Regenerative Skills

Today we’re gonna take a deep dive into the wide world of mycology and fungi with Peter McCoy, the author of Radical Mycology and founder of Mycologos, a new online educational platform for courses on mushroom and fungal cultivation and knowledge. Peter has been studying mycology for more than 16 years and is one of the foremost educators and promotors of the potential of fungi. In this interview we explore some of the many practical and exciting applications of mycelium such as building healthy soil, reviving contaminated sites and polluted ecosystems, medicine and nutrition, transforming waste products and even biological batteries! Peter is a wealth of information and does a remarkable job of making the deep and intricate world of mycelium approachable and easy to understand for the layperson (a category that I certainly fall into). I hope this episode inspires you and opens your mind to the incredible potential of fungi like it did for me, so I’ll hand things over now to Peter McCoy. Resources: Mycologos Mycologos on kickstarter Radical Mycology

Today I have a remarkable guest, Rachael Forster, who works with a cutting-edge non-profit organization called “Tamar Grow Local.” Normally I like to give an overview of the speaker and their projects and expertise before the start of an interview, but though I tried to do that, Rachael and Tamar Grow Local are both quite tricky to sum up. Their initiatives and goals in the community are very far reaching and intricate, but what I can say is that they’ve helped to make huge strides in promoting regenerative farming and market gardening in the Tamar valley, a historical farming region between Cornwall and Devon counties in the south west of England. With just a small team of five people, the organization is on the forefront of agricultural community re-invigoration. So rather than butchering the description, I’ll hand things over now to Rachael Forster who can explain everything much better. Resources: Tamargrowlocal.org

Welcome to the first episode in season 2 of The Abundant Edge Podcast! We have so many exciting interviews and information coming up for you in 2018 and this week's session is a perfect example of that. Today we're going to be speaking with Mark Shepard of New Forest farm in Viola, WI and author of Restoration Agriculture, one of the most iconic books on profitable regenerative production methods anywhere. I've been a big fan of Mark's work and teachings since I first saw his farm profiled on a remarkable documentary called “inhabit” that highlights inspiring examples of permaculture around the USA. Mark is a no-nonsense advocate of farming methods and enterprises that are not only sustainable but actually restore their ecosystem and increase the carrying capacity of life around them. In this interview Mark talks about his unique journey that brought him to conclusions about how humans should interact with nature and take care of their resources. He goes into detail about how he determines if a farm enterprise will be worth the effort and resources invested in it, and how to plan for the long term development of perennial systems while still bringing in an income. Mark also gives sound advice on how to acquire land, build equity and grow your business by navigating the capitalist system that many people in the alternative communities have written off entirely. This is a very insightful talk that may push your buttons a little if you're not familiar with Mark's teachings, but I urge you to keep an open mind and remember how much Mark's results speak for themselves. Resources: Restorationag.com Forestag.com New Forest Farm

Wow! Here we are on the last episode of season 1 and I have a really valuable interview for all of you to wrap up the season. Over the last year we've talked so much about the regeneration of landscapes and ecosystems through permaculture as well as natural building techniques and materials, but to end on a bit of a different note, I spoke with Breanne Gibson, founder of Circular Nutrition to talk about some unexpected ways to apply holistic design and living practices to our own lives. Breanne is a leading holistic nutritionist, live food expert, and permaculture practitioner who talks to us about cultivating a regenerative ecosystem within ourselves through healthy eating and lifestyle choices. She dives in deep into the controversial topics of GMO foods, fad diets, and digestive issue treatment. Breanne even gives me a mini consultation in which we go over my own history of digestive illness and discuss how antibiotics, parasites, and diet can contribute to gut disbiosis and some ways to get back to optimum health. I can only imagine how many comments and discussions that these topics will spark, just for how personal everyone's opinions about health and nutrition are these days. The truth is, I've really become fascinated by all of the ways that permaculture design and regenerative project management can be applied to other areas of life besides the more commonly associated land based renewal projects, and you can look forward to hearing a lot more about those topics when season two begins on February 2, of 2018. But don't forget to keep listening to our little in-between episodes where I'll give some early enrollment information for our upcoming regenerative homesteading apprenticeship, the 2018 workshop schedule and information on how to get your questions answered by our panel of experts all coming up in season two so stick around after the interview to hear more about that. This is another information dense interview so you might want to grab your notebooks for this one For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Resources: Breanne on Facebook Circular Nutrition homepage

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” and owner director of EcoEdge Design Ltd. to answer our questions and take the guess work out of the subject of terrain changes. In this interview Douglas talks about the best way to map out contours on the land, some of the most effective ways to harvest rainwater on a site, how to link up various earthwork and containment systems to make them work in tandem, and most importantly, he talks in detail about many of the safety concerns that many people have no idea about when it comes to installing swales and dams. There's a ton of valuable information in this session but don't forget to check out his book “permaculture earthworks” for some essential formulas on calculating for swales, water catchments and so much more. Make sure to keep listening at the end of the interview to hear how you can win your own free copy of the book as well. For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Resources: Permaculture Reflections Blog The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook EcoEdge Ltd

