Our conversation was conducted over one of the few pieces of technology at the site, a landline telephone located in a space that is separated from the rest of the living area. Ethan, his wife, and the others who share the homestead with them operate the on a gift economy. The short and quick way to explain this is that they give gifts freely and have others give gifts in return, though not necessarily on a one to one or quid pro quo basis, which we clarify more fully in the interview. Though it initially sounded impossible to me, they are able to do this and support 9 full time adults and 2 children on the site, while still receiving over 1500 guests through their space for tours and classes. I wanted to call this episode Radical Simplicity, but changed it to Radical Possibilities because the powerful message that came through from the conversation was the power we have to create change when we open ourselves to the numerous of opportunites available and of human beings ability to creativily solve problems, especially when guided in a meaningful way. Overall this interview challenged many of my previous notions about the personal requirements to transform the world. Many of the examples I encountered previously dealt with people who spent years saving, paying off debt, and then leaving the western lifestyle of working to live, though they retained a certain level of wealth and financial independence. Ethan made his changes utilizing non-financial capital, relying on friends, neighbors, and other contacts to do good work. He and the community he lives in made, and continue to make, choices that allow them to live freely on very little of money, but with lives full of abundance. Ethan and his community are an experiment and this lifestyle may not work for everyone. Please do not compare your life and choices to his or anyone else. Take the steps necessary to live your better life by your own making. David Holmgren's 12 Principles of Permaculture 1. Observe and Interact. 2. Catch and Store Energy. 3. Obtain a Yield. 4. Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback. 5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services 6. Produce No Waste 7. Design from Patterns to Details 8. Integrate Rather than Segregate 9. Use Small and Slow Solutions 10. Use and Value Diversity 11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal 12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change. Ethan's Contact Information The Possibility Alliance 85 Edgecomb Road Belfast, ME 04915 207-338-5719 Resources Aprovecho Charles Eisenstein Sun Oven Contact the Show Email: The Permaculture Podcast Voicemail:

He co-organized the 2012 Carbon Farming Course - carbonfarmingcourse.com - in Chestnut Ridge, NY. Connor is also completing an M.S. in Natural Resources and Ecological Planning at the University of Vermont and writing a manual on agroforestry systems for the northeast US. This is the first part of a two part series. Part one focuses on an introduction carbon farming, some numbers on the potential quantities of carbon that can be stored, and the role of trees and perennial plants. The follow up interview with Connor, planned for October, 2012, will pick up on some details from this episode and then delve fully into the use of soil for carbon farming. After listening to this episode you have questions for Connor to answer in the second half of this series, call the voicemail line: or send me an email: The Permaculture Podcast.

Resources
Connor Stedman
Carbon Farming Course Silvopasture (USDA National Agroforestry Center)
Alley Cropping (USDA National Agroforestry Center)
Keyline Design
Stone Barns Center home of the Young Farmers Conference.
Eric Toensmeier
Dr. Kat Anderson author of Tending the Wild
Haber-Bosch Process (Wiki)

We begin with her background and weave through her story of working in Zuccotti Park with the Occupy movement, including the establishment of a gray-water system to handle waste, and into larger systems systems implementing and experiencing change that involves the people part of the process. We close things down with a discussion of permablitzes: rapid fire building of permaculture systems in a day, that blends a variety of people and levels of experience into a work crew that learns hands-on. Through the conversation, Lisa provides numerous examples of technologies, systems, and worldwide movements making a more just and equitable world. Lisa's current projects include Mobile Design Lab and Permaculture For Ecological And Social Transformation, or FEAST. The Permaculture Feast is a weekend permaculture design course being offered in Northampton, MA from September to December, 2012. If you would like to meet Lisa and learn more about Permaculture, this F.E.A.S.T. is a fine way to do so. Find out more about her and these projects at mobiledesignlab.org and permaculturefeast.org

Resources
Mobile Design Lab
Mobile Design Lab Facebook Page
Permaculture F.E.A.S.T.
The Occupy Greywater Video from One Pack Productions
Energy Bikes
The Energy Bike Story
Participatory Budgeting
Social Ecology
U.S. Worker Coops

Their work is unbiased, peer-reviewed, and readily available to the public without charge. After talking with Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, I took his suggestion to contact Dr. Sweeney and his team to discuss the proper width of, and species for, riparian corridors along streams and rivers. As someone whose home borders a stream, and a permaculture practitioner who seeks to care for the earth for myself and future generations of all life, I wanted to know the state of the current research for how to best handle protecting this waterway and to share that information with others so they might do the same for their own. Within our conversation you will hear about Dr. Sweeney's background, which speaks specifically to this question, and the work he's done to confirm this. We also discuss his basic rules for establishing a riparian corridor and the importance of maintaining fresh water. The Stroud Water Reseach Center provides numerous free resources for anyone interested in the issues of freshwater. Though they are located in Pennsylvania, they do work all over the world. I recommend you go and read the material available. You find yourself more knowledgeable and able to design a better world.

