full shownotes and maps to reference in this episode: groundshots.substack.com

Episode #84 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Jeff Wagner out of Paonia, Colorado, director of Groundwork, a regional nonprofit educating about food systems in a changing world and more.

Sign up for my August 2-8 high country field ecology and ethnobotany course in Western Colorado on the Grand Mesa

Groundwork is a place-based education program working to deepen our society’s relationships with land, food, and water and to cultivate generative and regenerative ways of living and relating. Our mission is to inspire the cultural shifts needed for a sustainable future.

Rising to meet the challenges posed by climate change, ecological decline, and environmental injustice requires more than new technologies and policies. At Groundwork, we believe it also requires profound shifts in the ways we relate to one another and to the world around us. Groundwork offers educational programs and publications that seek to shift the foundations of the ways we understand ourselves and our place in the world, in order to work towards more just and sustainable shared futures.

A culture, like our planet, is a living ecosystem, constantly shifting and changing based on the values, attitudes, and practices cultivated within a particular community. Groundwork creates spaces to critically reflect upon, challenge, experiment with, and create anew those building blocks of culture. Our offerings create opportunities for the emergence of new kinds of relationships and ways of being within the human and more-than-human world.

We believe that reimagined relationships and practices—in essence, emergent cultures—are the foundations of systemic change.

Colorado Public Radio ‘Parched’ Series

‘Chasing Water’ movie

Johnathan Thompson’s Landdesk publication on Substack regularly writes on current issues of the Colorado River

Cadillac Desert The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner

Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River by David Owen

Thinking Like a Watershed: Voices from the West by Jack Loeffler and Celestia Loeffler

Glen Canyon Institute

Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives about a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies by John McPhee

The Unlikely Peace at Cuchumaquic: The Parallel Lives of People as Plants: Keeping the Seeds Alive by Martin Prechtel

The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Water Education Colorado

‘The uncompromising environmentalist behind the Sierra Club’ by Joshua Zaffos High County News article about David Brower

‘Western States Opposed TribesAccess to the Colorado River 70 Years Ago’. History Is Repeating Itself.’ article by Mark Olalde, ProPublica, and Anna V. Smith, High Country News

Colorado River Compact

Elsewhere Studios

 

for full shownotes to this episode, go to our website post here

or our substack post here

Episode #83 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Callie Russell, an interview recorded in the field on a goat walk in New Mexico this past March. You may know Callie from the Alone show, though I have never watched it. We have known each other for many years and this past Spring we camped together for a few weeks by a river, with friends and her goats. We took time to record a conversation together for the podcast. The episode starts with us at camp with Rain, an old friend, and our banter getting ready to leave for a walk. If you want to skip that part you can fast forward 10 minutes or so past the field recording beginning. It’s funny though- to get a glimpse into life at camp. Most of the convo is of us walking with the goats and talking while on a walk. We eventually sit down to finish the interview. On our way back, one of the goats pushes me off a cliff and abruptly stops the recording, and you hear the incident in the episode. Thankfully I catch a root and Callie grabs me and all is ok. What we do for podcast recordings..

Become a paid subscriber to Ground Shots extras on Substack to hear an extra story from Callie not included in the main interview. She tells a story of saving a goat from a mountain lion when she lived in the wilderness years ago. Its quite a story!

Callie’s website where you can find classes and updates Traditional Tanners online hide tanning courses Episode 10 : Adam Stolte and his Goats My August 2nd-8th field ecology course - sign up here! Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders  Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Theme Music: Mother Marrow Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode # 82 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Jason Hone on medicinal herbs of biblical times and the historical ecological transformation of the holy lands.

Jason Hone practices as a holistic provider for patients of all walks of life. He has worked in various disciplines of healthcare since 1996. His experience includes emergency and sports medicine, wilderness medicine, home health and hospice, and specialized pediatric care for children with medical frailties. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, Jason earned his Bachelor’s of Science in nursing (BSN) at Ameritech College of Healthcare in Draper, Utah and his Masters of Nursing (MSN) in Family Nurse Practitioning through Frontier Nursing University in Kentucky. In both programs he was selected by his peers to represent them in a leadership position. He loved these opportunities to interact with other nurses, students, and faculty. With considerable experience in holistic, alternative, and complementary medicine, Jason has training in many modalities, including but not limited to nutritional assessments, ozone joint injections, cupping, massage therapy, holistic wound management, herb care and ethnonobotanical lore.

Jason was raised in Idaho and Israel and has lived in Utah for the past 11 years. When he is not working, he loves spending time with his wife, Kristina, and their seven kids. He enjoys traveling and exploring, and loves practicing and teaching primitive skills. He and his wife are the founders of the CASK Gene Foundation, working to promote knowledge of this rare, genetic disorder faced by their youngest daughter.

