Biochar for Healthy Soil and Carbon Sequestration

Episode Highlights:How Deanna started her career in studying indigenous culturesTraveling to Africa during Deanna's Prescott College days to research about chocolatesDeanna's experiences with her business selling chocolatesBusiness as opportunity to do goodAbout Deanna Moore:Deanna Moore is committed to helping people spread their message and activate their vision toward a just, sacred and sustainable culture. She has a background in Permaculture, Ecology, Holistic Health & Education. She has an MA in Ecology & Education from Prescott College and is a published co-author of “The Green Intention”. She is a food entrepreneur and collaborator with values-based for profit and non-profit businesses alike. She loves surfing, primitive skills, mezcal and mushrooms! She is co-founder of Remarkable Wellness www.myremarkablewellness.com. Show Links:Check out MyRemarkableWellness.comThe Online Permaculture Design Course

Episode Highlights:Rob’s journey from being a pipeline engineer to permacultureHow harvesting energy coincides with permacultureDifference between the rebuild and resetWhy community groups are more important than gardeningWhy do we need to consider using alternative currenciesHow Rob is preparing for the big changes brought about by the pandemicWhy podcasts are more important than the pressA note by Katie LaMonteAbout Rob AvisWith over 15 years of combined experience in engineering, project management, ecological design and sustainable technologies, Rob co-owns Adaptive Habitat – a unique and leading edge property design and management company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a skilled Professional Engineer, he offers a depth of practical expertise in building science and appropriate technology (solar, wind, combined heat & power), as well as rainwater harvesting, agro-ecology, ecosystem engineering, soil regeneration and onsite wastewater treatment / septic design.His extensive project management experience includes site analysis, technical design, cost estimating and scheduling, through to commissioning and construction.He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta, interned at the Folkecenter for Renewable Energy in Denmark, and co-founded Verge Permaculture in 2008, now an internationally-recognized & award-winning regenerative design, consulting, and education centre. With over 15 years of combined experience in engineering, project management, ecological design and sustainable technologies, Rob co-owns Adaptive Habitat – a unique and leading edge property design and management company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a skilled Professional Engineer, he offers a depth of practical expertise in building science and appropriate technology (solar, wind, combined heat & power), as well as rainwater harvesting, agro-ecology, ecosystem engineering, soil regeneration and onsite wastewater treatment / septic design.His extensive project management experience includes site analysis, technical design, cost estimating and scheduling, through to commissioning and construction.He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta, interned at the Folkecenter for Renewable Energy in Denmark, and co-founded Verge Permaculture in 2008, now an internationally-recognized & award-winning regenerative design, consulting, and education centre. Online Permaculture Design Course with Josh RobinsonThe Online Permaculture Design Course

Episode HighlightsAdvantage of raising quail over chickenBasic things to get that Franchesca recommends when raising quail for the first timeThe process of hatching, breeding, and maintaining quailProcess of raising quails for eggs and meatPersonality and emotions of quails that you have to take noteAbout Franchesca DuvalFranchesca Duval is the Head Chicken Wrangler at Alchemist Farm in Sebastopol California. She is always tinkering with chicken genetics and pushes the edges of what is possible in the world of egg color and texture. She believes that beautifully colored eggs capture the imagination of humans and gently invites them to ask where their food comes from. Alchemist Farm is a humane chicken and quail hatchery that is pioneering a marriage of humane treatment of poultry with regenerative agriculture. Franchesca's farm demonstrates that a family business can thrive while doing right ecologically with a little creativity and a lot of heart.They are the only chicken hatchery in the United States that:*Runs on 100% clean renewable energy.*Is 100% zero waste and has all plastic free shipments.*Does not kill its male chicks upon hatch, they are donated to local impoverished families who raise them for food. *Keeps all of its breeding groups out on pasture and not in breeding cages. *Breeds for temperament. They have 35 roosters on our farm and their young children can walk right up to any of them and interact. No aggressive birds stay in their breeding program.* Chooses one organization to donate a portion of their proceeds to every year. In 2019 it was End68HoursofHunger in 2020 it is The Children’s Eternal Rainforest. They are proud participants of the 1%for the planet foundation.  For the latest updates from the farm they can be followed on Instagram as well as Facebook  

