Episode 150: Join us for a mind and heart expanding conversation with Dr. Monica Gagliano about her research in plant cognition and her direct experiences with the botanical world. A pioneer in the field of Plant BioAcoustics, Monica's peer-reviewed work has furthered the concept of plant sentience. Monica's experiences with plants have altered her life, her research, and are the subject of her new book, Thus Spoke the Plant.

In this interview, Monica talks about her experiments with plants- including her groundbreaking studies with Peas, which provided evidence that plants, at least Peas, are capable of associative learning. Monica tells us about the invitation that she received from the Vegetal World to delve more deeply into direct contact with plants and how her decision to say yes to that invitation changed her life. Monica also explains how listening is a key to establishing a relationship with plants and what listeners can do to connect with the plants in their lives.

To hear more about Monica's earlier scientific research, listen to our first podcast together: Learning, Memory, and Decision Making in Plants.

To get her new book, Thus Spoke the Plant,visit: NorthAtlanticBooks.com/shop/thus-spoke-the-plant/

Dr. Monica Gagliano's research aims at expanding our perception of animals, plants, and Nature. She is a Research Associate Professor in Evolutionary Ecology and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Research Affiliate at the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney and a Senior Research Fellow at the Biological Intelligence (BI) Lab, University of Sydney. 

Monica's website is: MonicaGagliano.com

Episode 149: Incredible Edible is an urban gardening project in Todmorden, England. Started in 2008, as a conversation between friends and envisioned as a revolution of kindness, Incredible Edible has transformed the market town of Todmorden into an edible oasis.

In this interview, Incredible Edible's co-founder Mary Clear tells the story of how she and her friends turned their worry and fear into action by planting food in public places; potatoes and kale at the Railway Station, runner beans in front of the Health Centre, and corn outside the police department.

Mary tells us about the project's economic impact, vegetable tourism, and the power that comes when you have no money, no paid staff, no buildings, and no public funding. With a motto of, "If you eat, you’re in," Incredible Edible turns neglected, unloved places into beautiful food-giving gardens, complete with signs that say  "Help Yourself!"

Over 1,000 Incredible Edible projects have blossomed around the world. Learn how you can start your own Incredible Edibleproject in this inspiring and uplifting interview with Mary Clear.

Learn more at their website: Incredible-Edible-Todmorden.co.uk/Home.

Episode 148: Sanandi Farm is a 33 hectare organic, biodynamic, Permaculture farm located near Valle de Bravo, Mexico. In 1998, two brothers, Dieter and Andreas le Noir, purchased the land and then began the work of regenerating and restoring the health of the soil. Using Permaculture principles and Biodynamic Farming techniques, Sanandi is now a beautiful, verdant oasis that is Demeter certified with a thriving medicinal herb pharmacy and line of herbal remedies. 

In this interview, Sanandi's Communications Director Yolanda Suarez del Real shares with us the story of Sanandi and some of the ways that the team there has revitalized the land. Yolanda talks about their Wormery, Sanandi's rescue efforts for endangered bees, the importance of biodiversity, and why she believes that agriculture holds a key to human health. Yolanda tells us about some of the plants that are grown on Sanandi, including Mexican Giant Hyssop (Agastache mexicana), Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla), and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). 

Yolanda also talks about the Valle La Paz Foundation, Sanandi's non-profit organization. The Foundation works with local children, providing free healthy breakfasts and sponsoring a choir, operates a rural health clinic, and promotes biodynamic organic agriculture with local farmers. To see a beautiful video of the local children in the choir sponsored by the Foundation, click here. 

Show Notes: Yolanda mentions the Economy for the Common Good. 

For information on upcoming Sanandi Webinars, click here. 

Episode 147: How can we mend our broken relationship with the Earth and create a world where people and land are good medicine for each other?

In this interview, plant ecologist, author, and professor Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about what she has learned from plants, plant intelligence, and how the simple and profound act of paying attention to the living world can change our lives.

Robin speaks about how human exceptionalism finds its place in language, the grammar of animacy, and the importance of recognizing the personhood of all beings.

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is the founding Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment and the author of the books Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. 

