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Episode Summary
In this episode of Harvesting Wisdom, Mike McMahon travels to Burgundy's Clos des Mouches to speak with Philippe Drouhin of the historic Joseph Drouhin estate. Philippe traces his family's winemaking story back to 1880, including the accidental discovery that led to Clos des Mouches' celebrated white wine, and explains how four generations have shaped the domaine's vineyards. The conversation moves into the fine details of terroir — how soil composition can shift dramatically within just a hundred meters, how compost and cover crops are tailored plot by plot, and why root depth (sometimes reaching 20 meters) plays a critical role in surviving drought without irrigation, which is prohibited in Burgundy. Philippe and Mike also discuss the accelerating effects of climate change, water availability, and how the estate manages three separate vineyard sites across the region.

Why Listen
Listen if you want a grounded, detail-rich look at what it actually takes to farm a multi-generational vineyard through changing climate conditions. This episode is ideal for wine lovers, growers, soil science enthusiasts, and anyone curious how a family business preserves both land and legacy across a century of change.

Highlight Timestamps
Intro — Meeting Philippe Drouhin at Clos des Mouches
Family history: Joseph Drouhin founds the company in 1880
1921 the first vineyard purchase and the birth of Clos des Mouches
The accidental discovery of Clos des Mouches white wine
Four generations: from Joseph to today's four siblings running the estate
The oldest surviving vines (1935, 1945) and why vine age is hard to track
Limestone, clay, and silt: how soil changes every 100 meters
Tailoring compost and cover crops to each micro-plot
Managing three vineyard estates and the role of vineyard managers
Why irrigation is banned in Burgundy — and how vines adapt
Roots reaching 20 meters deep as a natural drought buffer
Climate change: heat waves and droughts not seen 15 years ago
A detour: growing grapes in the Arizona desert and heat-driven veraison issues
Rootstock selection, clones, and preserving vineyard genetic diversity

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Can a regenerative farm actually turn a profit, and how long does it take to get there?

In part two of this Harvesting Wisdom conversation, host Mike McMahon continues talking with Niels, a Danish entrepreneur who built a 650-hectare regenerative farm in Lithuania called Farmer Circle. This half of the conversation goes deeper into the numbers, the setbacks, and the bigger systems needed to make regenerative farming work long-term.

Niels traces the decline of his father's farm in Denmark back to the shift toward industrial monoculture in the 1970s, and compares it to how his own farm is slowly rebuilding carbon and soil structure through grazing and rotation. He also talks about launching a trading company to help neighboring farms reach the market, and running a shared slaughterhouse that benefits smaller producers nearby.

The conversation covers where technology fits into regenerative farming, from satellite and drone monitoring to virtual fencing, along with the regulatory hurdles that come with using new tools on an organic-certified farm. Niels is direct about the financial reality too, including a costly herd management mistake and the multi-year path from losses toward profitability.

The discussion widens further into food policy, population growth, farm subsidies, and the connection between processed food and long-term health, tying the farm-level story back to bigger questions about how food systems are built.

👉 Subscribe to Harvesting Wisdom for more conversations on agriculture, sustainability, and the people building resilient food systems.

Why Listen?

This half of the conversation is especially valuable for anyone wondering whether regenerative farming actually pencils out financially. Niels walks through real losses, a costly mistake with the herd, and a genuine path toward profitability, without glossing over the difficulty. He also raises thoughtful points about technology, farm subsidies, and food policy that go beyond the farm gate. It's a strong watch for farmers weighing the transition to regenerative practices, agribusiness owners, or anyone interested in how food policy and soil health connect to long-term public health.

00:00 – Comparing childhood soil in Denmark to the Lithuanian farm
 01:23 – How industrial monoculture degraded his father's farm
 03:14 – Building carbon back into the soil through grazing
 04:39 – Building "Farmers and Company" to help neighboring farms reach market
 06:47 – Running a shared slaughterhouse for local farmers
 08:32 – Considering new technology, including virtual fencing
 09:00 – Satellite and drone monitoring for precision fertilizer use
 10:56 – Regenerative ranching and its effects on livestock and land
 12:28 – Regulatory conflicts around new grazing technology
 15:25 – Comparing grazing pressures in Central Asia and Mongolia
 18:26 – The real economics: losses, mistakes, and a path to profit
 21:35 – Farm subsidies, food pricing, and consolidation of farmland
 23:18 – Agriculture's role in addressing climate change
 27:33 – A costly mistake with the herd and lessons learned
 29:41 – Population growth, food demand, and women's education
 33:47 – Long-term soil regeneration and historical warnings ignored
 38:14 – Processed food, chemical exposure, and long-term health
 39:47 – EU organic farming targets and pesticide reduction goals
 44:05 – Closing thoughts

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What happens when a successful entrepreneur decides his last mission should be healing soil instead of building companies?

