On episode 138 of the Root Simple podcast we brain dump with Eric Rochow, a.k.a. “East Coast Eric” of Garden Fork TV about concrete work, bears in the garden, plywood boat building and storm windows. Eric has been a frequent guest on the Root Simple Podcast and is back to fill us in on what he’s been up to under quarantine. During the show we discuss:

• Concrete work using a bonding agent such as Weld-Crete
• De-cluttering the garage
• A big gardening problem
• Building a boat
• Gavin Atkin Ultra Simple Boat Building 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build
• Storer Boat Plans
• Fixing a canoe
• Insulation and new windows

You can also find Eric on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Johnny’s bulk grain. Image: Granola Shotgun.

Johnny Sanphillippo of the blog Granola Shotgun dropped by the Root Simple podcast today to talk about a lifestyle that’s proving useful in our troubled times. I decided to put this podcast out quickly so please excuse the less than ideal audio on my end. During our conversation we discuss Johnny’s most recent blog post, “Recipes for Disaster,” which covers his tips and tricks for living frugally and being prepared for a crisis.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this 136th episode of the Root Simple podcast we talk to author and gardening expert Robert Pavlis about how to improve your soil, how to start seedlings in the winter, how to take care of houseplants and much more.

Robert Pavlis lives on 6 acres of land that he has developed into a large private garden he calls Aspen Grove Gardens that contains around 3,000 perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees in southern Ontario, Canada. He is a Master Gardener, speaker and author on gardening subjects with a background in chemistry and biochemistry. Normally I go over questions with guests before we begin but Robert and I just started talking so we’ll join the conversation mid-stream as Robert is telling me about his upcoming book Soil Science for Gardeners. During the podcast we talk about:

• Soil science for home gardeners
• The problems with soil tests
• Soil prep for native plants
• Fungi inoculation products
• How to open up compacted soil
• Sources for organic material
• Ugh, landscape fabric
• Cardboard in the garden
• Hügelkultur
• Winter sowing
• Baggie technique
• LED lights
• How to water houseplants

You can find Robert at: GardenFundamentals.com, GardenMyths.com on YouTube and via the Garden Fundamentals Facebook Group.

Also–subscribe to Bike Talk!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Root Simple reader Pat just informed me of the passing of Larry Korn, who was a guest on our podcast in October of 2015. Larry was probably best known as the translator of Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution but that underestimates what he did in his life. Larry, almost single highhandedly, is responsible for bringing Fukuoka’s revolutionary ideas to the rest of the world. A few people have told me that Larry’s words in this interview changed their lives and so, in his honor, I thought I would repeat the episode.

Larry authored an autobiography One-Straw Revolutionary. In this interview we talk about Larry’s experience living on Fukuoka’s farm and we delve deep into Fukuoka’s natural farming philosophy. During the discussion we cover how natural farming is similar to indigenous agriculture and how it’s different than permaculture. We also talk about the mystical experience that changed Fukuoka’s life. Larry’s website is onestrawrevolution.net.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the 134th episode of the podcast we talk to DIYer, YouTuber and podcaster Eric Rochow of Garden Fork TV on some eclectic DIY notions and projects including why he’s quitting beekeeping, mental decluttering, washing machine repair, print making and more.ing,

Watch Garden Fork on Youtube and subscribe to the Garden Fork Podcast. You can also find Garden Fork on Patreon.

• Eric’s DIY T-shirt video which includes a tour of Sunset Park Brooklyn
• Why Eric’s giving up beekeeping!
• Mental decluttering
• Washington Post Inspired Life column
• Don’t Give Up signs
• Laura Kampf You Tube
• Steve’s Small Engine Saloon
• Video of Steve fixing $50 generator
• Eric’s Washing machine repair video
• Minimalist podcast
• Lino block printing and stencils

