Podcast appearances and mentions of dave jacke

In this shorts episode I offer some of my favorite informational resources, from vague concepts to specific books to the exceptionally obvious. Many are linked in the show notes. At the end I try out a new style of Q&A, will it work? Only time will tell.   State level organic associations:  MOFGA in Maine or NOFA in other northeast states Clubs: NAFEX, NNGA, and their facebook groups. Podcasts: Perennial AF from the Savanna Institute, Poor Prole's Almanac, In Defence of Plants, Live Like the World is Dying, Cultivariable   Books: Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation by Dirr and Heuser, The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips, Cornucopia II : a source book of edible plants by Stephen Facciola , Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke and Eric Toesmeier, Radical Mycology by Peter McCoy, Tree Fruit Field Guide to Insect, Mite, and Disease Pests and Natural Enemies of Eastern North America by Plant and Life Science Publishing. The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery , Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carrol Deppe, Secrets of Plant Propagation by Lewis Hill. Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. Online resources: BONAP, Plants For A Future, The Woody Plant Seed Manual | US Forest Service Research

You spoke up and we listened! Responding to a survey we put out earlier this year on our instagram page, which is @forestgardenpodcast, we decided to do an episode on ground covers in the forest garden. And who better to talk about this topic than the man who wrote the book on forest gardens in North America, Dave Jacke (with co-author Eric Toensmeier, who we have previously interviewed... and you should check out that episode too). Today's episode discusses ground covers, but also dips into a range of topics related to forest gardens and Dave's experience writing the book Edible Forest Gardens Volumes 1 & 2. Stick with us for an episode jam packed with useful info. Dave's links: https://www.edibleforestgardens.com/ contact: davekjacke@gmail.com Chelsea Green link to purchase the books: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/edible-forest-gardens-2-volume-set/

Visit Our Sponsor: Foraged.Market This episode is a remaster of my first interview with Eric Toensmeier, originally recorded in the early days of the show way back in 2012 when I still lived on the land in Pennsylvania. I'm sharing this as a follow-up to the most recent episode before this one where Eric joined me for another interview to talk about his current work on Alley Cropping. Depending on when you are listening to this, if you haven't heard that show, definitely give it a listen. You'll find that right before this one in the archives. If you are not familiar with Eric and his work, he is the author of numerous permaculture and permaculture-adjacent books, all of which I highly recommend for your library. Most recently, that includes Carbon Farming: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security. Another title where Eric is the sole author is Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to Zuiki Taro, a Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-grow Edibles. He is the co-author, along with Dave Jacke, of Edible Forest Gardens and also wrote Paradise Lot with Jonathan Bates, the former of which is probably his most popular title in the permie community. Our conversation begins with Eric's bio. He then answers some listener questions on perennials, then delves into perennial plants, the broad-scale application of permaculture, and removing some of the fear factors of implementing a forest garden. Throughout you will hear both of us touch on plants we would like to see improved and simple ways anyone who is growing a garden can help domesticate and improve edible perennials. - You can find Eric at PerennialSolutions.org - His latest venture, The Perennial Agriculture Institute, is at PerennialAgriculture.Institute. - You can also read Eric's current writing and support his ongoing efforts at patreon.com/erictoensmeier. Resources Eric Toensmeier Perennial Solutions PerennialAgriculture.Institute Edible Forest Gardens Keyline Design USDA PLANTS Database Books Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Field Guide and Cookbook (Out-of-Print. Bookfinder.com link) Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford Edible Water Gardens by Nick Romanowski (Out-of-Print. Bookfinder.com link) The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening Return to Resistance: Breeding Crops to Reduce Pesticide Dependence by Raoul Robinson Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast - A Field Guide

Welcome back podcast listeners! Tune in today to learn from one of our personal heroes Eric Toensmeier, author of Paradise Lot, Perennial Vegetables, The Carbon Farming Solution (and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens written by Dave Jacke). We cover quite a bit in todays episode, prepare yourself for in depth descriptions of agroforestry practices, the incredible nutritional value of some of Eric's favorite perennial vegetable crops, and much much more. Eric's links: https://www.patreon.com/erictoensmeier http://www.perennialsolutions.org/ https://drawdown.org/ Eric's Books: http://www.perennialsolutions.org/shop

A Saint Ubald, la forêt nourricière installée depuis plus de 8 ans au cœur de la ville est un exemple type projet réussit. Porté par sa communauté, il a ouvert la voie, au fil du temps, à de nombreux projets connexes pédagogiques, communautaires et patrimoniaux. Nous parlons avec Jean-Christophe Denis, un expert, mais surtout un passionné, responsable du petit paradis de Saint Ubald qui nous explique tout sur les forêts nourricières.Quelques références en plus pour les lecteurs curieux que vous êtes.Edible Forest Garden vol. 1 et 2 - Dave Jacke et Eric Toensmeier (et tous les travaux d'Éric Toensmeier) Permaculture : A designer's manual - Bill Mollison (et tous ses autres ouvrages)

For Dave Jacke, a designer of ecological landscapes and lead author of the classic book 'Edible Forest Gardens,' the key to how humanity will navigate its future on Earth lies with our culture and "inner landscapes," as refracted through our technologies. Paradoxically, the extreme underdevelopment of Western culture, psychosocially, is a reason for hope, he argues. If humanity truly were advanced while facing so many planetary challenges, "we’d be screwed." Fortunately, we have so much room to grow in self-awareness, and ecological design can help us learn to co-evolve abundant landscapes once again.

We can design sustainable agricultural systems all day long, but if we don't also have sustainable social systems to support them, they are far more likely to fail. Today we cover this and many other topics with Dave Jacke. Dave Jacke, primary author of the award winning two-volume book Edible Forest Gardens, has studied ecology and design since the 1970s, and has run Dynamics Ecological Design since 1984. Dave has consulted on, designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms, and communities in many parts of the U.S., as well as overseas. His homestead is an eagle’s flight from the Connecticut River in Montague, MA.   What's integral to sustaining ecosystems is crucial to sustaining social systems....and to do that, we need a healthy inner landscape.   In this episode... The motivating force behind Edible Forest Gardens (2:10) Who do we have to become to create sustainable landscapes? (8:25) What a healthy, balanced landscape feels like (11:40) Forging reciprocal relationships with system elements (15:50) The role of emotions as an adaptive mechanism to give us information about ourself and our environment (21:15) Healing the trauma held in the body leads to more presence, increased ability to "be here now" and speak your truth; wholeness is interconnectedness (26:10) Why grow forest gardens? (28:10) In order to have successful sustainable landscapes, we need to also design collaborative, egalitarian social systems. In order to have successful, functioning social systems, we need to work on our inner landscapes. (33:30) Redefining guilds (37:10) Designing for results (46:00) Resources Dynamics Ecological Design Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer Old Path, White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast In this conversation moderated by Ben Weiss of Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises and Robyn Mello of Edenspore, Jon Darby, Alyson Earl, and Wilson Alvarez discuss their work at Horn Farm Center and regenerating the land. This includes how they came to sustainable agriculture; the dream projects they're working on; how their ancestral and cultural history impacts their work and thought processes; and close by taking questions from the students assembled for the ecological design course. Donate Online to the Spring Fundraiser I'd like to thank Ben and Robyn for inviting the podcast to join them for the day so we could share this with you, and to “Photographer John” Staley for making the trip, as I was unable to attend. I love the shared story of these three presenters speaking around these common questions, and why I like to include conversations like these, and the others over the years on the show. Together, a multitude of voices address the same series of inquiries. Though any moment, given question or particular response, leads to greater reflection, the one that stays with me leaving this interview regards the inquiry into one's ancestral history and how that impacts our work and view of the world. As the descendant of Appalachian Hillbillies and a 19th-century German immigrant, I often find myself considering the ways that familial culture brought me to where I am today. How stories of growing up poor in West Virginia lead my mother's family to focus on people. Often folks I did not know, and remain unsure if we were related by blood or by marriage, we called family. Anyone who would join us for a meal was free to eat with us. From those roots how came to care about individuals and the community we create. One immigrant, my great-great-grandfather Mann arrived in the second half of the 1800s, where came to Pennsylvania and fought in the American Civil War, before settling with an American wife in southern Maryland to farm. They taught his son how to farm, who then taught my grandfather, who taught my father. Though I did not grow up on the land, as my family no-longer farmed by the 1980s, the soil still ran through me, as we planted seeds. Dug in the ground. Planted trees in the yard with my father on Arbor day so that by the time I was a teenager there was the shade to sit under, even if branches lacked the height to climb. I've carried those times, those stories of past generations, and experiences for my entire life and see them all as leading me directly to this path of creating The Permaculture Podcast, and retaining a love of Earth, people, and to share the bounty of life. Do you have any stories like these which lead you to your journey? I'd love to hear from you. Email: Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast From here the next episode will be the one with Kevin Jones, after having to move the release schedule around a little. Until then, spend each day living into your gift, remembering the stories of your ancestors, and hearing the new tales of you community, while taking care of Earth, yourself, and each other. Resources Wilson Alvarez on Biomimicry, Landcare, and The Reintegration Project The Reintegration Project Tour (YouTube) Rewilding with Wilson Alvarez and Ben Weiss Zone 4 Permaculture with Wilson Alvarez and Ben Weiss Restoring Eden with Wilson Alvarez and Ben Weiss Right Livelihood with Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein Getting Right with Ourselves and Building Community featuring Ben Weiss & Dave Jacke Susquehanna Permaculture Round Table (Part 1) featuring Jon Darby and Ben Weiss Susquehanna Permaculture Round Table (Part 2) featuring Jon Darby and Ben Weiss Permanent Multi-Culture with Robyn Mello An Introduction to Philadelphia Orchard Project featuring Robyn Mello Philly Roundtable Q&A (Part 1) featuring Robyn Mello Philly Roundtable Q&A (Part 2) featuring Robyn Mello

Dave during the chat with Dan In this episode Dan Palmer from Making Permaculture Stronger enjoys another high-energy, cut to the chase dialogue with Dave Jacke from Edible Forest Gardens. The first episode/instalment can be found here. This second instalment of an energy-rich conversation that is far from done includes: Dan sharing his recent feeling that in framing permaculture design processes using linear-sequence-implying flow charts a (kind of big) mistake is being made Dave putting flow charts and other things in a successional (but non-linear!) framing where they have their role in the learning journey Dave sharing his cutting edge, hot-off-the-press, so far unwritten about approach to framing design processes as ecosystems The relation between what he calls the four ecosystem ps: properties principles patterns processes Why Dave avoids using the name permaculture Much, much else! Dave Jacke's work has been referenced many times in previous posts, and was the sole focus of this one and this one. Oh yes, the Ludwig Wittgenstein quote Dan mentions was: One thinks that one is tracing the outline of the thing's nature over and over again, and one is merely tracing around the frame through which we look at (Philosophical Investigations) and the quote Dave shared was: Ecological communities are not as tightly linked as organisms, but neither are they simply collections of individuals. Rather, the community is a unique form of biological system in which the individuality of the parts (i.e., species and individuals) acts paradoxically to bind the system together. —DAVID PERRY, Forest Ecosystems Finally, you can organise yourself a copy of David Holmgren's amazing new book Retrosuburbia (which Dan quotes from at the start) right here. We really hope you enjoy the episode, and please do leave a comment sharing any feedback or reflections below… Dan during the chat with Dave

