The Probiotic Life

Join us in this episode as we talk with James Rickbeil and dive deep into the soil food web. James is a soil food web enthusiast, compost artist, and a student of Dr. Elaine Ingham getting certified as Soil Food Web consultant. He is also a cannabis grower who is passionate about regenerative living soil systems. On Instagram he’s known as @microbeherder and he’s been posting some great clips of what he sees down the lens of his microscope.

In this conversation James really highlights some of the main connections between soil health and human health and talk about how our microbiome affects everything in our body.

We also talk about the recent event he participated in called “The Science of Regenerative Cannabis Cultivation Conference”

There is lots of golden nugs in this episode, so belt up and get ready for a ride!

Be sure to check out James on Instagram @microbeherder

If you are keen about soil health, go on over to microbiometer.com and pick your self up a microbiometer… You’ll be able to get a better picture of how much life is in your soil, and you’ll be supporting the podcast by purchasing from our affiliate.

Enter the promo code ‘probioticlife’ to get $10 off your purchase.

May the beneficial microbes be with you!

Show Notes to come.

Join us in this fascinating interview with bokashi expert Cuauhtemoc Villa.

He is a friend of the microbes, student of their ancient wisdom, and teacher of their ways. He has years of experience working with Effective Microorganisms, and creating custom blends of bokashi specific to the needs of the plants he works with. He does work in bio-remediation of land and waterways, and teaches school kids these practices. In conjunction to this, he also teaches Indigenous Agricultural Practices.

Cuauhtemoc shares a bit about he got involved with the microbes and shares with us some basics of how to brew EM and make bokashi.

His passion for the microbes is amazing, and he’s changing people’s lives as he shares their wisdom; he gives a lot of hope to the kids that have forgotten who they are, the ones that other give up on.

I hope you get inoculated with inspiration from this interview!

Learning how to grow plants and microbes is therapy for your soul!

Some things Cuauhtemoc is involved in:

ThePermacultureStudent.com

Sonomabiocharinitiative.org

SoundNativePlants.com

Reach out to him here:

Instagram: bokashi4u

Facebook: Cuauhtemoc Villa

Some recommendations from Cuauhtemoc:

Video: Microbe Power

Biocarbonassociates.com

ScdProbiotics.com

Terganix.com

SonomaEcologyCenter.com

Books he recommends:

Earth Saving Revolution

Dr. Teruo Higa

Growing A Revolution

David R. Montgomery

If you are keen to build soil health, and in turn, your own health, get yourself a Microbiometer!

It’s a way of testing and monitoring the microbial biomass in the soil, to see how much life you’ve got down there. Check out our affiliate microbiometer.com to purchase one, and in turn, support the podcast.

When you go to the checkout, enter the promo code ‘probioticlife’ for $10 dollars off your purchase.

Feel free to shoot us an email with any questions, comments, or guest suggestions. Also, we’re looking for inspiring original music to share on the podcast, so send us an email if you’ve want to share your creative energies. Thank you for being on this journey as we discover what it looks like to live a probiotic life!

May the beneficial microbes be with you…

Show Notes to come.

In this episode, we bring you an interview with Dominic Anfiteatro from Adelaide, South Australia. Dominic was featured in Sandor Katz’ book ‘The Art of Fermentation’ and is a kefir alchemist of sorts. Join us as he shares his story of how he came across kefir. I enjoyed the way Dom tells stories… He also tells the story of where kefir grains come from, and why you should eat your kefir grains!

Among the topics we discuss are: silken kefir, the systemic anti-inflammatory nature of kefir grains, adding kefir grains to other foods, continuous secondary fermentation, and water kefir. You can tell Dom is passionate about what he does, I really enjoyed chatting with him.

Thanks for hanging out with us here on The Probiotic Life! We love hearing from you, we love hearing how you are living a probiotic life, and love hearing feedback about the podcast! You can support us by giving us a rating and review,

You can find all of Dom’s fantastic info on his website: http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/

Check out a video of Dom’s giant kefir grains

Here’s another video of his water kefir grains

Check out our affiliate at Microbiometer.com

Enter the promo code: probioticlife to get $10 off your purchase

Show Notes to come.

Today we talk to Kristin Ohlson who is an award-winning freelance journalist, and the author of “The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet” Though she writes on a variety of topics, I was interested to talk to Kristin specifically because of this book.

Join us as Kristin shares bit about her writing career and how she came to write “The soil will save us” She shares a story of a farmer named Gabe Brown and the inspiration she drew from him, which leads us to talk about climate change, our microbiome, and the similarities between our microbiome and the soil microbiome.

You can find out all about Kristin on her website kristinohlson.com

Thanks for listening, and sharing of your time with us. We always love to hear what you’re doing to live a probiotic life!

