Andrew co-taught my advanced permaculture design certificiate teacher training, along with Jude Hobbs and Rico Zook, so I went into this interview with a familiarity with his work and style. In addition to teaching, he continues to design and consult on permaculture installations of all types and sizes, and also works on documenting permaculture projects. There are two videos you should check out, one with Tom Ward and another with Don Tipping. You can find out more about Andrew at beaverstatepermaculture.com. Someone else to know about in the Permaculture community is Andrew's colleague Marisha Auerbach, who currently teaches an online course with him. If you find that his schedule is too busy, or you'd like another voice from the Pacific Northwest, check out her work and you'll be in good hands.

Resources
Beaver State Permaculture
Marisha Auerbach
Barnabus Kane
Brad Lancaster
Tim Murphy
Gary Nabhan
Barbara Rose
Oregon State University Permaculture (4 College Credits)
Oregon State University Permaculture (Non-Credit)
Arcosanti
Ecosa Institute
Prescott College
Caduceus Cellars (Maynard James Keenan's Winery)

With all the information in, every comment, email, and download counted, here are the top 5 episodes of 2012, in no particular order. If you recently began listening these shows represent a broad overview of the guests interviewed and topics covered at The Permaculture Podcast. If you wanted a place to "start here" these episodes provide a perspective from the beginning, and show where we will go together in the future. The Permaculture Handbook: An Interview with Peter Bane Radical Possibilities with Ethan Hughes Nutrient Dense Foods with Dan Kittredge Carbon Farming: Soils with Connor Stedman Eric Toensmeier on Perennials, Broadscale Permaculture, and Food Forests

Though that work forms the body of our discussion, along the way we touch on science literacy, permaculture education, crowd-funding of scientific research, permaculture and metaphysics, farms and financial permaculture, and his work as an agroecologist and how that discipline informs his teaching and practice of permaculture. Quite a bit to cover in the 45 minutes or so of our conversation. If you'd like to learn more about Rafter and his work, first listen to this interview as an introduction and then delve in deep by visiting his website at LiberationEcology.org. Do you know someone farming with permaculture? Are you someone who is farming with permaculture? I'd love to hear about your work and experiences of applying this system of regenerative design to your efforts. Leave a comment below or: E-mail: The Permaculture Podcast Resources: Liberation Ecology The #SciFund Challenge Scott McCloud and Understanding Comics

Resources
Financial Permaculture Course
Financial Permaculture Registration
Eric Toensmeier and Perennial Solutions
David Rose and the Unified Field Corporation
Jude Hobbs and Cascadia Permaculture
Johnathan Cloud and the Center for Leadership in Sustainability exploring the small farm dream
Emily Kawano and United for a Fair Economy
Lisa Fernandes, Maine Permaculture practitioner.
Sprawl Repair Manual
Agrarian Urbanism
Green Plastics

Though the conversation is largely U.S. -centric, the methods and actions apply readily to any democratic form of government where the power of the system arises from the will of the people. I was introduced to Bonnie after a family member attended the Pennsylvania Women in Agriculture Network Woman to Woman conference. There Bonnie gave a presentation “An Activist? Me?” about the way to change legislation through local ordinances and grassroots organizing, in a way that empowers the individual to work towards making a difference.

When my wife got back from the conference Bonnie was the first person we talked about and with the most passion. For my wife, Bonnie struck a chord with the “I can do this!” perspective. With my wife so enthused, I knew I had to talk with Bonnie. I'm glad I did. Our conversation, to me, flows with a narrative beginning with her bio and the years before her birth and the multi-generational push that set Bonnie down the road to become a Librarian and to work for change. Moving forward from that time we receive various introductions from the people and organizations that impacted her life and the actions for meaningful change. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Roger Swain, the man in the red suspenders and former host of The Victory Garden on public television, or read any of his books or articles, but I love his writing for exactly the same reason I liked this conversation: both seem so casual and easy going that I didn't realize the wealth of knowledge being imparted on me until everything was said and done and a few minutes, hours, or maybe even days later we have that “Aha! Moment.” With Roger this usually related to gardening techniques, but with Bonnie it's how to engage in a grassroots, bottom up way that brings people together towards that common cause. If you like this interview with Bonnie and find value in it, please share it with others. Send a link to your friends or family, post it to Facebook or Twitter, or whatever other ways you use to reach people in this wonderfully connected digital age.