Resources:
Stroud Water Research Center
Dr. Bernard Sweeney

That book brought Scott to my attention. My wife picked it up from the library and thought it would prove interesting with the urban work I was involved in. Like Rachel Kaplan's book, Urban Homesteading, flipping through the pages of Toolbox for Sustainable City Living, I said to myself, “This is a permaculture book”. Reading a bit further along, my suspicions proved correct: Toolbox for Sustainable City Living came out of Stacy and Scott's work in transforming a portion of Austin Texas, building working systems in an Urban environement. Though the book lead me to look up Scott as a guest for the show, his current work is why I asked him on. Scott and Stacy offer a course called R.U.S.T.: Regenerative Urban Sustainability Training. Take the important parts of Permaculture adapted for city living, strip away the extraneous bits, and package it up into something taught in a weekend. A new model for transmitting permaculture to those people who need it most, without the time or financial requirements of a full PDC. Check out the interview where we discuss Scott' background, the framework of the R.U.S.T., and our considerations for moving sustainable design forward. If you like what you hear and want to take a class contact Scott and Stacy and you can go visit them at The Radix Center in Albany New York, or make arrangement for them to come to you. Regardless of the path you choose, their methods will empower you and your community.

Resources:
The Radix Center R.U.S.T.: Regenerative Urban Sustainability Training
ReCode Oregon
Food Desert Locator (USDA ERS)
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Fields (Wiki)
Right-To-Farm Laws Fact Sheet (PDF)

Together they offer classes on permaculture, natural building, homesteading, edible forest gardens, earthworks, and many other topics of interest for anyone seeking a lifestyle that consumes less energy and lives closer to the earth. They also offer professional design and build services for permaculture and edible forest gardens, eco-education, base mapping, natural building, and soil fertility management. I was first introduced to Cliff through one of my PDC instructors, Ben Weiss. After my PDC, I looked for a permaculture teacher training and saw that Cliff and Jennifer planned to host a class taught by Jude Hobbs and Andrew Millison through Spiral Ridge Permaculture. Though it didn't work out to attend that session, the time that Cliff and Jennifer took to answer my questions and keep me informed left a positive impression on me. I sought him out as a guest when relaunching the show in mid-2012. Fortunately, he involved in a great deal of hands on projects both teaching and working on natural building, a topic of interest to me. My original plan for this interview focused on the various forms of natural building, such as cordwood, cob, post and beam, and so on, with a corresponding discussion of the techniques involved. However, while we spoke it became clear that, like every situation in permaculture, the applications of natural building are unique to the building site and needs of the inhabitants. As a result our conversation turned into to a general one, looking instead for the ways to gain a knowledge of building with natural materials and touching on some of the legal pitfalls and other complications of doing so. Disclaimer: Before you rush out and start building, please call your local government or administrative body and find out the legalilty of natural building in your area including building codes and any necessary permits. I don't want you or anyone else to run into legal trouble because of code or other violations. If you have questions, don't be afraid to consult a lawyer familiar with construction practices. These professionals who deal with the law. If you find that the law isn't to your liking or need, you can also work with your government to change it. Sometimes all it takes is one person making the right phone call to make all the difference. We mention several times in this episode that good natural building starts with a good design. Take your time, work through your needs, and draft your thoughts until they become clear. You'll thank yourself for it in the long run. As Cliff says, the little details bite you in the end.

Resources
Spiral Ridge Permaculture Cliff and Jennifer Davis's Website.
The Last Straw The International Quarterly Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building
Building with Cob: A Step-by-Step Guide (Amazon.com)
Natural Building Network
Other Natural Walls
ReCode Oregon
Timber Framers Guild

Web Resources on Natural Building Techniques
Cob
Cob (Wiki)
Building a Cob House
Cordwood Masonry
Cordwood Construction (Wiki)
Cordwood Masonry
F.A.Q. About Cordwood Masonry
Earthbags
Earthbag Construction (Wiki)
Earthbag Building Index Promotes and shares information on Earthbag building.
How Earthbag Homes Work A How Stuff Works article
Lime Plaster
My Recipe for Lime Putty and Lime Plaster
How to Make Lime Building Plaster (E-how)
Post and Beam or Timber Framing
Timber Framing (Wiki)
A House With No Nails: Building a Timber-Frame Home
Raising a 12x16 Timber Frame
Round Pole Pole Houses Round Timber Introduction (PDF) From the Great Britain Forestry Commission.
Slip Fill
Light Straw-Clay
Light and Limey Clay Wood Chip Slip
Clay Infill Systems
Stone Masonry
Stonemasonry (Wiki)
Prehistoric Construction Techniques A resource full of pictures showing low-tech stonemasonry technologies from throughout history and around the world.
The Different Techniques Used in Stone Masonry
Strawbale
Staw-bale Construction (Wiki)
Straw Bale House Construction
Thatching
The Thatcher's Craft A 10 part pdf download from the Herefordshire College of Technology of The Thatcher's Craft, a complete book on Thatching.