Check out our affiliate Microbiometer.com and when you enter the promo code ‘probiotic life’ you’ll get $10 off your purchase, which is essentially your first sample for free.

Thanks to Phil and his band Confiture for delivering some soulful vibes in this episode. You can check them out at confitureband.com

May the beneficial microbes be with you!

Show Notes to come.

In this episode, it is a pleasure to bring you an interview with Geoff Lawton & Sam Parker-Davies of Zaytuna Farm in New South Wales, Australia.

Geoff is a world renowned permaculture designer, advisor, and teacher. He’s worked in over 30 countries around the world, and has taught over 15,000 students.

Sam is a student of Geoff’s, learning to follow in his footsteps, and is just a few years in to his permaculture journey. He contributes a fresh look at Geoff’s significant work through the eyes of a new, but deeply engaged learner.

I had the privilege of talking to them both about their experiences, and what permaculture means to them.

Of particular note is our discussion of the property they live on. Zaytuna Farm is a self sufficient site for permaculture demonstration, and is also the base for the Permaculture Research Institute.

A recurring theme that comes up in this conversation is creating abundance, and how a rich and fulfilling life comes from creating abundance around us.

Join us as we dive in to the world of permaculture!

Here are the links we mention:

Zaytuna Farm

Permaculture Research Institute

Permaculture Global

Permaculture Circle radio

Geoff Lawton Online

SPECIAL MICROBIOMETER PROMO OFFER

If you’re keen to do a bit of citizen science and test the microbial biomass in your soil, check out Microbiometer.com

Enter the promo code ‘probioticlife’ when you order, and get $10 off your purchase. This helps support the podcast.

Show Notes to come.

In this episode we talk to Jeff Lowenfels about his trilogy of books: Teaming With Microbes, Teaming With Nutrients, And Teaming With Fungi. He frequently travels and lectures on these subjects which has led to his nickname “Lord of The Roots.”

Jeff also writes the longest running garden column in North America; The Alaska Dispatch Garden Column, having never missed a week in 41 years.

Join us for this lively conversation as Jeff shares how he came to write Teaming With Microbes, and how he changed direction after giving 25 years of wrong advice in his garden column. We touch on his book Teaming With Nutrients and delve into Jeff’s third book in the series; Teaming With Fungi.

We talk about how everything is connected, especially in the soil, and how important soil life is for our own existence.

You can find out more about Jeff on his website www.jefflowenfels.com

Check out his Twitter: https://twitter.com/gardenerjeff

Thank you for tuning in to this conversation! Let us know what you’d like to hear on the Probiotic Life.

You can support us by giving us a rating and review, and at patreon.com/probioticlife

Show Notes to come.

In this episode, we talk with Eva Bakkeslett.

Eva is a creative at heart and has a Masters in Art & Ecology and she defines herself as an artist, filmmaker, curator and gentle activist. Her works often combine film, workshops and public participation to challenge, inspire and engage people. She is particularly inspired by the process of fermentation and explores how this can be a method for re-imagining sustainable human cultures.

Eva shows, lectures, curates and performs her work worldwide and she resides on the beautiful island of Engeløya in northern Norway. Join us as Eva shares some of the projects she’s done -including working with Sandor Katz; we talk about using fermentation as a metaphor, and get into some great discussion about having connection to the natural world.

I really appreciated talking to someone with a different world view, and expanding my consciousness. I hope you benefit too! Thanks for listening.

If you want to support the show, you can give us a rating and review and you can contribute at patreon.com/probioticlife

Check Eva’s website out to learn more about her and what she’s up to:

www.evabakkeslett.com

You can connect personally with Eva:

[email protected]

Be sure to check out Eva’s TED talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvQsCrHrsOk

And here is a fascinating book Eva contributed to:

https://www.oberonbooks.com/playing-for-time.html

SHOW NOTES

Eva Bakkeslett

- grew up steeped in wilderness and nature, picking wild food and baking bread

- always asked deep questions about how things are connected

- studied for a Masters in Art and Ecology

- while studying, made a poetic film about the process of making bread

- while fermenting, the bread dough was “chatting” to Eva: Eva decided to learn to understand that language

- became fascinated by the process of fermentation, and how it could relate to creating sustainable human cultures

Listening to Fermentation

- was inspired by people working with fermentation such as Frank Cook and Sandor Katz, did their course

- started incorporating that inquiry into every aspect of her artistic practice

- most nations have their own fermentation cultures passed down through the generations, Eva began to learn about these and how they parallel the other, larger kind of “culture”

