In this stimulating conversation with Regenerative Land Designer and Educator Javan Bernakevitch, we discuss life design and why it's important. According to Javan, if we don’t design our lives, someone else will.

What are the signs of an undesigned life? Some of them include: not knowing what you’re good at, a lack of direction, being directed by past events, problems saying no, and having a hard time making decisions.

In this interview, we talk about practicing values-based decision making and the impact that can have on taking charge of our time and prioritizing what’s most important to us. Don’t worry, if you’re unclear about your values, Javan gives tips on how to discover them!

Since 2013, Javan has worked with individuals providing assistance on life design and how to design your life to work with, not against, your nature.

Javan Bernakevitch is the founder and operator of Permaculture BC, an education and community hub in British Columbia, Canada. The principle consultant at All Points Land Design, Javan works on small to large scale landscapes.

For information on Javan and his work visit: All Points Design.ca and PermacultureBC.com.

I interviewed Javan about Spilanthes for my Plant Report podcast a few years ago. You can listen here.

Join us on a journey to India to explore the inspiring Beejvan project, a remarkable two acre demonstration farm and community-based initiative in Karjat, Maharashtra, India.

In this interview with co-founder Sanjana Krishnan, discover how Beejvan is revitalizing the land, promoting biodiversity, and empowering the local community.

Sanjana was inspired to start Beejvan when she returned to Karjat a, a place she had loved as a child, to find that the rivers had dried up, soils were depleted, the forest was mostly gone, and that local farmers were suffering.

Sanjana then made it her mission to repair what has been broken through Beejvan, a farmer-led project dedicated to seed saving, land regeneration, ethnobotany, reforestation, and holistic agriculture practices. An integral part of Beejvan is working closely with the local inhabitants of Karjat, the Thakars who are traditional herbalists, healers, and keepers of sacred groves.

Get ready to be inspired by this incredible story of hope and renewal and find out how you can help grow this beautiful project.

To read more about Beejvan, visit them at: https://springprize.org/shortlisted/beejvan/

You can also follow them on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/beejvan/

More on Sanjana: Sanjana Krishnan is a Political Sociologist with a passion for regeneration. Her work focuses on the potential and impact of local initiatives in dealing with socio-environmental concerns for India. She is the cofounder of the Beejvan Biodiversity and Collaborative Research Foundation. Sanjana has worked/volunteered with a range of conservation/permaculture projects across India and Germany. A winner of the Erasmus scholarship, UGC Ph.D. Fellowship, and the German Chancellors' Fellowship, Sanjana has a Master's in Rural Development and a Ph.D. in Political Science.

Beejvan recently won a Lush Spring Prize for Intentional Projects. The Lush Spring Prize honors those who repair the earth’s damaged systems and leave the world lusher than they found it. For more information and to see if your project is eligible for a prize, visit: SpringPrize.org.

Episode 169: Is Permaculture the best option that we have to meet the demands of an unpredictable future? In this lively conversation with Rosemary Morrow, Margie Bushman, and Wes Roe, we discuss the potential Permaculture holds in restoring degraded ecosystems around the globe. 

Rosemary Morrow is a Permaculture designer, teacher, and earth restorer. She is the author of numerous publications including Permaculture Teaching Matters and The Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture. Rosemary is the co-founder of the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute and Permaculture for Refugees.

We hear about Rosemary’s work in places she calls crowded margins- including refugee camps and areas greatly impacted by climate change. We learn why Rosemary still believes that Permaculture is the most valuable tool we have to in Earth restoration.

We chat about the importance of the Permaculture ethics (Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share), some of the challenges of Permaculture, and the biggest misconceptions people have about Permaculture design.

Margie Bushman and Wes Roe are the co-founders of the educational nonprofit the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and founding Board Members of the Friends of the International Permaculture Convergences (FIPC).

Enter Our Giveaway from June 2nd to June 9th, 2023!