Dave during the chat with Dan In this episode Dan Palmer from Making Permaculture Stronger enjoys another high-energy, cut to the chase dialogue with Dave Jacke from Edible Forest Gardens. The first episode/instalment can be found here. This second instalment of an energy-rich conversation that is far from done includes: Dan sharing his recent feeling that in framing permaculture design processes using linear-sequence-implying flow charts a (kind of big) mistake is being made Dave putting flow charts and other things in a successional (but non-linear!) framing where they have their role in the learning journey Dave sharing his cutting edge, hot-off-the-press, so far unwritten about approach to framing design processes as ecosystems The relation between what he calls the four ecosystem ps: properties principles patterns processes Why Dave avoids using the name permaculture Much, much else! Dave Jacke’s work has been referenced many times in previous posts, and was the sole focus of this one and this one. Oh yes, the Ludwig Wittgenstein quote Dan mentions was: One thinks that one is tracing the outline of the thing's nature over and over again, and one is merely tracing around the frame through which we look at (Philosophical Investigations) and the quote Dave shared was: Ecological communities are not as tightly linked as organisms, but neither are they simply collections of individuals. Rather, the community is a unique form of biological system in which the individuality of the parts (i.e., species and individuals) acts paradoxically to bind the system together. —DAVID PERRY, Forest Ecosystems Finally, you can organise yourself a copy of David Holmgren's amazing new book Retrosuburbia (which Dan quotes from at the start) right here. We really hope you enjoy the episode, and please do leave a comment sharing any feedback or reflections below… Dan during the chat with Dave

In this episode Dan Palmer from Making Permaculture Stronger enjoys a high-energy, cut to the chase dialogue with Dave Jacke from Edible Forest Gardens. Dave and Dan explore: Dave's 38+ year journey with design process and permaculture including: his first design project at Simon's Rock College his initial contact with permaculture and then Bill Mollison his initial contact with the writings of Christopher Alexander (especially Alexander's 1964 book Notes on the Synthesis of Form) his experience studying at the Conway School of Landscape Design his relationship to permaculture his ecological design process Permaculture's design process enigma (has a lot to say about ecological design but not a lot to say about ecological design process) The relation between the designer, the designing, and the designed Problems with the expert/hero approach to design The relation between rationality and feeling/emotion inside ecological design process So much else... Dave Jacke's work has been referenced many times in previous posts, and was the sole focus of this one. We really hope you enjoy the episode, which is feeling like beginning of a longer conversation, and please do leave a comment sharing any feedback or reflections below… Dave doing site analysis at Yandoit Farm, Victoria, Australia, 2016

In this episode Dan Palmer from Making Permaculture Stronger enjoys a high-energy, cut to the chase dialogue with Dave Jacke from Edible Forest Gardens. Dave and Dan explore: Dave's 38+ year journey with design process and permaculture including: his first design project at Simon's Rock College his initial contact with permaculture and then Bill Mollison his initial contact with the writings of Christopher Alexander (especially Alexander's 1964 book Notes on the Synthesis of Form) his experience studying at the Conway School of Landscape Design his relationship to permaculture his ecological design process Permaculture's design process enigma (has a lot to say about ecological design but not a lot to say about ecological design process) The relation between the designer, the designing, and the designed Problems with the expert/hero approach to design The relation between rationality and feeling/emotion inside ecological design process So much else... Dave Jacke's work has been referenced many times in previous posts, and was the sole focus of this one. We really hope you enjoy the episode, which is feeling like beginning of a longer conversation, and please do leave a comment sharing any feedback or reflections below… Dave doing site analysis at Yandoit Farm, Victoria, Australia, 2016

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Steven Martyn, the Sacred Gardener from Ontario, Canada, returns to continue our conversation about reconnecting with the land, as well as with the traditions and cultures not only of the area we call home, but also with the peoples of that land, and the ways of our families. Along the way we talk about what it means to develop a mindset that tends the wild, to move away from domineering or colonizing, while also honoring those who come before us. During this interview you can also hear some of the struggles I'm currently having as I deepen my sense of place. This is an interview about place, culture, getting deep, and moving away from a self-centered and anthropocentric world view. Episode Sponsor: Earth Tools I chose to partner with Earth Tools because they are owned and operated by a small-scale farmer and his family. With their hands-on experience and understanding of the tools we need on our farms and in our gardens, they make high quality tools accessible to everyone. If you're looking for the perfect holiday gift for the gardeners in your life, this is it. Find out more about their complete line of tractors and tools at Earth Tools. Get in touch with the show: . Email: The Permaculture Podcast Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast Resources: The Sacred Gardener Returning to Eden: Polyculture Gardening with Steven Martyn Orphan Wisdom School The Hundredth Monkey Effect Edible Forest Gardens and Permaculture with Dave Jacke    

