Kelly was a guest in Episode 28 on the Organic Gardener Podcast.

What to take when you start a permaculture farm on a budget.

Kelly and her family are moving to Panama to start a Permaculture retreat and learning center she plans to call the The Eco-Wellness Retreat or maybe The College of Well Being which would translate nicely as El Colegio  del Bienestar!

2. A tree transplanter. This enables you to go along the key-line and just drop trees in. You can plant trees, fruits & nuts, berry bushes, etc.

Geoff Lawton's property checklist ... running water, hydro-electric ... Some sort of a slope.

3. Bio-construction Materials - Natural Homebuilding materials.

Earthbag and Hyper-Adobe building materials.

Slip form straw clay mix

Miscellaneous Items to Take:

Thinking about taking a generator.

Shade screen, bug netting will order in Panama.

Seeds from Heirloom-Organics

Handtools - shovels, tree trimmer/pruner etc.

1000 Japanese Serrated Sickles for Permaculture Crossfit!

SOIL SUPPLEMENTS:  Bags of Diatamatious Earth

Aquaponics Supplies - Friendly Aquaponics

Chain Link Fence Bender

Water Filtration - Berkey Filter

Trowel for stuccoing

Tools for Butchering

Loom or Textile producer

Serger sewing Machine

Medical Supplies - The Herbal Medic

Food Storage  - things you can eat or grow.

Want to have the tools to form a company to do this installation on anyone's property down there. If I have my tree transplanter or key-line plow we can set up a food forest of coffee plantation anywhere. The principles of Permaculture is you do a Poly-culture stack system. So you have your coffee trees under your fruit trees, under your nut trees, and then all of your medicinal underneath and then all your annuals between these belts of food forest that are grown on contour, or around the perimeter of certain paddocks, where you have your animals in a paddock in rotating paddocks. Called Holistic grazing management, or paddock shift system, or mob grazing. Really helps you identify any problem and learn any criteria that can help you solve it. What elements can I or can I not change. And how to scale that.

Electricity - Windmill/Solar Panels

Egg cartons

Bed Mattresses

Furniture

Shower - poly tubing/poly weaving

Sprinkler system drip tape

Dehydrator

Sterilization Equipment - Pressure cooker/canner and canning jars

Mushroom Production Tools

River Rafting Rafts and Pulley Systems for a Zip Line

Fly-Fishing Gear

Snappy's have some powerful air pellet guns since you can't take guns and security is a risk. Security systems.

Most American phones don't work down there, but they have phones that allow you to Skype. In town they have internet.

Books (able to bring books for education)

Solar lighting and outdoor showers

Glow stones or Glow-In-The-Dark Paint

Solar lights

Climbing shoes from Second Hand Store

Beehives, bee equipment - Michael Jordan the Bee Whisperer

Post and Beam work - crimper for putting wires

Warm clothes/and long sleeve collar shirts to protect from the sun

Other Resources Kelly and I Discuss:

August Coloring Contest

The post August Coloring Contest appeared first on Organic Gardener Podcast.

I met David at the Missoula Farmer's Market back in June and we finally connected. His expertise is going to teach us so much about growing food for yourself as well as how to grow for other farmers as well. His passion, knowledge and incredible successes will inspire growers to enjoy the harvest of their gardens all year long! And how to do it efficiently and environmentally consciously using the most effective tactics he's learned for success after many years of gardening in Montana's challenging climate!

Tell us a little about yourself.

Well, I’ve lived in western Montana all my life. I traveled but then I just coming back here. Now I'm 60 and I've learned a lot in those years and I still have a lot to learn I'm sure.

What does organic gardening/earth friendly mean to you?

