In this stimulating conversation with Regenerative Land Designer and Educator Javan Bernakevitch, we discuss life design and why it's important. According to Javan, if we don’t design our lives, someone else will.

What are the signs of an undesigned life? Some of them include: not knowing what you’re good at, a lack of direction, being directed by past events, problems saying no, and having a hard time making decisions.

In this interview, we talk about practicing values-based decision making and the impact that can have on taking charge of our time and prioritizing what’s most important to us. Don’t worry, if you’re unclear about your values, Javan gives tips on how to discover them!

Since 2013, Javan has worked with individuals providing assistance on life design and how to design your life to work with, not against, your nature.

Javan Bernakevitch is the founder and operator of Permaculture BC, an education and community hub in British Columbia, Canada. The principle consultant at All Points Land Design, Javan works on small to large scale landscapes.

For information on Javan and his work visit: All Points Design.ca and PermacultureBC.com.

I interviewed Javan about Spilanthes for my Plant Report podcast a few years ago. You can listen here.

Join us on a journey to India to explore the inspiring Beejvan project, a remarkable two acre demonstration farm and community-based initiative in Karjat, Maharashtra, India.

In this interview with co-founder Sanjana Krishnan, discover how Beejvan is revitalizing the land, promoting biodiversity, and empowering the local community.

Sanjana was inspired to start Beejvan when she returned to Karjat a, a place she had loved as a child, to find that the rivers had dried up, soils were depleted, the forest was mostly gone, and that local farmers were suffering.

Sanjana then made it her mission to repair what has been broken through Beejvan, a farmer-led project dedicated to seed saving, land regeneration, ethnobotany, reforestation, and holistic agriculture practices. An integral part of Beejvan is working closely with the local inhabitants of Karjat, the Thakars who are traditional herbalists, healers, and keepers of sacred groves.

Get ready to be inspired by this incredible story of hope and renewal and find out how you can help grow this beautiful project.

To read more about Beejvan, visit them at: https://springprize.org/shortlisted/beejvan/

You can also follow them on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/beejvan/

More on Sanjana: Sanjana Krishnan is a Political Sociologist with a passion for regeneration. Her work focuses on the potential and impact of local initiatives in dealing with socio-environmental concerns for India. She is the cofounder of the Beejvan Biodiversity and Collaborative Research Foundation. Sanjana has worked/volunteered with a range of conservation/permaculture projects across India and Germany. A winner of the Erasmus scholarship, UGC Ph.D. Fellowship, and the German Chancellors' Fellowship, Sanjana has a Master's in Rural Development and a Ph.D. in Political Science.

Beejvan recently won a Lush Spring Prize for Intentional Projects. The Lush Spring Prize honors those who repair the earth’s damaged systems and leave the world lusher than they found it. For more information and to see if your project is eligible for a prize, visit: SpringPrize.org.

Growing an herbal apothecary garden at home is fun and easy. Learn how to start your own in this informative interview with longtime organic farmer Alena Steen.

We begin the episode by talking about the benefits of growing medicinal herbs and then move into the nitty gritty of soil preparation, watering, and harvesting. Alena explains the concept of "benevolent neglect" and talks about how this type of growing can actually increase the medicinal qualities of herbs. 

Alena shares some of her favorite plants with us including Tulsi, Calendula, Ashwagandha, Lemon Balm, Yarrow, and Rosemary. We chat about how to make herbal medicines like oxymels, tinctures, salves, and herbal honeys. 

Whether you have a large piece of land, a garden, or a small pot on a patio- we hope this episode inspires you to grow your own herbal apothecary! 

Alena Steen has been farming and gardening organically for over ten years. She and her partner Danny are the owners of the herbal medicine company Night Heron Farm. Night Heron Farm offers an herbal and flower CSA with plants and products from their farms in Carpinteria, CA. Learn more at NightHeronFarm.org. 

How much space does it take to be happy?  That's a question that author Shay Salomon answers in her book, Little House on a Small Planet. Salomon and photographer Nigel Valdez spent over 8 years documenting small houses across North America. Little House on a Small Planet is a beautiful book that explains how living small is healthier for the earth and "frees up your mind, your wallet, and your soul."

Nadine Artemis, aromatherapist and co-owner of Living Libations, talks about her love of the plant world, the ways in which essential oils can contribute to good health, and how she was busted -twice, at two different airports- for the possession of raw, organic, Fair Trade chocolate.

