Regenerative Skills

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 temperatures. In this series I’ll be speaking to an incredible list of scientists, farmers, and restorationists who are dedicated to reviving the precious wat...

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 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 different soil types, topographies and climatic zones. He...

In keeping with the theme of water regeneration this month I spoke to Rob Avis, the co-author along with Michelle Avis of their book in the New Society Essentials series called Rain Water Harvesting. Rob and Michelle founded Verge Permaculture, an award-winning design, consulting and education company in Calgary, Alberta after years of international training in renewable energy and regenerative de...

If at any point you’ve been interested in water harvesting in dryland contexts, it’s almost impossible that you’ve missed Brad Lancaster’s work. His pioneering activities and projects in Tucson, AZ have propelled a movement of water wise landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and smart water reuse all around the world. While so many of the examples I’ve highlighted in this series relate to actions and...

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 effect...

I had done one other episode in the past on the topic of floating wetlands that I’d like to revisit today as we continue with this series on regenerative water solutions.  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 impaired waterways since 2005. Sin...

Today we’re going to take a look at fresh water systems and specifically, how to decontaminate them through biological methods. Some of you may remember an interview I did with Tom Duncan about his floating wetlands and how they can be used to clean up excessive nutrients and pollutants back in season 1. Today I’ll be expanding on that technique since it´s gained a lot of traction and floating isl...

One of the most crucial natural environments for the health and stability of landscape hydrology are wetlands. They also usually happen to be areas of the highest density of wildlife and biodiversity when they are healthy and functioning well. At the same time wetlands in all their different forms are highly endangered, being the targets for milenia of drainage and infill in order to make use of t...

Continuing with my series highlighting badass local people around my community here in Spain, I was really pleased to be able to share this conversation that I had with a new close friend of mine and soil health advocate extraordinaire, Isadora Shmidt. I was first passed Isa’s contact by another good friend, Noemi, who is also part of the Soil Food Web graduate network. Isa created Terra Viva, her...

I have to admit, there is an unsung hero behind many of my favorite interviews of the past couple years. Connections and recommendations to some of the people who I’ve learned the most from in some recent discussions with people like Phyllis Van Ambraugh, Ben Taylor Davies, Ian Robertson, Ed Brown, and others have all come from a good friend of mine Andre Antunes who you’ll finally get to know on...

As I continue to make connections and find people in my local area who are working on regenerative projects and supporting progress in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, I’ve been amazed at the talented, courageous, and inspiring people that I’ve come into contact with. I’ve already interviewed a few in recent episodes such as Sara Garcia, and Aline Moerbeke, and I’m pleased to add another local bad...

Today we’ll be continuing with the second part of my discussion with Anne Van Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands. In case you missed the first part, I recommend going back for some context where Anne spoke about how she and her partner Ricardo got started in Farming and the evolution of their farm at the original location. In this second half we’ll pick up where Anne begins to talk about t...

Today’s conversation is the first of a two part conversation with Anne Va Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a few years. Anne and her husband Ricardo and I met for the first time at the first Climate Farmers conference in Germany 3 years ago. By then they were already building a reputation in the Dutch regen ag scene as leaders and innovators. S...

A couple weeks ago I was invited to speak on a panel discussion about soil health for the release of a new issue of REVOLVE magazine.  Established in 2010, REVOLVE inspires climate action by keeping you informed about the circular economy, ecosystem restoration, the energy transition, sustainable mobility and water resources.  Their latest episode focuses on the importance of soil and how to resto...

Continuing on the theme of last week’s episode in which I spoke with Jessica Robertson about community food forests, we’re going to go deeper into the practical knowledge and skills that anyone can develop to create their own plant nursery, propagate their favorite varieties, and get their own garden or food forest established quickly and cheaply.  Joining me for this dive into DIY plant breeding...

With the growth in popularity around permaculture and food forests, even people without access to their own land are looking into opportunities to come together and create beautiful edible landscapes that everyone can access on public land. Enter community orchards or food forests. These are increasingly being grown on abandoned lots, local parks, or forgotten strips of land that caring neighbors...

So much of what inspires me and that I hope to highlight on this show comes from an ever growing awareness of the incredible superpowers that humans have that emerge from our relationship with the natural world around us. Our senses coupled with adaptability, the skill of collaboration and the inventiveness of our creativity have allowed humans to find a niche in almost every major biome on this p...

I’m really lucky that I have been collaborating with book publishers since the early days of this podcast. It gives me access to all of the books from the authors that I interview and the full catalogs of most of the publishers too. As a result I have a pretty good overview of the new literature that comes out on the topics that I focus on in this podcast. Under these conditions, It’s rare that a...

world of insects. Though there are only a handful of bugs and invertebrates that humans consider edible, productive, or beautiful, they are an essential element in any healthy ecosystem. All too often the ones that we don’t derive beauty from or direct use from are considered an annoyance at best or actively destroyed and eradicated in all too many cases. It’s long overdue that I highlight just ho...

I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months to interview quite a few people that I admire, who’ve told me about their fascination with beekeeping. Over and over again I’ve heard about the incredible insights into overall ecological health and the amazing reflections of ecosystem function that can be observed through managing bee hives.    I got a window into the world of natural beekeeping back...

Despite the popularity of permaculture, homesteading, regen ag, and all these other buzz terms we hear, many of the people promoting these ideas, including myself, are quite new and inexperienced. It’s still rare to find people who can offer insight and wisdom from decades or a whole lifetime of living with regenerative systems. Sure, you can still find quite a few hardy old timers who know a lot...

Though I’ve highlighted this before on this show, it bears repeating. So many of the stress factors on farms are caused by money. Either not being able to generate enough, being in debt, not having control over the expenses and cash flows, or another one that I see time and again, not paying yourself a salary and just hoping for a profit at the end of the year. Though this is hardly the most inter...

In the process of researching the area that I now call home, and working to understand the context and history of the land, I’ve uncovered some fascinating information. The Iberian peninsula made up mostly of Spain with Portugal along the Atlanitc coast and Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains has been dramatically transformed through thousands of years of human history, to say nothing of prehistoric...

I’ve spent a lot of time through the interviews of this podcast speaking with people around the world who are advancing incredible and ambitious projects that aim to regenerate large land bases like farms, estates, or even whole regions. Last week’s conversation with Weruschca Kirkegaard from United Designers is a perfect example of these kinds of projects and the potential of collaborative large...