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this 133rd episode of the Root Simple podcast Kelly and I talk to Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm, described in his author bio as a “homestead, nut orchard and nursery located in Spencer, New York where he grows around 20,000 trees a year using practices that go beyond organic.” Akiva’s background is in “foraging, wilderness survival and primitive skills.” He is also the author of Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies (Amazon, library) just published by Chelsea Green. In our conversation we discuss how trees could replace a lot of the staple crops in our diet. During the podcast we also rap about:

• J. Russel Smith Tree Crops (Free download on Archive.org)
• Kat Anderson Tending the Wild
• Mulch, soil and water
• Processing acorns
• Exotics vs. natives – should we learn to love the invasives?
• Tree of heaven!
• Coppicing and pollarding
• Arborist fails and #arboristfails
• How to plant trees

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Photos: Jacob Dickinson

On this bee-centric episode of the podcast I talk with fellow “backwards” beekeeper Max Wong, in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Long Beach Beekeepers, about her techniques as well as her role in the successful efforts to legalize beekeeping in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. During the podcast Max mentions:

• Max’s list of beekeeping supplies
• Beekeeping posts on Max’s blog
• Kirk Anderson
• Charles Martin Simon’s Principles of Beekeeping Backwards
• L.A. Honey Supply
• Honey Love
• Red Bird Restaurant

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this episode of the root simple podcast I talk to Kendra Gaeta about something you probably don’t think about too much–your sense of smell. As usual with the podcast, I have a bad habit of turning off the recorder too soon. After I recorded this interview with Kendra, who is a board member of the Institute for Art and Olfaction, Kendra pulled out a box of scents in tiny vials and proceeded to blow my mind.

Smelling all those vials was a reminder of the sheer range of smells we might encounter and, most likely, ignore in the course of a day. Paying attention to our sense of smell opens up a whole new reality. We think a lot about things we see, hear and taste but don’t give a lot of thought to the way we experience the world through our noses. Kendra will change what you know about your nose! During the conversation Kendra mentions:

• The Institute of Art and Olfaction
• Beyond perfume–who works with scent
• The Smelly Viles
• Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles
• Perfumers Apprentice + Flavors Apprentice (An amazing source for small quantities of scents and flavors)
• The smell of the International Space Station

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Beekeeper and activist Terry Oxford has a great new podcast called Pollinators and Power. The premiere episode features Professor Dave Goulson of Sussex University. Goulson is the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and author of many books on native pollinators including A Sting in the Tale, A Buzz in the Meadow, Bee Quest and The Garden Jungle. You can read a transcript of the conversation and subscribe to the podcast using your favorite app.

Terry Oxford was a guest on episodes 107 and 109 of the Root Simple Podcast.

In her work artist Jessica Rath examines, as she puts it, “how human containment of the land effects non-human species from the propagation of agricultural plants to the sensoria of bees.” She is on the faculty of the Art Center College of Design and her previous projects include works about apple breeding, co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators and a long term project called Farm Unfixed that we spend most of this conversation discussing. During the podcast Jessica mentions,

• Foxfire
• The meaning of “Unfixed”
• Nancy Klehm
• Ozark Regional Land Trust
• Tending the Wild
• Braiding Sweetgrass
• Prescribed burns
• A Better Nectar
• Take Me to the Apple Breeder

You can look at Jessica’s work on her website at jessicarath.com. Sign up for her newsletter to find out about upcoming projects.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest on this episode of the podcast is EagleSong Gardener. From her bio: EagleSong is human being, green witch, herbalist and crofter dedicated to deep transformation on an individual and planetary scale. She tends the Spiral Garden at the Pacific Wise Woman Center in Monroe, WA and inspires the Pacific Women’s Herbal Conference on Vashon Island, each fall. During the podcast we discuss:

• EagleSong’s approach to teaching herbalism
• The bustle in the hedgerow
• Hawthorne trees
• Developing a relationship with the plant world
• Chores!
• Time for Thyme
• Miner’s lettuce
• Aronia berry
• How to make dandelion wine
• Women’s Herb Conference (September 20-22, 2019)
• Gender roles

You can find EagleSong’s website and blog at www.eaglesong-gardener.com.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.