Part 2 of a 2 part interview with David Holmgren, the co-originator of Permaculture. In part two of this interview, Holmgren talks about his book Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change, and shares with us his ideas of what living in an energy descent world might be like, and why "the party may not be over".  Interview by Jill Cloutier of Sustainable World, and Wes Roe of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network.

Part 1 of a 2 part interview with David Holmgren, the co-originator of Permaculture.  Holmgren is co-author of Permaculture One, the book that introduced Permaculture to the world.  In part one of this interview, Holmgren speaks about the beginnings of Permaculture, his home Melliodora; one of the best documented and well known Permaculture demonstration sites, and his book Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change.  Interview by Jill Cloutier of Sustainable World, and Wes Roe of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network.

Paul Kephart, Executive Director of Rana Creek- Habitat Restoration and Living Architecture, speaks about his mission to restore biodiversity and preserve healthy ecosystems in the city and built environment. Kephart is an expert in the fields of green roofs, living walls, and watershed management systems.

Interview with herbalist, author, and teacher Kami McBride about the power of plants and ways to integrate herbal medicine into your daily life. Kami speaks about some of her favorite herbs, the perils of plant poaching, and how to be sure that the herbal medicine you buy is sustainably harvested.

Will you be at the mall on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year? Interview with Brian Highley, of Adbusters, about Buy Nothing Day (BND); a 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending. BND is a worldwide campaign that asks consumers to stop buying, just for a day. Also, interviews with people on the street about how they feel about shopping. Interview from November 2005, but still as timely as ever!

Brad Lancaster, rainwater harvesting expert and Permaculture designer talks about how to plant the rain, water harvesting earth works, and his seminal books,, Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volumes 1 & 2 .

Common Vision Fruit Tree Tour makes a stop at Monte Vista Elementary School in Santa Barbara, California. Playing drums, singing, and planting trees with elementary school students; Common Vision members talk about their journey through California on a veggie oil bus.

Bryan Hope, founder of Sustainable Vine Wine Tours, talks about organic and biodynamic methods of producing wine. Hope describes a Sustainable Vine tour and shares with us the differences between conventional and sustainable vineyards.

Episode 160: Lonny Grafman has worked with hundreds of communities around the globe assisting them with projects across a broad spectrum of sustainability. In this inspiring episode Lonny reflects on his decades of work and shares his knowledge and experience about how to build more resilient communities. 

Lonny talks about his early beginnings as an activist, how he became a “practivist,” and why he believes that empowering community resilience is the most vital component in creating and implementing lasting and successful design solutions. We chat about the value of Point Positive Design, the importance of listening and observation, and how we can all participate in the great and necessary work of increasing the health and resiliency of ourselves, our communities, and the ecosystems that we depend on. 

Lonny is the founder of the Appropedia website and author of the books To Catch the Rain and the forthcoming To Catch the Sun. 

Lonny Grafman is an Instructor of Environmental Resources Engineering and Appropriate Technology at Humboldt State University; the founder of the Practivistas full immersion, abroad, resilient community technology program; the Advisor and Project Manager (and at times fundraiser) for the epi-apocalyptic city art projects Waterpod, Flock House, WetLand, and Swale; the managing director of the north coast hub of BlueTechValley, supporting energy saving entrepreneurs; the director of the AWEsome Business Competition for groups working on Agriculture, Water and Energy in Northern California; and the Founder and President of the Appropedia Foundation, sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives.

Lonny has taught university courses in six countries and presented in dozens more. He has worked and led teams on hundreds of domestic and international projects-from solar power to improved cookstoves, from micro-hydro power to rainwater catchment, from earthen construction to plastic bottle schoolrooms. 

Learn more about Lonny here: appropedia.org/User:Lonny

Other Links: 

Paul Polak website

Out of Poverty book by Paul Polak

Appropedia.org

To Catch the Rain

To Catch the Sun

Dianna Cohen, famous for her art pieces made with plastic bags, talks about her passion for art and the environment. Cohen, a Los Angeles based artist, discusses her use of the ubiquitous plastic bag and why she uses recycled and reused art materials.
Also, features audio commentaries by 3rd graders on the problems of Plastic in the Ocean.

Interview with Peter Murage, founder of MOOF (Mount Kenya Organic Farming). MOOF is a farm and demonstration/training center for small holder farmers located in Nanyuki, Kenya. Margie Bushman and Wesley Roe of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network join Jill Cloutier and Peter Murage for this interview.

Interview with Darren Doherty, Australian Permaculture designer and teacher, and Guner Tautrim, owner of Orella Ranch on the Gaviota Coast. Doherty and Tautrim discuss Keyline and how it can reduce global warming, and rebuild topsoil.