In this two-part episode of Harvesting Wisdom, host Mike McMahon sits down with Niels, a Danish businessman who built and sold companies in construction, windows, and bicycles before moving to Lithuania and eventually acquiring a 650-hectare farm. What started as an interest in better food led to "Farmer Circle," a farm built around organic, regenerative practices, and a growing network of connected businesses, including a slaughterhouse, bakery, butcher shop, brewery, and even a vertical farm.

Part one covers Niels' path from a small organic-by-necessity childhood farm in Denmark, through decades in business, to his decision to buy a run-down Lithuanian farm and commit to regenerative agriculture. He's candid about the hard years, what he calls "the valley of dead soil," when the land got worse before it got better after removing chemical inputs.

Part two goes deeper into the economics and systems side: crop rotation, cattle as the centerpiece of the operation, cooperating with neighboring farms, and the challenges of scaling regenerative practices while staying profitable. The conversation also widens out into broader themes, including industrial agriculture's history, soil degradation, population and food demand, and the connection between food quality and long-term health.

This is a wide-ranging, honest conversation about what it actually takes, financially and personally, to rebuild a farm from the ground up.

👉 Subscribe to Harvesting Wisdom for more conversations on agriculture, sustainability, and the people building resilient food systems.

Why Listen?

This two-part conversation is a rare, detailed look at regenerative farming from someone who approaches it like the business turnaround it is. Niels doesn't sugarcoat the early years of declining yields and financial losses, and he's equally direct about the systems that eventually made the farm work: cattle-centered rotation, farmer cooperation, and building markets for surrounding small farms. It's a great watch for aspiring farmers, agribusiness owners, or anyone curious about the real economics behind regenerative agriculture, along with the bigger-picture questions about soil health, food policy, and long-term health that come up along the way.

00:00 – Introduction to Niels and his path to Lithuania
 01:48 – Growing up on a small organic-by-necessity farm in Denmark
 03:07 – Building and selling a window manufacturing company
 05:19 – Moving to Lithuania and shifting focus to food
 08:43 – First venture into food: opening a restaurant
 10:09 – Realizing there was no organic food market in Lithuania
 11:12 – Acquiring the 650-hectare farm near Vilnius
 14:24 – Naming "Farmer Circle" and its dual meaning
 17:02 – Entering "the valley of dead soil" after removing chemicals
 19:27 – Bringing biology back through compost and animals
 21:19 – Introducing cattle, hens, and sheep to the farm
 22:39 – Building an on-farm slaughterhouse and meat processing
 24:39 – The wider business network: bakery, butcher shop, wine bar, brewery
 25:19 – A vertical farm in Vilnius and a microbrewery in Copenhagen
 27:21 – Internal trade between the businesses
 29:19 – Why vegetables remain the hardest part of the system
 34:13 – The history of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture

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Episode Summary
In this episode of Harvesting Wisdom, Mike McMahon visits a hillside farm overlooking Florence, Italy, run by a farmer practicing what he calls "ultra bioattivo" — an intensely biological, small-scale approach to growing over 40 varieties of vegetables and olives without any fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides for more than 12 years. The conversation, translated live from Italian, covers his unique composting process (a thermophilic phase followed by months resting in a forest windrow), his use of biochar, zeolite, and Korean natural farming principles, and how cypress trees and mulched water basins help recharge the aquifer instead of letting runoff carry chemicals downhill. Remarkably, the farm has partnered with the University of Florence on clinical trials showing measurable improvements in customers' gut microbiomes, and Mike connects this to his own water-saving trials with the University of Arizona using the same radicchio variety in the Yuma desert. The episode closes with a look at community: 200 subscribing families, dozens of partner restaurants, and a shared vision between Mike and his host — brothers from different mothers — to prove this kind of farming can work anywhere on the planet, including through education and a possible documentary collaboration.

