Helping you learn the skills and solutions to create an abundant and connected future
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Regenerative earthworks for water retention landscapes, with Douglas Barnes
1:04:52
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My guest today is here to demystify one of the aspects of permaculture design that I hear the most questions about, but also one of the issues that I see folks most entrenched in their viewpoints about. I’m talking about earthworks; one of the first aspects that people implement and the most permanent change made in a landscape. Today I’ve got Doug…
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The permaculture guide to earth surgery, with David “Doc Spice” Spicer
49:16
49:16
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I spoke with David Spicer, affectionately known as Doc Spice, an accomplished permaculture designer who has specialized in earthworks installation. Having taught and worked on various projects extensively within Australia and internationally, in places such as Morocco, Jordan, Palestine and New Caledonia, Doc has worked in a broad array of differen…
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The essentials of rainwater harvesting, with Rob Avis
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In keeping with the theme of water regeneration this month I spoke to Rob Avis, the co-author along with Michelle Avis of their book in the New Society Essentials series called Rain Water Harvesting. Rob and Michelle founded Verge Permaculture, an award-winning design, consulting and education company in Calgary, Alberta after years of internationa…
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How to plant the rain in drylands and beyond, with Brad Lancaster
1:01:06
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If at any point you’ve been interested in water harvesting in dryland contexts, it’s almost impossible that you’ve missed Brad Lancaster’s work. His pioneering activities and projects in Tucson, AZ have propelled a movement of water wise landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and smart water reuse all around the world. While so many of the examples I’v…
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Repairing eroded and incised waterways, with Van Clothier
24:21
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In today’s episode I spoke with Van Clothier about an innovative and subtle water erosion mitigation technique, and how to build a one rock dam. I know this might seem oddly specific, but after an interview with Brad Lancaster last season, he talked about how he’s been learning from people like Van and his mentor Bill Zeedyk about smaller, less int…
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Regenerating lakes and ponds with floating islands, with Bruce Kania
56:54
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I had done one other episode in the past on the topic of floating wetlands that I’d like to revisit today as we continue with this series on regenerative water solutions. In today’s episode I got to speak with Bruce Kania of Floating Island International which developed their patented Biohaven floating island technology as a solution to algae-ridde…
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Reviving urban waterways with floating wetlands, with Galen Fulford
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Today we’re going to take a look at fresh water systems and specifically, how to decontaminate them through biological methods. Some of you may remember an interview I did with Tom Duncan about his floating wetlands and how they can be used to clean up excessive nutrients and pollutants back in season 1. Today I’ll be expanding on that technique si…
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Successful design and construction of wetlands, with Tom Biebighauser
1:37:52
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One of the most crucial natural environments for the health and stability of landscape hydrology are wetlands. They also usually happen to be areas of the highest density of wildlife and biodiversity when they are healthy and functioning well. At the same time wetlands in all their different forms are highly endangered, being the targets for mileni…
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The story of soil through a microscope, with Isadora Schmidt
1:01:48
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Continuing with my series highlighting badass local people around my community here in Spain, I was really pleased to be able to share this conversation that I had with a new close friend of mine and soil health advocate extraordinaire, Isadora Shmidt. I was first passed Isa’s contact by another good friend, Noemi, who is also part of the Soil Food…
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Keys to successful regenerative farm transition, with Andre Antunes
1:11:45
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I have to admit, there is an unsung hero behind many of my favorite interviews of the past couple years. Connections and recommendations to some of the people who I’ve learned the most from in some recent discussions with people like Phyllis Van Ambraugh, Ben Taylor Davies, Ian Robertson, Ed Brown, and others have all come from a good friend of min…
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The practice of managing holistically, and lobbying for regenerative agriculture in Europe, with Meghan Sapp
1:23:43
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As I continue to make connections and find people in my local area who are working on regenerative projects and supporting progress in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, I’ve been amazed at the talented, courageous, and inspiring people that I’ve come into contact with. I’ve already interviewed a few in recent episodes such as Sara Garcia, and Aline …
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Farming for both local and regional change, with Anne Van Leeuwen: part 2
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Today we’ll be continuing with the second part of my discussion with Anne Van Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands. In case you missed the first part, I recommend going back for some context where Anne spoke about how she and her partner Ricardo got started in Farming and the evolution of their farm at the original location. In this second ha…
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Farming for both local and regional change, with Anne Van Leeuwen
56:10
56:10