Episode 146: Learn about the field of arboreal archaeology and why historic fruit trees are important in this interview with John Valenzuela. John is a Permaculture Teacher, Designer, and Horticulturist who specializes in tropical permaculture, rare fruit, and ethnobotany. 

In this episode, John talks about the benefits and resilience of trees, fruit history, what to look for in choosing fruit trees for your climate, and what plants he would take to a deserted island. The plants that we discuss include: Carob, Zizyphus, Opuntia, Mesquite, Mahonia, Yacon, many varieties of Apples, Mulberries, Paw Paws, Indian Peaches, Raisin tree, Coconut, Papaya, Banana, Mango, and Cashew. 

John lives and grows in Marin County California, where he is diversifying a food forest garden with over 150 varieties of fruit on multi-grafted trees. You can learn more and reach him at his website.

Episode 145: Have you heard about Paw Paws, North America's largest indigenous edible fruit? Native to 26 states in the US, Paw Paws are immortalized in songs, poems, and place names throughout the country. Paw Paw fruit can weigh up to two pounds each and have a delicious and unusual tropical flavor, reminiscent of a mango, banana, pineapple, and cherimoya blend.

In this fun and informative interview with Edible Landscape and Permaculture Designer Michael Judd, we learn how to propagate, grow, harvest, and prepare Paw Paws, from seed to table.

Found in the woods as an understory plant, Paw Paw trees also thrive in sunny locations and can be integrated into food forest systems and backyard gardens.

Once you try one, you may be hooked! Paw Paws fans and followers quickly become fanatics. A tree elder with a long history, Paw Paws hold a "deep woodland magic" and are ready and waiting to take their place, as an "edible landscaping all-star."

To learn more about Michael Judd and his work, visit his website EcologiaDesign.com. Michael is writing a new book about Paw Paws called For the Love Of Paw Paws. To become a supporter, visit his Kickstarter campaign.

Click here to listen to Michael on other episodes of Sustainable World Radio and The Plant Report.

Episode 144: Do you live in a city and want to grow your own herbal medicine? In this episode, urban farmer and community herbalist Bonnie Rose Weaver shares the joys of growing medicinal plants in an urban environment.

In 2014, Bonnie launched the seed to bottle apothecary 1849 Medicine Garden, a project that taught urbanites about the benefits of locally grown plant medicine. 1849 included an herbal CSA- or community supported agriculture program where members receive herbal tinctures created from herbs grown in their area. Bonnie grew her herbs on a 1/16 of an acre in San Francisco, CA.

Bonnie believes that medicine is all around us, even in the heart of the city and that taking herbs grown locally can be potent medicine. In this interview she talks about how she propagates herbs (sowing seeds in flats - not cells), why it's important to reproduce a wild quality in your plants, and how plants grown in your neighborhood or bioregion face many of the same stressors that you do, making them effective medicine. Bonnie also talks in detail about some of her favorite herbs including Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), Grindelia (Grindelia robusta), Milky Oats (Avena sativa), and Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).

Bonnie is the author of the book, Deeply Rooted: Medicinal Plant Cultivation in Techtropolis. Find her online at: 1849MedicineGarden.com.

Episode 143: How would Nature farm? Can degraded, infertile land be regenerated? Can agriculture become a healing beneficial system that mitigates climate change?

To answer these questions, I speak with farmer Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farm located in Swoope, Virginia. When the Salatins moved to the farm in 1961, there wasn't enough soil on the land to hold up a fence post. Over fifty years later, Polyface is an oasis of organic matter and one of the most fertile farms in the US.

How did Joel and his family achieve this remarkable transformation? It began when Joel's father William, who out of necessity and with very little money, bucked conventional practices and began to observe how Nature farms. Implementing what they saw in natural systems, the Salatin family began their great task of restoring life and fertility to the land.

In this inspiring and uplifting interview, Joel shares the joy of being a visceral participant in healing land, why he believes that good farming should increase the commons, and how we can become beneficial participants in legacy ecology. 

Joel talks about the importance of including animals in agriculture, his "Moving, Mobbing, and Mowing Ministry," how to use herbivores as pruners, and what we can do now to heal the earth. 

To learn more about Joel Salatin and Polyface Farm, visit their website at PolyfaceFarms.com.