Why Listen
Listen if you want to see regenerative, chemical-free farming in action — not as theory, but as a working business feeding hundreds of families and dozens of restaurants without a dollar spent on advertising. This episode is great for anyone interested in soil biology, biochar and mineral amendments, water conservation, the food-health connection (gut microbiome research!), or the idea that sustainable farming can be both ecologically sound and genuinely profitable.

00:00 – Intro: visiting a farmer above Florence growing 40+ vegetable varieties
00:00 – "Ultra bioattivo": small-scale, biology-driven farming without chemicals for 12+ years
00:00 – The composting process: a month of thermophilic heat, then months resting in a forest windrow
00:00 – Community impact: farmers market embraces, restaurant partners, and local goodwill
00:00 – The tradeoff of going chemical-free: less input cost, more labor, more loyal customers
06:03 – Clinical trials with the University of Florence show real gut microbiome improvements in customers
06:10 – 200 families and multiple acquired farms — scaling entirely through word of mouth
08:40 – Parallel water-saving trials with the University of Arizona using the same radicchio variety
09:15 – "We are not luddites" — using LoRa network sensors and real data alongside natural methods
09:46 – Biochar as a microbial "condominium" and its role in drainage and carbon
10:39 – Zeolite and Tuscany's volcanic soil — natural mineral amendments
11:24 – Water basins, mulch, and soil armor: preventing runoff and recharging the aquifer
11:57 – Italian cypress trees and their deep taproots that funnel water into the aquifer
14:52 – Korean natural farming philosophy: "no good, no bad — only what the soil needs"
15:31 – Worm composting and a liquid injector system for direct feeding
17:18 – Turning olive leaves into a micronized powder to feed the trees, mimicking a forest cycle
17:21 – The farmer's book and "five pillars" of the bioactive method
19:52 – Mike's own nonprofit: Urban Farming Education, the Harvesting Wisdom podcast, and an environmental film festival
20:00 – A shared mission: proving regenerative farming can work anywhere, and a possible documentary partnership

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In Part 2 of this conversation from France, Mike McMahon and his guest expand the discussion beyond wine to examine the broader relationship between food, agriculture, public health, and environmental stewardship.

They explore the impact of processed foods on human health, the cultural importance of slowing down to enjoy meals, and how healthy soils ultimately lead to healthier people. The conversation also dives into microplastics, water conservation, regenerative farming, sustainable land management, and the responsibility of protecting agricultural resources for future generations.

The discussion highlights how innovation, including drone technology and precision agriculture, can help vineyards reduce soil compaction and chemical use while improving sustainability. The episode concludes with reflections on climate change, family-owned vineyards, preserving agricultural knowledge, and why producing fewer—but better—products may be the future of both farming and winemaking.

Why Listen?

If you've ever wondered how agriculture affects nearly every aspect of our lives, this episode connects the dots. From the food we eat and the health of our bodies to water conservation, climate resilience, and the future of farming, this conversation offers practical insights rooted in generations of experience. Whether you're passionate about regenerative agriculture, wine, environmental sustainability, nutrition, or simply preserving the land for future generations, you'll come away with a deeper appreciation for the choices that shape our food system.

Highlight Timestamps

00:00 – Processed food vs. whole food and why nutrition begins with quality ingredients

02:00 – The importance of slowing down during meals and the connection between culture and health

04:20 – Scientific evidence supporting healthier eating habits

04:50 – Lobbying, plastics, and how economic interests influence agriculture

06:45 – Microplastics in our bodies and the future of food and water

08:05 – Why regenerative agriculture needs more attention beyond livestock farming

09:20 – Soil infiltration, flooding, and protecting healthy farmland

10:35 – Water depletion, sustainable land management, and long-term stewardship

12:00 – Why farmland is both private property and a public resource

13:20 – Agricultural knowledge, education, and protecting farming traditions

15:00 – Managing a historic family vineyard and preserving generations of expertise

17:50 – Five families, five centuries: the legacy of Château Climens

20:00 – Precision agriculture, drone technology, and the future of sustainable vineyards

22:15 – Pairing sweet Barsac wines with food and the importance of balance

24:50 – How wine regions evolve as consumers choose quality over quantity

27:30 – Biodynamic farming, climate change, and regenerative success stories

29:00 – Climate extremes and their impact on farmers around the world

30:40 – Why investing in better food today leads to healthier communities tomorrow

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What if you could grow fresh basil, tomatoes, and edible flowers right in a bottle — without soil, pumps, or electricity?