About Erik OhlsenErik Ohlsen is an internationally recognized permaculture teacher, educator, and author; he is an award winning landscape contractor and a life long activist. He has specialized in homestead scale regenerative design: including water harvesting, food forests, seed saving, community organizing, habitat development, erosion control, and building topsoil for over 20 years.Episode Highlights:Work Erik has done since starting with permaculture at 19 years oldHow Coronavirus interrupts our globalized connectionsHow Erik is mobilizing his local community through gardeningWhat is the Gift EconomyHow can a degraded landscape be turned into gardensShow Links:Erik Ohlsen’s websitePermaculture Skills CenterPermaculture Artisans

About Richard HeinbergRichard Heinberg is Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute and author of several books on energy and the environment, including Afterburn: Society Beyond Fossil Fuels, and, with David Fridley, Our Renewable Future. His upcoming book is Power: Humanity’s Quest for Ability, Control, Influence, and Beauty—and How It All Went Wrong.Show Highlights:Connections of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to the different aspects of our societyReliance on economic efficiency to the COVID-19 PandemicWhy Resilience and economic efficiency can't go togetherHow Permaculture is a strategic program in times of disastersThe problem of our denial mechanism in dealing with real issuesResilience victory gardens for the futureLinks:Richard Heinberg's WebsitePost Carbon InstituteResilience.org

About Yael ZaidmanYael is a nurturer of life. Whether she is working with compost, soil microbes, worms, plants, or seeds, she brings all to life. Yael has experience building and growing farms and gardens from small scale backyard gardens to managing the greenhouse propagation and starts for a 100 acre organic farm.Yael is the co-founder of the San Diego Sustainable Living Institute and Terra Corazon, a 17 acre permaculture farm in San Diego County, which she is developing with her family and friends. Episode Highlights:Yael’s approach with her food growing projectsHow to find ideas on what to grow in your gardenEating the garden that is already growing with wild ediblesHow to start a gardenImportance of community in garden resilience

Episode Highlights:From agriculture to ecologyThe development of the eco-machineWhat is an eco-machine and how to start oneFounding of the New Alchemy InstituteCleaning toxic pollutants using only biologyAbout John ToddDr. John Todd began his ecological design work in 1971 when he co-founded the New Alchemy Institute with the mission to “Restore the Lands, Protect the Seas and Inform the Earth Stewards”. He began designing biomes and bio-shelters, structures for the cultivation of foods and other biological products utilizing sunlight and solar heating. The best known of these was the Ark on Prince Edward Island in Maritime Canada described in the book “Tomorrow is Our Permanent Address” co-authored with his wife, Nancy Jack Todd (Harper and Row,1980).By 1980 he began working on an ecological hope ship designed to be powered by the sun and the wind and capable of housing and propagating a wide diversity of agricultural materials for impoverished regions of the world. A one-fifth scale model of the vessel was built and tested in New England waters. This work led to the creation of a series of sail powered work vessels known as Ocean Pickups, initially financed by the Canadian International Development Agency. This story was coauthored with his wife in “Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming” (Sierra Club Books, 1984).In 1986 work began on the first generation of Eco-Machines, ™ living technologies designed to grow foods, generate fuels, treat wastes including toxic materials and restore impaired environments. This work was described in “From Eco-Cities to Living Machines”, (North Atlantic Books, 1994) and continues to this day.The first decade of this century saw the commercialization of these ecologically engineered systems around the world, including in China, South Africa, Brazil, and Australia.The 1990’s saw the invention of the first Restorer technology, a floating Eco-Machine designed to clean up polluted bodies of water. They are now widely employed for the treatment of pollution.The first two decades of the 21st century led to wastewater treatment and recycling becoming integrated into architecture. This work included the Lewis Center at Oberlin College and the first Living Building Challenge structure at the Omega Institute at Rhinebeck, New York.In 2008, he won the inaugural Buckminster Fuller Challenge for “the best idea to help save humanity”. His plan was to restore over one million acres of coal mined land in Appalachia using advanced ecological methods. His design work included the development of economic structures to permit the people of Appalachia gain ownership over their own lands.Beginning in 2015, Dr. Todd began work on the design of living technologies to protect and restore the inshore oceans. It has culminated in the design of small wind powered ships called Ocean Restorers. These carbon neutral vessels are being developed for marine research and for the purification of polluted sea water. His new book “Healing Earth: An Ecologist’s Journey of Innovation and Stewardship” was published in January 2019. It includes concepts and technologies for sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide and for climate stabilization.