I appreciate that your question has organic/earth friendly gardening in it because as I have seen, the organic gardening mature, I’m glad to see it embrace more research, more discovery and make it something that's actually far more valuable. I remember back in 1970,  when I was a teenager, exploring and discovering the organic method vs the chemical method there were a lot of ideas that have since been discarded fortunately because we have learned. For me it's a continuous process, we are going to learn, we've learned much more about beneficials, insects, for example. We're exploring interesting features about micro-organisms and their interactions there's just a whole range of things that are probably coming soon that are going to revolutionize agriculture. There's just more cross-over, traditional, I should say chemical, traditional is really organic but chemical ag is adopting some of these things that were first. Adopting some of these things that were first tried out by organic gardeners. In that respect I find it a very fascinating time to be gardening. 

Do you want to go any deeper and tell us some of the things that your'e seeing the I guess if you're not gonna call it traditional, the more big producers the chemical people using?

Well I think that there have been some realities, right now we have an easing of the energy issue, but that was a fear, that there’s definitely sometime going to be a limit to the fossil fuels, and a lot of people don't realize that's going to a major source of the nitrogen that's used in standard agriculture comes from various fossil fuels, and that's what's pumped up production throughout the world, the entire food insudtry is so dependent on that, well, now we're learning more about other ways to do things. 

We’ve already explored different ways of breeding plants, that can maybe tolerate less fertility, perhaps we can get into a better understanding of soil, and have microbes that would naturally be able to provide some of the fertilizing  it's going in many directions, and some ideas no doubt that will be discarded later on, other ideas we can't even imagine what they are, they'll be coming along and we'll be seeing major changes in how we grow the food for very large population on this planet that needs to eat every single day.

Who or what inspired you to start using organic techniques?

I met a wonderful woman at my church, she's gone now, Ida Nowel was her name. She was a subscriber to Rodale publications, Prevention and  Organic Gardening. She brought older issues and i just thought this was wonderful. I didnt’ have much experience, my mother was working 3 jobs and tired, and so I was learning. It was so grateful to get this information, basically it was a system and a structure. It had all these experiences from all these different people and I just loved it!!!

Rodale Publications starting in 1970.

I talk about Rodale's on my show a lot I LOVE THEM! But I also have been wanting to say for a long time now, so I'm just gonna throw it in here listeners that I would not have bought the Flower Farmer book I talk about a lot and many othe...

Two weeks ago at the Kalispell Farmer's Market I met Mandy from the Lower Valley Farm when I bought the most delicious cauliflower! When I asked her if they would do an interview on the show she agreed and we connected on Facebook. I saw that they were having a garden tour and asked her husband Jay if he would share the info about the tour with my listeners. I hope to see you there tomorrow night!

Lower Valley Farm Tour | Thursday August 13, 2015 • 6:30pm | Kalispell, MT

We really excited to share our vision for what we're want with our farm and the way that we're growing food. What Mandy's doing with the market farm and what we're doing with the livestock is really exciting! It's unique and its healing the land and producing incredibly nourishing food and we're really thankful to have this opportunity to share that vision!

And educate others about how they can do it too right?

Oh yeah! We want everybody to be growing food, that's so interesting that you mention that. Most small farmers especially Mandy and I want more more people growing their own food, we want more people excited about food that's local, that's nourishing, that restores the land, that brings health to a community!

There's that passion I was looking for I heard earlier. Tell us a little more. What time does it start?

Farm tour is gonna start at 6:30. It’s free open to the public!

The market garden portion of the tour will be first and expect that to take about 45 minutes and then about 45 min with the livestock. About 1 1/2 - 2hours.

What kind of livestock?

We have 60 acres in perennial pastures. I run a “flerd" which is a flock herd. I have Katadin sheep and steers. We also have some other livestock around we keep for our family. We have a dairy cow and chickens and a couple of pigs for our family. The part of our operation that is sort of on the business end is the sheep and the steers.

How do we get there?

I would recommend googling us. Our address is: 1375 north sommers road in Kalispell, MT 59901. People could call us 406 471-9538 for directions.

How to get here:

Headed south from Kalispell. Take Lower Valley Road, and that's at a strange intersection, just south of Toyota dealership, take a strange right onto lower valley road. Follow to place in the road when you go straight your on n summers road if you turn left you're on lower valley road. If you go past pig you’ve gone too far. You want to go straight, there's an old soil back potato farm that's beautiful building. We're the next thing on your left. You'll see it! There will be cars and signs. We live in a yurt! You can't miss it!