In this episode of the Harvesting Wisdom Podcast, Mike McMahon sits down with Christopher Brooks, founder and creator of Basil Bottle, to explore the power of passive hydroponics, food accessibility, and the healing connection between people and plants.

Christopher shares his powerful personal story of growing up in foster care and discovering gardening at 13 years old while in juvenile detention. A simple marigold seed became more than a plant — it became a moment of hope, confidence, and connection. Years later, that experience helped inspire his work in sustainability, food systems, and accessible growing solutions.

Together, Mike and Christopher discuss how Basil Bottle works, why passive hydroponics makes growing easier, how plants can thrive without soil, and why this simple system could be used in homes, classrooms, assisted living spaces, and communities with limited access to gardens.

In This Episode:
✅ Christopher’s personal story of discovering gardening as a foster youth
✅ How growing a plant helped build confidence and connection
✅ What passive hydroponics is and how it works
✅ Why plants can grow without soil, pumps, or electricity
✅ How Basil Bottle uses water, nutrients, roots, and air gaps
✅ Why overwatering and underwatering are common plant problems
✅ Growing basil, cherry tomatoes, and edible flowers indoors
✅ How hand-pollinating tomatoes works
✅ Why food accessibility matters in urban communities
✅ The educational and therapeutic potential of growing plants
✅ How Basil Bottle could support schools, seniors, and beginner growers

Why Listen

Listen if you are interested in simple ways to grow food at home, sustainability, hydroponics, school garden education, or the healing power of plants. Christopher’s story brings together personal resilience, food accessibility, and a creative growing system that makes gardening feel possible for anyone.

Whether you are a gardener, teacher, parent, sustainability advocate, or someone who has never grown food before, this conversation shows how a simple bottle can become a powerful tool for learning, healing, and reconnecting with where food comes from.

Subscribe to the Harvesting Wisdom Podcast for more conversations on sustainability, regenerative education, food systems, gardening, and the wisdom we can grow together.

00:00 Welcome to Harvesting Wisdom
01:00 Meet Christopher Brooks, founder of Basil Bottle
02:30 Growing up in foster care
04:30 The garden that changed Christopher’s life
07:00 Discovering the magic of planting a seed
09:30 From foster care advocacy to sustainability
12:00 The tomato that sparked a love for growing food
15:00 Food access, school meals, and nutrition
18:00 What is passive hydroponics?
21:00 Growing plants without soil
24:00 Adding biology into hydroponic systems
27:00 How Basil Bottle works
30:00 Roots, water levels, and air gaps
33:00 Growing basil, tomatoes, and edible flowers
35:00 How to hand-pollinate tomatoes indoors
38:00 Growing food in windowsills and small spaces
40:00 Basil Bottle in classrooms and senior living spaces
43:00 Future projects and closing thoughts

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What happens when kindergarten students get to grow, observe, harvest, and taste their own food?

In this episode of the Harvesting Wisdom Podcast, Mike McMahon sits down with Deb Martinez, an educator and clinical assistant professor at Arizona State University, to talk about the power of garden-based learning in early childhood education.

Deb shares how her lifelong connection to gardening, her years in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, and her work with future teachers helped shape her contribution to Urban Farming Education’s Wee Greens curriculum. Designed especially for young learners, Wee Greens uses microgreens, recycled containers, hands-on activities, art, science, literacy, math, and family engagement to make learning more meaningful.

The conversation explores why hands-on learning matters more than ever, how gardens can help students build curiosity and confidence, and how something as simple as planting microgreens can support critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and real-world learning.

In This Episode:
✅ How Deb’s childhood garden shaped her love for growing food
✅ Why kindergarten students need hands-on, play-based learning
✅ How microgreens make gardening simple for classrooms
✅ The connection between gardens, science, art, literacy, and math
✅ Why students become more engaged when learning moves outside the textbook
✅ How Wee Greens helps teachers bring garden-based lessons into the classroom
✅ The role of family harvest days and food conversations at home
✅ Why school gardens can support curiosity, confidence, and community
✅ How UFE is building scalable garden-based curriculum for schools

Why Listen
Listen if you care about education, school gardens, or helping kids learn through real-world experiences. This episode shows how something as simple as growing microgreens can help young students build curiosity, confidence, critical thinking, and a stronger connection to food, nature, and community.

Whether you are an educator, parent, school leader, gardener, or someone who cares about the future of learning, this conversation offers a beautiful look at how small seeds can grow into big lessons.