Visit: https://melliodora.com/melliodora-giveaways/earth-restorers-guide-to-permaculture-giveaway-swr/

I’ve partnered with Melliodora Publishing to give away a copy of Rosemary Morrow’s incredible new Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture PLUS a collection of other titles from the ethical publishing house:h

• Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow
• 470 a novel by Linda Woodrow
• Permaculture Pioneers: stories from a new frontier edited by Kerry Dawborn and Caroline Smith
• Our Street (Retrosuburbia for Kids) by Beck Lowe and David Holmgren
• 2023 Permaculture Calendar, curated by Permaculture Principles

Open to listeners in Australia and the U.S. only due to shipping purposes. There will one winner (of the entire book pack) who will be chosen at random and notified by email. Good luck!

Links: 

Permaculture for Refugees

Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute

Melliodora Publishing

SB Permaculture Network

What does water want? What happens when we allow water to be water? Author Erica Gies explores the concept of Slow Water in her new book Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge. 

Slow Water approaches are unique to each place and work with natural systems. Slow Water is key to greater resiliency and offers multiple benefits including reducing floods, droughts, and wildfires. The Slow Water movement asks where our water comes from and examines the impact that our water treatment methods have on the environment, other people, and animals. 

In this episode, Erica talks about Slow Water projects around the world and what happens when water is allowed to slowly flow, meander, and linger on the landscape. 

We discuss the indigenous view of water as a “who,” a relative, and a being worthy of respect and compare it with the industrial idea of water as a commodity or a threat. We discuss how this skewed modern world view affects our relations with water, influences how we build our infrastructure, and imperils life on the planet. 

Water has critical relationships with creatures, insects, plants, microbes, rocks, and soil. Many animals including water voles, prairie dogs, and the rock star of the water world, beavers can be our allies in the Slow Water movement. 

Wetlands, bogs, and marshes are also allies when it comes to slowing water and sinking excess atmospheric carbon. Peat is the super sinker of CO2- covering only 3% of the earth and holding 30% of the soil carbon. Wetlands restoration is a powerful climate change mitigation tool and asset to the Slow Water movement. 

Have you heard of the Hyporheic Zone, also called the “Liver of the River?” This ecotone found in rivers and streams is a hidden universe rich in biodiversity, fertility, and action. Erica shares a story about a Hyporheic Zone restoration project in Seattle that is having profound impacts on water quality and stream health. 

It is becoming increasingly obvious that our attempts to control water are failing. Our cities and concrete infrastructure speed water away as quickly as possible, yet water seems to be reclaiming its territory more frequently. By participating in the Slow Water movement, we can cooperate with nature and water to create a more abundant world for all. 

Erica Gies is the author of the new book Water Always Wins- Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge. Erica is a National Geographic Explorer and an award-winning independent journalist who writes about water, climate change, plants, and critters for The New York Times, Nature, The Atlantic, and many other publications. Erica cofounded two environmental news startups, Climate Confidential and This Week in Earth. You can find Erica online at: EricaGies.com and SlowWater.world/

Learn how to garden like nature from writer, horticultural consultant, and educator Dr. Lee Reich.

We start with an audio tour of Lee’s award winning “farmden," which is more than a garden and less than a farm. Packed with plants, including Paw Paws, Hardy Kiwi, Gooseberries, Figs, and Filberts, Lee uses his land as a test site for showcasing his gardening techniques. After 40 years of tending the land, Lee not only grows healthy fruits and vegetables, but also lots of fertile soil and compost. 

Lee and I discuss the art and science of building soil from the ground up following his easy low impact approach. Lee explains why he believes it’s important to pay attention to the top few inches of soil and let nature take care of the rest. Lee advocates gardening like nature by using a system that's good for plants and people and that emulates natural conditions. 

We chat about mulch, the importance of compost, and why Lee loves to repurpose what others might call waste in his quest to improve soil fertility and grow vibrant and resilient plants.