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Enjoy this episode? Become a Patron. In 2015 I released 55 episodes. Followers to the show on Facebook and Twitter more than doubled, and listenership is now at over 15,000 per episode, also doubling since the start of the year. This episode is a best of and overview of the preceding twelve months. In preparing the list of what to include, it became a survey of what was popular on the podcast, and in our particular slice of the permaculture community represented by where things have gone, and your interests in reaching out to have certain guests on the air. If you're new to permaculture or this podcast, the various interviews reviewed here and listed in the Resource section at the bottom of the show notes page provide a beginning to explore the archives, which contain hundreds of hours of interviews with a broad cross section of permaculture practitioners, authors, scientists, and others who are all dedicated to creating a better world. Every time I sit down to look over the year that came before, I always toss around different ideas of what to include and how to best represent the trends and ideas, without giving a blow by blow of every topic and conversation. I really enjoy every interview and episode that gets released, so would just list them in order if I had my druthers, but that's not that interesting. Instead, I have to use some kind of metric or decision making process to decide what to share. That might be something like total listens to a given episode, but that gives preference to something that was released earlier in the year. Comments are great, but vary widely, and the more polarizing a guest is leads to more feedback. Even with that feedback, what source to judge from? Though some replies are left on the website, most of the responses continue to come directly to me via email, but some interviews, like that with Jason Godesky, generate a lot of interest on Facebook. So for this year I'm going to look at the topics that trended as the most popular subjects on the show, include a few of my personal favorites, and close with the guest who continues to be the most popular on the show. By far the topic that got the most attention was foraging and rewilding. Every time this subject came up new suggestions poured in for people to reach out to for interviews, other books and articles to read, or different angles to address this idea of primal reconnection to ourselves and the land. The two conversations with Peter Michael Bauer were some of the most downloaded and commented on interviews of the year. Peter's first conversation in March, providing an introduction to human rewilding and the intersection with permaculture, was so well received that he returned in November to explore the difference between rewilding the land and how that differs from un-domesticating ourselves. Dina Falconi, author of Foraging and Feasting, was the other guest garnered a lot of attention. Her discussion of food as medicine, the idea of developing and using master recipes, and the distinction between a plant as food or a culinary addition resonated with many people. From the landscape and the self we move to human society and our cultural stories, which played a big part this year in the discussions about social permaculture. Where these most connected were when many voices came together as one in the round table recordings. Repeatedly I've heard from you that you listened to those over and over again, including the two conversations with Ben Weiss and Dave Jacke, one of which included Charles Eisenstein; the journey to the Riverside Project in West Virginia where Nicole Luttrell, Jesse Wyner, Ashley Davis, and Diane Blust joined me for another two pieces that started talking about permaculture, but settled into a what it means to call a place home; and then the largest round table yet, with the Clear Creek community outside of Berea, Kentucky. Though each one touched on very different ideas the space created by coming together felt like you were invited to be a part of the circle to sit, ask questions, and listen. In some case we were able to do that by including your questions as you tweeted or posted comments to Facebook while the interviews were recorded. Along with those, the social and cultural side were pushed to the edge in the discussion of with Jason Godesky. Though on the surface we talked about narrative, mythmaking, and how we can accomplish that through games such as his own The Fifth World, there was a deeper exploration of push-pull experienced between waking up and turning on lights and having on demand hot water and how to live a life that isn't just a reduced consumption that is still damaging, but something more regenerative. I'm thankful for the voice Jason brought to the table that day, after we'd already had a long weekend at Save Against Fear, and were still able to look at the difference between the modern versus the traditional; holistic compared to reductionist; and personal responsibility versus systemic hegemony. Moving outside of the topics of interest, there are three episodes I feel deserve mentioned here as ones you should listen to if you haven't heard them, or listen to them again if you have. The first is Joshua Peaceseeker Hughes and our overview of modern permaculture that resulted in the first episode explicitly looking at the need for Transitional Ethics during this time of transformation. His personal story created an acknowledgement that we can do more, but that doing so involves making an active choice. To embody permaculture and live it intentionally, but not to abuse ourselves for being citizens of the world we find ourselves in. The second was when I returned to the Faith and Earth Care series through the interview with Dillon Cruz. I was initially a little hesitant about releasing the conversation because this series as a whole usually generates a lot of feedback, often negatively. Dillon's time on the air did bring a number of replies, often private via email, but in a different way. His raw voice and self awareness lead to responses that stretched across a variety of religious traditions, and gave form to an expression of faith as a way to tend the world we are given that is a personal pursuit compatible with designing the world we want to live in. There was no hatemail this time around for covering spirituality within permaculture, but, then again, this wasn't that kind of conversation. The final of the stand-alone, stand-out episodes, comes from time spent with Eric and Victoria of Charm City Farms, in Baltimore, Maryland. In particular it was Victoria's personal journey that opened a space to hear a voice that sounded similar to our own. She came from a place where she could make any of a number of choices towards the life she lived, and worked through the struggles of what path lead to a sense of self and right livelihood. Every time I sit down with a microphone I never know what will wind up being recorded or where the interview will go. That day in Baltimore lead to something special and I'm grateful to Victoria for allowing me to share that with you. Now that I've covered the episodes I heard from you about, there are two that were some of my personal favorites. Those were with Holly Brown of Island Creek Farm, and talking with Toby Hemenway about The Permaculture City. Holly means so much to my own journey as a permaculture practitioner not only for the content of the conversation you can listen to, but also because of the way that we spent our the time together the day we met. She was the last stop on my journey through Virginia visiting with permaculture farmers and homesteaders, that started with Lee and Dave O'Neill of Radical Roots several days earlier. That morning, as I drove out to her farm, I found myself a little road weary and ready to start the trek back up North on Interstate 81 to Pennsylvania. I love to drive, it's something instilled in me by my father at a young age as I sat in the back of classic American muscle, and later Swedish GT cars, and then my own life as a gear-head behind the wheel of Japanese sports cars and GT cars of my own, but I despise getting on I-81 for more than an hour or so, and the thought of four hours from Virginia back home that day felt like a stretch of my own personal hell laid out in asphalt. While winding my way through back roads, already running late after sitting in traffic while trying to leave Roanoke, I began to question this last stop of the day, and whether to reschedule with Holly for another time. The closer I got to the farm the roads got narrower and the speed limits much lower, and I still didn't know what I would find, or how this last conversation would close out a whirlwind journey, my first time taking the podcast on the road to visit, talk, and document in person. Finally, after nearly two hours in the car for what should have taken less than an hour, I rounded  the last turn and came to the Island Creek. After backing up a bit because I missed the lane, for the first time I saw why Holly and her farm were recommended as a place to visit. The site was gorgeous, and there, out in the fields, were a pair of souls working the land with their hands, skin deeply tanned from time spent out of doors. Shortly they would be revealed as Holly and one of her farm interns. Within moments of meeting, after Holly and her intern finished the harvesting and business for the day, Holly and I stepped into the small home she shares with her husband and children, a home built by their hands on land donated to their family as a wedding gift, and ate a lunch of vegetable curry, topped with yogurt she made from raw milk sourced from another nearby farm, and paired with a salad of her own variety of mixed greens. Before the interview, we sat and talked about children, family, and life. Afterwards, while touring the farm where I got to eat my first fresh fig right, pulled right off the tree, we discussed the politics of being a permaculture farmer in an area with a conservative view of farming that views modern, industrial drive agriculture as the only way; and how to make the choices required to have a successful permaculture farm that runs counter to those ideas that others see as norms, reinforced by our society we live in. Though that all happened outside of the conversation you can listen to on the show, many of the tenets and tone you'll find there. Holly is someone I look forward to visiting again to sit down and continue to push the edges of what it means to embody permaculture as a small-scale farmer working the land, fueled by calories not fossil fuels. The impact of that day is also why you'll see the picture of Holly's farm as the cover image of this episode. On the other side of that, looking at living in a rural setting, was Toby Hemenway. Well known and carrying high regarded within our community, I'd chased him off and on through the years for an interview, but we never quite connected. I'll admit to never being a fan of Gaia's Garden, but The Permaculture City was like talking with an old friend, which was what the resulting interview felt like. Warm and gracious, but a bit heretical because Toby did the math and raised questions about the practicality and sustainability of the permaculture dream of going off-grid, returning to the land, and seeking self-sufficiency. As he says in the book, he's done subsistence farming, and it isn't a joy by any sense of the imagination, it's hard work that many of us are not realistically ready for, so what can we do to do us and what we are ready for and good at? This latest work also took permaculture a step further out of the landscape, to areas where there may be no soil to grow in, or if we're not suited to it, may honestly be a waste of our time and energy. What then? What do we do to still live in a regenerative manner, during this period of transition, to lessen our consumption and impacts, when the answer is counter to so many years of conversation and literature on what we're told permaculture is supposed to be, and what it is supposed to look like? Deep down we've known the truth, the answers, we've heard it before through people like Bob Theis imploring that we don't go out and inflict ourselves on a piece of land that doesn't need us, or Dave Jacke addressing that what we called Invisible Structures for so long need to be framed for what they are, social and economic systems. And here in his book and conversation with me,  was the number one selling author on the subject of permaculture calling all of that into question, and asking us to examine our own choices. Here were some of my doubts about the permaculture narrative given a voice. Was my mind blown? Yeah, just a little, and it's what has taken me a road to continue to stand in two worlds and create a place, through the podcast, to look at these bigger pictures and questions so we can build permanent culture, rather than just insuring we achieve permanent agriculture. With all those voices and conversations and the others in the archives, can you guess who the number one guest of all time on the show is out of the last five years, and so receives an honorable mention? Are you shocked at all if I say Ethan Hughes? His insight and thoughts continue to connect with so many people, including to my surprise, a number of folks from Australia and New Zealand. The work of his, to embrace and embody permaculture in a way that is personally fulfilling, but non-proselytizing, shows a different way forward. I might not ever to live the way he does, because as Eric Toensmeier and I have talked about I like electricity and the ability to communicate worldwide instantaneously via the internet,  his actions help me get a little bit closer to where I want to be every time we talk or I listen back over the public interviews. It's why I picked up the phone and called him to talk about my desire here in Pennsylvania to create an urban demonstration site and semi-intentional community. As that phone call drew to a close, and he'd shared a number of insights in how to start a project like that, the conversation lead to us talking about writing, in particular a book about his personal journey, but with the practical insights necessary so anyone can create change where they are, as conventionally or radically as they like. Even more to my surprise, Ethan asked me to be his partner on the project, which resulted in what we're calling The Possibility Handbook. As a new year dawns, so does a new project, and I leave for The Possibility Alliance on January 15, 2016 to sit down, off-grid, and record with Ethan. If you would like to learn more about The Possibility Handbook in particular, visit the thepermaculturepodcast.com/book. There you can listen to a short interview with Mr. Hughes discussing the contents we'll cover, and what he hopes to accomplish by bringing this into the world. You'll also find information and links on how to take part in a listener-only crowdfunding campaign where you'll  receive early access to the book materials as they become available, and exclusive content that will not be offered anywhere but there. If you'd like to contribute to the show in general visit https://thepermaculturepodcast.com and click on the support tab to find out how you can help. In drawing this to a close, I want to say thank you to everyone who has been a part of the the show over the years by donating, sharing links, and reaching out to me via email or phone, or by taking the time to put a letter in the mail. All of it has made this podcast a success in ways that I never imagined in October of 2010 when I  first sat down with an inexpensive USB headset and an old Linux laptop to start talking about Permaculture.   Thank you.   [caption width="960" align="aligncenter"] Photo Source: Rewild Portland[/caption] Resources: Episode 1506: Island Creek Farm with Holly Brown Episode 1513: Rewilding Permaculture with Peter Michael Bauer Episode 1516: Foraging and Feasting with Dina Falconi Episode 1524: Right Livelihood with Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein Episode 1526: Getting right with ourselves & building community featuring Ben Weiss & Dave Jacke Episode 1530: Urban Permaculture in Baltimore, Maryland (Charm City Farms) Episode 1532: The Permaculture City with Toby Hemenway Episode 1538: Community Building (Clear Creek Round Table) Episode 1540: Myth Making and Storytelling with Jason Godesky Episode 1541: The Riverside Project Round Table (Part 1) Episode 1543: Transitional Ethics with Joshua Peaceseeker Hughes Episode 1544: Home (The Riverside Project Round Table Part 2) Episode 1546: Human vs. Conservation Rewilding Episode 1548: The Greatest Commandment with Dillon Cruz