Toby Hemenway, author of the best selling book Gaia's Garden, tells us how to create beautiful and functional ecosystems in our own backyards. Hemenway, a Permaculture teacher, writer, and lecturer, talks about basic Permaculture principles, guilds, and how to build soil fertility.

Step into the vibrant and beautiful world of living color with natural dyer, designer, and artist Sasha Duerr.

Sasha takes us on a journey from Soil to Studio. We learn how creating and working with dyes made from plants, seaweed, and other natural materials can increase our ecological and botanical knowledge, foster collaboration, and have a beneficial impact on ecosystems. 

Natural dyeing offers us multiple opportunities to participate in solutions. Food scraps and green waste can transform old clothes into “new”. Instead of being buried at landfills and emitting VOC’s, organic materials like onion skins, pomegranate rinds, and citrus peels can be re-purposed into natural dyes that revitalize our wardrobes and lessen our carbon footprint. Some dyes can even be poured into the garden when finished and used as a fertilizer.

Unwanted weeds in your yard or invasive plants in your neighborhood can also be turned into color. One of my favorite dyes is Sour Grass. I look forward to seeing this ubiquitous plant every winter. I collect loads of it and dye old clothes a neon yellow that really glows. (Note: Be sure to identify plants before using them as dyes- just in case they are toxic.)

Sasha talks about a few of her favorite dyes including Loquat, Eucalyptus leaves, and Redwood Cones, all very appropriate plants for beginning dyers. We also learn about some of the palettes from her new book Natural Color. I especially loved the Pollinator and Perfume Palettes. They will make you swoon!

What color story would you like your clothes to tell? 

Sasha Duerr is an artist and designer who works with plant-based palettes, natural dyes, and place-based recipes. She is an Adjunct Professor at the California College of the Arts with a joint appointment in textiles and fine arts where she designs curriculum and teaches courses in the intersection of natural color, slow food, slow fashion, and social practice.

Her work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad. In 2007, Sasha founded the Permacouture Institute to encourage the exploration of regenerative design practices for fashion and textiles. Her extensive work with plant-based palettes and ecological principles through local land-based sources and community has been featured in many publications She is the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, Natural Color, and Natural Palettes.Discover more about Sasha and her work at SashaDuerr.com.

Sasha mentions the following references in this episode:

Books by Kate Fletcher

Fibershed

Greenpeace 

Botanical Colors

Juan Rojas of the Institute of Mesoamerican Permaculture and the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador speaks about his work in the Campesino a Campesino (Farmer to Farmer) movement and the impact that Permaculture is having in Central America. http://perma.nillian.com.uk/
www.permacultura.org

Former trainer of television's Flipper, Ric O'Barry has spent the last 37 years working to stop the capture and confinement of dolphins. O'Barry is the subject of the new documentary, The Cove. Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the film exposes the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan and the cruelty of the captive dolphin trade.

Award winning international permaculture pioneer, teacher, designer, and educator Robyn Francis speaks about sustainable aid and permaculture for the 2/3 World. Robyn is the creator of Djanbung Gardens, Australia's leading permaculture center. Interview by Jill Cloutier of Sustainable World Radio and Wesley Rowe and Margie Bushman of the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network. 

Vermicomposting expert Kali Cowgill speaks with Jill Cloutier about how to compost food scraps using red wiggler worms. Jill Cloutier, with co-host Suzanne Cloutier, interviews a Lumbrucus terrestris earthworm. (Thanks to Kelly Burch, voice of Lumbrucus.)

Warren Brush, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm, speaks with Jill Cloutier about his experiences working with children and nature, the importance of mentoring, and how he started the Wilderness Youth Project in Santa Barbara, California.

Episode 158: Longtime organic farmer Mark Sturges believes that when we create a better habitat for beneficial insects, we create a better habitat for ourselves. Mark is a master compost maker whose compost is filled with life. When Mark creates compost, he encourages the "whole neighborhood" to move in. The cast of characters in Mark's neighborhood are vast and include beetles, rotifers, fungi, nematodes, springtails, enchytraeids, and Beauveria bassiana- an insect "eating" fungi.

Mark and I chat about compost tea and how its application can re-invigorate plants, soil, and large areas of land. You'll hear about Mark's successful use of compost tea in a vineyard suffering from a Phylloxera infestation. Mark's tea was sprayed on a Pinot block and the grapes were saved!

Mark is a so-called entrepreneurial "Entra-Manure" who fills us on the importance of manure in the compost loop. He tells us why we shouldn't use chemical de-wormers on our animals and what effect these products have on beneficial insects, especially beetles. In turn, a lack of beneficials can lead to devastating impacts on pasture land, soil, animals, and climate.