Dr. Lee Reich is a writer, horticultural consultant and educator with graduate degrees in soil science and horticulture. Lee’s farmden has won awards from National Gardening and Organic Gardening magazines and has been featured in many publications like the New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. HIs books include Weedless Gardening, Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden, and Growing Figs in Cold Climates. Lee was a former plant and soil researcher for the US Department of Agriculture and Cornell University and wrote a syndicated gardening column for the Associated Press for nearly 30 years.

Learn more about Lee and his work at leereich.com

Episode 166: Did you know that oceans make life possible on our planet? Even if we live far from the coast, our lives are influenced by the ocean. Oceans generate oxygen, capture carbon, shape weather, and provide habitat for countless creatures. 

To learn more about these vast, yet fragile bodies of water that make our planet unique, beautiful, and able to support life, I speak with world renowned ocean scientist and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle.

In this inspirational interview, Sylvia shares her thoughts about what we can do to help our oceans and why urgent action is needed now. We discuss some of the threats that oceans face including acidification due to climate change, industrial fishing, and pollutants. 

Sylvia reflects on a lifetime of learning and exploration and shares why she is so positive about the future. She tells us what it’s like to live underwater for weeks at a time, how fish have different personalities, and why Menhaden matter. Sylvia calls upon each of us to be part of the solution and stresses that what we do has an impact. Sylvia believes that we have the power, knowledge, and technology necessary to save our oceans and to honor the living world that makes our existence possible.

This is an all hands on deck moment. We live on a miracle, a blue planet that functions in our favor and provides us with water and air. Each of us has a part to play in preserving, restoring, and celebrating our oceans, and in doing so, saving ourselves and the environment.

Dr. Sylvia Earle is called "Her Deepness" by The New Yorker and the New York Times, a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, and the "First Hero for the Planet" by Time magazine. Sylvia is the author of more than 200 publications, including the new book National Geographic Ocean: A Global Odyssey which was written as a love letter to a gravely imperiled friend and a call to action to humans everywhere.

Sylvia is the Founder of Mission Blue, a nonprofit that inspires action to explore and protect the ocean. She is also a National Geographic Explorer at Large and former Chief Scientist of NOAA.

Links:

Mission-Blue.org

Hope Spots

Episode 165: This special episode introduces the Regenerative Media Alliance, a project I have been working on for quite some time with fellow podcast producers Oliver Goshey and Scott Mann. The Regenerative Media Alliance or RMA is a cooperative group for podcasters and media creators working in the Permaculture, sustainability, and regenerative fields.

Podcasting can be a bit lonely. If you're like me and you produce your podcast in your "Shoedio" (also known as a bedroom closet),  you know how isolating it can be talking into a microphone and not knowing if there's anyone out there who is listening. When Oliver first approached Scott and I about his idea for the RMA, I thought of how valuable a group like this could be. And I was right! It has been refreshing and fun to share notes and experiences with Scott and Oliver about interviewing, equipment, editing programs, and many other aspects of podcasting.

We envision the RMA as a place for podcasters and other content creators to share their knowledge and to learn from one another.  We will be offering quarterly calls, online summits, and more! To sign up for our email list and for more information about the RMA, visit our website at: RegenerativeMediaAlliance.com.

Now a bit about my colleagues:

Oliver Goshey is a designer, educator, and consultant for regenerative social and land based projects. Regenerative Skills is Oliver’s effort to create a larger and more engaged community around regenerative living by making the most cutting edge knowledge and techniques accessible to everyone.

Scott Mann: With a background in radio, broadcasting, and technology, Scott started his podcast- The Permaculture Podcast-  the same week he graduated from his permaculture design course back in 2010.

Thanks so much for listening as always! I hope you like this conversation between Scott, Oliver, and I about the RMA, how we first got started in Permaculture and podcasting, and what keeps us creating. 

Episode 164: Are you a fan of Raptors or birds of prey? Members of this large group of magnificent birds include hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. For many of us, seeing raptors in cities and in the wilderness is awe-inspiring. 

