Regenerative Skills

Rediscovering perennial staple food sources, with Elspeth Hay

As I continue to advance the tree and perennial food nursery here at my farm, I’m always on the lookout for new resources on anything about growing and breeding perennial food sources, the history of their cultivation, and the cultures that were and are connected to these woodland and orchard based staple foods. For that reason I was super excited to see the new title “Feed us with Trees” from my friends at New Society Publishers, by author Elspeth Hay. 
Elspeth is a writer, public radio host, and creator of the Local Food Report, a weekly feature that has aired on CAI, the Cape & Islands NPR Station, since 2008. Deeply immersed in her own local food system, she writes and reports for print, radio, and online media with a focus on food and the environment. Elspeth’s work has been featured in the Boston Globe, NPR’s Kitchen Window, Heated with Mark Bittman, The Provincetown Independent, and numerous other publications. Through her conversations with growers, harvesters, processors, cooks, policy makers, Indigenous knowledge-keepers, scientists, researchers, and visionaries, she aims to rebuild our cultural store of culinary knowledge—and to reconnect us with the people, places, and ideas that feed us. 
In this session, Elspeth shares her journey of developing a passion for perennial food systems, particularly focusing on nuts and tree-based staple crops. 
Her early exposure to nature evolved into an obsession with acorns and other tree nuts. Her research went on to reveal the extensive use of tree nuts as staple foods across the northern hemisphere and the historical as well as the cultural shifts that led to their decline in favor of annual grain crops. Elspeth delves into the nutritional and ecological benefits of these perennial foods, the complexities of modern industrial agriculture, and the resurgence of interest in tree crops, especially in the American Midwest. She also explores innovative recipes and culinary uses of nuts, especially acorns and chestnuts, while emphasizing the importance of integrating perennial crop systems into modern diets and agricultural practices. This conversation covers a lot of ground from land management, economic models, and the promising future of perennial food systems.
As with all the books that I focus on from my friends at new society publishers, we’re running a book giveaway for “Feed us with Trees.” By now you know the drill. Send me a message on our Discord community. If you’re not already a member you can sign up through the links on our homepage or the bio on Instagram. I’ll choose a winner one week after this episode goes live, and If you live anywhere in North America we’ll send a physical copy. Everywhere else you’ll receive a digital version. 

Rediscovering your native plants for food and fulfillment, with Margarita Palatnik

Food as a tool for cultural transformation: A long form discussion with Dan Kittredge Part 3

Welcome to the last portion of our long form discussion with Dan Kittredge. 
In this last third we navigate the need for Generational Healing and Cultural Shifts in our collective culture. The unavoidable reality that the healthiest food for you as an individual can never be bought. Steps for building resilience and Self-Sufficiency, before then going back to Dan’s own Journey to Farming and interest in Nutrient Density as well as his current Challenges and plans for the future. 

Food as a tool for cultural transformation: A long form discussion with Dan Kittredge Part 2

Today we’ll be continuing with the second portion of our long form discussion with Dan Kittredge. In this second third we mostly get into Principles of Biological Systems and how to apply Nature's Patterns in Business. Dan talks about his experience Engaging with Farmers and Large Businesses alike. We dig into his personal Journey, the influence that Eastern Paradigms and Consciousness have had on his world view, the connection of Nutrient Density and Spirituality, and the potential of Technological Tools to be transformed for Empowerment.

Food as a tool for cultural transformation: A long form discussion with Dan Kittredge Part 1