After hearing Mark talk about beetles, maybe you'll obtain Beetle Enlightenment like I did! I now have a deep appreciation for these unsung heroes of decomposition who also have an important role to play in mitigating climate change.

Mark Sturges makes and ships organic compost and compost creatures nationwide from his Chili Nervanos farm in Bandon, Oregon.

Mark is a writer whose work has appeared in Acres USA. His book of poetry The Return of the Fertilizer King and Other Tales is available online. Mark doesn't have a website. His work is all word of mouth. You can reach Mark at: ChiliNervanos382 (at) gmail.com.

Interview with Mugove Walter Nyika, coordinator of the 9th International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC9).  The IPC9 will be held in Africa in November of 2009. Nyika discusses the history of Permaculture in Africa, what participants can expect to find at the Conference, why the "Green Revolution" isn't really green, and the role that Permaculture plays in Africa's move toward sustainability.

Episode 36: John Seed is the founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia. Seed is an environmental activist, rainforest advocate, bard, and filmmaker. Seed co-wrote the book, Thinking Like A Mountain.

Episode 35: Do you love birds? Come on a tour of the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network's Songbird Facility. Meet some of the birds who are at the facility and learn what to do if you find a baby bird or injured animal. Birds have no sense of smell, so you can put them back in the nest if you find eggs or a baby on the ground. Have you heard male mockingbirds singing their hearts out at 3:00 am? Guide Carol Childerley tells us why they sing and a lot more about songbirds in this Sustainable World Radio episode. 

Episode 34 : Owen Dell is an internationally recognized gardening expert, Permaculture designer, and writer. Starting with the basics, Owen talks about how to take care of your property using organic and sustainable methods of landscaping. Owen is the co-writer and co-host of the television series Garden Wise Guys. Owen Dell's new book is Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies.

Episode 33: Michael Brune was the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network when this episode aired. Michael is the author of the book, Coming Clean, Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Gas. In this episode. Michael talks about alternative energy and the environment. Now Director of the Sierra Club, you can read Michael's blog here. 

Episode 32: Larry Saltzman, Permaculturist and Food Forester, takes us on a tour of his backyard suburban yard. Larry and his wife, Eco-Therapist Linda Buzzell Saltzman, have turned their backyard into a living oasis of edible trees and plants.Learn how you can transform a lawn into an edible food forest!.

Episode 31: Woody Tasch, author of the book Slow Money speaks to Jill Cloutier (Sustainable World Radio) and Wes Rowe (Santa Barbara Permaculture Network) about nurture capitalism, the soil of the economy, and ideas for creating a financial system that serves people, place, and nature as much as it does industry.

Episode 30: Brenton Kelly, an expert in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), talks about alternatives to pesticides and least toxic pest control methods. 

Episode 157: Do you want to grow healthy food? Are you excited to start a garden, but don't have a yard? In this fun and informative interview with plant lover and regenerative farmer Acadia Tucker, we learn how to start a verdant and productive container garden at home. Acadia tells us why she feels it's important to grow at least some of our own food and how this simple act can positively impact the world.  

Acadia believes that gardening is a civic duty and isn't just for people who have yards. She shares her knowledge and tips on how to start a successful container garden. We talk about pots, compost, mulch, and what plants thrive in pots. We also chat about watering and some of the other challenges of container gardens. 

Our interview includes a lot about gardening in general, so there's something to learn for those of you who already have a garden.

We end with a discussion on climate change and how gardening can be a climate change solution. Plants we grow and  tend can suck excess atmospheric carbon back into the soil and put it to good use. 

Acadia Tucker is a regenerative farmer and climate activist. Acadia founded a four-season organic market garden in Washington State where she grew 200 different crops. When she isn't raising perennials in her own backyard, Acadia lives in New Hampshire with her farm dog Nimbus and grows hops to support locally sourced craft beer in New England. Acadia serves as a Rodale Institute Ambassador on regenerative agriculture and is the author of Growing Perennial Foods: A field guide to raising resilient herbs, fruits, & vegetables, and Growing Good Food: A citizen’s guide to climate victory gardening, Her upcoming book, Tiny Victory Gardens: Growing good food without a yard, is scheduled for release in December 2020. 

Find out more about Acadia Tucker at her website: AcadiaTucker.com

Part 2 of an interview with Reverend Billy and Reverend Sidney Lanier of the Church of Stop Shopping. Interview by Ted Coe and Jill Cloutier. www.revbilly.com