Regenerative Skills

Applying permaculture to your life and social interactions with Isabelle Fortier of EgoEco: 055

I’ve become really passionate about finding unconventional applications for permaculture design principles and today is a perfect example of someone who is exploring the ways that permaculture can be used to create stronger social and interpersonal structures. Isabelle Fortier is the founder of egoeco.ca whose mission is to inspire people to move towards a higher sense of well-being, to live differently and more in line with their values, all the while contributing to the development of an ecologically responsible society. For nearly 10 years, Isabelle acted as a spiritual life and community involvement facilitator at a CEGEP where she offered several training programs related to relationship counseling, stress management, conflict management, bereavement and intercultural relations.
In this interview Isabella talks about the internal changes that we need to make before we can be effective change makers out in the world through a combination of both personal work and group work in ecologically minded communities. Now since my good friend and colleague, Neal Hegarty, had just finished taking Isabella’s three-day course on social permaculture, I gave the mic over to him to conduct the interview. So here’s Neal and Isabelle in our first on a series of alternative applications for permaculture. Hope you are as inspired by these concepts as I am.
Resources:
EgoEco.ca

Natural regenerative housing for veterans with Ted Brinegar of Foxhole homes: 054

Today’s guest, Ted Brinegar, is pushing the boundaries of natural and regenerative low-cost housing with his non-profit organization called “foxhole homes.” These earthship-inspired homes are designed to serve the needs of homeless veterans, but also to help redefine what kind of lifestyle that’s possible on a very limited income. Foxhole homes are designed to be entirely off grid and to produce much of their own food too.
In this interview Ted explains the inspiration behind the holistically regenerative design of the structures, with a whole slew of low cost appropriate technology working to make the most of every resource and bit of energy as well. We get into how they keep costs down by salvaging and recycling materials, and we talk about the larger vision for complete communities in the future as well.
Ted is a very inspiring speaker who unloads a ton of practical information in this session so grab your notebooks and let’s dive in
Resources:
Foxhole.org

Designing for abundance, biochar production and plant propagation: RRT 1

Welcome to the first "Regenerative Round Table" with the Abundant Edge team. In this new segment we got together at the AE demonstration homestead to have one of our regular evening chats, but this time we turned the mics on and gave it a bit of structure. In this episode we talk about the design and implementation strategy for the site, the apprentice and volunteer program that we're in the middle of, and we also answer listener questions from the facebook page about biochar production and plant propagation. This is our first time recording our discussions, so bear with us as we get a bit of a slow start in the episode, but pick up the pace and the laughs real quickly.
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

The wild potential of mycology with Peter McCoy, author of Radical Mycology: 052

Today we’re gonna take a deep dive into the wide world of mycology and fungi with Peter McCoy, the author of Radical Mycology and founder of Mycologos, a new online educational platform for courses on mushroom and fungal cultivation and knowledge. Peter has been studying mycology for more than 16 years and is one of the foremost educators and promotors of the potential of fungi.
In this interview we explore some of the many practical and exciting applications of mycelium such as building healthy soil, reviving contaminated sites and polluted ecosystems, medicine and nutrition, transforming waste products and even biological batteries!
Peter is a wealth of information and does a remarkable job of making the deep and intricate world of mycelium approachable and easy to understand for the layperson (a category that I certainly fall into). I hope this episode inspires you and opens your mind to the incredible potential of fungi like it did for me, so I’ll hand things over now to Peter McCoy.
Resources:
Mycologos
Mycologos on kickstarter
Radical Mycology

A look at a multifaceted agrarian community revival initiative with Rachael Forster of Tamar Grow Local: 051

Today I have a remarkable guest, Rachael Forster, who works with a cutting-edge non-profit organization called “Tamar Grow Local.” Normally I like to give an overview of the speaker and their projects and expertise before the start of an interview, but though I tried to do that, Rachael and Tamar Grow Local are both quite tricky to sum up. Their initiatives and goals in the community are very far reaching and intricate, but what I can say is that they’ve helped to make huge strides in promoting regenerative farming and market gardening in the Tamar valley, a historical farming region between Cornwall and Devon counties in the south west of England. With just a small team of five people, the organization is on the forefront of agricultural community re-invigoration. So rather than butchering the description, I’ll hand things over now to Rachael Forster who can explain everything much better.
Resources:
Tamargrowlocal.org

Pushing the boundaries of restoration agriculture with Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture: 050

Welcome to the first episode in season 2 of The Abundant Edge Podcast! We have so many exciting interviews and information coming up for you in 2018 and this week's session is a perfect example of that. Today we're going to be speaking with Mark Shepard of New Forest farm in Viola, WI and author of Restoration Agriculture, one of the most iconic books on profitable regenerative production methods anywhere. I've been a big fan of Mark's work and teachings since I first saw his farm profiled on a remarkable documentary called “inhabit” that highlights inspiring examples of permaculture around the USA. Mark is a no-nonsense advocate of farming methods and enterprises that are not only sustainable but actually restore their ecosystem and increase the carrying capacity of life around them.
In this interview Mark talks about his unique journey that brought him to conclusions about how humans should interact with nature and take care of their resources. He goes into detail about how he determines if a farm enterprise will be worth the effort and resources invested in it, and how to plan for the long term development of perennial systems while still bringing in an income. Mark also gives sound advice on how to acquire land, build equity and grow your business by navigating the capitalist system that many people in the alternative communities have written off entirely. This is a very insightful talk that may push your buttons a little if you're not familiar with Mark's teachings, but I urge you to keep an open mind and remember how much Mark's results speak for themselves.
Resources:
Restorationag.com
Forestag.com
New Forest Farm

