Tropical permaculture experiments in diversity and economic resilience with Scott Gallant of Rancho Mastatal: 019

My guest today is Scott Gallant who is a resident farm manager at Rancho Mastatal which is a permaculture and natural building design and teaching site in Costa Rica. Scott grew up in a little town in Ohio outside of Cincinnati spending most of his childhood playing in the neighboring farmland. He later went to a small liberal arts school in Indiana called Wabash college where he studied economics and rhetoric. After that he was on the track to get a job in finances but instead took a detour when he decided to take some time off and head out west to work for a conservation crew. There he met his partner Laura and she convinced him to hitch-hike through Mexico with her to learn Spanish. Long story short, he says, we ended up at Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica where he soon began running the farm, teaching permaculture, and eventually doing consulting work. Since then Scott has been featured on Permaculture Voices with Diego Footer, on the recent USDA “Inside Agroforestry Beginning Farmers” newsletter, and has written many articles for the Permaculture Research Institute. In this episode Scott talks in detail about his role managing the farm on one of the premier regenerative living sites in the world and the journey that got him to that point. He also gives advice to beginners who might be looking to get involved in land management and regeneration projects themselves. Resources: http://ranchomastatal.com/