Soul Soil: Where Agriculture and Spirit Intersect with Brooke Kornegay

In today's episode, we talk to Coordinator Stephanie Morningstar and John Deloatch (JD) Giraldo of the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust. Their vision is to advance land sovereignty in the northeast region through permanent and secure land tenure for Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Asian farmers and land stewards who will use the land in a sacred manner that honors our ancestors dreams - for sustainable farming, human habitat, ceremony, native ecosystem restoration, and cultural preservation.

Stephanie Morningstar, of the Oneida Nation, is an herbalist, soil and seed steward, scholar, student, and Earth Worker dedicated to decolonizing and liberating minds, hearts, and land- one plant, person, ecosystem, and non-human being at a time. Stephanie is the Coordinator of the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, grows medicines and food for her community at Sky World Apothecary & Farm; and mobilizes knowledge for Indigenous-led climate change and food sovereignty research projects for Global Water Futures.

John Deloatch Giraldo is an Earthworker that focuses on connection to the land, healing with the land and education of how natural systems work. He is guided by Freedom Loving Plants, also known as weeds, and the stories of ancestral plants. His dream is to have green spaces where people can pass on family and cultural traditions as well as create new experiences. He believes it's critical to have spaces where people can pass on their stories and ways of being in respect to Mother Nature, especially for people who are migrating from different Mother Lands to those who are being raised here so they can maintain a sense of culture, tradition and sovereignty.

Resources

• https://nefoclandtrust.org/

• Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

• Lilith's Brood: The Complete Xenogenesis Trilogy and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

• Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

• The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs on a Market Scale by Jeff and Melanie Carpenter

To learn more about the Grow and Glow package mentioned in today's episode, visit https://www.soulsoilpodcast.com/offerings/grow-and-glow-package

To learn how to become a Patreon and support the show while getting extra resources and support, visit https://www.patreon.com/soulsoil

Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm is a woman-owned, 16-acre, off-grid educational regenerative agriculture farmstead nestled in the mountains of Appalachia. Since 2004, they have welcomed more than 2500 volunteers, held workshop gatherings, provided respite to activists, held healing space for their beloveds, and organized countless parties for work, teaching, learning and leisure. They have opened their land to hundreds of "strangers" (who they now know and love and honor as their community farm family) who each have helped create this dreamstead space to share. Each season they move closer toward self-reliance and resilience. Elizabeth West and Lisa Redman are activists, homesteaders, permaculturalists, educators and Earth lovers who weave their experience with the opportunities of the present to create an abundant, inclusive alternative to the status quo.

Woodland Harvest isn't just a place, it's a state of mind…a place to drop out and tune in!

In this episode…

• About Woodland Harvest
• The impact of off-grid immersion on visitors
• Defining resilience
• Balancing the intellectual with walking the walk
• Early influences
• Nonviolent activism
• Diving into folk medicine
• Planning for relocalization of resources
• Raising children in a new way
• The importance of fun 😊

• The Empowerment Manual and The Earth Path by Starhawk

• Shelter, Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, and The Half-Acre Homestead: 46 Years of Building and Gardening by Lloyd Kahn

• Barbara Kingsolver

• Toni Morrison

• Alice Walker

• Octavia Butler

• Howard Zinn

• Noam Chomsky

Nature is inherently abundant. No one has to spray the forests or plant the wetlands in order for them to thrive in perfect balance. As such, food gathered from the wild has the highest potential to nourish us on a deep level. When we realize that we have access to this bounty without having to intervene and sweat and toil (the original definition of agriculture!)…when we truly know this, then we can begin to release our scarcity mentality, relax our grip, our need to control. This shift is particularly liberating.

Katrina Blair began studying wild plants in her teens when she camped out alone for a summer to embrace a wild foods diet. She later wrote "The Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants of the San Juan Mountains" for her senior project at Colorado College. She completed a MA at John F Kennedy University in Holistic Health Education. She founded Turtle Lake Refuge in 1998, a non-profit, whose mission is to celebrate the connection between personal health and wild lands.

Turtle Lake Refuge includes a wild living foods café, sustainable education center and community farm. Katrina teaches permaculture and wild edible and medicinal classes locally and globally.

She is author of several books including: "Local Wild Life- Turtle Lake Refuge's Recipes for Living Deep" and " The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival.