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Today’s conversation is the first of a two part conversation with Anne Va Leeuwen from Bodemzicht in the Netherlands that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a few years. Anne and her husband Ricardo and I met for the first time at the first Climate Farmers conference in Germany 3 years ago. By then they were already building a reputation in the…
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Soil health and drought mitigation panel from REVOLVE magazine
1:04:14
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A couple weeks ago I was invited to speak on a panel discussion about soil health for the release of a new issue of REVOLVE magazine. Established in 2010, REVOLVE inspires climate action by keeping you informed about the circular economy, ecosystem restoration, the energy transition, sustainable mobility and water resources. Their latest episode fo…
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Simplifying gardening and food forests, with David the Good
1:19:25
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Continuing on the theme of last week’s episode in which I spoke with Jessica Robertson about community food forests, we’re going to go deeper into the practical knowledge and skills that anyone can develop to create their own plant nursery, propagate their favorite varieties, and get their own garden or food forest established quickly and cheaply. …
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How to design and build a community food forest, with Jessica Robertson
1:01:22
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1:01:22
With the growth in popularity around permaculture and food forests, even people without access to their own land are looking into opportunities to come together and create beautiful edible landscapes that everyone can access on public land. Enter community orchards or food forests. These are increasingly being grown on abandoned lots, local parks, …
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Taming the apocalypse by partnering with new species, with Shane Simonsen
1:13:01
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So much of what inspires me and that I hope to highlight on this show comes from an ever growing awareness of the incredible superpowers that humans have that emerge from our relationship with the natural world around us. Our senses coupled with adaptability, the skill of collaboration and the inventiveness of our creativity have allowed humans to …
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Finding the potential in "invasive" species, with Tao Orion
1:19:59
1:19:59
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I’m really lucky that I have been collaborating with book publishers since the early days of this podcast. It gives me access to all of the books from the authors that I interview and the full catalogs of most of the publishers too. As a result I have a pretty good overview of the new literature that comes out on the topics that I focus on in this …
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Why we need inscets and how you can help rebug the planet, with Vicki Hird
53:31
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world of insects. Though there are only a handful of bugs and invertebrates that humans consider edible, productive, or beautiful, they are an essential element in any healthy ecosystem. All too often the ones that we don’t derive beauty from or direct use from are considered an annoyance at best or actively destroyed and eradicated in all too many…
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Natural beekeeping for better honey, healthy colonies, and vibrant ecosystems, with Uli Beckman
1:39:57
1:39:57
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I’ve had the pleasure over the last few months to interview quite a few people that I admire, who’ve told me about their fascination with beekeeping. Over and over again I’ve heard about the incredible insights into overall ecological health and the amazing reflections of ecosystem function that can be observed through managing bee hives. I got a w…
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Reflections on over two decades of resilient farmstead living, with Ben Falk
1:04:01
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Despite the popularity of permaculture, homesteading, regen ag, and all these other buzz terms we hear, many of the people promoting these ideas, including myself, are quite new and inexperienced. It’s still rare to find people who can offer insight and wisdom from decades or a whole lifetime of living with regenerative systems. Sure, you can still…
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Financial management tips for a healthy farm, with Julia Shanks
53:53
53:53
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Though I’ve highlighted this before on this show, it bears repeating. So many of the stress factors on farms are caused by money. Either not being able to generate enough, being in debt, not having control over the expenses and cash flows, or another one that I see time and again, not paying yourself a salary and just hoping for a profit at the end…
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Reversing the Spanish trajectory towards desertification, with Sara Garcia
1:09:11
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In the process of researching the area that I now call home, and working to understand the context and history of the land, I’ve uncovered some fascinating information. The Iberian peninsula made up mostly of Spain with Portugal along the Atlanitc coast and Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains has been dramatically transformed through thousands of yea…
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The potential of small scale regeneration, from three distinct perspectives
1:18:09
1:18:09
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I’ve spent a lot of time through the interviews of this podcast speaking with people around the world who are advancing incredible and ambitious projects that aim to regenerate large land bases like farms, estates, or even whole regions. Last week’s conversation with Weruschca Kirkegaard from United Designers is a perfect example of these kinds of …
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Large scale regeneration and the potential of cooperative design, with Weruschca Kirkegaard
56:53
56:53
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Todays episode is going to build on a couple concepts that I’ve been exploring from different perspectives. The first is that of the power of community, and the second is different scales of regeneration. In this episode I’m joined by my good friend and mentor Weruschca Kirkegaard based in the Netherlands, Weruschca the is co-founder of United Desi…