Many people are interested in careers in permaculture, regenerative design, and just restoring the ecosystems of this planet, but when you look out at the current job market, often times those jobs are not available. It is not that the work is not needed, it is that someone just has not started that business yet. In today's show, we talk with Brook Sarson about her journey into permaculture and creating a career path in work that is both meaningful and has an ecological and community impact.Show HighlightsAllowing job opportunities to unfoldStrategies to succeedThe importance of business partnershipsThe myth of the expertHow positive action creates movement and momentumHow bottom up action can lead to policy changeAbout Brook SarsonBrook started her rainwater and greywater harvesting business, H2OME, in 2008 with the mission to be a resource to the San Diego Community for water harvesting. She was determined to create change from the ground up by showing homeowners, educators, and policy makers how simple and effective rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling can be. Her continued mantra has been that individual contributions create tremendous impact toward a larger water conservation strategy.  In 2017, Brook joined forces with Rosalind Haselbeck to start CatchingH2O, a licensed Water Harvesting Contracting business.  Show Notes can be found at www.PermacultureForTheFuture.com/episode9

Episode HighlightsGetting into permacultureUsing rainwater and greywaterDesigning living and functional ecosystemsPlanting ecosystemsSequestering excess carbon from the atmosphere uses plants and soilYour Show HostJosh Robinson is a father, gardener, farmer, teacher, and ecological instigator. He has over 19 years of experience in the field designing, installing, and teaching about creating ecological abundant gardens, home, farms, and businesses. Josh has been teaching permaculture to hundreds of people since 2005. He holds a Master’s Degree in Ecological Landscape Design from Prescott College.His work has received multiple awards as well as being featured in Toby Hemenway’s Gaia’s Garden and Art Ludwig’s Create an Oasis with Greywater. Josh has started multiple permaculture based landscaping businesses including his current business, Ecology Artisans, where he designs and leads crews in installing beautiful, functional, and abundant landscapes throughout San Diego. In addition, Josh is the Director of the permaculture educational organization, The San Diego Sustainable Living Institute.Currently Josh is working with his family and friends in developing the 17 acre permaculture designed farm and education center at Terra Corazón in Valley Center, California

Episode Highlights:Different uses and application of biocharHow biochar becomes a water, mineral, and nutrient reservoir for plantsHow humans has been using biochar for herbal medicineThe importance of biochar in the Amazon and other places in the world through timeHow industrialization has affected how we use biocharDifferent ways people can do to make biocharAbout Michael WittmanMichael Wittman, Char-man of the Board of Blue Sky Biochar, has long been an environmental activist for an ever-growing number of national grassroots movements. He brings to bear a lifetime of experience in alternative energy and soil science. In 1970 he was a volunteer organizer of the very first Earth Day in New York City. His highest priority has long been the defense and conservation of all natural resources and life on earth.His affinity for this planet’s continued good health has never wavered as he has continued to advocate prudence and moderation in the environment. He is also a Marine Naturalist spending half his life diving and kayaking around the world and he is a life-long animal rights activist. An accomplished, knowledgeable and engaging public speaker, Michael has approached American fuel reform from a refreshingly calm and reasoned perspective while broadening the public consciousness of reasonably affordable and underutilized natural resources.Having now brought his personal and professional passion full circle, in 2010 Michael founded Blue Sky Biochar to promote both the notion of sustainable and regenerative soil health and the means by which to make it happen. Blue Sky continues to advocate the individual reclamation of our biological birthright on earth.