Jason maintains national certification and professional membership through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners; he is a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tao International, and the Utah Nurse Practitioners’ Association.

  birthday fundraiser for the podcast Whole Health Team - Jason’s health clinic website Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders  Ground Shots Substack : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Amazon wishlist for Kelly’s airstream trailer renovation Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Theme Music: Mother Marrow Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

Ethan graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. Currently, he works in the advocacy world for habitat protection and restoration on public lands that face various resource extraction industries. He homesteads on a piece of desertified land In southern Arizona and is attempting to reverse desertification processes to help build food/habitat. Beyond his focus in biology, over the last 12 years he has been involved with local organic agriculture systems in the places he has lived. Ethan has worked at many different organic produce farms/apiaries and is currently working more with sustainable livestock use on different landscape levels. He is also interested in foraging, food processing/preservation, processing/use of animal fibers for clothing, wildlife tracking/trailing, erosion reversal/desertified landscape restoration, music, wildlife tracking. Ecology and ecological advocacy has been his passion and focus through his adult life and many of these hobbies have helped him to connect with his local ecological systems. He believes that healthy human communities and landscapes are integrally tied and there is no environmental protection/advocacy without supporting the communities that live in those places. Ethan works with mutual aid networks in his area and has been involved in several direct action campaigns surrounding the border wall and local ecological issues. He has a wonderful dog companion, Tuck, who keeps him company at his desert homestead and on many adventures. Working to re-wild and decolonize the world around us starts within and Ethan hopes to continue this journey with the wonderful community of folks he’s met along the way.

Links:

Sky Island Alliance

Contact Ethan on Instagram: @ dopa_surge_nature_turd

Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) Ground Shots Substack : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Amazon wishlist to support the host Kelly Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended show notes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com

read ful show notes here

Together with the insects, animals, plants and elements Elizabeth Yaari is transforming a dry patch of semi arid desert into a thriving regenerative seven layered food forest. “Anything is possible”, she says “even when you have 6 1/2 inches of rain a year.”

To spend time with Elizabeth is to enter a realm where depth matters and play reigns. Her descriptions of life at Night Owl food Forest will take you on a journey you were glad you took.

As an enthusiastic member of the Design School for Regenerating Earth, Elizabeth learns to create earthworks and microclimates which benefit not only neighbors on the same watershed but also all life in the surrounding bioregion.

In this episode of the podcast, we talked about:

• why Elizabeth started the Night Owl Food Forest

• her relationship to art, eco-grief and planting

• the permaculture course Elizabeth took with Pat Frazier and Wind Clearwater, and how it influenced her work on the land

• Elizabeth tells a funny story of trying to sex a cow with permaculture teacher Pat Frazier and how it taught her to observe

• working on the land over many years gives you way more knowledge of a place and its nuances than reading books

• the nature of the Night Owl Food Forest - geologically and ecologically, and Elizabeth’s goals of restoration and regeneration

• what Elizabeth learned about people from getting their compost for the food forest to build the soil

• how Elizabeth works with the local community to build the food forest

• thinking long term, beyond private land borders, and dedicated to small spaces

• water and permaculture at the Night Owl Food Forest, which has little water rights and gets only a small amount of water each year

• observations Elizabeth has made at the Night Owl Food Forest- as observation is the first step of tending land

• Elizabeth’s observation of how wild flax literally moves throughout the day in response to the sun’s location in the sky

• Sagebrush, Saltbush and Greasewood, halophytes that can tolerate salt and ‘poor soil’ in a permaculture setting

• Some of what Elizabeth has planted at the Night Owl Food Forest

• where Elizabeth planted Biscuitroot seeds on her land and why

• slow, sink and spread, and how that is necessary at a spot like the Night Owl Food Forest

• permaculture in desert environments

• how Elizabeth made her hugelkultur beds with Cottonwoods cut down by beavers

• using beaver deceivers to work with the beavers in the neighboring drainage

• how the Praire Dog tunnels become conduits for water, and provide spaces where water can hide further up hill, and could be considered a ‘riparian zone’ by some

• an audio tour of the night owl food forest in the snow with Elizabeth

Links: Night Owl Food Forest Facebook Page The Awesome Dobie Badlands - book on the Adobes written by a local western Colorado author (Bookshop version not available) Sundial Medicinals of Moab, Utah/ Episode #2 of the podcast mentioned in the episode talking about how Emily built the soil in the back yard of her home in the town of Moab over years of collecting compost Integral Pathways - a local business owned by Trace Axtell and Marta Sanchez, who did the earthworks projects at the Night Owl Food Forest Wind Clearwater on KVNF - As the Worm Turns, in 2016 (there are other convos on this program with him, too!) Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) Ground Shots Substack : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Amazon wishlist for Kelly’s airstream trailer renovation Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Music: Mother Marrow Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

 

full shownotes here

Samantha Zipporah is a midwife, author & educator in service to healing & liberation. Sam’s path rises from an ancient lineage of midwives, witches, & wise women with expertise spanning the continuum of birth, sex, & death. She is devoted to breaking the spells of oppression in reproductive & sexual health by connecting people with the innate pleasure, power, & wisdom of the body. Her praxis weaves scientific & soulful inquiry that integrate modern medicine & data with ancestral practices & epistemologies. Sam's most recent publications & offerings center the radical reclamation of contraception & abortion. Her online membership, The Fruit of Knowledge Learning Community, features access to her heart & mind via books, courses, Q&As, curated resources & more.