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The essential skills and knowledge to become a regenerative water worker, with Zach Weiss and Nick Steiner
1:30:51
1:30:51
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For those of you following along from the last three episodes of this season so far, I’ve been sharing the intimate details of my own journey along with my good friend Nick Steiner as we’ve gone around to visit a number of out client’s projects in the south of Portugal and both gather essential data to inform our process and actually put that proce…
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Nature based solutions for the worst drought on record, with Aline Van Moerbeke
1:07:18
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I’ve talked a lot about drought and water management on this podcast. It’s becoming a bigger and bigger part of my work and specialization, both in the work I do with private clients and through the network of farmers that I work with through Climate Farmers. At the moment, these topics are hitting home for another reason. Catalunya, the region whe…
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Installing water retention and fire mitigation features on the ground
1:08:03
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Continuing on the journey we started in the last episode, Nick and I went to the next project where we got to install the types of water retention features that we had designed for the previous clients. Together we talk about the joys and the challenges of site where we were creating these earthworks. Over the previous summer the whole landscape ha…
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Reading the landscape and gathering essential data for a water restoration design
46:21
46:21
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Welcome to the first episode of season 8 of the Regenerative Skills podcast. We're starting in a big way with a special episode in which me and my good friend and collaborator Nick Steiner will be taking you along with us on a client visit in the south of Portugal in the very first steps of a water retention landscape project. We'll be giving you a…
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Regenerative farming on the edge of the desert, with Yanniek Schoonhoven
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There are a few farms and organizations here in Spain that have been gaining international attention for their work and initiatives in the past few years. Partly through reaching out directly and partly through the Climate Farmers network I’ve been connecting with them to bring their inspiring stories and innovative knowledge to the farmers communi…
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Making soil health approachable and practical, with Ian Robertson
1:02:53
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By now I’m sure many of you have heard the few episodes on soil health that I’ve recorded with people like Harriet Mela, Matt Powers, James White, and others. I know that the subject of soil has become really popular with growers and it’s always talked about as being central to the success of regenerative agriculture and broader environmental healt…
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Adapting syntropic agroforestry to temperate climates, with Renke De Vries
1:26:08
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Syntropic Agroforestry has exploded in popularity and interest in the last few years. I’ve explored this agroforestry design and management system a little in some previous episodes with my friend Jacob Evans, but there’s so much more to explore. First pioneered by renowned farmer Ernst Gostch in Brazil, his integrated approach of dense planting an…
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Growing fresh produce through the coldest winters, with Catherine Sylvestre
56:27
56:27
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I’ve been so happy to see how popular the concept of growing one’s own food has become in recent years. Especially since the pandemic, a lot of us have connected deeply with the need to build food resilience by cultivating our own gardens, and quite a few have even gone further and started to grow at a market scale. It’s a beautiful thing to be abl…
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Making micro farms work through lean planning, with Ben Hartman
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I’ve been observing an interesting trend in the regen ag space. The concept and awareness of regen ag has been growing exponentially with many people exploring ways to start their own farms and to participate in and support those who are already involved. At the same time the current economic situation and the complexity of regulations, paired with…
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Low tech solutions for erosion and water management with Neil Bertrando and Jeff Adams
1:26:36
1:26:36
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We live in a time when everyone seems to be looking for high tech solutions for every problem. Maybe it's due to all of the new tech that has come out in recent decades with lofty promises of new frontiers, or the fact that so many of us are removed from regular interaction with the natural world, but I genuinely believe that technology is more ove…
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Working with wastewater and learnings from Biosphere 2, with Mark Nelson
1:22:39
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I’ve been lucky in recent months to be able to speak to people who’ve been leaders and change makers in the regenerative space for a significant amount of time. Building on that knowledge and experience I got to speak with Dr Mark Nelson. Mark is Chairman of the Institute of Ecotechnics, head of Wastewater Gardens International and has worked for s…
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Reviving heritage foods through landrace farming, with Glenn Roberts
1:26:11
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A few months back when I covered the topic of landrace gardening and crop breeding, I had no idea what a passionate and knowledgeable community around the world that I was tapping into. The seed savers and plant breeders who I’ve been in touch with, including quite a few who are part of the Discord community for this podcast, are working on everyth…
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John Kempf on the trends and future of regenerative agriculture
1:27:15
