Regenerative Skills

Applying permaculture principles to your social business, and more with the founders of La Botica Verde: RRT 4

Welcome to a very special session of the Regenerative Round Table. Though Jeremy Fellows is away on a road trip through Mexico on his beloved bus sunny, we’re joined by two great friends and social entrepreneurs, Giuliana Gobbato and Michelle Sultan, founders of “La Botica Verde” who we featured in an interview two weeks ago. In this episode we get into a ton of new topics including the difference between food sovereignty and food security, and which is healthier for our communities. We talk about getting ahead of the seasons and preparing for the installation of abundant systems, post-harvest workshops for organic producers to help them get more product to market in a healthy way, designing for energy flows, and so much more. This is an in-depth discussion with some really brilliant minds working to bring profitable and equitable models of permaculture to as many people as possible in a region of the world with so much potential and promise moving forward. I hope that you’ll join the conversation and become collaborators in the seasons to come!
Resources:
La Botica Verde
Abundant Edge on FB

DIY kombucha and the delicious world of fermented drinks with author Andrea Potter: 063

This week we’re getting an in depth look at Kombucha and the world of fermented drinks. I spoke with Andrea Potter, the author of the book DIY Kombucha: Sparkling homebrews made easy. The recent explosion in popularity of this historic beverage comes at a critical time when more and more people are taking back their food making processes and starting to see whole nutritious food as a preventative measure for all kinds of illnesses.
In this interview Andrea talk about the history, health benefits, and fermentation process of Kombucha and more importantly, how you can easily make it at home for yourself. We also talk quite a bit about other types of naturally fermented drinks and recipes for delicious flavors. This is a great episode for those of you looking for new uses of fruits, herbs and flavorings that you grow in your gardens and will hopefully inspire you to get started making your own, so now I’ll turn things over to Andrea
Resources:
Rooted Nutrition
Buy the DIY Kombucha book

Getting high quality harvests to a larger audience in Guatemala, with the founders of “La Botica Verde:” 062

It's hard to spread the word on regenerative farming and organic food when its impossible to get, so Neal Hegarty had a chat with Michelle Sultan and Giuliana Gobbato, the founders of "La Botica Verde" a social business that helps organic producers find buyers and a larger market for their goods. Each of them come from unique backgrounds and have teamed up to transform the limited food system in Guatemala, arguably one of the most ecologically rich countries in the world. They talk about their passions and inspirations behind the vision for their business as well as many of the unique hurdles that organic producers face in this country too. For anyone inspired by the potential for permaculture based businesses, then this is the episode for you.
Resources:
La Botica Verde on Facebook
La Botica Verde website

Zach Loeks talks ecological rap, world wide regenerative projects and more: 061

Zach and I on my porch in Tzununa
I don’t always have the pleasure of interviewing my guests in person but I was fortunate this time to be able to sit down with Zach Loeks, permaculture teachers and author of the book “The Permaculture Market Garden” last week while he’s down here in Guatemala co-teaching a PDC with Abundant Edge and Atitlan Organics.
In this episode we had the chance to talk about a lot of subjects we missed on my first interview with him back in season one. We explore the topics of putting “culture” back in permaculture and finding ways of sharing and communicating in other forms such as art and music. Zach talks about the challenges and advantages of the high tropical climate we have and how some of the difficulties might be managed creatively. For anyone looking to get to know Zach better you can hear more about him and his background in our first interview on market gardening from season one. So lets jump back now to my little porch overlooking the lake and catch up with Zach
Resources:
Zach Loeks on Facebook
Zach Loeks on Instagram
MC Ecology on Instagram

Climate considerations, training new team members, and project planning: RRT 3

Hey everyone! We're back with another regenerative round table with the whole Abundant Edge team to fill you in on the projects, challenges, and of course goats here on our regenerative homestead in Guatemala. In this session we talk about the work we've been doing on the landscape and the house over the last month, but also break down a few key concepts that have to be considered in any design such as the nuances of your climate. Neal and I talk about training new members of the team from our local community, and Jeremy breaks down why you should start a nursery as soon as possible and the many benefits of living fences. We also get into other topics like build project planning, planning for the seasons with your goats, answer listener questions, and much more.
Don't forget to send your own questions to our team at "The Abundant Edge" facebook page and we'll do our best to answer them for you in upcoming episodes of the podcast.