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this post? Become a Patron. This is Episode 1536: We Can All Be Builders, and is the complete audio, including an audience question and answer session, from Eric Puro's keynote address at Radicle Gathering on August 21, 2015. For those of you who watched the video I posted a week ago, there is an additional 20 minutes of material here that wasn't part of the visual recording, as the camera battery died and I couldn't swap it out at the time, but the audio feed continued rolling along. If you didn't watch the video, no problem, just settle in and relax as you can hear all that and more in this episode. During his address Eric shares with us the concept of Vernacular Architecture, what it means to truly build with local sustainable materials and the decisions involved in that process, and invites us all to be active in our role as builders. He also shares information about the non-profit, ThePOOSH.org, he and other members run, and how we can get involved. The Q&A that rounds out his speech touches on the new community he and members building codes and personal decisions, creating relationships in order to keep disputes from arising, and how to explore and find solutions to problems of living sustainably, such as lighting your home. I'd like to thank Photographer John for allowing me to borrow the equipment I used to make this recording, and the video possible. I'd also like to thank every listener who contributes to the show. You allow me to keep the show transmitting out into the ether, and to documents events like Radicle Gathering. If you've been considering becoming a recurring patron, sign up at patreon.com/permaculturepodcast. If you prefer to make a one time show of support, use the PayPal button on the right hand side of this. Find out more about Eric Puro and his work at ThePOOSH.org. Before getting into my thoughts about this speech, a few quick class announcements. Jen Mendez of PermieKids.com, a long-time friend and sponsor to the show, has a number of online events in September. First are her EDGE Alliances. On September 13 join her and other members of the PermieKids community to discuss “What's Home? Outdoor Place-Based Nature Study.” Two days later on September 15 is “Connecting with the Natural Wonderment of the World through the Visual Arts. In addition to those EDGE Alliances, She and David Blumenkrantz are continuing to share their work on Youth and Community Development through Rites of Passage, which formed the basis for our interview released on July 16. Join Jen and David as they expand on those ideas through a series of virtual campfires discussion, the first of which is on September 21, 2015. So, Eric's Keynote. I was fortunate enough to not only attend Radicle to hear Eric's speech, but also to spend time living in community with him and others for several days in Clear Creek ahead of the time spent at Radicle. I also recorded a round table discussion with folks there, which I'm planning to release on September 17. In that experience I got to see and begin to understand what it means to be in community with others, and the importance of an invitation into something. I was invited to stay with them, but then invited to help build with them. During Radicle I joined Eric, Loren, Satu, Adam, and my friend, The Other Eric (who joined me for the journey to Kentucky), to build the the foundation for the cob oven. Coming from a background where the attitude was “do it right or don't do it at all,” I was initially hesitant to join in collecting materials or the construction, instead watching from the side and asking questions. Then I was told that the only way I'll learn is to do and that anything that is done can be undone so hop in. It was a rewarding experience and as a result I collected and stacked stones, dug for sandy soil, and had some deep discussions about creating outside the bounds of a schedule driven, just in time, forever faster system. That made Eric's keynote resonate even more strongly with me, and is why I titled this episode We Can All Be Builders. Each of the members of ThePOOSH, and others unrelated to that work but who live in Clear Creek, Kentucky, opened the door and joined in at every step of the way to support and grow not only the projects, but also the people involved, including myself. Those people in that place allowed a space for me to let go of my rational mind and begin to feel, in a way uncoupled from the facts and figures of daily life, and was a reminder of the value of emotions and, as Dave Jacke said, what they can tell us about what is going on in our lives, in the moment. There is information in those emotions. We need to be free of that rational reductionist side from time to time in order that we have the perspective that can pair the irrational with the reductionist knowledge we gain through education and formal experiences. Taking those disparate parts and build a new story that is not one or the other, not the weight of the past or the activities of the present or the dreams of the future, but a synthesis of all the moving parts into something unique. Something novel. Something new the world has never seen before. In that space, that mindset, we can find the thoughts that are different. Those ideas can get us out of the situations we find ourselves in. We can be creative in our use of permaculture as a decisions making process and apply it to whatever situation we find ourselves in. Like talking to a building inspector about the structure we built, how it was built, and why it is safe in an earthquake zone, even though we are not engineers. To be good with our neighbors and learn that sharing strawberries or garlic or a beer or wine, can create a better relationship, but that we still have the option to build a fence if what we do is onerous to others and there is no way to resolve it otherwise. As permaculture practitioners we have all the tools to create an abundant world, now all we need are the skills and the space within our particular niche to make it happen. If I can help you with that, get in touch with me. Email: The Permaculture Podcast. From here, my upcoming recordings and other events, all lumped together by date. Jason Godesky and I are looking to sit down over Labor Day weekend and record an in-person interview to discuss his thoughts on re-wilding and the open-source role playing game he wrote, The Fifth World, which seeks to explore what life might be like after the fall of civilization four hundred years from now. If you are a gamer, definitely check that out. September 10, a Thursday and a normal release day for the podcast, is the day I turn 36. I usually take my birthday week off from the podcast, but may release a personal reflection on some of the lessons I've learned recently, and the current direction of the show. September 12, I will be at The Riverside Project outside of Charles Town, West Virginia, to record an in-person round table discussion. The panelists are currently Nicole Luttrell of Deeply Rooted Design, Jesse Wyner of Liberty Root Farm, Ashley Davis, a permaculture design certified herbalist who runs Meadowsweet Botanicals, and Diane Blust, a retired government worker who is starting her permaculture homestead, Chicory Hill Farm. This event kicks off at 2pm with a meet and greet, followed by a recording from 230-330, a short break, another recording from 4pm-5pm, and then a potluck from 5pm-??? This is an event that you can attend, however spaces are limited. To find out more or to RSVP, e-mail Emma: info@theriversideproject.com. September 16, Lisa Rose, author of Midwest Foraging, joins me to talk about the book and her other work. September 19 and 20, if all goes well, I'm returning to Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania to see what is going on and Late September, as we are still working on a date, Peter Michael Bauer returns to continue to the conversation on rewilding. We are also still working on what to talk about, but with the direction our private conversation went after the recording ended for the last interview, this one could dig deep. October 6, Sandor Katz joins me to talk about all things fermentation and culture. The first week of November, Brad Lancaster returns to share strategies based on the work of the Desert Harvesters to collect water in an urban environment in order to support native perennials planted in public right-of-ways If you have questions for these guests get in touch via the usual email address of phone number. The Permaculture Podcast . You can also use those if you want to talk about permaculture, ask me questions directly, or if you would like to setup a round-table recording in your community. Let me know.  Contact: The Permaculture Podcast And now, with all that said, this episode of The Permaculture Podcast draws to a close. Until the next time we meet, take care of Earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast This article is by Taylor Proffit, and originally posted at NuMundo.org and reprinted/recorded as a podcast with permission. Back in October, my friend showed me The Permaculture Podcast for the first time while we were camping, developing business models and visioning the future of each other's work in the startup world of San Francisco. It was an appropriate time to listen to the episode where Ethan Roland of Appleseed Permaculture spoke about the Eight Forms of Capital in Regenerative Enterprise. Having listened to nearly every episode from the last 5 years in a matter of weeks, I've been deeply moved and inspired by this daily dose of educational therapy that has pushed me to make meaningful changes at a crossroads in my life. This is one of the most transformative collections of media I've come across to date. I've included links to the shows on the website, but you can download the mobile app as well. If you feel so inspired, support the growth of the show with a one time or monthly donation on Scott's crowdfunding platform or leave a review on the itunes app store. 1. Ethan Hughes and Necessary Simplicity & Practical Possibilities with Ethan Hughes – Ethan Hughes is a permaculture practitioner and radical minimalist that founded the Possibility Alliance, an 80-acre petrol and electricity-free homestead that gifts over 1,500 permaculture design courses each year. After traveling the world and watching the innumerable tragedies that fossil fuels and Western civilization have imposed on the earth, indigenous populations, and the minds of the masses, Ethan decided to give up his car for a bike, eat dinner by candlelight, liquidate his financial capital, and begin educating people about changing harmful lifestyles. I cannot explain how game-changing it was to hear Ethan tell his story: 20 years of slowing down to the simple life where chocolate doesn't belong, where in the last ten years his car has only been used twelve times for emergencies, and where the inner landscape work to make these external changes is of utmost importance and is the only practical path. Here is another article with Ethan over at Mother Earth News. [caption width="500" align="aligncenter"] Reprinted from Gather and Grow, read their experience when visiting Ethan's land and home of the Possibility Alliance https://gatherandgrowdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/possibility2.jpg[/caption] 2. Edible Forest Gardens and permaculture with Dave Jacke – Dave Jacke is a permaculture practitioner and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens that tells it like it is. Like Ethan Hughes, Dave asserts the importance of inner landscape work if any external actions are to have lasting results. His work with perennial food forestry is comprehensive, and the content of this conversation has given me a more clear understanding of how to move forward in my path, both internally and in the outer landscape, specifically with regards to food forestry. 3. Right Livelihood with Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein– This recent episode features permaculture practitioners Ben Weiss and Dave Jacke, and author of bestseller Sacred Economics, Charles Eisenstein. The conversation traverses the ways in which we can integrate the lessons of the old story, and begin to make positive changes toward the new world we wish to inhabit. A true necessity for the contemporary changemaker. Linked in the show notes is the second half of the conversation without Charles (who had to leave the discussion early). [caption width="490" align="aligncenter"] Reprinted with permission from The Permaculture Podcast. Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein panel discussion (left to right).[/caption] 4. Restoration Agriculture with Mark Shepard (Parts 1-3)– Mark Shepard is a practical go out and get it farmer. He's not interested in obscure uses of the word permaculture or anything short of prolific results. This three part discussion explains Mark's story and experience with the Organic Valley Co-operative farmers group, in which biofuel tractor design, perennial food forest design, and efficient chestnut growing are all shared practices to build a resilient network of farmers who live in the same proximity. After listening to the first episode, I was thrilled to see there were two more to listen to. This is a great episode for practical solutions to profitable farming, truly restorative land management practices, and integrative food forestry design. 5. Whole Systems Design and the Resilient Farm with Ben Falk– Ben Falk is a permaculturist who, like Ethan Hughes, wouldn't flinch if the system as we know it broke down overnight. The homestead he designed for himself is completely self-reliant, other than a generator he uses as a backup heating source for showers until solar panels can be bought (by now, I'm sure he has them, since this episode is over two years old). But unlike Ethan, Ben makes a living from his rugged resilience through a design firm called Whole Systems Design, LLC. When I first came across Ben's website a year or so ago on accident, I thought to myself “this is what I want to do” as I watched a video of him using a scythe to cut a cover crop and his design team talking about the completely self-reliant and closed loop homestead systems they design, build and inhabit. Here is the video: Whole Systems Design, LLC Firm Overview from Ben Falk on Vimeo. Whole Systems Design, LLC Firm Overview from Ben Falk on Vimeo. A visual overview of some of the work Whole Systems Design performs in Vermont, New England and abroad. Enjoy and check us out at www.wholesystemsdesign.com for more information. 6. Eight Forms of Capital and Regenerative Enterprise with Ethan Roland– If you haven't read Regenerative Enterprise by Gaia University Graduates Ethan Roland and Gregory Landua, I encourage you to do so after this episode. This show outlines the conceptual viewpoint of the eight forms of capital, of which financial is only one. I'll let Ethan explain how this simple formula for viewing the world makes all of your work, whether it is volunteer work at a food bank, growing your own food, traveling, or reading books, as contributing to your wealth as a human being. [caption width="500" align="aligncenter"] Reprinted with permission from The Permaculture Podcast. The Eight Forms of Capital infograph.[/caption] 7. Responsible Business, Responsible Entrepreneur with Carol Sanford– Fast on the heels of the Eight Forms of Capital episode, Carol Sanford takes the concepts of Regenerative Entrepreneurship to new heights with responsible entrepreneurship being her twist on the subject. She speaks about ethics-driven corporations and right relations business practices that make for truly regenerative business ventures. 8. Natural Building and ThePOOSH.org with Eric Puro– It was a pleasant surprise to hear my friend and new world colleague speak about how natural building changed his life and how, by searching craigslist for free land and buying a couple books, he and his friends built their first earth ship from all natural and up-cycled materials. Eric speaks about an ecovillage tour of Europe, starting a web platform, natural building with no power tools, and meeting people where they're at in any type of work that cares for the earth, community, and oneself. Visit ThePOOSH.org to start or join a natural building project today. [caption width="500" align="aligncenter"] Reprinted with permission from The Permaculture Podcast. The Poosh.org ‘s first naturally constructed home in Oregon on land they found through craigslist. Find out more: thepoosh.org[/caption] 9. Economic and Financial Collapse with Nicole Foss– This talk with Nicole Foss, founder of Automatic Earth, on building community resiliency at a time where growth is coming to its limits, has inspired me to take my commitments of local action further. In a society where infinite growth is assumed possible, and even necessary, this exhaustively researched and academically referenced talk about Economic Collapse asks the listener to think about how they would live if energy and fossil fuels ran out today. Would you live? What necessities of life would you have secured from within your home or bioregion. Which neighbors do you know enough to collaborate with to stay healthy? Would you have any food or water if exports stopped immediately? I've been thinking a lot about this topic lately, and relocalization of my physical needs to survive has become a relatively high priority. By making deep relationships with local farms, finding a local spring, and planting fruit trees today, we can buffer the effects of economic collapse by building a thriving community where we live. 10. Urban Permaculture in Baltimore, Maryland – The final episode I've chosen goes deep. It begins with the stories and backgrounds of Eric and Victoria, the founders of Charm City Farms. While Eric's background story is brief, Victoria's is as authentic and genuine as it is lengthy. She speaks about her path as a visual artist and student, growing up in Georgia and being completely enthralled with nature, and reading depth psychology authors such as Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell to help her make sense of her life. She also gives history on her herbalism and permaculture studies. Victoria gives the listener a relatable and cherishable story of her struggles, her darkness, her challenges, and tells the story of her life's transformation through permaculture and urban community development. After listening to the work of Eric and Victoria just a couple days ago, I've been inspired to make changes in my place, as they have, and decided not move to the big progressive cities where movements are already so large and prominent (like Boulder, Brooklyn, Austin, Portland, etc). Eric and Victoria grew the first public urban food forest in Baltimore (and they are already starting to plan their second). They do primitive skills workshops in the middle of the city, and they do the inner work that is so essential to truly help people in underprivileged communities. This inner work is particularly essential in order that change agents may be in right relations, or as Victoria says, “do right by” the community they serve. It is easy to want to go to places where the large movements are already happening to do this work, but if everyone does this, the rest of our country will remain stuck in the old story, and underserved communities in the places people have left behind will stay this behind. I'm not saying that we shouldn't travel, learn new skills, meet new people, and gain new perspectives, but when it comes to setting roots in the ground, consider a place that truly needs changemakers, as Eric and Victoria did with Baltimore. [caption width="500" align="aligncenter"] Reprinted with permission from The Permaculture Podcast. Urban Food Forest in Baltimore, Maryland.[/caption] These are the conversations that give educational and experiential capital far beyond return for the financial capital of supporting the podcast if it is truly in your means. I supported the show recently, and I will say that for as much educational and experiential capital that Scott Mann is giving away each week (for only the $261 that he is getting on his crowdfunding platform per month) it is clear that he truly is doing really great work for the world, for community, and within himself. You can also help spread the wisdom and education of permaculture by sharing this article or www.thepermaculturepodcast.com with your friends. What are your 10 favorite episodes of the show? What inspiration or knowledge did you gain from them? I'd love to hear from you. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Become a Patron. My guest for this episode is Toby Hemenway, author of the longstanding favorite book on ecological design Gaia's Garden. His next blockbuster The Permaculture City, was recently released by Chelsea Green. This latest volume, focusing on urban landscapes, forms the basis for the conversation today. We work our way through the book and along the way discuss permaculture as a decision making system, and the importance of what permaculture practitioners have, for so long, called the invisible structures: our social and economic systems. For patreon supporters, stick around after the end of the interview, as there is a piece I cut from the piece for broadcast that I included at the end for you to hear. Before we begin, I'd like to thank everyone who had help to make this show a reality. If not for every one of the listener supporters I wouldn't be able to keep going, as all of this work is made possible by you. If you've thought about giving, do so now. If you would like to be part of the members who are part of the monthly program, become a Patreon supporter and receive a number of benefits, including early access to shows and subscriber only podcasts. You can find out more about Toby's work at patternliteracy.com. His latest book, The Permaculture City, is currently available through Chelsea Green. If you choose to order use the link above and help support the podcast at the same time. Before we get to my thoughts, a class announcement. October 2 - 11, 2015 Dave Jacke is teaching a 9 day intensive Forest Garden Design Course at Feathered Pipe Ranch, near Helena Montana. This is the first time in three years this course has been offered in the United States. The all inclusive class allows students to learn how to mimic forest ecosystems that include a number of valuable characteristics including stability and resilience in a changing world. As the recent interviews with Dave this have expressed, you can also expect this course to explore the human side of design including the social and economic elements, as discussed with Toby as part of today's interview. Participants will the opportunity to design multiple forest gardens, including one for the course site, as well as another for the 6th Ward Forest Garden Park, as discussed with Caroline and Jesse during the conversation with them on Social System Design. Find out more at: https://www.insideedgedesign.com/upcoming-events.html Now then, my thoughts at the moment. To me this book and the interview you just heard are vital to changing the conversation about permaculture away from just the landscape and growing food, as these are problems that are technically solved. We know how to raise up plants from seed, cutting, or graft. We understand the techniques to use in a wide variety of situations in any climate, even if that means making modifications to the land through ponds or swales, or creating physical structures such as greenhouses or stone walls as thermal mass. Conventional and organic agriculture have a lot of information for us to pull from, as do the rapidly growing fields of agro-forestry and agro-ecology. Where things go sideways is in reaching a larger audience with these ideas, not just in mainstream culture, but also in the permaculture community at large. The landscape is the focus and gets many of us stuck there. Myself and, as you heard, Toby as well. In the beginning this is the place it all starts. Plants. Animals. Food. Fuel. Fiber. Medicine. They form our materials and techniques and yields. These are all easy to see and engage in. But now, 40 years since the beginning we need to go back and dig through Mollison's big black book of permaculture and remember Chapter 14: Strategies for an Alternative Nation. We need to learn how to build and work in community with one another. Now that the thorny pioneers have blazed a trail into the depths of the jungles, plains, and cities, and there set down roots, we have flourished in the shade of their experience and the work that came before us long enough. Now the specialists can come in. The growers, the builders, the organizers, and the communicators, to fill in the gaps and expand to reach all aspects of human life. We have the potential for permanent human agriculture, now let's work on building that permanent human culture, and retain the aspects of civilization that matter to us. Thankfully we can do so using the same system of design as those who came before us, and show others how to create a different world. We can tell the stories of how what will come can be different from what has been and what is. Together, though climate change and other obstacles may seem insurmountable, we can bring prosperity and abundance to all life on earth. We can get the next story right and, with it, get the future right. I am hopeful for what will happen next, as is a recurring theme in my work as of late on engaging what was once seen as invisible. It was quite an experience to hear what Toby had to say on this subject, given his many years of experience and the place of respect he holds in the community. The Permaculture City is a fundamental resource that I recommend everyone who is listening read. If this interview is your first exposure to permaculture and you liked Toby's perspective get a copy of Gaia's Garden, read it, and then read The Permaculture City. If you're someone who finds their thoughts continually revolving around the land, read The Permaculture City and see the broader scope of decision making that permaculture can help us engage in. For those of you already working on issues of social and economic systems, especially in the urban environment, pick up a copy and know that you are not alone in your work and there are many people stepping out from what was to create a new now. Along the way, wherever you go, I am here to lend you a hand. To walk beside you until such time as our paths part. If I can be of service to you in any way, get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Call: Skype: permaculturepodcast You can also send me a letter, as I do so love receiving mail in the post. The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast As we draw this to a close, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, I'm going to be attending a potluck in Berea, Kentucky for an evening discussion about permaculture, being organized by Michael Beck of The POOSH. Though short