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My guest today needs no introduction if you’ve been paying attention to the regen ag scene in the last decade, but just in case you’re new to this topic and community let me catch you up to speed John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host and teacher. He is passionate about the potential of well managed agriculture ecosystems to reverse e…
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Will Harris reflects on his career and his return to giving a damn
1:06:20
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Despite the popularity of regenerative agriculture at the moment and the fact that there are many inspiring farmers involved in the movement, it’s still rare to find experienced farmers, especially in large scale operations that have been working to regenerate their ecosystems and communities for more than 20 years. For this reason I was thrilled t…
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Key insights from reviving soils around the world, with Matt Slaughter
1:29:42
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Though we’ve covered many aspects of soil health on this show in previous episodes, this is an area of scientific and agronomic study which is constantly growing and evolving. It seems that there are a growing number of specialists who are pioneering research in very specific and detailed aspects of soil health which helps to expand our overall pic…
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Building a regenerative food system in Europe, with Patricia Wiklund
1:04:43
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This week I want to build on the panel discussion that I started previously in the panel episode with the group from the Alpbach forum. In that conversation we looked at various visions on what a regenerative food system could look like from representatives from Nestle, Agrana, and a conservation farmer. Today I want to bring another perspective in…
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From planting to harvest. How to care for your fruit trees, with Suzan Poizner
1:17:10
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The growing popularity of permaculture food forests and backyard multispecies orchards is part of a movement that I’m 110% in support of. Any addition of native and food producing plants in diverse multispecies configurations is a wonderful thing. I want to see as many people as possible find success with these plantings, and that’s why I’ve been a…
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Ecological regeneration through profitable farming with Jake Takiff
1:25:23
1:25:23
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Any of you who’ve been following the show this season will remember one of my favorite episodes from the beginning of the year in which I documented a water restoration job I went out to Nicaragua to go in collaboration with Restoration Agriculture Development, the contracting company founded by Mark Shepard. There I worked under the guidance of Ja…
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Visions for a regenerative food system in Europe
1:05:19
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At the end of August I had a unique opportunity to attend the European Alpbach Forum in Austria, as I was invited by organizers at Nestlé to moderate an event they were organizing. This was a unique session that included a guided hike in the Alps around the town and a discussion centered on the core themes of which structures, innovation, incentive…
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Pioneering regenerative dairy production, with Phyllis Van Amburgh
1:18:33
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At this point I’ve covered a wide array of practices and management styles that fall under the broad umbrella of regenerative agriculture. Some could be considered traditional while others are more modern and innovative and they span continents, climates, biomes and industries. Nonetheless I’ve noticed a pretty big gap that I’ve yet to cover in det…
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Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business: Part 2
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This is part two of the conversation started last week with Akiva Silver. Co-owner of Twisted Tree nursery and homestead. If you haven’t yet heard the first part, you can find the link in the show notes for this episode on the website at regenerativeskills.com You’ll remember from last week that one of the first projects I encourage people to do wh…
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Akiva Silver on propagating plants and starting a nursery business: Part 1
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After the last few weeks of focus on the intricacies of Holistic management and building community in agriculture, I wanted to go back to some technical information on specific farming enterprises. One of the most common questions I get asked from listeners and clients who are starting new projects is about where to begin. Those of you familiar wit…
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Championing the alternative to a farm free future, with Chris Smaje
1:08:58
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I’ve been watching an interesting and important discussion play out for a number of years now within the environmental movement and ecological farming community. It appears that on one hand we have a group that is convinced by the data that farming to feed a population which is growing exponentially through traditional land based means is doomed to…
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Matt Powers on discovering the world under our feet with soil microscopy
1:21:22
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One of the emerging practices in the regenerative work space is that of citizen science. This covers an infinite range of scientific specialties, but I’ve especially seen amazing things come from two areas in the last couple years. These would be mycology and the study of soil. That isn’t to say that traditional institutions aren’t making advances …
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Building community for farmers with Klarien Klingen
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Since last year much of my work with Climate Farmers has been in building the European farmer community and creating connections so that members can learn from each other. I admittedly don’t have a lot of prior experience with this so I went looking for experienced and successful community builders to mentor me in the process. One of the most helpf…
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