An intimate peek into the world of bees with Christy Hemenway, the author of “The Thinking Beekeeper:” 059

The world of honey bees has always been a mystery to me. I feel confident taking care of plants, animals, building and even fungi, but bees? In todays interview I spoke with one of the most outspoken advocates of beekeeping Christy Hemenway, found of Gold Star Honey Bees and author of the book “The Thinking Beekeeper: a guide to natural beekeeping in top bar hives.”
In this interview Christy introduced me to the way that bees have been managed at an industrial level and some of the many nuanced causes of colony collapse disorder. She also goes in depth about the many benefits that bees have for our environment and agriculture that go far beyond honey production, and wraps up by giving some invaluable advice on how to start and manage your own home scale hive. Christy has tons of great resources including a great TEDx talk she gave a few years back
Resources:
Get the book, "The Thinking Beekeeper"
Christy's TEDx talk
goldstarhoneybees.com

The unique beauty and challenges of domes, with Kelly Hart author of “The Essential Earthbag Construction:” 059

My guest today is Kelly Hart, author of Earthbag building which is part of the “essentials series on natural building put out by New Society Publishers. He is also the founder of greenhomebuilding.com, dreamgreenhomes.com, earthbagbuilding.com, and a few others. Today we tackle one of the most constant questions that I get asked as a natural builder and that I hear the most debate over in online forums and that’s the subject of domes and their advantages and disadvantages.
Kelly shares wonderful insights from building earthbag domes and living in one for many years. We both share our own stories of successes and challenges in building and living in domes and Kelly gives sound advice on how to avoid leaks and other problems.
We also get into the topic of how living in a natural home can have a profound effect on your lifestyle and some of the simple habits that you can change to make the biggest positive impact towards a regenerative lifestyle.
Resources:
Green Building Directory
Essential Earthbag Construction
Hartworks.com
Dream Green Homes website
Earthbag building website
Green Homebuilding website

How to live regeneratively without abandoning society with Scott Mann, host of “The Permaculture Podcast:” 058

In keeping with my kick on finding new and unique ways to implement permaculture principles and design techniques in ways outside of just land management and natural building I’ve got an excellent guest for you today. You probably know Scott Mann as the host of “The Permaculture Podcast” the longest running podcast on permaculture which has been going strong for more than seven years now. In that time he has gained remarkable insights from some of the most prominent leaders and changemakers in the regenerative economy. Today I’ll be asking Scott about the changes that he’s made in his own lifestyle through his consumer habits, his daily routines and behavior, as well as his interactions with his community and environment. We talk in depth about how abandoning society and moving to the country is often not as effective a form of living regeneratively as you might think. We discuss how to avoid the burnout that can come from too many ethical dilemmas which arise from living in a destructive social system and a few of the many steps that you can use to overcome the stress. We also touch on some practical advice on how to make your money count in a consumer environment with so many destructive options. This is a great episode for those of you listeners who love your locations and jobs, but want to take steps towards healthier, more holistic living, without a huge upheaval and abandoning everything.
Resources:
The Permaculture Podcast

It’s all about Goats! and a few other important things, but really GOATS!: RRT 2

Welcome to this month's regenerative round table. In this session we talk about our newest additions to the family, the GOATS! Neal and Oliver go into the details behind the goat pen design, and Jeremy talks about mushroom production and the extension of the water and irrigation systems. We also discuss the importance of getting your hands dirty and the reality of implementing your designs. All that and more as we give you a direct window into the development of our regenerative homestead model.
If you would like your own questions answered by the AE team, you can write to us on The Abundant Edge Podcast facebook page either in a message or by publishing on the wall and we'll do our best to answer you on our monthly round table sessions.
Resources:
The Abundant Edge FB Page

How does natural building stack up to industrial alternatives? with Conrad Rogue of House Alive: 056

Let me introduce you today to one of my favorite gurus of natural building. Conrad Rogue is the founder of “house alive” and has been pioneering cob building for many years and is the author of “house of earth: a complete handbook for earthen construction.” For over 15 years House Alive has taught more than 1000 students how earthen building materials can enhance and uplift our built environment in a simple and elegant way.
I reached out to Conrad initially to commend him for an article he wrote called “cob speed” which beautifully deconstructs the comparisons between industrial and earthen buildings and how the expectations of natural buildings are often very skewed.
In this interview I asked Conrad about the fundamental differences between “green” and “natural” building. We go in depth about why it’s essential to incorporate appropriate technology into natural buildings in order to make them perform optimally, and we go over the ever-important process of passing your plans for building through the permitting process and how to get the authorities to open up to progressive building ideas.
Resources:
House Alive Website
"Cob Speed" Article