The Good Dirt: Sustainability Explained

In this episode of The Good Dirt Podcast, Mary and Emma sit down for a deep dive as a duo into the concept of slow living and what their relationship is to it in 2024. We hear them discuss their philosophy and also the challenges they’ve faced in adopting a slow living mindset, and share how they’ve come to view it as a quest in life. They also answer some listener questions from Instagram, sharin...

Today's guest is Pamela Tanner Boll who is an artist, filmmaker, writer and activist. She is the Founder and CEO of Mystic Artists Film Productions , joining us to talk about her current project, a film called To Which We Belong which highlights farmers and ranchers leaving behind conventional agriculture and adopting regenerative practices that are improving the health of our soil and sea and sav...

Organic Farmer and herbalist Jane Hawley Stevens discovered the magic of natural remedies in her personal life before establishing Four Elements Organic Herbals and developing a complete herbal wellness line. Jane and her husband have a 130 acre farm where they have been certified organic since 1990, and take great care to cultivate their plants sustainably. In her new book  “The Celestial Garden...

Welcome to the cross-quarter between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, a time to celebrate the promise of spring through many cultural traditions. February 1st is the Feast of St Brigid and the Celtic Festival of Imbolc, which overlap with our Groundhog Day and Candlemas, each acknowledging the return of light and life that is beginning for all living things in this hemisphere. As for Ga...

Hustle culture and pressures to accomplish, achieve and produce can result in personal and widespread burnout. Mary and Emma sit down for a deep dive discussion around the idea of "radical rest" and what that might look like in practice. They touch on their personal experiences with rest, acknowledging the exhaustion and burnout many people experience, especially in the wake of a challenging winte...

In this episode, Mary and Emma feature a conversation with Carley Lake and Tanya Dastyar, co-founders of Lucky Sweater, a tech platform designed for a slow fashion community. They share how Lucky Sweater works, allowing users to swap, gift, and trade clothing items, fostering a sustainable and connected community. Carley started out as one of the first 500 employees at Uber before becoming a digit...

Janna Hockenjos is a long-time listener of the podcast who was so inspired by what The Good Dirt stands for that she created Earth Friends Everywhere, an early education curriculum designed to enrich children’s connection and awareness of nature. Janna has been passionate about the environment every since she was a child, yet her career has taken her in many directions. She has a Masters Degree in...

Wool is one of the oldest known materials used for textiles. As a renewable resource with a potential for mitigating climate change, we love to highlight wool in our exploration of sustainable living here on this show. Our guest today is Jane Cooper whose passion for knitting led her to search for a rare-breed sheep and their distinctive wool. In her book,  “The Lost Flock: Rare Wool, Wild Isles a...

Drywall. Concrete. Limestone. All materials we see in our day-to-day in the buildings we come across and the homes we live in. But did you know that at the core of it all is the element of calcium? Just like the calcium within our bones, the calcium that is extracted from the earth to build homes and skyscrapers is a finite resource that is slowly hurting the soil we all stand in. In this episode,...

Have you heard of "Old Christmas?" In this episode, Mary reflects on her Appalachian roots by explaining the origins and traditions of "Old Christmas," a vestige of the the Old World that came to the mountains with the Scots and Irish settlers in centuries past. Also, what does the Planting By the Signs offer us when it's too cold for gardening? Tune in to find out what the moon calendar offers us...

Happy Holidays! 2023 has been a rollercoaster of a year, and we here at The Good Dirt thank you for everything over the past few months. For our Day 1 fans to our New Listeners, we welcome you. To celebrate, Mary and Emma reflect on the top three episodes of the past year and share what their big takeaways were from each one. From Mary Reynolds, a reformed landscape designer advocating for restora...

Did you catch Emma's song from last Friday's episode? Wanting more music? We've got more for you today! While Mary & Emma are on a break from interviews for the holidays, we wanted to share something fun from the Lady Farmer Archives. Tune in for Missing Sister Band, recorded in Seneca, MD November, 2020. Covers: White Flag - Joseph Helplessly Hoping - Crosby, Stills, and Nash Strangers - The...