Episode 142: Have you ever thought of going to the International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC)? Held every two years, switching between continents at different locations, the IPC is a gathering of Permaculture designers, teachers, and enthusiasts. This year, the IPC is held in India, which is celebrating 30 years of permaculture!

To learn more I spoke with Margie Bushman & Wes Roe of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network. In this interview, Margie and Wes discuss Permaculture, their involvement with the IPC, and the next one taking place in Hyderabad India, in November and December of 2017. Hosted by Aranya Agricultural Alternatives NGO, the IPC 2017 will be a unique and possibly transforming experience. The whole Aranya organization, including community members, farmers from nearby villages, a dynamic group of international volunteers, and especially the community's women and children are all joyfully preparing to welcome the world to the IPC conference & convergence.

Margie & Wes are founding members of the Friends of the International Permaculture Convergences (FIPC) that works to insure there is a diversity of participants at each IPC by providing scholarships for delegates from around the world. Diversity is key here. Delegates come from a wide variety of regions and contribute toward a diversity of ideas and solutions arrived at each IPC. IPC's reach into every corner of the world, local to global, to bring forth and share these ideas. Past host sites have been in Australia, USA, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Nepal, Croatia, Brazil, Malawi, Jordan, Cuba, United Kingdom, and India in 2017, followed by Argentina in 2020. This year for the first time FIPC launched an ambitious worldwide crowdfund, so all in the global Permaculture community could easily contribute using the powerful energy of money to help shape a better world.

We are a global society, and more than any other time in history, in order to be resilient, we need a diversity of ideas from all regions and cultures to survive. For more than forty years Permaculture has been leading the way with innovative, planet and climate friendly design strategies, that are just now being fully recognized by the rest of the world as the answer to some of our most pressing challenges. 

Margie Bushman and Wes Roe are the co-founders of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, an educational non-profit founded in 2000 that has sponsored hundreds of workshops and events about Permaculture and sustainability. Margie was the Program Coordinator for the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) Center for Sustainability from 2009-2013, where she developed a Cities as the Solution series and an Eco-Entrepreneurship pilot program. Together Margie and Wes teach the Invisible Structures component of the Permaculture Design Course, a credited class, that they are proud to have helped initiate at SBCC. Wes served as a board member of the Permaculture Credit Union for nine years, later as Board President. Margie and Wes have been volunteer coordinators for the IPC Support Group since its inception in 2005.

For more information on IPC2017, visit the IPC India website at : http://ipcindia2017.org/

Visit the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network/IPC page for the FIPC and crowdfund information: http://www.sbpermaculture.org/ipc.html

Episode 141: Larry Kandarian is an organic farmer and ancient grain advocate. In this episode, Larry takes us on a whirlwind tour of Kandarian Organic Farms where he grows over 200 varieties of plants. As you'll hear in the interview, Larry is a man with a mission- growing the most ancient and nutrient-dense grains he can find and providing the world with alternatives to modern wheat.

I first became aware of Larry and his work when I saw an ad for a talk he was giving at our local seed swap entitled, "Ancient Guy Talks About Old Grains." When I read that, I knew I wanted to interview him!

Larry Kandarian has been farming for over 25 years. A former mechanical engineer, who worked on the Space Shuttle, Larry is now committed to growing ancient grains in the most ecological way possible.

Margie Bushman of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and I spent a few hours with Larry last Fall. We talked with him about many plants including: Ethiopian Blue Tinge Farro, Terrestrial Rice, Einkorn, Fonio (also known as Grain of the Universe), Khorasan, Nude Oats, Quinoa, Sonoran Wheat, Tibetan Black Barley, Purple Corn, Kaniwa, Sorghum... the list goes on. Walking around Kandarian Farms is like being at Costco on a Saturday afternoon, there are lots of samples. It was a fun, delicious, and inspiring tour.

We also talked with Larry about gluten and why he believes that some of his crops may provide a delicious and nutritious alternative to modern wheat for those with gluten-sensitivity.

Note: Since this was recorded outside, you may hear wind and farm machinery during parts of this interview.

Learn more about Larry Kandarian and his amazing grains at KandarianOrganicFarms.com.