In this episode…

• Early influences and experiences with plants
• On beginning a conservation-focused nonprofit that manages parks and open spaces organically
• How plants can teach us from the inside out
• The life-changing impact of cultivating space — in your day, in your diet, in your mind
• How wild foods affect your mind, body, and spirit
• When we realize that we're part of Nature, and Nature is inherently abundant…something shifts inside us and we can release our scarcity story

Resources

• Turtle Lake Refuge
• The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival by Katrina Blair
• The Essene Gospel of Peace
• The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program by Ann Wigmore

How the world would be different if politics were rooted in radical love? This is the question being asked by Heather Mizeur, CEO + Founder of Soul Force Politics, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the cultivation, empowerment, and alignment of inner wisdom and external engagement as a catalyst for individual and community transformation. Mizeur teaches heart-centered mindfulness and resilient leadership to strengthen democracy and soften political divides.

After a successful career as a health care policy analyst in Congress, a Maryland State Manager of a U.S. Presidential campaign, and a stint on her local City Council, Mizeur was elected to serve two four-year terms as a Democratic member of the House of Delegates in the Maryland General Assembly (2007-2015). She was also a Democratic candidate for Governor of Maryland in 2014 and became one of the state's most recognized voices promoting progressive change. She lives with her wife, Deborah Mizeur, on a 34-acre organic herbal medicine farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

How would the environment be different if we radically loved our planet? How would we be different if we knew that the planet radically loves us?

In this episode…

• Heather's path as a social justice advocate in politics, and how all the external engagement led to a desire to dive into internal work
• There's so much power in the Pause that allows heart-based inner wisdom to emerge
• The choice to love each other even when it's hard or when our opinions differ…the choice to embrace the Unity Consciousness that we are all One
• Becoming comfortable with stillness in a world rife with distraction and numbing vices, in bringing forth healing and heart-wisdom
• Going against the flow of Western culture where emptiness, need, lack, and scarcity fuel our economy, and instead, opting to find the wholeness inside us
• How caring enough to unveil our own best self first, leads to a vibrational connection to others doing similar work…leading to opportunities to collaborate and impact our world and remake it through the lens of love
• Sitting with WHAT IS, observing what circumstances come our way, instead of getting swept up in the emotions those circumstances generate
• How our connection with Mother Earth reflects our relationship to ourselves

Resources https://www.soulforcepolitics.org

If there were one enterprise that addresses environmental degradation, chronic illness, depression, and poverty, would you be willing to learn about it? Today, we speak to someone who seems to have hit the jackpot…he and his family have developed a highly productive, dense nutrient-producing farming style that feeds people like medicine. They have reached a point with their fields where weeds, pests, and disease issues are all but null, and the life and vitality that reaches well beyond their farm is rewarded with a community that supports and celebrates their efforts. Bryan O'Hara has been growing vegetables for a livelihood since 1990 at Tobacco Road Farm in Lebanon, Connecticut. He works with natural systems to build complex and balanced soil life, resulting in a highly productive, vibrant growing system. Bryan was named Northeast Organic Farming Association's Farmer of the Year in 2016, and is the author of No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture.

It's easy to fall into the mentality that humans are bad for the Earth…but the Earth is actually overjoyed to have humans work with her, and are in fact the Earth's best allies in bringing about health, vitality and increase of life and abundance for not only ourselves, but all of nature around us.

In this episode…

• How declining environmental conditions caused Bryan to explore the way he raised his vegetables
• How he transitioned to a no-till growing system
• Weeds, insects and disease show the farmer what kind of imbalance exists in the environment; when plants are a state of health and vitality, insects and diseases do not attack those plants
• We are currently experiencing a global pandemic that we can view as an indicator that our planetary environment is likewise imbalanced
• If a crop is experiencing lack of fertility or vitality, it will experience pest and disease pressure. Typically, a pesticide is applied to protect that crop, but if that plant lacked the vitality to survive, it will not confer vitality to the animal (or human) that consumes that crop.
• …conversely, a crop that is full of vitality that doesn't attract insects and diseases, has the vital compounds that readily transfer to the consumer and produces higher-functioning humans or animals.
• Many of Bryan's customers have been with him for 3 decades…over that time, the impacts of consuming highly vital, nutrient dense food have had profound effects on their health, vitality, and even their medical conditions.
• How operating within the community with the goal of "love for the other" creates a culture of cooperation, goodwill, and success
• Growing 4 acres' worth of produce in one acre…the efficiencies of crop intensification
• Layering composting materials with living plant cover and other no-till techniques
• How to identify nutrient-dense food without equipment Some think that humans are fundamentally bad for the Earth…but working this way with natural forces, creating this kind of vibrancy, gives human life tremendous meaning…once you see the potential, the heights of health and vitality and increase of life and abundance for not only you, but all of nature around you. The Earth is actually overjoyed to have humans work with her, and are in fact the Earth's best allies in bringing out more vibrancy and life.