I have a very knowledgeable and experienced guest from the world of natural building for ya'll, Rohan Sutherland from Earthship biotecture is here to talk about one of the most famous and recognizable icons of the natural building movement in the last 30 years. Rohan began in international social and environmental work before getting involved with earthship biotecture after being inspired by their on the ground work around the world and the appropriate technology and design that they promoted. Rohan has some amazing stories to tell from his international work, but more than anything he goes into great details about the systems and techniques that earthships exhibit and promote which facilitate off-grid, self sustainable living and integration of their structures with the environment. In this interview we talk at length about indoor food production systems, water harvesting and reuse, and how earthships can be improved and adapted further by using more natural materials. Rohan even talks about the catch 22 of self sustainable living and how it can have a negative impact on community development and connection if not managed correctly. This is another very information dense interview so get your notebooks ready For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability.

In this special episode I'll be giving a detailed look at the design criteria that we use here at Abundant Edge to work on all kinds of regenerative projects. What's important to know about the design criteria list is that it's meant to be a concise and easy-to-follow guide to making responsible and insightful choices. The list is constantly evolving and updating with the experience gained by the Abundant Edge team and I. Keep an eye out for updated and revised versions in the future as we refine our systems and processes. And if any of you have questions for me, or any of the other team members, you can reach us directly on our Facebook page by searching "Abundant Edge." Leave your questions and comments there as posts or private messages, and we'll either answer them as soon as possible or maybe in a future podcast or blog post. For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Get the Abundant Edge design criteria PDF

This is one of the most delicious applications of large scale permaculture I can think of. Just the idea of chocolate, cardamom and coffee makes my mouth water. In this episode Neal Hegarty of Abundant Edge interviews Lorenzo Maniet, the owner and director of El Porvenir cacao finca in Guatemala. El Porvenir is the most impressive agroforestry system you'll ever find in which large scale cacao, cardamom, and coffee production are grown in the shade of larger hardwood trees for the best health of each species. Lorenzo has taken great care to save “criollo” or indigenous species of cacao from extinxion and as a result is producing the highest quality and most deliscious chocolate in the world, all on a regenerative farm model that's building soil with agroforestry and silvopasture practices. What's more is this unparalleled farm will be the site for the new Permaculture Design Certification course run by the instructors from Abundant Edge where students will get to learn all about the succesive models of planting that got this place up and running, and will help to design a zone 1 and 2 space for intensive food production for the finca. Go to abundantedge.com to learn more about the courses. For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Resources: Jungle Wisdom PDC with Abundant Edge Dalileo Chocolate El Porvenir Finca

I'm especially happy to bring you today's interview because I'll be speaking with one of the natural builders who's most influenced and helped me out to get to where I am today running a profitable natural building and regenerative design company. His name is Charlie Rendall and he's the owner of Return to the Forest, a natural design and building firm in the next town over from me in San Marcos la Laguna here in Guatemala. For 13 years Charlie has been living in this little lake-side community and first started learning to build while working on structure on his own land. Through help from other colleagues and friends who got him interested in building with bamboo, Charlie gradually trained himself and a group of local construction workers to build and design some of the most impressive natural buildings that I've seen anywhere in the world. I first met Charlie in May of 2016 when I reached out to him to interview him for an article on my website the last time I was traveling in Guatemala. I was so inspired by his work that I arranged with him to come back as an intern in order to learn more about bamboo and managing larger contracts and designs. I then lived and worked with him for four months and learned so much that has helped me in all aspects as a builder and business owner. In this interview we'll be going into detail about bamboo as a building material and many of its' advantages and disadvantages. Charlie goes into how its' produced and treated for use in construction as well as how to maintain it so that it lasts as long as possible and performs well. Don't forget to check out his website at returntotheforest.org and have a look at the pictures of some of the many incredible projects that he's worked on over the years. There will be links to all of it in the show notes for this episode on the website as well. For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Resources: The Bambu Guesthouse project pictures returntotheforest.org

Most of you will already be familiar with the name Joel Salatin and his immense and incredible work with Polyface farm and all of his books, but you've probably never thought of him primarily as a businessman. In this episode we get to talk to Joel about his new book "Your Successful Farm Business" which he describes as a graduate level resource for anyone aspiring to make a living in a regenerative land based enterprise. This book is heavy on the entrepreneurial side of farming and covers everything from direct marketing to maximizing the efficiency of your operations. Joel also talks a lot about how his own farm has changed over time to accommodate new demands and trends in the market and how his designs and strategies have morphed to meet the new new food economy. This is a really information heavy interview so you'll likely want to have a notebook on hand for this one. I would also love to hear from you if you have any stories from your own farming business to share with the community. Enjoy! For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability. Resources: Polyface Farm Joel's books