Creating a healthy ecosystem within through holistic nutrition with Breanne Gibson of Circular Nutrition: 049

Wow! Here we are on the last episode of season 1 and I have a really valuable interview for all of you to wrap up the season. Over the last year we've talked so much about the regeneration of landscapes and ecosystems through permaculture as well as natural building techniques and materials, but to end on a bit of a different note, I spoke with Breanne Gibson, founder of Circular Nutrition to talk about some unexpected ways to apply holistic design and living practices to our own lives. Breanne is a leading holistic nutritionist, live food expert, and permaculture practitioner who talks to us about cultivating a regenerative ecosystem within ourselves through healthy eating and lifestyle choices. She dives in deep into the controversial topics of GMO foods, fad diets, and digestive issue treatment. Breanne even gives me a mini consultation in which we go over my own history of digestive illness and discuss how antibiotics, parasites, and diet can contribute to gut disbiosis and some ways to get back to optimum health. I can only imagine how many comments and discussions that these topics will spark, just for how personal everyone's opinions about health and nutrition are these days.
The truth is, I've really become fascinated by all of the ways that permaculture design and regenerative project management can be applied to other areas of life besides the more commonly associated land based renewal projects, and you can look forward to hearing a lot more about those topics when season two begins on February 2, of 2018. But don't forget to keep listening to our little in-between episodes where I'll give some early enrollment information for our upcoming regenerative homesteading apprenticeship, the 2018 workshop schedule and information on how to get your questions answered by our panel of experts all coming up in season two so stick around after the interview to hear more about that.
This is another information dense interview so you might want to grab your notebooks for this one
For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability.
Resources:
Breanne on Facebook
Circular Nutrition homepage

Permaculture earthworks demystified with Douglas Barnes, author of “The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook:” 048

My guest today is here to demystify one of the aspects of permaculture design that I hear the most questions about, but also one of the issues that I see folks most entrenched in their viewpoints about. I'm talking about earthworks; one of the first aspects that people implement and the most permanent change made in a landscape. Today I've got Douglas Barnes, author of “permaculture earthworks” and owner director of EcoEdge Design Ltd. to answer our questions and take the guess work out of the subject of terrain changes.
In this interview Douglas talks about the best way to map out contours on the land, some of the most effective ways to harvest rainwater on a site, how to link up various earthwork and containment systems to make them work in tandem, and most importantly, he talks in detail about many of the safety concerns that many people have no idea about when it comes to installing swales and dams.
There's a ton of valuable information in this session but don't forget to check out his book “permaculture earthworks” for some essential formulas on calculating for swales, water catchments and so much more. Make sure to keep listening at the end of the interview to hear how you can win your own free copy of the book as well.
For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability.
Resources:
Permaculture Reflections Blog
The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook
EcoEdge Ltd

The myriad technologies and innovations of earthships with Rohan Sutherland: 047

I have a very knowledgeable and experienced guest from the world of natural building for ya'll, Rohan Sutherland from Earthship biotecture is here to talk about one of the most famous and recognizable icons of the natural building movement in the last 30 years. Rohan began in international social and environmental work before getting involved with earthship biotecture after being inspired by their on the ground work around the world and the appropriate technology and design that they promoted.
Rohan has some amazing stories to tell from his international work, but more than anything he goes into great details about the systems and techniques that earthships exhibit and promote which facilitate off-grid, self sustainable living and integration of their structures with the environment.
In this interview we talk at length about indoor food production systems, water harvesting and reuse, and how earthships can be improved and adapted further by using more natural materials. Rohan even talks about the catch 22 of self sustainable living and how it can have a negative impact on community development and connection if not managed correctly. This is another very information dense interview so get your notebooks ready
For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability.

The Abundant Edge design criteria for a regenerative lifestyle, with the free PDF design criteria list: 046

In this special episode I'll be giving a detailed look at the design criteria that we use here at Abundant Edge to work on all kinds of regenerative projects. What's important to know about the design criteria list is that it's meant to be a concise and easy-to-follow guide to making responsible and insightful choices. The list is constantly evolving and updating with the experience gained by the Abundant Edge team and I. Keep an eye out for updated and revised versions in the future as we refine our systems and processes. And if any of you have questions for me, or any of the other team members, you can reach us directly on our Facebook page by searching "Abundant Edge." Leave your questions and comments there as posts or private messages, and we'll either answer them as soon as possible or maybe in a future podcast or blog post.
For "The Abundant Edge" listeners only, you can now get 50% off your digital subscriptions to Permaculture Magazine North America by entering the code PMNA50abedge at checkout. Get your subscription today and dive deep into the local and global solutions that go beyond sustainability.
Get the Abundant Edge design criteria PDF