- discussion of people who have shaped Eva’s mindset

How Eva Communicates Her Ideas

- “social fermentation”, involves humans and microbes

- workshops, more-in depth courses, films, art exhibitions

- bringing people into the fermentation processes

- reconnecting with natural processes, instead of seeing ourselves as separate

- encouraging people to ask deeper questions

Fermentation on a Cultural Level

- discussion of different ferments Eva is working with

- stories of people emigrating with cultures from their native homes, across to other countries

- engaging people on a visceral level

- we are great at using our eyes, but neglect the other senses

- Eva aims to facilitate the start of a transformation in people, an epiphany moment

- embracing a more connected way of thinking with then brings change

- story of immigrant couple from Congo experiencing Scandinavian ferment, memories of their native fermentation processes = cultural connections

Tying Into Humanity’s Bigger Picture

- we are all inevitably part of the earth’s fermentation process; when we die, we return to the earth

- we can choose be part of those natural processes now while we live

- these moments of experiencing nature’s transformations are magic

How Eva Finds Her Next Project

- becoming part of good things that are already happening

- initiating events

- discussion of connecting with immigrants, their stories and their own cultural practices = cultural fermentation on a meta level

Looking To The Future

- touring show about bird situation worldwide

- not looking for answers, but looking for questions

- we are more bacterial than human: a metaphorical perspective as well as a biological one

- everything is connected, and we can experience being part of it

Closing Thoughts

- go and explore for yourself

- Eva will be in Copenhagen at Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology on October 18th 2018

This episode, we talk with Dr. Alan Darlington about his work with air bio-filtration.

Dr. Darlington was awarded his PhD investigating the interaction between plants and their physical environment from the University of Guelph, in Canada.

He spent 6 years as a member of a research team developing biological life support systems for long term space habitation, and is the “inventor” of a number of patents integral to the application of plant based biofilters that arose from research.

In 2005, he was named by Outdoor Magazine as one of the 25 top “true believers” in the environmental movement, for his work with plant biofilters, and he’s received a number of awards for academic and entrepreneurial accomplishments.

Come nerd out with me as Dr. Darlington graces us with his depth of knowledge and understanding, in all things bioremedial!

You can find out what Alan is up to, and reach out to him at www.alandarlington.ca

If you want a little inspiration on how you can start to live a probiotic life, check out our Instagram @theprobioticlife

Thanks to all who are supporting this journey. You can support… patreon.com/probioticlife

I hope this interview has got you thinking about new ways you can create life around you. Thanks for listening!

SHOW NOTES

Dr. Alan Darlington

- spent a lot of time as a youth walking through the bush, wanted to turn it into a career

- got degree in horticulture, every plant has value

- the importance of how things all fit together, how plants are affected by their environment

- PhD in how atmospheric conditions influences plant physiology and growth

- worked on waste disposal in closed environments, e.g. space stations

- realised this same technology could be used worldwide

New Technologies for Clean Air

- living walls

- people spend very little time outside

- indoor air quality is hard to maintain, indoor items give off gases

- can we generate fresh air indoors?

- “virtual outdoor air” with living wall technology

- biofiltration: used industrially; microbes take the waste in the air and eat it

- phytoremediation: more for brown fields (contaminated soils); introduce green plants that hasten the growth of beneficial microbes

- hydroponics: wall of coarse growth media, with water circulating through it; plants feed microbes, microbes clean the air

Aha! Moments

- discussion of spider plants & formaldehyde research experiment

- Dr. Alan was inspired by this example

Biofiltration

- VOCs (“the stinks and the smells”) being released all the time from products and people

- these are lesser than they were 20 years ago

- discussion of VOC studies

- currently, people are forced to choose between running a building efficiently or having good air quality

- biofiltration can render that choice unnecessary

- this is what his company, Air Quality Solutions seeks to do

- their biofilters cultivate both bacteria and fungi

- making them easy for anybody to use

- giving naturally-occurring microbes a great environment to do what they do best

Microbes in Space

- transporting Earth microbes to space

- discussion of biofiltration in space

Nature Offers Solutions

- further discussion of integrated air filtration systems and potential issues

- spores, mould, humidity, energy levels, diverting water

- Dr. Alan began work with NEDLAW mid 200s, a building company, to implement air quality solutions

- we are living among a plethora of other organisms, and we just need to learn how to get along

- for many issues, the solution is there in nature for us to find

- discussion of recent research on species of fungi, spores, other organisms in air

- air is not a sterile environment, so introducing new microbes is not a problem, it’s just a matter of keeping all populations under control

Solutions For Moving Forward

- having plants in your home does very little for air quality, although it may help you mentally!