Subscribe to the Harvesting Wisdom Podcast for more conversations on education, sustainability, gardening, regenerative living, and the wisdom we can grow together.

00:00 Welcome to Harvesting Wisdom
01:00 Deb Martinez’s background in gardening and education
03:30 From preschool and kindergarten to ASU
06:00 How Wee Greens became part of UFE’s curriculum
08:30 Why hands-on science matters in classrooms
11:00 The challenge of keeping students engaged today
14:00 Using gardens to spark curiosity and focus
17:00 Critical thinking, collaboration, and communication
20:00 How microgreens work in kindergarten classrooms
23:00 Recycled K-cups, egg cartons, and simple growing systems
26:00 The eight-day microgreens curriculum
29:00 Harvest day and family engagement
32:00 Garden-based learning across grade levels
36:00 Building curriculum that can scale worldwide
40:00 Why kindergarten deserves its own garden curriculum
42:00 Final thoughts and closing

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In this episode of Harvesting Wisdom, Mike McMahon sits down for a thoughtful conversation in France to explore the deeper story behind wine — not just as a drink, but as a reflection of place, soil, culture, and memory.

Together, they discuss the importance of terroir, the character of Semillon grapes, the role of limestone soils, and how biodynamic and regenerative practices can support healthier vineyards and more expressive wines. The conversation also touches on climate change, farming challenges, wine as part of culture, and why the best wines are connected to the land and the people who care for it.

This episode is perfect for anyone interested in wine, sustainable agriculture, soil health, regenerative farming, food culture, or the relationship between people and place.

Why Listen

Listen to this episode if you want to understand how wine connects to much more than taste. This conversation explores how soil, climate, farming practices, and human decision-making all shape what ends up in the glass. It is a great episode for wine lovers, gardeners, farmers, environmental educators, and anyone curious about how caring for the land can create something beautiful, meaningful, and lasting.

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In this episode of Harvesting Wisdom, host Mike McMahon sits down with Kaitlin Noyes from the ASU Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences to explore what Bermuda’s ocean research can teach us about climate change, coral reefs, microplastics, microbes, and the future of our planet.

From the deep sea to coral reef ecosystems, this conversation connects the hidden life of the ocean with the systems we depend on every day: soil, food, agriculture, carbon, water, and education. Kaitlin shares how ASU BIOS uses long-term ocean observations, research vessels, underwater gliders, satellite data, and microbial studies to better understand how the ocean is changing over time.

This episode is perfect for anyone interested in ocean science, environmental education, climate solutions, coral resilience, microplastics, STEM learning, and the connection between healthy ecosystems on land and in the sea.

In this episode, we discuss:
Ocean microbes and the biological carbon pump
Why Bermuda is a unique place for ocean research
Coral bleaching and coral resilience
Microplastics in the deep ocean
How ocean science connects to agriculture and soil health
The role of technology, satellites, gliders, and robotics in climate research
Why long-term environmental data matters for the future

Subscribe to Harvesting Wisdom Podcast for conversations that explore sustainability, science, agriculture, education, and the wisdom we can learn from the natural world.

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What happens when someone sees possibility in a forgotten piece of land?

In this episode of the Harvesting Wisdom Podcast, Dr. Joe Roselle speaks with Novella Carpenter, urban farming pioneer and author of Farm City, about transforming an abandoned Oakland lot into a working urban farm and gathering place for the surrounding community.

Novella shares how growing food can create connection, preserve cultural knowledge, improve access to fresh produce, and help communities become more resilient. She also discusses food insecurity, industrial food systems, school gardens, soil biology, beekeeping, food sovereignty, and the importance of learning from the elders who already carry generations of agricultural knowledge.

The conversation also explores Urban Farming Education’s plans to activate communities throughout Phoenix through accessible gardening classes and hands-on, garden-based education for students.

In this episode:

• How Novella created an urban farm in Oakland
• Why community gardens are about more than food
• The connection between gardening and mental well-being
• How industrial food systems prioritize convenience
• What children should learn about seeds, soil, and nutrition
• Why culturally relevant foods and traditional knowledge matter
• Advice for building a community gardening movement in Phoenix

Learn more about Novella Carpenter and her book, Farm City.

Subscribe to Harvesting Wisdom for conversations about sustainability, education, food systems, community stewardship, and the people creating meaningful change.