Crowdfunding via the internet, most well known due to the site Kickstarter, allows a community of people to come together and support various efforts through donations, which can be as little as a dollar. Projects that might not secure a loan through traditional financing still raises needed funds to proceed. Crowdfunding forms the core of our conversation, which focuses on an in-depth understanding of We The Trees, including the funding method, payment processors, project submission and approval, and how you can help raise awareness of this new venture. We begin, however, with an introduction to Christian, including how he found Permaculture, the creation of the Panya Project, and the collaborative effort that went into forming Terra Genesis International.

Resources
We The Trees
The Panya Project
Terra Genesis International
Lost Valley
Soil Food Web (Dr. Elain Ingham)

With a background in plant and soil sciences, Mary has spent the last several years working with conservation organizations in South America, Latin America, and Mexico to work on mitigating the impacts of climate change on local populations by aiding communities to gain access to funds and help return wealth to their home region. My desire to speak with Mary arose from my conversation with Rico Zook on practicing permaculture internationally. Her experiences are very different from someone who would teach around the world and lend a different perspective. We discuss that and how to get involved, however, a large part of our conversation is about climate change and the need to build human relationships through communication. Mary's travels allowed her to see firsthand the disruptions occurring because of climate change. In a world where we control our environment with a push of a button and choose what to eat based on what's at the supermarket, or local restaurant, these problems are not self-evident, but they are coming. To understand that, and make the changes to solve these problems, we need to care for the people involved and communicate clearly from their own perspective and their experiences to bridge the gap between ourselves as individuals and build relationships with communities. However, our conversation is not without hope. The roots of Permaculture are bifurcated between the indigenous knowledge of the past, and the growing understanding afforded by science brought into a synergistic holistic system that values the world, people, and all life. Permaculture provides ways to find and implement solutions for the changing world. Thankfully, there are governments and organizations that are beginning to see that we have a way.

How do I get involved with International Permaculture?

• Become Knowledgable: Read and Research
• Match your skills to the organizational needs
• Volunteer
• Learn additional languages.

Resources
Watershed Resource Consultants
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degredation (REDD)
Terra Genesis International
Wildlife Conservation Society
Winrock International

Dr. Tallamy's work changed my view of both what “native plant” means, and the role of permaculture practitioners as designers have to use them in the landscape. I originally began from a position that “exotic and invasive plants are here, we should use them as best we can, and manage them in areas under our purview” and became one of “consider native plants first and foremost wherever possible, to the point of replacing non-natives, and removing invasives.”

This change occurred because Dr. Tallamy's definition of a native plant, which starts off our interview, isn't arbitrary and makes sense in the context of the number of relationships I seek to build into a design. The amount of diversity increases because of the insects, birds, and other creatures these plants invite into the landscape. All of that is supported by large amounts of clear evidence. You can hear some of that evidence with a personal story from Dr. Tallamy about Carolina Chickadees in his own back yard and where that research took him. In addition to native vs. non-native plants and the impact they have on the environment, we also discuss the movement of flora and fauna due to climate change, invasion biology vs conservation or restoration biology, the evolutionary time-line for animals to adapt to introduced plants, which is much slower than you might expect, the role of science in education in understanding these issues, and some resources for learning more about what you can do to find out more about your own native plants.

As permaculture practitioners, or those with an interest in this form of regenerative design, the first place we begin our knowledge is with the ethics. First among those is earth care. As you listen to this interview and pursue more on the topic, consider that ethic and the role that native plants has on fulfilling that ethic by building a more dynamic, diverse, and stable food web for other life, and in turn our own. However this conversation is framed, it is likely to be a contentious one. Let's work together to add to the discussion so that permaculture can continue to evolve and grow with the new knowledge and opportunities we are presented with. Join in by leaving a comment for this show. Together we can continue to design a better world.

Resources:
Ernst Convervation Seeds
Stroud Water Research Center
William Cullina

If you would like to learn more about native plants in your area, start with your favorite search engine. Search for "Native Plants in " and finish that sentence with your state or territory.

The interview in this episode is with one of my teachers Rico Zook. We met at the teacher training I took in 2011, along with Jude Hobbs and Andrew Millison. You can hear about that in experience in my review. I wanted to talk to Rico about his experiences with itinerant teaching of permaculture. He travels all over the world, to India, Cambodia, the U.S., and Jordan, to instruct others and along the way fosters relationships, build community, and overcomes his personal assumptions to connect with his students and their needs. We range over here and there in this conversation, but begin with his introduction to Permaculture in New Mexico and the Llama foundation and end with his thought for all of us: to look around and ask ourselves, "What can I do better?" You can learn more about Rico, including his upcoming travel and class schedule, at his website: I-Permaculture. People, places, and information mentioned in this interview: Ben Haggard Build Here Now Lama Foundation Regenesis Group