notice, once I have a flier for that event I'll pass it around if you are in the area and able to attend. That event kicks off my time in Kentucky, as I'll be at Radicle Gathering, in Bowling Green, August 20 - 23, 2015. Come out and join me, and members of The POOSH, for a weekend of workshops, entertainment, and community building. Tickets are currently on-sale and the entire weekend is only $25 for adults, those 16 and under get in for free. My deepest thanks to Meg Harris for being part of the team organizing this event and inviting myself, Eric Puro, and all the other presenters and musicians for this weekend. It's going to be a blast. Find out more at RadicleGathering.com. With that, so comes the end of the episode. There is a short episode planned for Monday, August 10. Until then spend each day creating a better world, the world you want to live in, by taking care of earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Become a Patron. The guest for this episode is Adam Brock, a past guest of the show, who joins me to talk about his role as a guest editor for an upcoming issue of Permaculture Design Magazine. This is a follow-up to my conversation with John Wages about the art and craft of producing a print permaulture publication. During the discussion Adam and I get straight to the point and talk about the contents of the issue he is editing, the process of contacting authors to collect articles, the importance of magazines as current sources of information, and how this assignment as an editor is accessible for anyone with an interest in writing, permaculture, or both. You can find out more about his work at thegrowhaus.org. If you would like to contact John Wages and propose a subject for an issue you would like to edit, email editor@permaculturedesignmagazine.com. After Adam and I wrapped up the episode, he wanted me to share an article with you that is currently available, and he is republishing in the issue on Decolonizing Permaculture. That piece is Towards a Racially Inclusive Permaculture Community. One of the things that initially attracted me to permaculture was the broad range of voices from so many different people around the world who, as we've heard time and time again when I ask for it, come from backgrounds that do not readily seem like they should intersect. Perhaps the only tenet that ties us all together is a spark that rose up and caused us to care enough for the world we live in to seek a different way, and in our search we found permaculture. It could have been anything else, but this was it. With permaculture we found a home and a community. Wherever you come from, whatever you've known, whatever you do, you can practice permaculture. In that process, and through the path that you are on, you've learned something that matters and can make a difference in someone else's life, and that of the community and the world, by sharing it. You can write articles for Permaculture Design Magazine. If you are comfortable with the idea, you can guest edit an issue. All you need to do is take that first step: contact John Wages and let him know your interest. Along the way, if you have something you'd like to share with me or via the podcast, get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast . If you leave a message with a question or comment, I can include it in an upcoming episode of the podcast. Or, if you'd like to you can even send me a letter or postcard in the mail. The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast Two final notes as I draw this to a close. First, the show depends on listener support, particularly ongoing monthly contributions that allow the space and time to go do live recordings like the recent trip to talk with Eric and Victoria of Charm City Farms, or the round-table discussion with Charles Eisenstein, Dave Jacke, and Ben Weiss. Sign up at Patreon.com/permaculturepodcast for $5 a month and enjoy unique benefits including patron only episodes, and discounts to permaculture oriented businesses, including 25% off at Chelsea Green publishing, and 10% at Field and Forest Products, my favorite retailer for all things mushroom spawn. Second, It's nearly August and that means my journey to Radicle Gathering in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is getting closer. I'll be there for all four days of the event, August 20 - 23, with a discussion on Friday, workshop on Saturday, and the Saturday keynote address on building community. Eric Puro and ThePOOSH will be there as well, as Eric is the Friday night keynote. I look forward to seeing you there, and you can find out more at radiclegathering.com. Until the next time, take care of Earth, yourself, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. My guest for this episode is David Bollier, author of numerous books about the commons. This is a topic that initially was a little hard for me to wrap my head around, so rather than try to define it here, I'll let David's description a few minutes into the conversation do this subject proper justice. In addition to defining what the commons are we also discuss property and property rights, the role we have in managing shared resources both finite and renewable, and how permaculture practitioners can work to create mainstream change through grassroots efforts and alliances. One thing I bring up during the interview is The Tragedy of The Commons, an article written by Garrett Hardin in the 1960s, which was my first named introduction to this idea of commons, what they are, how they can be damaged, and what we can do to protect them. I recommend reading that article because of the impact it has had on several generations of conservationists, land managers, environmentalists, and ultimately permaculture practitioners. When you do read it don't hold on to what is written in that piece too tightly, however, as things change pretty quickly in this conversation with David. As we get started if you enjoy this podcast become a listener-member on Patreon. Your support is vital to the continuation of this program. You will find more about David's work and a series of articles at his website, Bollier.org. While you are there you can also see his of books on The Commons and pick some up to expand your understanding of all the resources we share together and should manage in community with one another. Before heading to my thoughts and other announcements, a reminder that Dave Jacke is teaching a 9 day intensive course on Forest Garden Design from October 2 - 11, 2015 at Feathered Pipe Ranch, near Helena Montana. This is the first time in three years that this course has been offered in the United States. This all inclusive class allows students to learn how to mimic forest ecosystems that include a number of valuable characteristics including stability and resilience. As with the recent interviews with Dave this have expressed, you can also expect this course to explore the human side of design including the social and economic elements. Participants will also have the opportunity to design multiple forest garden, including one for the course site as well as for the 6th Ward Forest Garden Park to be installed in Helena. During the last several weeks I've been combing through my library and getting back into reading some of the books I consider classics in preparation for working my way through some new to me material on permaculture, the environment, and education. It is in that last place that I was brought back to David Orr's writing in Earth in Mind, a collection of essays that focus, “On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect.” If you've never read it, though it's been over 20 years since the first edition, I recommend getting a copy. Mr. Orr looks at a variety of issues using education as the common language, similar to permaculture using the landscape, but what really frames the various pieces are the environment and communities, that human element. At one point David Orr looks at how, just as David Bollier points out, the industrial revolution changed our interactions with the environment, one another, and the connections that we share by being in community. Though we've always used resources as a species the last several hundred years have changed the scope and scale of our ability to extract materials from the environment and in turn to change the world around us. What once took generations can now be accomplished in less than a human lifetime. Where before we had to rely on one another, the culture we live in now allows us to disconnect as much as we can afford to do so. We don't have to build long-term relationships with Earth or the people near us, we can take from some far off place or hire the service and skills of anyone willing to do the work and feel insulated, and isolated, in our personal castle, whatever the form it takes. With that many of us also have the social and economic mobility to pick up and go somewhere else if the place we currently inhabit doesn't suit us any longer. But based on this conversation with David Bollier, and re-reading David Orr, I'm reminded that there are no externalities, as much as that phrase may get used to label pollution and other unaccounted for costs of industrial production, and it is our disconnection from place and each other that allows for so much environmental and ecological devastation. Society and culture move forward at a scale that still sees the world as infinite and allows ongoing extraction of resources and economic subjugation of others, so that the resources we care about go unmanaged for the rest of us and the dirty work of developed society can be cast off to those less fortunate by virtue of forces they have no control over simply by being born in a different situation. There is a systemic roadblock that leads to mountain tops being removed to extract coal, giant strip mines being sunk into the land creating scars on the landscape, water being polluted or sequestered for hydraulic fracturing, and waste being dumped in foreign lands or indigenous cultures being forced to change by economic forces. All in the name of market forces and capitalism, which creates a narrative hegemony as the story we are told and accept is the only way, yet feel very deeply that something isn't right. We as permaculture practitioners have a way to show the world what can be done to make a world where all can live and thrive, abundantly and more locally. We know the land and the landscape. That's a part of the initial attraction for many to permaculture. That's great. Let's keep that up for those of you who are good at getting your hands into the earth and producing food. But there are so many other places for us to plug-in. The community organizers can go and begin forging alliances with our neighboring and related movements. Pull in the transition towners, the slow foodies, the slow money investors. The engineers and architects can design systems that have life cycles that make . Doctors and nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, how can caring for our health be made more accessible, and use less non-renewable resources. I ask because a recent new reports on local talk radio addressed how many plastics and disposables are used in healthcare. What about sterilizing and recycling after use? Lawyers, how can we create laws and systems that allow permaculture to be practiced more readily and to make the things we want to do legal? Where are the leverage points where we can work outside the system without risking everything we have? For those who work in service sectors, from food to entertainment, how can the work you do be made to fall more in line with the ethics of this system of design? As a community of practitioners we are not alone in our practices and have a wide variety of talents, skills, backgrounds, and experiences to pull from, but we cannot do this as individuals. Together, however, we have the ability to elevate this work into a broader grassroots movement that can change the world for the betterment of all life and Earth. Join me. Let's do this. Get in touch. . Email: The Permaculture Podcast As I prepare to end this episode, a few announcements. First, I'm moving the regular release day for the show to Thursdays rather than Wednesdays, with “Best Of,” permabytes, and other supplementary material appearing on Mondays. Second, I am heading to Baltimore on July 11 to record an interview with Victoria of Charm City Farms to discuss the work she and her partner are doing to bring Permaculture to Baltimore. July 13 I sit down with Adam Brock as a follow up to the recent interview with John Wages about Permaculture Design Magazine and to talk about Adam's role as a guest editor. July 29th, Toby Hemenway and I are scheduled to talk about his latest book, The Permaculture City. If you have any questions for these upcoming guests let me know by the usual ways. Finally, August 20 - 23 I'll be at Radicle Gathering in Bowling Green, Kentucky, running a Permaculture question and answer session on Friday afternoon, a community vision workshop on Saturday morning, and delivering the Saturday night keynote address. Eric Puro of ThePOOSH will also be there as the Friday night Keynote speaker. If you are in the area come out and join in the fun of workshops, live music, and a whole bunch of people coming together to explore how to build resilient communities. radiclegathering.org. Up next week in a two-person interview are Dr. David Blumenkrantz with Jen Mendez of PermieKids to discuss Rites of Passage and Initiatory Experiences in community development and education. Until then, take care of Earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. This episode is the second half of a two-part Susquehanna Permaculture Round Table discussion that took place at my friend Seppi's house on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Since Charles Eisenstein had to leave after the first recording, this piece features Ben Weiss and Dave Jacke as the panelists, and includes several members of the live home audience joining in to share their thoughts and questions on the topics at hand. With a mixture of humor and honesty we continue talking about how to become right with ourselves and others in order to find and build community, and right livelihood. Be sure and check out the first episode, which includes Charles Eisenstein on the panel, if you haven't heard it already. You can find out more about the panelists from this session at their respective websites. susquehannapc.com for Ben, and edibleforestgardens.com for Dave. If you would like to study with Dave he is teaching a 9 day intensive course on Forest Garden Design from October 2 - 11, 2015 at Feathered Pipe Ranch, near Helena Montana. This is the first time in three years that this course has been offered in the United States. This all inclusive class allows students to learn how to mimic forest ecosystems that include a number of valuable characteristics including stability and resilience. As with the recent interviews with Dave this have expressed, you can also expect this course to explore the human side of design including the social and economic elements. Participants will also have the opportunity to design multiple forest garden, including one for the course site as well as for the 6th Ward Forest Garden Park to be installed in Helena. Find out more about this course at insideedgedesign.com/upcoming-events, or via the link in the show notes. So, I've been resting on any kind of extended commentary about all of this until after the second half, this piece, came out, which included brevity with the ending for the conversation with Penny Livingston-Stark, because all three dealt a great deal with that personal or inner landscape work. My personal work in that direction has lead me to understand more fully my personal niche and role. As much as I may desire to be a certain type of person, as indicated in this conversation, I'm not. At the end of the day I'm your friendly neighborhood podcast host, teacher, and network builder. It's funny how hard it was to come to terms with that, but the more I do so the easier this work is. The three hours or so of material, and conversations held with others in the time since, left me in a place where the answers to the questions at hand lead to more questions and more conversations. Alexis' interest in building community in Reading. My interest in right livelihood and turning the podcast into a full-time career. Ethical purity, and the imagery Charles set forth about being a good person at the end of the the first round table segment.Then two days after this I had a big conversation with Wil and Eli and Jono in-person and we talked about many of the things covered in the last few podcast episodes and what it means to live right with yourself, to be honest, and to make it all work, which in turn moved us towards community. I looked back through the responses to the listener poll I posted a while back, and recurring themes that advertisers are okay by you if that means that I can keep doing this, and that people were looking for more than a podcast to be a part of, but for a larger project. The anger you heard me express at the beginning of this conversation, after years of it being something consuming in my youth, is now a source of creativity and energy. Coming out of this I'm approaching certain individuals within the community searching for appropriate sponsors to turn the podcast into something more. I'm also working with a number of retailers and others in order to add more value for recurring Patreon members. Currently there are 10% discounts available at Field and Forest Products, and PermieKids for folks who join that service at $5 or more per month. But that is just about the show. The more interesting part comes with a different project. One way or another I am building a permaculture center and community that can focus on education and research in a completely legal manner, that in turn become an incubator and model for other such projects, and locate it in an area near other cities and communities where there are ordinances and zoning issues that need to be resolved in order to be created, to solve some of the underlying problems when everything we want to do is illegal and there are structures in place that keep us from living in community with one another. At the moment there is a piece of property in my township that is currently available for purchase that is nearly perfect for this purpose. Over 15 acres with a portion is zoned commercial with several buildings including a house, and the rest is high-density residential. It is near multiple interstates and highways, an international airport, a train depot, and bus station. It is within day-trip distance from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Balitmore, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New York City. I am also already involved in local politics as I sit on the Parks and Recreation Board for the township, know many of the gatekeepers, and have been involved in changing ordinances. I've already begun working with my law firm to investigate the possibility, and working with others in the Susquehanna Permaculture community to keep the energy going while I work on some of the nuts and bolts details. I've reached out to The Possibility Alliance and ThePOOSH as a sort of sanity check to see if this is a reasonable thing to do and the feedback they shared was that this is the kind of example site that is needed because it exists where people are. Community leaders from throughout the region can be invited to drop in when it is convenient and see what is happening. Multiple perspectives and thoughts can be shared from the individuals and families working and, in the long term, living onsite. But I can't do this alone and need the broader permaculture community to raise the funds to make this happen. Being me, of course, I want to do it a different way and not run a go-fund me or other electronic crowdfunding campaign. Let's use a low-tech, high-touch approach. If you are in a place to assist with this launch call people you know and tell them you are in support of a project that can help to create the world you want to live in and you are asking the person on the other end of that call if they can give in support of the same. Or write them a letter expressing your desire to see something like this come forth into the world. Give them the The Permaculture Podcast address if they can send something via PayPal, or the mailing address for the show if they want to give by post: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast Spread the word and let people know what's happening, what we are doing here together. Join in the permaculture center and community conversation here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/410645555797232/ If you have any questions about this call: or email: The Permaculture Podcast. From here I'll be a guest instructor at Jude Hobb's Teacher Training, in cooperation with Beyond Organic Design, the evening of Sunday June 28, 2015, at the Commons in Brooklyn. I believe that evening is open to the public so if you are in the area and want to stop by my lecture is from 730pm to 9pm. More information about that is at beyondorganicdesign.org. August 20 - 23 I'll be at Radicle Gathering in Bowling Green, Kentucky, running a Permaculture question and answer session on Friday afternoon, a community vision workshop on Saturday morning, and delivering the Saturday night keynote address. Eric Puro of ThePOOSH will also be there as the Friday night Keynote speaker. If you are in the area come out and join in the fun of workshops, live music, and a whole bunch of people coming together to explore how to build resilient communities. radiclegathering.org. September 12, 2015 I'll be at the RiversideProject recording a live permaculture round table. September 18 I'm looking to return to the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania to check out this year's event. More details on those two as I get closer to those events. I am also in touch with the organizers of the Urban Permaculture Conference, being held in NY, NY from October 23-25 about covering and presenting at the event. If you are an organizer who would like me to come cover or speak at your event, drop me a line through the usual means. Until the next time take care of earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. My guest for this episode is Penny Livingston-Stark. Penny is a long time permaculture practitioner and teacher who operates the Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas, California. RDI is located at the 17-acre Commonweal Garden. I've been aware of Penny and her work since I started formally studying permaculture five years ago, and she has remained one of the most suggested guests for the show, often by her former students who have themselves appeared on the podcast. I think I've talked to more people who have studied with her than of any other permaculture instructor thus far. When this interview was originally scheduled Penny and I talked about using her work in international permaculture as a focus for our discussion, but instead turned towards the idea of peacemaking. Drawing from her experiences using permaculture and ceremony for conflict resolution we discuss the need for inner landscape work in order to build community and move the practice of permaculture forward. Or, to put it another way, how we have to get right with ourselves so that we can better our use of the ethics and principles to create lasting change that cares for this planet we call home and all the inhabitants. She is clear to point out, however, that permaculture as a design system is not a metaphysical one, nor does she include those ideas in her teaching, rather that a deep exploration into natural systems invites a further examination of our connection to the world around us and the nature of life and other living beings. These ideas set the overall tone for our conversation, but we also discuss the need for experimentation and the cultivation of useful skills. This interview, though not planned as such, serves as a buffer and connection about the discussion of right livelihood embodied in the two segments of the recent round table conversation recorded at Seppi Garrett's, of which the next piece is out on June 24, 2015. My only regret is that in this recording there is a bit of noise at some points, but they do not detract from the breadth or meaning of what Penny shares with us. You can find out more about Penny Livingston-Stark, the Regenerative Design Institute, and Commonweal Garden at regenerativedesign.org and commonweal.org. If you are interested in the Permaculture Institute of North America, that website is at pina.in. Penny also wanted me to share with you that she has an upcoming Permaculture Design Course that will be taught in cooperation with The Kul Kul Farm at The Green School in Bali from August 7 - 23, 2015. So that you might learn more about The Green School site, I've included a pair of videos below including one from John Hardy, a co-founder of this organization, and one from his daughter, Elora. https://kulkulfarmbali.com/bali-permaculture-design-course/ I'm still mulling over this conversation with Penny and the round table with Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein. There is a thread here that touches on some of my own challenges as a changemaker, but there is still more to hear on this before I share my thoughts about everything at the end of next week's show. Until then get in touch and let me know about your journey and where you are. or email: The Permaculture Podcast. Coming up I'll be a guest instructor at Jude Hobb's Teacher Training, in cooperation with Beyond Organic Design, the evening of Sunday June 28, 2015, at the Commons in Brooklyn. There are still spaces available for this class that runs from June 24 - 30, 2015. More information about that is at beyondorganicdesign.org. August 20 - 23 I'll be at Radicle Gathering in Bowling Green, Kentucky, running a Permaculture question and answer session on Friday afternoon, a community vision workshop on Saturday morning, and delivering the Saturday night keynote address. If you are in the area come out and join in the fun of workshops, live music, and a whole bunch of people coming together to explore how to build resilient communities. radiclegathering.org. September 12, 2015 I'll be at the Riverside Project recording a live permaculture round table. September 18 I return to the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania to check out this year's event and hang out with Tradd Cotter. More details on those two as I get closer to those events. If you are an organizer who would like me to come cover or speak at your event, drop me a line through the usual means. That gonna wrap this episode. I'll join you next week to close up that round table. Until then, take care of earth, your self, and each other. John Hardy's Ted Talk: My green school dream Elora Hardy's Ted Talk: Magical houses, made of bamboo