One of the discussions that have propelled the awareness of regenerative agriculture in recent years has been that of nutrient density in food, a term coined by Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Food Association. The idea that our food varies widely in its quality and levels of nutrients has caused many people to look into the factors that lead to these wide discrepancies. Dan in particular has been leading research, one ingredient at a time, into the causes and correlations that accompany differences in levels of vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins and almost every other known component in the food we eat.
Though I’ve been watching the conversation and developments of this concept and research for years now, I have been waiting to build a decent enough grasp of the topic to be able to guide a meaningful conversation about what has been learned, where the research is going, and what are the potential pitfalls or opportunities for corruption of knowledge and technology that tells us the details of the nutrients in every ingredient we consume.
Then a few weeks ago, my good friend Andre Antunes in Portugal introduced me directly to Dan Kittredge through email urging us to connect and have a conversation. I know that Dan does interviews all the time and so I asked him what he would want to talk about that he often doesn’t get to explore. He got back to me by saying he’d be most interested in doing a long form discussion in which we have the time to discuss all of the concepts and ideas around the core of his work with the Bionutrient Food Association that both inform the purpose and research but that go into the bigger motivations and theory behind it all…so, that’s exactly what we did. Earlier this week Dan and I set aside time to really leave the space open and see where the chat could end up. Almost two and a half hours later, time which absolutely flew by for me, I have a deep dive for you that explores all that I mentioned and more. Given that I don’t tend to do long form conversations, I’ve broken things down into three 45ish minute episodes. If however you prefer to listen in all one uninterrupted go, I published the video version in its entirety on the regenerative skills YouTube channel.
In this first third you’ll hear us discuss Dan’s seven-month global tour focused on nutrient density, the importance of understanding its true definition, and its critical role in social movements turning into industries. He elaborates on the BFA's perspective, emphasizing that nutrient density is a continuum of quality rather than a binary concept. The conversation underscores the need for a universal standard of nutrient density, the correlation between soil health and nutrient levels, and the use of spectroscopy technology to measure and improve food quality
In the second third we mostly get into Principles of Biological Systems and how to apply Nature's Patterns in Business. Dan talks about his experience Engaging with Farmers and Large Businesses alike. We dig into his personal Journey, the influence that Eastern Paradigms and Consciousness have had on his world view, the connection of Nutrient Density and Spirituality, and the potential of Technological Tools to be transformed for Empowerment.
 
In the last third we navigate the need for Generational Healing and Cultural Shifts in our collective culture, the unavoidable reality that the healthiest food for you as an individual can never be bought. Steps for building resilience and Self-Sufficiency, before then going back to Dan’s own Journey to Farming and interest in Nutrient Density as well as his current Challenges and plans for the future. 
The other two sections will come out on Friday in the next two weeks, which actually suits me really well because I’m just getting ready to leave for a water restoration job in La Mancha here in Spain and then to the University of Reading to start a Regen Ag transition and agronomist training that I’ll be building with a diverse team, all of which I’ll tell you about in future episodes. 

The path to building a relationship with the plants in your life with Ryan Blosser

In so many previous episodes I’ve spoken with people who’ve explained many nuances and facts about plants and how to incorporate different species of trees, shrubs, grasses, and forbes into your ecosystem. How to manage them in different stages of growth either through active cultivation and soil condition improvement or secondarily through the management of animals or other elements of the human built world, but in this interview we’re going to take a different approach to the vegetal world and consider a beautiful and often overlooked aspect of our connection with plants, and that’s the possibility of creating relationships with them. If that concept seems weird to you, consider that people in all parts of the world all throughout history have cultivated deep interconnected relationships with plants of all kinds. There are connections that heal us, show us our location, signal different soil conditions, nourish, clothe, and protect us. Many cultures reference being able to speak to plants and communicate with them. They can open our consciousness to different states of being and thinking as well, and not only through psychotropic properties. 
In this episode I spoke with Ryan Blosser, the co-author along with Trevor Piersol of the new book Mulberries in the Rain: Growing Permaculture Plants for Food and Friendship. The book goes beyond the sphere of most permaculture books that are heavy on design theory and techniques, and speaks about the process of investigation and time investment to build lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with the plants that you cultivate, forage or otherwise cohabitate with. Ryan is also co owner and lead instructor with Shenandoah Permaculture Institute. He is also the Farm Educator with Waynesboro City Schools where he runs Waynesboro Education Farm and is also a former child and family therapist and market farmer.Besides covering practical steps for building a relationship with the plants you come into contact with, much more than other episodes, this conversation is based on stories, both Ryan’s and my own. We talk about adversarial relationships with plants that blossomed into alliances. We trade memories of plant that ground us in place and are connected with who we perceive ourselves to be. Ones that are connected to family, legend and legacy as well as a few we’re still reconciling and exploring but present challenges.

