, how we found each other and this land, and why building soil is more important than building resumes. We also dig into what it means to parent in community,...

In this episode of Forest Alchemy, we dig into what it means to live regeneratively—financially, emotionally, and ecologically. We talk about creative ways to make and save money, the real talk on composting toilets and humanure, and raising animals alongside young children. We also explore our evolving relationship with death, weather preparedness, and how to stay rooted in resilience while dream...

In our very first episode, we dive into springtime homestead life — from raising ducklings to building compost and biochar. We reflect on the magic of land-based living and the joy (and chaos) of building community from the forest edge. Plus, a surprise visit from our community neighbor Keith brings a real-time taste of what it means to live with open doors and open hearts.