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. This episode is a Susquehanna Permaculture round-table discussion recorded at my friend Seppi Garrett's on June 3, 2015 in front of a live audience. The panel for the conversation were Ben Weiss, Dave Jacke, and Charles Eisenstein. Ostensibly the conversation was framed around the idea of how to achieve a right livelihood, but as you might imagine with these three voices in a room together the bounds of the conversation pushed in every direction and touched on much much more. For regular listeners who have heard Ben and Dave in the past, the conversation was also candid in ways that you won't hear elsewhere. This piece is part one of two recorded that day, as Charles was with us for only a short time. The second half, with Ben, Dave, and various audience members, will be released on June 24, with more round tables like this in the works. If you enjoy this episode become an ongoing podcast patron at Patreon.com/permaculturepodcast, or with a one-time donation via the PayPal link on the right hand side of the podcast page. Your support is how I keep the show on the air and am able to arrange the time to facilitate the conversation you are about to hear and others like it. You can find out more about Ben at susquehannapc.com. Dave's website is edibleforestgardens.com and Charles' is at charleseisenstein.net. I'd also like to thank Shauna Yorty for taking pictures of the event, including the one of the three panelists I used here. I'm going to hold my commentary on this until the release of part two on June 24. In the meantime, I want to let you know that I will be a guest instructor at Jude Hobbs' upcoming Teacher Training, in cooperation with Beyond Organic Design, on June 28 at The Commons in Brooklyn, New York. You can find out more at beyondorganicdesign.com. After that I'll be a keynote speaker on Friday, August 21, 2015, talking about building resilient communities at the Radicle Gathering in Bowling Green, Kentucky. That is a four-day event of music and workshops that runs from August 20-23, 2015. The website for that festival is radiclegathering.com.I'm also recording another round table discussion on September 12, 2015 at The Riverside Project in West Virginia. If you have an event you'd like me to come to, or to serve as a panelist or speaker, let me know. email: show@thepermacutlurepodcast.com Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast I'll join you next week with an interview from Penny Livingston-Stark. Until then, take care of Earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. My guests for this episode are Caroline Wallace and Jesse Peterson, pictured here with their mentor Dave Jacke. Caroline and Jesse are the owners of Inside Edge Design, LCC, a permaculture design firm based in Helena, Montana, that applies the social system design framework of Dave Jacke to their municipal scale projects. During this conversation we talk about niche analysis and social system design and how to apply it to our work as permaculture practitioners to make the invisible structures a more visible part of the process. We use the 6th Ward Garden Park as an example of how they work with a local parks department and government in order to gain approval for the installation of a 1 acre food forest. [caption width="600" align="aligncenter"] A niche analysis of a European Pear showing the products, needs, characteristics, allies, and predators of this plant. (Click to enlarge)[/caption] I find that this interview complements the conversation I had with Steve Whitman in Episode 1517: Community Planning, very well, so after listening to this one, go and check out that one if you haven't already. Together they help to prepare you to be better prepared to engage the society where you live. Before we begin, a reminder that the Traveling Permaculture Library Project is now being managed by Matt Winters, author of The Gift, and it's a great time for you to get involved. Email your name and address to: librarian@thepermaculturepodcast.com and he will add you to the mailing list of this cycle of virtuous giving. Find out more about Caroline, Jesse, and their work, including their design document for the 6th Ward Garden Park (PDF), at InsideEdgeDesign.com. [caption width="600" align="aligncenter"] The same niche analysis applied to a human social system, the Helena Parks and Recreation department.(Click to enlarge)[/caption] Stepping away from this conversation I'm left with the feeling that their work will have a huge impact on our ability to design with the social and economic systems of our communities in mind in a way that insures we are able to use permaculture in the process. We could use the principles that currently exist, but we are trained up to look to the landscape as the metaphor and sometimes that frame of reference gets stuck. Here with the niche analysis, the axises of social system design (PDF), and Elinor Ostrom's Eight Principles of Managing A Commons, we can leverage other tools into our toolbox that break us out of that strictly permaculture mindset, without having to start from scratch, and then expand upon them based on our own interests and abilities and with permaculture in mind. The road ahead for social systems is an incredible one to be a part of and likely to face numerous challenges as we move forward. I say this because of numerous conversations I encounter online where permaculture is still viewed strictly as a means of permanent agriculture, rather than one of permanent culture. Where do you see permaculture going from here? Where are you taking it that you would like to share with the world? Get in touch. . Email: The Permaculture Podcast or write me a letter and drop it in the mail: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast You can also join in the conversations at Facebook.com/thepermaculturepodcast or follow me on Twitter where I am @permaculturecst. I'll do whatever I can to assist you on this path. If you can help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Share a link to your favorite episode on your blog, a forum, Facebook, or Twitter. Tell a friend. Or support the show with a one time donation using the PayPal button on the main page of the website at thepermaculturepodcast.com or by becoming an ongoing monthly member at patreon.com/permaculturepodcast. Anything you do to help keep this show on the air and growing lets, together, reach more people and bring ecological design further and further into the mainstream consciousness. One person, one story at a time we can make a difference. Until the next time, take care of Earth, your self, and each other. Resources Inside Edge Design, LLC 6th Ward Garden Park Design Report and Implementation Plan Elinor Ostrom's 8 Prinicples of for Managing a Commons

