Regenerative Skills

How to avoid 95% of straw bale house failures and more from Bill Steen of the Canelo Project: Episode 016

My guest today is Bill Steen, who along with his wife Athena is one of the early innovators and promoters of straw bale building in the American Southwest through their company “the Canelo Project.” Bill was born in Tucson, AZ and attended the university of AZ where he studied cultural anthropology. Out of college he ran a yoga ashram in NM for 12 years. He took a couple years off after that experience and moved to Canelo, AZ 33 years ago where he and his wife Athena quickly started the Canelo project which is dedicated to connecting people, culture and nature. He describes himself as someone who never lost the dreams he had that were born in the 60s in terms of more enlightened ways of living, whether it was spirituality or through sustainable ways of living on this earth.
In this interview Bill opens up about how he an Athena started the Canelo Project and wrote their essential work “the straw bale house” and “ the beauty of strawbale homes.” Bill also shares some off the most important tips and tricks he's learned in building through his extensive experience, how the aesthetics and natural building techniques of the SW have influenced him, and much more.
Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Canelo-Project-131628036916687/
http://www.caneloproject.com/
Upcoming Workshops with Bill Steen and the Canelo Project
http://www.caneloproject.com/workshops/england-clay-plaster-workshop/
http://www.caneloproject.com/workshops/earth-floor-and-plaster-workshop-france/
http://www.caneloproject.com/workshops/artistry-with-clay-lime/

Lessons learned from both success and failure in a permaculture based business with Diego Footer of “Permaculture Voices:” Episode 015

My guest today has been one of my most inspiring forces in creating this podcast and working towards sharing my learning experiences with the larger community. His name is Diego Footer and he's the founder of Permaculture Voices. Through his business he puts out a world class podcast and youtube channel by the same name and sells books and online courses through the website. His broadcasts focus on his own journey in creating a permaculture landscape and garden on his property outside of San Diego CA, and wisdom he gains through the process. In our interview, Diego opens up about some of the early failures he had when first starting his business, what he learned from the experience, and some invaluable advice for entrepreneurs following a similar path. He also shed's light on some of the overlooked realities of developing businesses and permaculture landscapes that are often the reasons why people quit early. Grab your notebook for this one because there is enough information in our chat to fill a book.
Resources:
http://www.permaculturevoices.com/

Volunteer management and mixing regenerative practices with Neal Hegarty of Abundant Edge

Todays guest is a good friend of mine who has recently become a member of the Abundant Edge team. His name is Neal Hegerty and he's the volunteer coordinator and co-teacher at Atitlan Organics here in Tzununa, Guatemala.
Neal grew up in Ireland and spent a lot of time around his uncle's dairy farm when he was young. He went on to study agriculture in science and began to learn more about alternative methods of farming during his travels and volunteering on wwoof farms. He later went on to get his masters in agriculture and development studies.
In this session we talk about many progressive agricultural techniques such as holistic land management, silvopasture, strip grazing and more. Neal also shares his experiences from managing volunteers from all over the world, and how cattle farming can actually be good for the environment.
Resources:
http://imapermaculture.org/
http://www.atitlanorganics.com/

The journey towards a permaculture lifestyle with Max Benjamin of El Jocotel. Episode 014

In this interview with my good friend Max Benjamin, we talk about his journey over the past three years to build a sustainable permaculture enterprise in a little town on Lake Atitlan Guatemala. Max is a great example of where many of our listeners are at in their transition to a regenerative lifestyle and here he shares stories about the challenges and successes he's had over the last three years in developing a diversified farm, with different value added products and side ventures in order to create his own permaculture paradise. While the specifics of his situation might be completely different for your own, I have no doubt that anyone on the journey towards a more regenerative life would find commonalities and resonate with his story. 
Resources
https://www.facebook.com/max.benjamin.161
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/jocotel/
https://www.facebook.com/eljocotel/

Myths and Misconceptions About Natural Building with Oliver M Goshey

In this episode I talk about some of the most common myths and misconceptions about natural building and bust them. There's a lot of first hand knowledge from my years as a designer and builder around the world, and I work to help you get better information than what's often available online. This talk is mean to give you a realistic idea of how to get started with a natural building project and how to avoid some of the unrealistic expectations and misleading information that can get you started on the wrong foot. 