So everyone come out and support the farm and learn about growing food and caring for a "flerd!" Like their Facebook page and let us know if you're going to join us tomorrow night!

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70: Megan Cain Returns | Make Your Garden Harvest Last All Year 7 Day Challenge | Fall Planting

Learn how to sign up for Megan's Make Your Garden Harvest Last All Year 7 Day Challenge! Starts on Sunday August 23rd!

The post 70. Megan Cain Returns | Make Your Garden Harvest Last All Year 7 Day Challenge | Fall Planting appeared first on Organic Gardener Podcast.

I am very excited to introduce my new friend and neighbor Luci Hall! Luci has a beautiful garden that I have been admiring, and on Wednesday, I ran into her husband collecting the mail, and introduced myself and asked if they would be willing to share their garden journey and he said well that would be my wife - come back in a hour or so! Luci graciously accepted my invitation after visiting the website and reading the questions, so I am happy to introduce Luci Hall!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm Luci Hall, I live here on Grave Creek, my husband and I retired here, he from the railroad and me as a medical secretary. We've been married 37 plus years, 3 children, and love the area. We've been gardening ever since we've been married. he was born and raised in Troy and I had 2 aunts that lived up there and married brothers. The Lord led me to Troy, that's where I met Bert, well I met Bert in the fourth grade.  I went to school in Troy in the fourth grade, later I moved back to Troy and we got married.

Now where did you grow up?

Here there and everywhere. Mostly in Treasure Valley down by Boise, Idaho, and up here around the Moyie Springs area. I had  grandparents in Wilder. My dad had itchy feet.

One of my most downloaded episodes is Kathi O'Leary from Boise Idaho and also Nancy Oliver has a little blog called the Little Homestead in Boise. 

Tell me about your first gardening experience?

My first gardening experience, I can remember going back and helping my grandparents, both sides, huge gardens we're talking a 1/2 acre or better.  My first garden would have been when we got married, it’s a way of life with my family, it’s a means to provide food and wasn’t really an option. When I left high school, I said I’m never gardening again. But that only took about a year and the bug bit again!

What does organic gardening/earth friendly mean to you?

Well, I have probably been basically an organic gardener all my life. I've tried to avoid chemicals as much as possible. I have no good words to say about Monsanto and GMOs. In the last few years I have discovered sources for heirloom seeds and heirloom plants. So in my garden I have only heirloom seeds or plants, I try not to use the hybrids of any kind. I try to use grass clippings from my lawn, put in the pathways, and mulch it back in in the wintertime. I try to feed the soil as much as possible, what I know is good organic materials. To nourish the soil with good stuff!

Who or what inspired you to start using organic techniques was it your grandparents? 

I pulled from them, they didn’t use a lot of chemicals either. It was after Bert and I got married, I developed what they call multiple chemical sensitivity. It's from growing up down in Treasure Valley and the air and the water's full of toxics and the soil is full of toxics. So rather then use any more chemicals, I started looking to find alternative methods of  taking care of things in my lawn and garden and alternative medicinals for myself. Taking a chemicals only exacerbates the problem. And...

Reading books... reading books...reading books.

Did you have any resources, for where you got heirloom seeds or plants?

It's a place called Heirloom Seeds. Family organization.

Now I order basically from Baker Seeds, and Pine Tree.

In episode 33 I interviewed Robin Kelson who owns the Good Seed Company which is a seed library as well as a store.

We have a large garden, but we decided it needed a rest, we’ve been using it ever since we started gardening  for probably 9 years, so we decided it needed a rest. I wasn’t gonna have a garden at all this year, but being me, I couldn't not play in the dirt, so we tilled up about a 1/3 of our yard and made a new garden and that's what you're seeing over here in front.

Do you want to tell listeners why you decided your garden needed a rest? What's that all about?