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. Today's episode is a permabyte review of the forthcoming book by Toby Hemenway, The Permaculture City. Exciting, isn't it? Toby Hemenway has a new book coming out and I'll just go ahead and say it: it is incredible. I received an advance copy, clocking in at 288 pages, from the publisher Chelsea Green and, even though I'm a slow reader, sat down and read the whole thing, cover to cover, in a day. What I like about this book is that the way it is written and organized reminds me of my own permaculture path. In the beginning there is an examination of the ethics and principles and why they matter. Then there is an look at design and considering techniques, but then stepping back and to organize our thoughts with the tools provided by the permaculture design process. To re-examine the elements and how they relate to systems. As that understanding grows to take another step and use small examples, such as water systems, to expand our thoughts further and realize there is more to this work than just the land and includes the people involved with caring for it, for maintaining it, and that those living communities matter. They embody why we care for Earth, care for people, and share the surplus. As importantly Toby also addresses the real fact that we can't expect everyone to become hunter-gatherers again or subsistence farmers. Even if we could that idea isn't reflective of the resiliency that permaculture design engenders. Using resiliency as a basis he uses several examples, including home and community gardening, water, and energy use, as informal case studies to explore how to apply the principles to step back and ask bigger questions so we can create useful strategies. This last point is important because, to me, The Permaculture City is a book about better understanding our design strategies, those often nebulous ideas that separate the philosophical underpinnings of permaculture, the ethics and principles, from the techniques that represent the physical practice that all of our on-paper design results in. There is time for techniques when we implement, but that can only come after consideration and design. For those of you familiar with the Zone and Sector design models in permaculture, they are both upon throughout the provided examples. I was left with a new understanding of how to apply these, especially to social systems. Chapter Nine in particular, on Placemaking and The Empowered Community, took me in a whole new direction. Though I've used these methods repeatedly in the past after seeing them applied in the context of the various examples I come to agree with what Larry Santoyo says, which is quoted in this book, “Sectors trump everything.” I'm now going back and examining some of my designs, including landscape, social, and economic, to see where my sector analysis may be weak. My thoughts on permaculture moving beyond the the landscape started several years ago when I interviewed Dave Jacke, Larry Santoyo, and Mark Lakeman in short succession. Reading this book has helped to continue my shift in thinking about permaculture, and in about the time it would take you to go back and listen to those interviews you can sit down and be well into this wonderful book and have an even greater understanding of how permaculture applies to so many human systems, but also how to start asking the questions that can take your understanding of design to the next level. I've been in this field for half a decade now and this book is a welcome addition to my library. It came at the right time, but I can't help but wish that I would have been ready for it and received it sooner. Overall I like Toby's latest book so much that I'm putting it on my recommended reading list, especially for someone new to permaculture. After you've read Masanobu Fukuoka's The One-Straw Revolution, Donella Meadows' Thinking in Systems, Rosemary Morrow's Earth User's Guide to Permaculture, and David Holmgren's Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, read The Permaculture City and take your design well beyond the landscape. The Permaculture City goes into publication on July 15, 2015 and you can pre-order a copy through the Chelsea Green website for $24.95. https://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_permaculture_city I am expecting to receive a final print copy of the book when it goes to press and will include that in the Traveling Permaculture Library Project. If you'd like to be a part of that cycle of giving, and receive a random book related to the broad umbrella of permaculture, email your name and address to librarian@thepermaculturepodcast.com and Matt Winters will take care of you. Until the next time, take care of Earth, your self, and each other. Correction: When originally recorded and posted the publication date for this book was September 14, 2015. The release date has since been moved up to July 15, 2015.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast Like this podcast? Support it on Patreon. After a short break to wrap up graduate school, today's interview is with Steve Whitman, a permaculture designer and planner from New Hampshire. In addition to all of his work on various planning boards he also runs Resilience Planning & Design, LLC. During our conversation today Steve and I talk about engaging in government and community planning in order to inject more permaculture into the process. This is the beginning of an examination of how to make permaculture a part of the mainstream discussion by including holistic design into city and community development. To change the laws, codes, and ordinances in ways that allow us to have a more active role in what happens where we live. As the population continues to grow and more people live in towns and cities we can bring permaculture to the forefront and get involvement at all levels. Government and planning are some really big picture issues and I know that they can be intimidating, but speaking with Steve we kept things very straight forward. There's plenty of discussion about how planning works, the various ways we can become part of the decision making, and how to bring about change, but this isn't a technical conversation. It's not full of jargon, but, honestly, is probably the most approachable conversation we could have on this complicated subject. I enjoyed talking to Steve and between the two of us we broke this down into something you can get started using today just by making a couple of phone calls. Find out more about Steve and his work at resilienceplanning.net. His door is open if you want to get in touch with him to talk about planning and getting involved in the process so that you can begin having a direct effect on the policies that impact your life, so feel free to reach out to him through his website. If there is anything I can do to help you on your path, let me know. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Of write if you would prefer: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast If you want to get started in changing policies there are a few steps I recommend from my own work in doing this. Throughout this next section I'm going to refer to the government body for a specific region as a municipality. In saying that it is a placeholder for anything from a town, to a city, county, state, province, or even national government. First, contact the municipality you want to work with and ask where you can find copies of the local ordinances. More and more, as part of open records and documentation projects, these are available online, or you may need to request a hard copy. Those are usually at a reasonable price. I think I paid $20 for the most up-to-date version from my township, a fair price given the large page count of this book. It's comparable to Mollison's Designers' Manual in page count. Once you've got this, begin reading through it and get an understanding for what is on record. Check the dates of when certain things were put on the books, that might give you some insight into, as Steve suggested, how and where things changed in your area. Yes the language can seem rather specific and shrouded in legalese sometimes, depending on how things are written, but I've yet to find something that is completely incomprehensible, but if you do have questions feel free to call and ask for assistance in understanding what something means. It's a great way to get to know a code enforcement officer on a first name basis. Next up foster a relationship with the administrative assistant for the municipality, if there is one. I've repeatedly found that people in this position are the gatekeepers to power. Having a good relationship with them can get your passed directly to various officers, or provide insight into where to go next. Finally, start attending board and planning meetings. Use the principle of observation to understand what is happening. Look for places where you can add your voice to the discussion and ask pointed questions. Listen to the responses and consider your suggestions. Weigh in on areas you have expertise and push the edge towards more holistic design. One of my friends is often asked, “How did you get that done?” Their response? “I showed up.” Being present makes all the difference in the world. From here, an update on me and where things are to wrap things up. As of the release of this show I will graduate from grad school with my Master of Science in Park and Resource Management. If all my numbers are right, I will complete this two and a half year process with a 4.0 overall. It's been a long hard road, particularly while raising a family and continuing to produce the show, but the results are worth it. I've learned a plenty that can be applied to the podcast in particular and permaculture education in general. There is lots and lots to do, and my next step is to continue my education and pursue a doctoral program. I'm still researching where to go and what exactly to study, but now is the time if I'm ever going to breath life into The Plan and see it spring forth into the world. Doing so brings me to another crossroads, though not quite like the one last year. I know I'm on the right road for myself, but I am in a place where I need to find a place to live and take care of my children and, as much as I want it to, the podcast as a sole pursuit isn't enough at the moment to do so. The show is financially self sufficient at this point and pays for itself, but I am looking for a full time job to keep myself going while I keep this show and everything else in the air. The website, the podcast, all of that is going to stay on the air, but there will be changes coming in the future, I just don't know what yet. Once things start to settle out, I'll let you know more as I do. Beyond that there are other fun things coming up. June 4 I'm scheduled to record a round table discussion with Charles Eisenstein, Dave Jacke, and Ben Weiss which will come out a few weeks later as a two part (or more) episode. There is also another round table recording scheduled for September, and another road trip to Virginia is in the works to do a one year follow-up with the guests from that event and to add some new interviews to that journey. Plus, in August, I get to go to Canada and be the best man at a dear friend's wedding. I won't be recording anything there, but it will be some good fun. Whatever the future holds, wherever my path leads, I will remain here as a resource for you however I am able. You are not alone on your permaculture journey so contact me, however you would like, if I can help you. Until the next time, take care of earth, yourself, and each other. Resource: Resilience Planning and Design, LLC.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast My guest for this episode is the author and environmental activist Derrick Jensen. Some of his books include A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and the two volume set that introduced me to his work, Endgame. As with the Dave Jacke interview, this is an intense and open conversation. We talk about the natural world, our role as human beings within it, and the violence that occurs when we become disconnected from that sense of place. We end with how we all have a role in making a difference and caring for Earth; this place that is our home. If you are familiar with Derrick's writing this interview takes much the same progression moving in a non-linear fashion that draws together a number of ideas to make a point. The language he uses is often blunt and direct. There is no mincing of words and the conversation can get uncomfortable at times with the frank questions about cultural and societal violence. This is one of the few shows that may not be for everyone, but is worth listening to if you are open to the topics at hand. Thank you for joining me for this interview. The intensity of what we covered leaves me in a place where I am still examining what he shared in the context of permaculture and creating a better world. This conversation leaves me questioning my role in continuing to participate in the framework of the culture in which I exist. What can I do to lessen my own harm? We all have a role in doing something positive for life here on Earth. What that is varies so widely that we share the path, but are on our own journeys. With that, I leave you to consider your own place and what you can do to make a difference. As always, I am here to help you in whatever way I can. Get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast From here the next episode of the show, on December 31st, 2014, discusses the plan for the podcast in 2015. January 7th begins the New Year by looking back over the best of 2014. May the remainder of this year be bountiful for all of you as you take care of earth, your self, and each other.