How to make your own earthen floors with Sukita Reay Crimmel of From These hands and Claylin LLC.

in this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Sukita Reay Crimmel, the founder of both Claylin LLC. and From These Hands LLC. as well as the co-author of Earthen Floors: A Modern Approach to an Ancient Practice. We talk all about the anatomy of earthen floors, tips, tricks, different applications, maintenance and even chemistry for the real nerds like me. 

Building community through natural building and urban permaculture with Janell Kapoor of Ashevillage Sanctuary and Kleiwerks Itl.

In this interview I had the pleasure of speaking with Janell Kapoor, founder of both Kleiwerks International. and the Ashevillage Sanctuary. Janell has been teaching natural building workshops all over the world since 1997 and founded Kleiwerks Intl. in 2004. She also ran some of the first earthen building trainings in Thailand, Argentina, and Turkey. Since 2006 she has been renovating and building the site of the Ashevillage sanctuary by reclaiming materials from the waste stream and using natural materials from the site. Since then Ashevillage has become a model ecological learning center and demonstration site that offers a wide range of regenerative living skills courses and workshops. In this interview Janell talks about the mission and intent behind Ashevillage, how she found ways to design systems that bring humans and nature together, her incredible work empowering and working with women, and much more. Janell has been one of my biggest inspirations since I got started in the regenerative living world and her experience and insights do not disappoint.
Resources
ashevillage instagram
ashevillage.org
 kleiwerks.org

Revolutionary rocket stoves and re-indigenizing building with Kirk “Donkey” Mobert of Sundog School of Natural Building

In this episode I interview Kirk Mobert, the founder of Sundog Building school in Point Arena CA. Kirk has dedicated nearly a decade of research and testing to rocket stove and rocket mass heater technology. In this interview we talk all about how these revolutionary stoves work, why his school focuses on teaching the re-indigenization of building, and how he sees the world of natural building evolving in the future. 
Resources:
http://www.sundogbuilders.net/
Kirk also sent a follow-up audio a couple days after the interview elaborating on the answers he gave the first time around. This is some great bonus content for you natural building enthusiasts so don't miss it 

How to build with cordwood masonry with Rob Roy of the Earthenwood Building School

In this interview I get to talk with Rob Roy, author of 17 books and a leading voice and advocate for cordwood building. Rob gives a ton of information on how to prevent cracking and swelling of the cordwwod while maintaining the insulative integrity of the wall. He also goes into detail about different mortar mixes and explains a bit about his unique ability in moving huge monolithic stones with just basic tools
Resources:
To find all Rob's books that are currently in print click on the link below
hhttps://newsociety.com/Contributors/R/Roy-Rob
Here is the Earthenwood Building school website 
www.cordwoodmasonry.com

Insulation vs. thermal mass and the advantages of hybrid structures with Sigi Koko of Build Naturally and Down to Earth Designs

Though this is her first time on the podcast, it's actually round two for Sigi Koko, the founder of "Down to Earth Design" and the "Build Naturally" blog. Click here to see my original interview With Sigi. 
Sigi is an architect, builder and teacher extraordinaire. She founded Down to Earth Design back in 1998 and has been designing and building with natural materials in the Mid-Atlantic region ever since. She's a encyclopedia of building and design knowledge which she often uses to help guide new builders and designers on natural building forums on facebook and in her blog. 
In this episode we talk in-depth about the anatomy of straw bale walls, the key differences between thermal mass and insulation, and how to make best use of both for your location and climate. Sigi also gives invaluable advice for troubleshooting some of the trickier aspects of natural plaster application and mixing so keep a notebook handy for this one :) 
Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/buildnaturally/
http://www.buildnaturally.com/
"Building with Straw Bales" by Barbara Jones