- healthy, uncontaminated soil is much more important

- figuring out the right box to put nature’s solutions in to solve issues

- improving efficiency of systems, not using unnecessary energy

- people have a lot of fear about microbes

- teaching people that we can harness many microbes to our benefit, and conversely there are very few that can harm us

In this episode, we talk to Angelina Hjelm of AngelinaNaturalis.com

Her passion is to gather nature’s intrinsic knowledge and share it with others.

She’s studied alpine botany at Umeå university. Did a Bachelors in organic gardening and design systems at Gothenburg University.

And also a Permaculture Design Course with Richard Perkins, at Ridgedale Permaculture Farm.

Angelina’s love for nature and her inquisitive disposition has given her extensive knowledge of plants, both wild and cultivated, their use in gardens and their medicinal and culinary properties.

Join us as Angelina shares some of her journey. We get into a great discussion about connecting to nature, wild foraging, herbs, and she shares with us some ‘how to’ on her favourite ferments.

Check out what Angelina is up to:

AngelinaNaturalis.com

Instagram

Facebook

Thanks for investing your time in this podcast. You are welcome to financially support us at patreon.com/probioticlife

To all who have been reaching out and connecting, thanks being part of this journey!

Show Notes

- studied and worked with plants for last 13 years

- alpine botany and organic gardening at university

- strong sense of belonging in the natural world, and therefore curiosity, has been the inspiration for her work all her life

- “everyday magic”, being part of this little bubble (Earth) among the stars

- discussion of oldest place in Sweden

- Angelina had a farm near the Arctic circle

- now lives in the southern part of Sweden, and works there to guide people into the natural world

- certified in permaculture

- since 2016 has run “Angelina Naturalis”: specialises in edible and medicinal wild plants, herbal therapy, plant-based wild and green foods

- incorporating plants into everyday life is gentler on the body, creates longterm solutions

- Angelina helps people find ways to use these plants regularly

- discussion of Angelina’s early experiences in nature

- wanted to learn more details about how plant kingdom was defined

- she learned how to read the landscape based on what plants were growing and how they tasted

- colours and flavours, and therefore nutrients, are intensified in certain landscapes, where food is less available

- we have focused on sweeter plants in our cultivated crops, and neglected more bitter-tasting medicinal ones

- bitter substances serve specific functions in our body, to stimulate enzymes, gallbladder & pancreatic juices, digesting and absorbing foods

- Angelina advocates a balance of annuals, biannuals, and perennials in the diet

- because of her connection to nature, Angelina grew up with a sense of trust, and a very positive outlook on the world, in contrast to many others she encountered

- she saw the world as dynamic, resilient, and capable, a world of possibilities

- “we are in space, no one knows why, I love you”

- understanding the natural world gives a sense of responsibility and care, that we have natural capital and resources available to use to benefit each other and the world

Trust

- the world has billions of years experience, and so many functional systems to learn from

- a striving to understand, but also an openness that there is so much more to know

Looking Forward

- base knowledge of the world in and around us, tending to our health while not overloading the systems around us that we are totally dependent on

- instead of conquering and controlling, we have the possibility to collaborate

- oldest book in Chinese medicine, which is about the relationship between human being and nature, constantly adapting for optimum function

Herbalism

- fermented “Jun” culture

- using Jun to make different herbal brews and medicinal teas

- fermenting flowers and leaves into different teas

- discussion of fermentation process

- discussion of plants and flavours to use

Current Interests

- studying phytochemistry, otherwise known as herbal therapy

- herbal tours from south to the north of Scandinavia

- people have a hunger and openness to gain useful knowledge of plants, especially children

Final Thoughts

- Angelina wants to encourage even the smallest expression of cultivating a healthier approach to life

- support people who are already doing so

- engage with your curiosity

- willingness to be amazed

Angelina’s Inspirations

- intensive permaculture design course with Richard Perkins

- Stephen Barstow, “The Extreme Salad Man”

This episode is another insightful interview with Chris Ferreira.

He recently released a book called ‘A Place In The Country’ and we discuss the story of how Chris came to write this book, and delve into the subjects covered.

Chris is a friend and a mentor, and I’m happy to support him by giving him a platform to discuss the book. The idea behind the book is an “ ‘eyes wide open’ approach to creating your own beautiful, productive and sustainable rural landscape.”

While not directly related to microbes, I think it fits in well to living a probiotic life by keeping with the theme of creating life around us.

We talk about choosing a rural property, deciding on livestock, priming the soil, pasture and crops, revegetation, water in the landscape, and more.

I really had fun talking to Chris about his book, and I hope you enjoy our chat too.

If you listen to this the week it’s released, you can enter to win a copy of this book!

Also, if you enjoy this podcast, consider giving us a rating and review on your preferred podcast app. And if you want to really support the podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon.

Check out The Probiotic Life on Instagram to enter the giveaway.

The official rules are here.

You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Show Notes to come.