Resources No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture by Bryan O'Hara

What motivates the biodynamic farmer? What perceptions do they hold that are a little bit different than those in the mainstream? So many of us yearn for connection—with Nature, with the Divine, with each other. When you can view each living thing as an expression of its Divine nature, our connections have a different meaning.

M Mueller is the Biodynamic specialist on Against the Grain Farm in Zionville, NC. He has held positions most recently in Williamsburg, VA, as Gardener in Residence for Grove Community Garden and as orchard keeper and part time milker on Gospel Spreading Church Farm, operated by descendants of M. O. Smith and supported by the Church of God at Williamsburg. M began using Biodynamic principles in his gardening in 2011 and has been a member of the Biodynamic Association since 2012. He is an approved mentor of the Spikenard Beekeeping Method.

"Whatever we do, if we do it with love, we are being fully human".

In this episode…

• Soil: the earth's magical skin!
• The on-farm community
• Spikenard Beekeeping: a bee-centered method
• The easiest access to the spiritual world might be through the growing of plants
• Seeing the eternal nature manifested in each living thing
• The nature of biodynamics as a technology that puts living elements together to strengthen the whole
• Biodynamic observations and resources

Resources

• Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up by Daphne Miller

• Biodynamic Association

• Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics

• Agriculture: Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture by Rudolf Steiner; notes by Malcolm Gardner

• The Philosophy Of Freedom by Rudolf Steiner

• Theosophy : An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos by Rudolf Steiner

• Pablo Neruda

Just as pests don't attack healthy crops, disease doesn't take hold in a human body that is nutritionally balanced. With one foot in the world of agriculture and the other in medicine, Dr. Arden Andersen is in a unique position to observe the connections between soil health, food nutrient density, and human health.

Dr. Andersen is a holistic family and occupational medicine physician in Gladstone, MO. Dr. Andersen possesses a unique understanding of the link between soil/ crop health and human health. He works both as an integrative family doctor and a soil and crop consultant with clients and speaking engagements across the US, 8 countries and two languages. Dr. Andersen has authored several books including Real Medicine-Real Health, Science In Agriculture, The Anatomy of Life and Energy In Agriculture, and Food Plague. He lectures around the world on the link between soil and human health, on public health issues and real preventive medicine. He has firm grasp of the underlying causes of illness and disease, environmental health and the contribution to human and animal illness and disease, the link between soil/human health and climatic issues, pandemics and the underlying solutions needed to return harmony and health to all living systems.

This is a wonderful time to be alive…the equipment, products, and people that we have now that we didn't have, even 30 years ago…we CAN have better quality food, and we do have the capability to completely reverse the problems on the planet today.

In this episode… Dr. Andersen's background and early influences connecting nutrition with health, from the soil to the doctor's office Nutrition in food is influenced not only by the condition of the soil, but also by the presence of toxins which interfere with our nutrition With a higher nutritional balance of soil (and resulting food), the amount of environmental toxins present in the plants grown in those conditions decreases Municipalities sell their "biosolids" to farmers, who are attracted by the cheap NPK source, and end up poisoning their farms and soils with pathogens, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, degrading the soil further Electromagnetic qualities of plants and how that affects their nutrient uptake If we can maintain an appropriate nutrient balance in the soil, paramagnetism helps to stimulate biological activity—beneficial bacteria and fungi—root growth, and overall health and vigor Ancient paramagnetic limestone towers of Ireland Sometimes the biggest issue isn't on the farm, it's between the ears How to determine the nutrient density of produce The only reason we have weeds, diseases, and insect problems is nutrient imbalance; likewise, the only reason humans have disease is lack of nutritional balance

Resources

• Science for Sale: How the US Government Uses Powerful Corporations and Leading Universities to Support Government Policies, Silence Top Scientists, Jeopardize Our Health, and Protect Corporate Profits by David Lewis, Ph.D

• John Kempf's regenerative agriculture workshops and courses: https://johnkempf.com/

• Healthy Crops: A New Agricultural Revolution by Francis Chaboussou

• Tuning Into Nature by Philip Callahan

• Food Plague: Could our daily bread be our most life threatening exposure? by Arden Andersen, Ph.D

• Real Medicine Real Health by Arden Andersen, Ph.D

• Science in Agriculture: Advanced Methods for Sustainable Farming by Arden Andersen, Ph.D

• Anatomy of Life & Energy in Agriculture by Arden Andersen, Ph.D

• Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease by Don Huber et. al.