Donate to The Permaculture Podcast Online: via PayPal Venmo: @permaculturepodcast My guest for this episode is Dave Jacke a designer from Massachusetts and author, along with Eric Toensmeier, of Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1 and 2. Today he joins us to discuss Ecological Culture Design. Dave is a returning guest to the show. You can hear about his background and how he came to do this work in his initial interview. If this is your first time listening to Dave I recommend you start there to get a feel for the level of candor you'll hear in this episode. This is an open and honest conversation about the four components of Ecological Culture Design: Technology Resources Social and Economic Structures Cosmology We discuss how we must include these elements in our designs for permaculture systems. These areas matter because these are the pieces we must work with in order to bring the so-called “Invisible Structures” of permaculture to the forefront. Dave and I end the conversation with a constructive critique on what it means to organize, practice, and teach permaculture. In preparing this episode Dave and I both listened to the audio before it went out on the air and he asked that I correct his statement about Tantric philosophy. In the interview he said, “the perceiver, the perceived and the object of perception are one.” What he meant was “the perceiver, the perceived and the process of perception are one ,” a subtle but big difference. I agree with much of what Dave has to say in this episode. We cannot keep calling the non-landscape portions of our design invisible, or they will remain there, on the outside, away from view. We need to communicate about them differently in order to understand them and make them a part of our larger designs so that what we do can continue long after our ability to maintain or consult on a system is gone. For much the same reason the Designers' Manual only the beginning. Yes, every permaculture designer should have a copy in their library as a reference, and to understand some of the early vision as expressed by Bill Mollison, but in additional to that book we need a large library of materials to reference and cross reference and research to create good designs. With that I would like to see a new edition of the Designers' Manual written every decade or so as an encyclopedia of permaculture that can include more information about what we've learned over the years, but written as a collective cooperative piece by the community that takes the best of what everyone has to offer, and focuses on their areas of specialty, to create a book with multiple perspectives and voices. Get Dave Jacke and Ben Falk to write about formal design, Jude Hobbs and Andrew Millison about permaculture education, Marisha Auerbach and Rachel Kaplan to cover urban permaculture, and Karryn Olson-Ramanujan and Adam Brock on social permaculture. Those are just the names and topics off the top of my head. The Designers' Manual as written by Mollison is over 500 pages. There's room for many authors to contribute to such an effort. If you'd be interested in contributing to something like this, maybe we can get a proposal together and create a new manual for the 21st century. Whatever your permaculture plans, I'm here to help. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Write: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast Resources Ecological Culture Design: A Holistic View (PDF) Dave Jacke Edible Forest Gardens and Permaculture with Dave Jacke (Dave's first interview on the podcast.)

Dave Jacke has been a student of ecology and design since the 1970s, and has run his own ecological design firm—Dynamics Ecological Design—since 1984. Dave is an engaging and passionate teacher of ecological design and permaculture, and a meticulous designer. He has consulted on, designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms, and communities in the […] The post A Way of Reconnecting Us appeared first on Future Primitive Podcasts.

Author of Edible Forest Gardens- Volumes 1 and 2, Dave Jacke is a longtime permaculture teacher and designer.  In this interview, he talks about the history of forest gardening, its many benefits, and how gardening like a forest can enrich your life.

Ecological designer Dave Jacke discusses permaculture and the planned Edible Forest Garden at Wellesley College.