Episode 120: Seaweed is a superfood from the sea! Terry d’Selkie of Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company tells us about the many benefits of seaweed. An algae, seaweed is high in vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and fiber. Terry introduces us to many different types of seaweed, including Kombu, Sweet Kombu, Ocean Ribbons, Sea Palm, Pacific Coast Wakame, Wild Nori, Fucus, and Turkish Towel. Terry tells us how to ethically harvest, dry, and cook with seaweed. Seaweed is also medicinal and can be used in compost tea and fertilizer. 

Many people are concerned about the safety of eating seaweed after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. All of the seaweed that Terry harvests is tested by an independent lab for radiation and so far has tested negative for radioactive isotopes.

To learn more about seaweed, visit Terry’s website: SeaweedMermaid.com. 

Episode 119: Eric Scott Bresselsmith is an herbalist, wildcrafter, and artisan distiller of essential oils. Owner of the House of Aromatics, Eric uses Conifers and Brushes native to the intermountain region of Southern Utah to create medicinal therapeutic grade oils. 

Believing that "the medicine you need is always just a few steps away," Eric creates oils from local ethically wildcrafted material and trees damaged by humans or weather.

In this episode, Eric talks about the medicinal and psychological effects of the essential oils of conifers and brushes, including Great Western Sage (Artemesia tridentata), Pinon Pine (Pinus edulis), Rabbit Brush (Ericameria nauseosa), Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma/utahensis), Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and Grindelia (Grindelia squarrosa). He also discusses Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), a great remedy for muscle trauma, which he thinks one day may be called "the Arnica of the desert."

To learn about these plants and many others, visit Eric's website: House of Aromatics.com.

Episode 118: Can plants learn? Do they have memory? Can they make decisions? In this episode, Monica Gagliano, Research Associate Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Western Australia, talks about her research with plants. Monica has pioneered the new field of plant bioacoustics and recently extended the concept of cognition to plants.

Monica talks about her research exploring whether plants can learn and if they have memory and decision-making capabilities. Monica also talks about plant time vs. human time, the chemical vocabulary of plants, and why she treated plants as animals and not as objects in her experiments. 

To learn more about Monica's work, click here. 

Episode 117: How can a cook stove change the world? Three billion people burn traditional biomass and coal indoors in cook stoves. These stoves are having a tremendous impact on our environment and on the health of those who use them. Some of the health problems associated with non-improved cook stoves include increased rates of asthma, indoor air pollution, (CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide), and respiratory infections. Cook stove use also contributes to climate change and deforestation. 

For over thirty years, the Aprovecho Research Center has been designing and implementing improved biomass cooking and heating technologies in more than sixty countries. Aprovecho is the world leader in open source development of all aspects of improved cooking stoves.

In this episode, Dean Still, Aprovecho's Executive Director, talks about the benefits of improved stoves, Stove Camp, and why it's important to "find a problem that entrances you". 

Episode 116: My guest for this episode is Josh Trought, author of The Community-Scale Permaculture Farm: The D Acres Model of Creating and Managing an Ecologically Designed Education Center.

Josh Trought is the co-founder and current director of D Acres, a Community-Scale Permaculture Farm located in New Hampshire. D Acres is a hub of learning, an educational center that researches, applies, and teaches skills in Permaculture, organic farming, and sustainable living. (D Acres stands for “Development Aimed at Creating Rural Ecological Society.”)

In this interview Josh talks about the beginning days at D Acres, the challenges and rewards of living in community, working with animals on the land, and his goal of creating a perennialized farm that lasts for centuries. Josh also gives advice to those who want to start a farm or educational center. 

For over twenty years, Josh and the D Acres staff and farm have been creating positive change on a community-scale. To learn more, visit DAcres.org.

In this episode, we talk about the weeds that surround us with forager, chef, writer, and plant lover Katrina Blair. Author of the book The Wild Wisdom of Weeds, 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival Katrina talks about the wild integrity of weeds, their medicinal and nutritional value, and how to harvest and prepare them. Katrina shares recipes for their cosmetic and culinary use. Some of the plants that we cover include Mallow, Dandelion, Mustard, Clover, Purslane, and Thistle. 

Katrina Blair also runs the nonprofit Turtle Lake Refuge whose mission is to celebrate the connection between personal health and wild lands. 

Episode 113: Melanie and Jeff Carpenter are medicinal herb farmers. The co-owners of Zack Woods Farm, a 30 acre organic farm and botanical sanctuary located in the green mountains of Vermont, Jeff and Melanie grow over 50 species of medicinal plants.

In this episode, they share their passion and knowledge about herb growing, how they use Permaculture on the farm, and how they grow healthy plants with high bioactive compounds. The Carpenters talk about the increasing need for medicinal herb farmers and the burgeoning market for medicinal plants. Growing local medicine for your community can be rewarding and profitable. It can also protect wild herb populations.

The authors of the new book The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs, on a Market Scale, Jeff and Melanie can be found at ZackWoodsHerbs.com.

Have you ever wanted to grow your own grains? In this episode, farmer and author Gene Logsdon tells you what you need to know about small-scale grain growing. Gene talks about the most resilient crop for beginning grain growers and shares his knowledge about corn, wheat, sorghum, and buckwheat. A longtime farmer, Gene explains why you want to alternate growing legumes with grains, how much space is necessary, the tools you need to get started, and planting and harvesting.

Gene also shares his wisdom and humor about how to create fertile soil, why he thinks doing what you love is more important than making a million bucks, and how he realized that he wanted to be a farmer while living at a seminary. 

Gene Logsdon is the author of numerous books including Living At Nature's Pace, All Flesh Is Grass, Holy Sh**, and The Contrary Farmer. To learn more about Gene and his work, visit his blog at The Contrary Farmer.wordpress.com.

Can taking a slow walk in nature improve your health? How can you cultivate a better relationship to the natural world? If forests are therapeutic, what effect does deforestation have on us?

In this episode, I talk with wilderness guide and educator Amos Clifford about Forest Therapy or Shinrin-yoku. Also known as Forest Medicine or Forest Bathing, Shinrin-yoku is beneficial for your health and has been shown to increase white blood cell counts, decrease stress hormones, lower blood pressure, and improve people's moods.

No forest nearby? Amos also talks about how to connect with Nature no matter where you are and shares tips and techniques for slowing down and improving your relationship with the natural world. 

Learn more about Amos and his work at his website: Shinrin-yoku.org

My guest for this episode is Zea mays, also known as Corn. In this exclusive interview Corn speaks about its long history, its beginning as a wild grass, and how humans and corn have influenced each other. Corn also talks about hybridization, propagation, and genetic modification.

The interview includes a cameo appearance by Bt Corn, Zea Mays' genetically modified brother.  Bt who goes by the nickname StarLink (which was a GM product that was recalled) defends genetic modification and gives its side of the story. 

Both Corn and Bt were voiced by Chris McClellan. Chris is a writer, photographer, and natural builder who is raising free range organic children in Northeast Ohio. Chris teachers natural building and sustainable living, mostly as an excuse to play in the mud! To learn more about Chris, visit his website www.UncleMud.com.