During the conversation today we open by talking about the development of a quarter acre food forest in Clifton Park, and the requirement for grant funding and organizing volunteers in order to be successful with the project, and the permaculture and primitives skills classes they offer. The second half we dig into one of those courses in detail, The Forager’s Apprentice program Victoria is running, which leads to a discussion about the role of blending academic rigour with hands on experiences. Throughout this conversation we move between the practical and the philosophical and how both play an important role in practicing permaculture and creating deep experiences. You can find out more about what they are doing, including the Food Forest Journal at CharmCityFarms.org. 
If you are in the area I recommend getting in touch with Eric and Victoria and going to visit the food forest when they are having one of the regularly Friday field days. If you can take a class with them, including The Forager’s Apprentice when it re--opens next year, I highly recommend it. You’ll find a complete listing of the different kinds of classes they offer in the show notes. If the course you are interested in isn’t listed on their website get in touch and let them know. Also sign up for their newsletter so you can see what is happening when. I’ve known Eric for sometime through email exchanges and following his work through the Charm City Farms website. Knowing that he had a viable project going was why I wanted to sit down and interview him in person. After going down and spending a day with Victoria and Eric I was left with a positive impression of both Victoria and Eric, as well as what it is they are doing and the authenticity of their work. The food forest is in really good shape and as we walked through they were naming the various plants using both the common name and latin binomial. They also pointed out not only the successes, but also the failures. They raised questions about why one plant did well as an outlier, but then did not thrive in what should be, by all accounts, the ideal space for that same species and cultivar. When questioned about community engagement, it came with a humility and understanding of the difficulties of coming in as an apparent outsider and the need to integrate into a place to find out who the real leaders in a given neighborhood are in order to get the right buy-in. I asked about population and demographics and Eric was able to answer them immediately and in great detail. We talked about organizations and people and various initiatives in the city that went well beyond what you heard in the interview and what Victoria and Eric could bring to bear while we were casually walking around and discussing the two sites they are working with was encyclopedic. They’ve done the groundwork and really integrated themselves into what they are doing and taken on the roles they’ve decided for themselves and continue to look for ways to make the changes necessary to be more effective, including considering buying and renovating a home in the community near the second site they are looking to develop, where the red brick barn is located so they can be close to the space and also members of the community. We all find inspiration in different places for the work we do. I know Ethan Hughes is an inspiration for many as he and his community are able to live within the gift economy, without gas or electricity. In conversations I’ve had with Ethan off the air he knows, however, that the Possibility Alliance model isn’t something that most people can do. It is too radical of a shift to accomplish in one lifetime. What Eric and Victoria are doing in the city, in place, is a path many many more can follow. I’m reminded of Bob Theis and his comment, which I’ll paraphrase, that there are plenty of good places we can repair and restore that already exist, rather than inflicting ourselves on some place that doesn’t need us. Now that worldwide the majority of people live in cities and metropolitan areas, urban permaculture practitioners are more vital than ever. If you are in a place that needs you and we can work together to build the place you want to live, let me know. Get in touch. Email: The Permaculture Podcast Send me a letter: The Permaculture Podcast The Permaculture Podcast Up next week is Adam Brock to discuss the role of a guest editor with Permaculture Design Magazine. Until then, take care of Earth, yourself, and each other. Charm City Farms Classes and Workshops Permaculture Design Certification Course (72 Hours) Wild Plant Food & Medicine (30 Hours) Wild Edibles Workshops Forage Report Forage Plant ID Botany for Foragers Mushroom ID 101 Wild Edibles Cooking Demo Wild Tea Party Woodscraft Friction Fire I - Bow Drill Friction Fire II - Hand Drill Tracking 101 Working With Bone Utility Plant Walk Cordage from Plant Fiber Fresh Materials Vine Basket Mugwort: Craft, Medicine, Food, Smoke Cooking + Poison: Milkweed, Pokeweed, and Bamboo Traditional Bow Making Kids Programs Primitive Skills & Nature Studies Hunter Gatherer Summer Wild Ones Nature Exploration Farm and/or Homestead Tree Grafting Holistic Orchard Management Integrated Forest Garden Design Cubic Inch Food Garden Intensive Mushroom Log Inoculation Homeskills Herb, Fruit and Flower Wines Fathers Day Ale Making Cheese Making Class Round One Cheese Making Class Round Two Bread Making Soap Making Personal Care Products Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies Salves, Syrups, and Tinctures Canning Demystified Knife Sharpening 101 Rabbit Processing Basic Vehicle Repair Resources Foragers of Baltimore (Meetup Group) Baltimore Orchard Project Charm City Farms (Meetup Group) Baltimore Green Space Olivia Fite (Clinical Herbalist)