Today we have something a little different from Mary & Emma...you can think of it as a holiday surprise from us to you! We start out with a story from Mary and wrap up with a song from Emma - performed, recorded, mixed, and edited all by Emma herself. Happy Holidays to all! Story- A Christmas Miracle by Mary E Kingsley Song - Cover of "Sister Winter" by Sufjan Stevens Guitar - Cam Palmer Vocal...

With microplastics and toxic chemicals all around us, what can we do as consumers to make more informed choices for the benefit of our planet? Mary and Emma sit down with Janette Spiezio, the founder of Sustainable Haus Mercantile, to discuss the concept of zero waste living and the importance of making those sustainable, educated choices for ourselves and the planet. As a first generation America...

In this special December episode of "Slow Living Through The Seasons," Mary & Emma delve into the topic of Christmas trees, exploring traditions, personal experiences, and ways to approach this festive symbol with a slow living mindset. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌻 About Lady Farmer: • Our Website • Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram • Join The Lady Farmer ALMANAC • Email us at thegooddirtpodca...

We’re talking to Christina Schindler, who after spending 20 years in public education as a teacher and administrator, has embarked on a business venture with her family as the CEO of the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, a restaurant in Chestertown, MD that optimizes nutrition in modern foods through ancestral techniques–creating healthy food for the community.  Christina also serves as President of the E...

Whatever we’re celebrating in December, whether it’s the birth of the Christ child, or the miracle of light in the darkness, cultural heritage or family tradition— the urge to gather together in feasting and celebration, seeking warmth and light, is something that connects us to the common human experience of being vulnerable to nature. In this episode, Mary reflects on the winter solstice, what w...

Did you know that honeybees increase the yield in our food supply by 30% in our current agricultural system? Master Beekeeper and "Bee Whisperer" Michael Jordan tells us all about it from his perspective as a small scale commercial beekeeper, educator and mead maker. A master in beekeeping, Michael is the CEO and Founder of A BEE Friendly Company, INC. in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he produces honey...

Welcome to our November Bonus episode of The Good Dirt Podcast! With the holidays right around the corner, the consumerism capitalistic market is about to ramp up to full speed. You are going to be bombarded by a message to buy, buy, buy. But what if there was another way? Mary and Emma sit down to present an alternative to diving into the world of holiday celebrations and the concept of a "Good D...

Topsoil nutrition continues to decline, plastics in our foods are on the rise, and governments all around the world are taking too long to solve the impending crisis on the horizon. So what can we do? In this episode, regenerative farmer, mother, speaker, chef, restauranteur, producer, and writer Mollie Engelhart shares her moment of realization that food composting is key to turning this around....

Our guest today is Baron Wormser, award winning poet, professor and author of "The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet's Memoir of Living Off the Grid" . In this episode, Baron shares stories from his experience living and raising a family off the grid in rural Maine for 23 years, as well as his insight into connecting poetry with how we live, the value of simple living, and how we connect more deep...

Our guest for today is Jill Winger, creator of The Prairie Homestead who over the last 10 years has influenced thousands of people in rediscovering some of the simpler ways of life–helping people grow their own food, cook healthy meals, raise chickens, bake bread—and SO many other things. And yes, she confesses that an old fashioned life can include modern technology, especially in teaching others...

How does November feel to you? After the bright and festive days of October with its blue skies and glorious foliage, pumpkin picking and trick-or–treating, we rather suddenly descend into a different vibe altogether. There are certainly many ways to describe this month, but the first that comes to mind is that November is a mood . Listen in as Mary describes how the increasing darkness and sense...

Humans are one of hundreds of thousands of lifeforms on this planet, and each has its own unique place in the ecosystem. In this conversation, we're talking about the inherent connection between humans and the world of living things. Our guest is Alison Zak, environmental educator, anthropologist, yoga teacher and author of "Wild Asana: Animals, Yoga, and Connecting Our Practice to the Natural Wor...

How many of us consider recycling the answer to plastic pollution? We are sold the idea that it's okay to buy and use these materials because they can be recycled into other things. But these claims are ultimately untrue. 95% of the plastic produced in the world goes directly into the landfill, and essentially stays there forever. The small percentage of materials that make it into the recycling s...