Sam’s website and Fruit of Knowledge Learning Community Article mentioned by Sam: A Place for Herbal Ab0rtion in Clinical Herbalism Eve’s Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West Natural Liberty by the Sage Femme Collective Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) Ground Shots Substack  Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Amazon wishlist for Kelly’s trailer renovation Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast  Music: Mother Marrow Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

See full show notes here

Family loving, community enthusiast Jacquie Hill is a plant person doing planty things on the Western Slope of Colorado. After practicing her blend of story-rich, folk herbal medicine for 10+ years, she took her studies to academia, earning a bachelor’s degree in botanical sciences from Bastyr University in 2019. While there she made the most of the opportunities and gleaned from teachers, mentors, and nature taking, every field class offered and immersing herself in the wonders of western Washington. With a deep love of opposing forces, Jacquie keeps one foot in the scientific as well as the nonlinear. Jacquie has a GMP certificate from Herbal Medics which comes in quite handy as the owner and maker at her small batch herbal product company, Of the Hill Botanicals.  In her free time, Jacquie spends her time exposing her children to the magick of the natural world with her husband Allon, contemplating the role of plants as myth keepers, and performing with her puppet troupe, Singing Bone Medicine Show.

Jacquie’s instagram: @jacquieofthehill Native American Sacred Trees and Places The Legacy and Misappropriation of Henrietta Lacks Bacon’s Rebellion Bastyr University Paonia Apothecary Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use ‘GROUNDSHOTS10’ at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) Ground Shots Substack : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you (buying here helps support the podcast) Amazon wishlist for Kelly’s airstream trailer renovation Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Guest Music: Mama Lingua Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #76 is a conversation with Calyx Liddick of Northern Appalachia School in southern Pennsylvania. 

(trigger warning, this episode may contain content that could be triggering to some as we address the history of scientific racism and the eugenics movement)

read full show notes and resources here

Calyx Liddick is a bioregional herbalist, ethnobotanist, holistic nutritionist, wildcrafter, writer of poetry and prose, wildlife tracker, and mother of two. She was born and raised in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania.

     She is an outspoken advocate for accessible education, social and ecological justice, and ethical practice in plant work. As an educator in bioregional herbalism, Calyx is passionate about bridging the gap of perception between the personal body and the ecological body, and illuminating the wisdom of place and the potential of the direct reciprocation of health and wellbeing present in ecological stewardship. She is committed to integrating plantwork as a life way, helping others develop a rooted relationship with the land and its more-than-human community, and healing the damage from extractive and hierarchical relationships between people and plants. In her practice, she integrates the long, rich history of traditional herbalism with modern, scientifically sound research. 

Calyx’s website at Northern Appalachia School Calyx’s Instagram: @northernappalachiaschool Ground Shots Substack : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! Bookshop : recommended books for you Amazon wishlist for trailer reno Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Guest Music: Bridget Downey and Soren Knudsen  Venmo Bridget Downey : @Bridget-Downey-3 Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

Read extended show notes here

(photo of Sylvia taken by Ricardo Nagaoka, used with permission from photographer. )

Episode #76 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Sylvia Poareo from Connecting Within, out of Ashland, Oregon.

Sylvia Poareo is a gentle Curandera/Consejera (healer/spiritual counselor) whose work is rooted in guiding and supporting each individual in their own liberation within collective healing. Informed by the Chicano experience and growing up as an orphan in SoCal, her life was an initiation into deep trust in and reliance on Spirit/Creator.

Connecting deeply into the heart, to the cosmos and nature as a pathway to healing, she recognizes the profound wisdom, resilience and fortitude we carry in our bones. She supports ancestral remembrance and remembering parts of ourselves, our innate humanity and cultures of origin as a path to truth, healing and wholeness.

(read full bio and show notes through the link above)

Links:

Sylvia’s website: Connecting Within

Ground Shots Substack Publication

Bookshop account: buy me a book!

Bookshop account: recommended books for you (adding a backlog of recs soon)

Amazon wishlist for trailer renovation

Laying Groundwork, late summer ecology classes

Venmo to support the podcast: @kelly-moody-6 Guest Music: Tránsito, El Feo, and Medley: Pastures Of Plenty/This Land Is Your Land/Land by Lila Downs Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

 

Hey ya’ll,

This is a quick and dirty solo podcast episode where I update you on some of the things I’m doing this summer including offering in-person ecology immersions in western Colorado on the Grand Mesa.

I give a little overview of some of what we did in my last immersion that was 4 days, focused on riparian ecology.

Talk on travel, loneliness post-pandemic, the grief of ecological destruction, the importance of community around that grief

Some talk on the ‘abodes’ geologic formation in the region

Human impacts on riparian ecological zones

Support the podcast! A few ways:

Substack : groudshots.substack.com

Patreon : patreon.com/ofsedgeandsalt

Buy me a book on Bookshop

Sign up for an in-person ecology course with me or Nikki Hill (Scholarships available) located on the Grand Mesa in western Colorado