To learn more about these amazing birds, I am joined by Lisa Owens Viani and Allen Fish, co-founders of the nonprofit Raptors Are the Solution (RATS). 

We begin by chatting about the wonders of raptors and why Lisa and Allen have devoted so much of their lives to helping these birds. We then discuss the impact that anticoagulant rodenticides is having on raptors and wildlife.

Used worldwide, rodenticides (or rat poisons) affect not only rats, but also large numbers of non-target animals including raptors, bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, bears, and fish. Rodenticides enter the food chain when animals eat poisoned rodents and receive secondary exposure.

Anticoagulant rodenticide ingestion can lead to immune suppression, rodenticide-induced mange, internal hemorrhaging, and death.

The overgrowth of rats is caused partly by a lack of predators. We talk about how the poisons we use to control rats end up harming or killing the very predators that are efficient at keeping rodent populations in check. 

This interview contains vital information about how we can be better caretakers of our shared environment. All of us can take action to protect raptors and wildlife from anticoagulant rodenticides.

What can we do? Start with avoiding the use of toxic rat poisons. Don’t make your yard a rat haven. Exclusion, sanitation, and trapping are effective nontoxic methods of rodent control.

Visit the Raptors are the Solution website for tips on how to make your yard less attractive to rats, educational resources, an activist toolkit, and more at raptorsarethesolution.org 

Guests: Lisa Owens Viani is a long time environmental writer and wildlife advocate. Lisa co-founded and directs Raptors Are The Solution- or RATS, a project of Earth Island Institute. 

RATS educates about the ecological role of raptors and the enormous danger that they and all wildlife, as well as pets and children, face from the wide use and availability of anticoagulant rat poisons. RATS partners with other agencies, scientists, municipalities, and NGO’s to work toward eliminating toxic rodenticides from the food web. RATS’ multi-pronged approach includes public education as well as legislative and legal work to achieve better regulation of these products. 

Lisa was honored as the Fund for Wild Nature's Grassroots Activist of 2021 and received a Special Achievement Award on behalf of raptors from the International Owl Center in 2018.

Allen Fish is the Associate Director for Conservation and Community Science at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. 

Allen is also the director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory since its founding in the mid 1980s. The Golden Gate Raptor Observatory is a four-decades-old community-science program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in cooperation with the National Park Service. It’s set up to monitor the largest migration site for birds of prey in the Pacific Flyway.  

Allen was a Lecturer at UC Davis from 2003 to 2011 where he taught Raptor Biology. Allen has a long history of writing and public speaking on raptor biology and conservation, urban wildlife ecology, climate change impacts, and the power of community science. Allen was awarded Bay Nature’s Environmental Educator of the Year Award in 2016 and Golden Gate Audubon honored Allen with the Elsie Roemer Award for Conservation in 2020.  

In 2011, Allen assisted Lisa in founding Raptors are the Solution. Allen lives with his family in Berkeley, and has recently become obsessed by the lives and ecology of dragonflies.

Note: I was inspired to pursue this topic when I noticed that I wasn’t hearing as many owls at night in my neighborhood. When disoriented rats began stumbling around our yard during the day and several were found dead in our yard, I did some research and discovered that rat poisons or anticoagulant rodenticides were the likely culprit-not only responsible for the dying and dead rats, but also for the decreased owl numbers.

I decided to write an article Silent Night- The Unintended  Consequences of Rodenticides and in doing my research, I discovered Raptors Are the Solution (RATS).

Links:

Raptors Are the Solution or RATS

Link to RATS Pilot Project in Seattle

Article: Silent Night- The Unintended Consequences of Rodenticides

Episode 163: What if you could replace your monocrop grass lawn with a “solar powered regenerative system that stores carbon while creating habitats”? You can! Learn how in this informative episode with Owen Wormser.

