The Ground Up

What if our landscapes could think —not in the way machines think, but in the way ecosystems remember, adapt, and respond? In this episode of The Ground Up Podcast , Tim Sallin sits down with Lance Legel , founder of Ecodash and DeepEarth, to explore a bold and emerging frontier: ecological intelligence and the role of digital twins in reshaping how we design, manage, and steward land. Lance share...

What if the soil beneath our feet was more than dirt—what if it was a living, breathing factory of life, memory, and communication? In this extended conversation, Tim Sallin sits down with Buford Creech , agronomist, soil steward, and teacher, whose lifelong work bridges the worlds of science and faith. Together they explore the microscopic wonders of the rhizosphere, the role of fungi as soil arc...

In this episode of The Ground Up Podcast, I sit down with Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks for a wide-ranging conversation on local leadership, land conservation, and the future of Florida’s landscapes. We explore the overwhelming success of the Lake Forever referendum, which passed with 80% voter approval to fund land conservation in Lake County, and discuss planning tools like Transfer of Dev...

In this episode of The Ground Up Podcast , host Tim Sallin sits down with Sam Baker, CEO and co-founder of WriggleBrew, to explore the intersection of soil science, sustainability, and entrepreneurial innovation. Sam shares his journey from fishing trip revelations to developing an award-winning organic fertilizer designed to combat red tide and restore soil health. We dive deep into soil microbio...

Greg Noonan is a landscape designer, educator, and systems thinker helping redefine the future of Florida’s communities. As Enhancements Manager at Cherrylake and founder of Connected Landscapes, Greg works at the intersection of ecological design, builder collaboration, and resident education. He leads the implementation of sustainable landscape practices at Sunbridge, a master-planned community...

Caleb Quaid is the founder of Regenerative Shift , a holistic environmental consulting firm helping businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities pursue life-centered, regenerative initiatives. After more than a decade managing stadium operations and major construction projects for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Caleb made a dramatic career shift to align his life and work with his deeper values around su...

David Miller is director of applied agronomy at Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) . AEA  believes agriculture can be a force for good for both the environment and those who rely on it for their livelihoods. They are devoted to a scalable, whole-systems approach to revitalizing soil and plant health while generating economic returns for farmers. This includes agronomic consulting, effective biologica...

Dan Egan is a Journalist in Residence at the Center for Water Policy in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences. Egan is an environmental journalist and author of the Death and Life of the Great Lakes and The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance. Egan was a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, covering the Great Lakes from 2002 until 2021. H...

Dr. Patrick Bohlen is an ecologist and a professor of Biology at the University of Central Florida. Patrick has an extensive research and teaching background in ecosystem ecology, agroecology., urban ecology and wetland ecology.  As director of Landscape and Natural Resources, and the Arboretum at UCF, Patrick oversaw landscape design and operations, natural lands management and student and public...

Founders of Cherrylake and IMG Citrus Michel and Veronique Sallin talk about their entrepreneurial journey, the importance of purpose, passion and values to growing a successful family business, and how they learned to transform adversity into opportunity.  They discuss the importance of diversification, vertical integration and differentiation in agri-business,  and share a few life lessons they...

Soil Ecosystem Specialist Mark Singleton, and Chief Technical Officer, Darren Midlane of LifeSoils work to introduce composting as a mainstream practice in Florida landscaping.

Bryon White is a conservationist, entrepreneur, and co-founder and CEO of Yaupon Brothers American Tea. His company has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, and The Orlando Sentinel.

In this episode of The Ground Up podcast, Tim chats with biologist, naturalist, and Florida native nursery man, Brightman Logan. We speak on groundcover restoration, site prepping, creating a Florida native plant foundation, and starting a Florida native seed project.

Tune into this mini-episode with Laura Jones. She is a direct descendent of Count Odet Philippe, who is credited with introducing grapefruit to Florida.

Dr. Pierce Jones revolutionizes sustainable landscaping in Florida through integrated practices like perennial peanut farming, effectively trailblazing new ways to conserve our natural resources. He is a professor at the University of Florida and a Director for the Program for Resource Efficient Communities, where he has been working for the past 30 years to promote the adoption of sustainable lan...