Resources
The Alliance for Democracy
New England Alliance for Democracy
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)
The Daniel Pennock Democracy Schools
Move to Amend
Rights Based Ordinance Examples (A list from the CELDF)
A Call to Citizens: Real Populists Please Stand Up by Ronnie Duggar
When Corporations Rule The World by David Korten
No More Prisons by William Upski Wimsatt
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

My guest for this episode is Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Food Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the word about nutrient dense farming methods, nutrient dense foods, and ultimately to develop a device so growers and consumers to measure the nutritional quality of food in a way that is backed by scientific evidence. If this is your first exposure to this idea, you may want to start with the episode "An Introduction to Nutrient Dense Farming with Mary Johnson." Mary provides an excellent overview of the ideas at the core of the discussion with Dan Kittredge and the wrok of the Bionutrient Food Association. Resources: Bionutrient Food Assocation Remineralize the Earth Northeast Organic Farming Association

I highly recommend you start there: Carbon Farming, Part I. Once you are done, come back, listen to this episode, check out the resources, and start capturing and storing carbon as soon as you are able.

Resources
Biochar Northeast Biochar (Wiki)
Terra Preta (Wiki)

My guest for this episode is Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country. We talk about his background, the book, his upcoming tour schedule, and he answers two listener questions. The first is about how much Zone 5 Wilderness we need for sustainable civilization. The second is a discussion of the third permaculture Ethic: Fair Share. Book Tour Dates and Locations Friday, Dec. 7th: Columbus, Ohio. A free lecture at Ohio State University from 7-9pm in the Agricultural Engineering Building, Rm 100 located at 590 Woody Hayes Dr. Saturday, Dec. 8th: Cleveland, Ohio. A permaculture seminar from 1-3pm. For more information contact Jonathan Hull: 330-559-4628 Sunday, Dec. 9th: Dundas, Ontario. A permaculture workshop at Old 99 Farm, 1580 Old Hwy 99, Ontario, from 1-5pm. Contact Ian Graham for more information: 905-537-0163 Monday, Dec. 10th: Ithaca, New York A free lecture at the Cornell Cooperative Extension at 615 Willow Street, Ithaca, from 7-9pm. Tuesday, Dec. 11th: Albany, New York A free lecture at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany at 405 Washington Ave., Albany, from 7-9pm. Wednesday, Dec. 12th: Montpelier, Vermont A lecture at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, 130 Main St, Montpelier, from 7-9pm. A donation of $3-5 is requested. Thursday, Dec. 13th: Brattleboro, Vermont An author reading and book signing at the Brattleboro Food Coop, 2 Main St., Brattleboro, from 1:30-3pm. Please bring a lunch. Thursday, Dec. 13th: Amherst, Massachusetts A free talk at Food for Thought Books, 106 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, from 6-730pm. Friday, Dec. 14th: Brooklyn, New York A free lecture at The Commons Brooklyn, 388 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, from 7-9pm. Saturday, Dec. 15th Philadelphia, Pa. An urban permaculture workshop co-taught with Phil Forsyth. This will be held at the Awbury Arboretum, 1 Awbury Dr, Philadephia, from 1-4pm. The contact is Phil Forsyth: 917-371-0547. You can also visit the workship page at the Arboretum's Website to register. The cost is $20. Saturday, Dec. 15th: Philadelphia, Pa. A free lecture at the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, from 7:30-9pm. Sunday, Dec. 16th: Harrisonburg, Va. A free talk at The Clementine Cafe Lounge, 153 S. Main St., Harrisonburg, from 7-9pm. You can also check out Peter's updated tour schedule at PermacultureHandbook.com.

His work is to make a practical business out of permaculture and move into the production of integrated designs. Dan's work showed up in my inbox one morning as a link to his article at the Permaculture News: "A Journey of Transition: Becoming a Professional Permaculture Designer." The first of a series of planned articles about his trip down this new road, including the trials and tribulations along the way. We discuss all of this, and more, in the interview. If, after listening to this interview, you would like to contact Dan, you can leave a message in the article linked above, or email him directly: danjwfrench (at) gmail (dot) com Laying the foundations for your own permaculture business and think Dan's coach could help you? Find Nick Huggins at Permaculture Business World. As always, you can reach me at: The Permaculture Podcast or give me a call:

Nestled away in the mountains of North Carolina, Chuck is one of the elders of the American permaculture movement, as he was among the first U.S. students to take a Permaculture design course and did so with Bill Mollison. Chuck's perspective on Bill and the direction originally intended for Permaculture, including here, provide insight on where to take this gift of permaculture moving forward. In particular we discuss:

• His Background in Permaculture
• International Permaculture at The Source Farm in Jamaica
• Intentional Communities vs. Eco-villages
• Resiliency Through the Village Model and a Neo-Horticultural Revival

Resources Creating a Life Together by Diana Leafe Christian. Gardening Angels Growing Power Upcoming Interview A Journey of Transition: Becoming a Professional Permaculture Designer by Dan French