Co-creating a regenerative future for tourism in Spain, with Sonia Teruel

Today we’ll continue the miniseries I’m building on regenerative tourism. This time we’ll take a close look at the specific context of the country where I live, here in Spain. Spain has been a top global tourist destination since the 60s and the industry that as grown to meet the demand for travel as shaped so much of the country especially the Mediterranean coast and cities like Barcelona, Valencia, and towns that have grown up entirely to cater to a specific type of budget tourism like Benidorm, Salou, and Lloret del Mar. 
Yet in recent years there has been a major backlash from the local population protesting irresponsible development, skyrocketing prices, and exemptions from water restrictions directly related to the way tourism is managed. Here to explore these challenges as well as the potential to chart a new course for both hosts and visitors is Sonia Teruel. Sonia helps grassroots initiatives, entrepreneurs and Destination Management Organisations in their transition to a regenerative model in tourism. She is also a consultant, facilitator, and founder at The RegenLAB for Travel. In this conversation we explore the meteoric rise of Spain as a tourist destination and its impact on the communities where visitors concentrate. We look at the challenges that have ignited protests and opposition to the way tourism is managed as well as some of the responses to these issues which may cause bigger problems in the long term. From there we mine Sonia’s experiences as a community conversation facilitator who works to guide collaborative processes that explore the potential for new ways of managing visitors and hosts alike in order to achieve lasting solutions. 
Sonia will be the first to admit that these efforts are still in their infancy and case studies of real success over time don’t exist yet in our region, but points to some promising projects to keep an eye on and perhaps emulate as they get established. Though the focus is on the Spanish context, I have no doubt that there are equivalents to many other places around the world where the tourism industry has shaped development and policy for decades, and I hope many of you listening will find inspiration for where you live as well.

Running a profitable regenerative fruit orchard with Stefan Sobkowiak

Welcome back to another interview from the skill exchange calls that I’ve been running with Climate Farmers for our regenerative farming network in Europe. 
In this session I had the good fortune of introducing Stefan Sobkowiak to our group. Many of you who’ve been listening to this show for a while will remember the last interview I did with Stefan in the last season during the series on agroforestry. Stefan is one of my favorite sources for practical and honest techniques for managing the whole ecology of an orchard from propagating new tree species through maintenance, pest management, harvesting and even processing and marketing your products. His film, the Permaculture Orchard has help people around the world to transition towards diversified, resilient, and more profitable models of running their tree crop businesses. His YouTube channel goes even more in depth as he’s always creating videos about the innovations and even struggles that are going on at his orchard Miracle Farm in Canada.  
In this session we cover a lot of ground in a short time.We talk about How to manage pests and diseases by improving soil health and biodiversity in the orchard. How to care for the health of your trees for better yields and profit. Integrating other crops and animals into the system for ecological and economic resilience. And how to adapt common methods to your unique climate and context. 
There’s a whole Q&A session that happens after the half hour interview on these skill exchange calls which are exclusive to the Climate Farming network here in Europe. So if you’re interested in attending these calls in person to have your own questions answered by the experts and tap into the growing community of farmers, consultants, and educators around Europe, you can register right now at ClimateFarmers.org

Pond design and mangement masterclass, with Ben Falk

At this point I’ve taken a lot of courses and trainings around water management and earthworks, but I’m still always curious to stay up to date on new takes and styles of working with water and shaping the landscape to optimize water capture on the terrain. I’ve talked to Ben Falk a couple of times in the past and I’ve always enjoyed his take on the need to build deep relationships with the systems we design and build, but in the past we never focused on water.In this episode, I reconnect with Ben, and we dive into water management and his new course on pond design and management. Ben explains the comprehensive focus of the course, covering site evaluation, water storage, pond construction, and long-term maintenance. He discusses the significance of water management in permaculture and restoration, addressing key considerations for pond building, such as erosion control and flood mitigation. The conversation also explores the ecological and culinary potential of ponds, emphasizing their role in enhancing microclimates, providing habitat, and offering diverse food sources. Ben shares insights on how ponds benefit both wet and dry climates by replenishing groundwater and managing floodwaters effectively. The episode highlights the importance of small, decentralized water systems and the myriad ecological benefits ponds offer.

Trees as allies in regeneration: Panel episode

Part of the Climate Farmers Academy series, dedicated to facilitating peer-to-peer learning among farmers transitioning toward regenerative management across Europe. In this episode, experienced practitioners from various European regions share their insights and practical advice on integrating agroforestry into diverse farming contexts. The panel includes Lorenz from Germany, Dmitri based in Portugal, and Joshua from England, who discuss topics such as soil health, plant diversity, tree nursery setups, and the financial aspects of regenerative farming. This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in enhancing farm resilience and implementing regenerative practices with perennial crop systems.