Every time I check in with my good friend LINDSAY STEELE, it's like watching a slow-motion flip book come to life. Each conversation is like a snapshot into the unfolding of his family farm called GARDEN FORT in rural Michigan. Over the years Lindsay has honed a "lean farm" approach that continues to produce more food, increase profits, while at the same time expending less energy. If it's true that small, organic farms will be the thing that saves our species from imminent doom, then GARDEN FORT is showing us the way.

Lindsay is always on to a new book, and in this talk he references Greg McKeon's bestseller ESSENTIALISM: THE DISCIPLINED PURSUIT OF LESS. As you will hear, loss and instability on the farm, with the right perspective, are transformed into opportunities for distinguishing "the vital few from the trivial many", and finding "our highest point of contribution".

Follow Lindsay and Garden Fort's adventures: https://www.instagram.com/garden_fort

https://www.facebook.com/gardenfort

MASANOBU FUKUOKA'S manifesto for natural farming ONE-STRAW REVOLUTION (1975) was as much a revelation to me as it has been for millions of readers worldwide. It has been translated into more languages than can be accounted for, and is regarded as one of the essential titles for PERMACULTURE practitioners. Its blending of straight-forward instruction, hard-won life examples, and Zen-like wisdom has captivated audiences in the way that no other book on sustainable agriculture can touch.

"The One-Straw Revolution is one of the founding documents of the alternative food movement, and indispensable to anyone hoping to understand the future of food and agriculture." — Michael Pollan

Subsequent books THE NATURAL WAY OF FARMING and my personal favorite SOWING SEEDS IN THE DESERT continued Fukuoka's energetic command of his craft: allowing nature to do what it does best with little or no effort for control by human beings.

For this episode of FARM ON, I am lucky enough to speak with the man who lived on Fukuoka's farm in the '70's and then translated his book for English-speakers, LARRY KORN. Larry talks about getting assistance from WENDELL BERRY, his life as a young farm-wanderer in rural japan, and his continued work spreading the good word of natural farming as well as his other projects conducting workshops and helping contemporary authors of the same ilk.

Larry's story is told in his book ONE-STRAW REVOLUTIONARY, which serves as a valuable companion to its literary namesake, and decodes Fukuoka's eastern spiritualistic way for the Western reader.

Learn more at http://www.onestrawrevolution.net

FARM ON is accepting sponsorship to pay for hosting the show and for an embarrassingly excessive coffee habit. Contact me on Twitter @FarmOnDharma or good old email [email protected]

RYAN GRIFFIS and SARAH ROSS make art that combines academic research, wide-eyed curiosity and a commitment to radical activism. Joe visited their home studio in Chicago to talk about their multi-media projects including books, videos and gallery installations. Ryan and Sarah also empower other artists, activists and scholars through their organization REGIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, a "a platform to re-imagine the spaces and cultural histories around us. An invitation to join in seeing what we can learn—and learning what we can see—by juxtaposing spaces and narratives that are usually kept apart."

Check out their recent series of videos here: http://regionalrelationships.org/bottomlands

LAUREN MAPLES is the co-founder and executive director of PEAS (Partners for Education, Agriculture, and Sustainability), a nonprofit operating in Austin, TX.  PEAS provides educators to local schools to lead outdoor lessons and works with teachers to help them better utilize the outdoor spaces on their campuses with their own classes.  

She has been awarded 2 Fullbright grants that allowed her to travel to New Zealand and all over the US researching best practices in outdoor education.

In this episode we peruse Berry quotes on the Twitter feed @WendellDaily and riff on 'em.

Learn more about Lauren's nonprofit PEAS here. http://www.peascommunity.org

Joe had the pleasure of sitting down with Filipino farmer MANNY LAHOZ while he visited family in Chicago. Manny is featured in an upcoming documentary called RICE: A FILIPINO LOVE STORY, which highlights his 24 acre farm and the many other local growers that he has helped to create organic, sustainable practices that nourish both people and land. In this emotional conversation, Manny tells his story of being ordained a Catholic priest, to organizing grassroots farmers' unions under the dictatorship of president Marcos, to eventually helping indigenous mountain tribal groups defeat a brutal government attack on their land. After being imprisoned and surveilled during marshall law, he eventually started a new life in the US, only to return to the Philippines to take over his family's farm with no previous agriculture experience. Manny's harrowing tale of blood, sweat and tears will soon be available in an upcoming book from University of Philippines Press titled OF TYRANTS AND MARTYRS: A POLITICAL MEMOIR.

Watch the trailer for the documentary film here:

http://fiscal.ifp.org/project.cfm/725/Rice-A-Filipino-Love-Story/

Co-hosted by VANESSA BECK. For this episode of Farm On, Joe and Vanessa have a nice chat with NAAMAN GAMBILL, co-owner of Chicago's first and only retail store dedicated solely to beekeeping equipment, services, and education. Naaman's rural Indiana work ethic shines through in this talk, as does his dedication to improving the lives of people who live in the city's most under-appreciated neighborhoods.

Find out more about his projects here:

https://www.thehivesupply.com/

Co-hosted by VANESSA BECK. For this 4th of July special, Joe and Vanessa kick things off with the question "What does it mean to be independent?". Then Joe reads his essay "How I explained American Independence to My Goats", over the sound of actual fireworks recorded from his backyard.

Read the essay here: https://dharmaonthefarm.com/2016/07/08/how-i-explained-american-independence-to-my-goats/

Summer seemed like the perfect time to catch up with my old friend, graphic designer-turned farmer LINDSAY STEELE. The last time we talked it was the dead of winter and he was dreaming big about getting lean and farming smarter, and as you will hear on today's episode he is delivering on both at his family's farm GARDEN FORT in rural Michigan. Lindsay and I nerd out on all his latest innovations and gadgets, including a the "coolbot" and a tool known ominously as the "flame weeder".

Tune in, geek out, and farm on folks. Check out the beautiful progress at https://www.instagram.com/garden_fort

To kick things off I also read an excerpt from my original essay entitled "Your 200,000 Year Old Armpit". You can check out the the entire piece here: https://dharmaonthefarm.com/2016/07/22/your-200000-year-old-arm-pit/

Co-hosted by VANESSA BECK. For this episode, we sit down with my friend and fellow Oklahoma native GAVIN VAN HORN to talk about his forthcoming book Channel Coyotes and his deeply nuanced interest in place-based values concerning the natural world in an urban context. We also discuss what it means to live in "a city full of eyes", as well as his experience commuting to work in an inflatable kayak. Gavin has co-edited the collections Wildness and City Creatures, and has written numerous essays for the blog at Chicago's Center for Humans and Nature where he is the Director of Cultures of Conservation. Check out his work at http://www.storyforager.com.

Bill Wilson is co-founder of Midwest Permaculture with his wife & partner Becky. I was fortunate enough to attend one of their week-long Permaculture Design Certification trainings, and found it to be the paradigm-shifting kick in the pants that I needed to gain a new perspective on what is possible with sustainable everything: food cultivation, water conservation, social organization, and finding Right Livelihood. I caught Bill on the phone after the training to learn more about the path that led him 35 years ago to Stelle, IL - an intentional community oasis sandwiched between endless fields of industrial agriculture, and into his formative role as the region's passionate champion of the life practice that is Permaculture.

Midwest Permaculture: https://midwestpermaculture.com