• Rudolf Steiner

We are living through a time when the entire world is taking a good, hard look at itself. This has given humanity an incredible opportunity to shift focus and choose systems that feed life, that create biological resources, rather than only financial resources. We have a chance to turn away from systems that marginalize, extract, and degrade…and choose what we want to cultivate for ourselves and for future generations.

Trained as a cultural anthropologist and skilled in four languages, Juliana Birnbaum has lived and worked in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Nepal, Costa Rica and Brazil. She is the co-author of Sustainable [R]evolution: Permaculture in Ecovillages, Urban Farms and Communities Worldwide and CBD: A Patient's Guide to Medicinal Cannabis. She is also the mother of two daughters and has attended over 100 births as a doula and assistant midwife. Juliana currently coordinates the Volunteer and Faculty departments at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA.

In this episode… Juliana's fascinating background Far-reaching effects of consumerism Seeing life through the lens of permaculture What a sustainable city looks like How the Coronavirus pandemic is revealing the flaws in our societal structures The cost of industrial agriculture Relocalization of food Relocalization of energy Co-housing and ecovillage communities Impact of our diet choices Force and violence against Life that is inherent in our modern societal structures De-commodifying humans' basic needs The need to develop communication skills that support the sustainable community

Resources

• Sustainable [R}evolution: Permaculture in Ecovillages, Urban Farms and Communities Worldwide

• CBD: A Patient's Guide to Medicinal Cannabis

• Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken

• Mary Oliver

• www.cultureofpermaculture.org

The Coronavirus pandemic is catalyzing many things…and forcing us to take a good look at the systems we depend on. During this period of isolation, we have the opportunity to disconnect from large systems that do harm, and redesign our lives with the help of systems aligned with life and love. Do our communities have enough resources to support everyone to live their lives with dignity and allow for the spirit that lives within them to emerge and benefit the rest of the community? This situation can be viewed through a lens of fear, or it can be an opportunity to tune into our higher spirit and connect with the vibration of our creation song,

Sherri Mitchell, Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset (meaning "she who brings the light"), is an Indigenous rights activist, spiritual teacher, and transformational change maker. Sherri was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation (Penawahpskek). She speaks and teaches around the world on issues of Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and spiritual change. Sherri has been actively involved with Indigenous rights and environmental justice work for more than 25 years, and she is the Founding Director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the global protection of Indigenous land and water rights and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life.

The key to being able to adapt, overcome and integrate the lessons of the day is to be able to approach everything we're facing from a perspective of love. We have the chance to make an evolutionary leap of consciousness and come through this to the other side as better representations of our humanity.

In this episode…

• How an illness contracted in Guatemala led to a spiritual awakening that set the course for her spiritual work
• The opportunity that this period of isolation is affording humankind at this time in history
• The connection between the physical and emotional experience of Mother Earth to what humans are currently experiencing
• The Wabanaki web of life creation story and how the fact that we are all made of the same matter parallels the phenomenon of quantum entanglement
• The Wabanaki story of the first illness and how it foreshadows current global events
• Getting our human minds out of the way so that we can hear the messages coming from plants and animals—guidance from the starlings
• Actions communities need to take in order to be resilient in the face of system collapse
• What's being exposed to us at this time
• How we can bring the benefits of this time—the introspection, time with family, examination of community and cultural systems—into the future with us?
• Aligning the three fires, the vibrational frequencies of the minds of the brain, heart, and gut—is when we're able to open up to the collective unconsciousness, to ancestral memory
• We are all constantly creating, we just aren't conscious of what it is that we've created…we are now being asked to take responsibility for what humans have collectively created and to clean it up the mess
• Tools for embodiment and grounding
• We are here at this time, in these bodies, for a specific purpose…tune into your body and spirit daily and connect with the vibration of your own creation song

• The Dandelion Insurrection: - love and revolution by Rivera Sun

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• My Beloved Kin by Lisa Brooks

• Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change by Sherri Mitchell

• Sherri's website: sacredinstructions.life

• facebook.com/sacredinstructions

• IG: @sacredinstructions

• Twitter: @sacred411

Today Brooke speaks to the listeners directly about things that have helped ease her transition to the new circumstances in which the global population finds itself...

Resources

"Blessing for Earth-Healers" from The Earth Path: Grounding your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature by Starhawk

How to Grow Vibrant Food and Connect to your Land webinar series