Did you know that the average lawn is a a biological desert that needs vast amounts of resources to stay alive? By replacing your lawn with a meadow, you can sink carbon, retain water, provide habitat, attract pollinators, create beauty, and save money. 

Owen fills us in on how to transition your lawn to a biodiverse meadow and what a meadow needs to thrive. He shares some of his favorite meadow plants, like Needle Grass, Echinacea, and Black Eyed Susan. These plants tend to be resilient and don’t need rich soil to grow well, so you don’t have to use a lot of amendments, a stark contrast to the average lawn. Another benefit of meadows is that you only need to mow them once a year- that alone may be enough to make many of us make the switch!

Owen also talks about a few of the challenges of meadow-making, including the time it can take to fully establish a meadow, which can be up to two to three years. 

Hearing Owen Wormser talk about meadows, you can’t help but want to create one! Owen is a landscape designer with a focus on sustainability and low-maintenance design. He is the author of the book Lawns into Meadows. Owen’s work is rooted in perspective and expertise drawn from landscape architecture, horticulture, permaculture, organic agriculture, and ecology. 

Owen is the owner and founder of Abound Design and the co-founder of Local Harmony, a nonprofit focused on encouraging and creating community driven regeneration. 

Thanks to Owen for teaching us about meadows, nature, and the abundance of the natural world! 

Other links and mentions:

Lawns into Meadows.

 Prairie Moon Nursery

Episode 162: Is the future nuts? According to our guest Michael Judd, it definitely is, but in a good way! In this fun and informative interview, Michael shares his vision of a bountiful and food secure future where nut tree orchards and farms abound. 

Resilient perennial crops with a multitude of ecosystem services, nut trees improve soil health and stability, provide habitat for animals, increase diversity, and offer nutrient rich food. Michael is an advocate for the Chestnut and we talk in detail about the promise that this tree holds for our nutty future.

We chat about “Bread” nut trees and “Butter” nut trees, nut tree guilds, and the ecological and economic potential of nut trees. If you are looking for a crop to grow or want to diversify what you already produce, nut trees may be a good bet.

Michael Judd is a Permaculture and Ecological Designer and the co-founder of Silvoculture, a nonprofit focused on perennial food security. Michael has worked with agro-ecological and whole systems design throughout the Americas for nearly two decades, Author of the books Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist and For the Love of Paw Paws, Michael is also the founder of two other nonprofits Ecologia Edible and Ecological Landscape Design and Project Bona Vide. Michael puts his teachings into action on his own property Judd’s Long Creek Homestead located in the Appalachian foothills of Frederick, MD where Michael and his family steward 25 acres of mixed woodland, food forests, and a nursery all designed to promote sustainable agriculture. 

Michael mentions the following links in this episode:

Future Scenarios by David Holmgren

Greg Miller Route 9 Cooperative

University of Missouri, Chinese Chestnuts

Red Fern Farm

Savannah Institute

Plantra Tree Tubes

Episode on Goumi: Goumi, A Beautiful Bush With Benefits.

Growing an herbal apothecary garden at home is fun and easy. Learn how to start your own in this informative interview with longtime organic farmer Alena Steen.

We begin the episode by talking about the benefits of growing medicinal herbs and then move into the nitty gritty of soil preparation, watering, and harvesting. Alena explains the concept of "benevolent neglect" and talks about how this type of growing can actually increase the medicinal qualities of herbs. 

Alena shares some of her favorite plants with us including Tulsi, Calendula, Ashwagandha, Lemon Balm, Yarrow, and Rosemary. We chat about how to make herbal medicines like oxymels, tinctures, salves, and herbal honeys. 

Whether you have a large piece of land, a garden, or a small pot on a patio- we hope this episode inspires you to grow your own herbal apothecary! 

Alena Steen has been farming and gardening organically for over ten years. She and her partner Danny are the owners of the herbal medicine company Night Heron Farm. Night Heron Farm offers an herbal and flower CSA with plants and products from their farms in Carpinteria, CA. Learn more at NightHeronFarm.org.