Farm Small Farm Smart Daily

The episode is a compilation of interviews that I recorded during PV1 - March 13-16, 2014.  Each of the interviewees was a speaker at PV1.  The general theme of this episode is how we can use better management practices and plants to improve the land, increase it's resiliency, and reverse desertification.

THE INTERVIEWEE'S FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

Allan Savory of the Savory Institute

Willie Smits of Masarang

Phil Rutter of Badgersett Research Corporation

Dr. Elaine Ingham of Soil Food Web

Joseph Simcox

Miguel Uribe

Peter Hirst of New England Biochar

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/77

Direct download: PVP077-09302014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 7:00am PDT

Today’s show is a pretty inspirational one.

What would you do if you only had a year left to live?

And if you aren’t doing that now, why not?

Keep that phrase in your head during this episode with Fraser Bliss of Farmwell.com.

Show Notes: permacultureVOICES.com/76

Direct download: PVP076-09232014.mp3
Category:permaculture,business -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

This book is about designing sustainable human settlements, an preserving and extending natural systems. It covers aspects of designing and maintaining a cultivated ecology in any climate: the principles of design; design methods; understanding patterns in nature; climatic factor; water; soils; earthworks; techniques and strategies in the difference climatic types; aquaculture; and the social, legal, and economic design of human settlement.

It calls into question not only the current methods of agriculture, but also the very need for a formal food agriculture if wastelands and the excessive lawn culture within towns and cities are devoted to food production and small livestock suited to local needs.

This book is Permaculture, A Designers’ Manual.

And this show is Geoff Lawton covering the whole Permaculture Designers’ Manual in about an hour at PV1 in March 2014.

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/75

Direct download: PVP075-09192014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

Given the amount of confusion that I see on a day to day basis, and the fact that there seems to be a lot of unknowns out there about PDCs, I created this episode to try to answer a lot of the questions that I was getting regarding PDCs.

Now, I am not a PDC instructor and I have only taken one PDC, so I turned to eight well respected PDC instructors (names below) to get their thoughts on ‘What’s a PDC?‘

Combined these eight instructors have taught hundreds and hundreds of PDCs over the last 30 years and each brings their own twist to the PDC. I asked them all the same questions and compiled their thoughts into two easily digestible episodes.

At the end of each episode Byron Joel, a PDC instructor himself, joins me and we recap and discuss what we heard, and give our thoughts on PDCs based on our experiences with them.

To keep things interesting the subject matter was broken up into two pieces…

In Part 1, episode 073, we take on the task of answering, What is a PDC? and What isn’t a PDC? In the next episode,

Part 2 we will answer the questions, What is the value of taking a PDC? and How do I choose and evaluate which PDC is right for me?

Hopefully this show will help answer some of the questions that you had about PDCs, and indirectly give you a better idea of what permaculture is all about..

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/74

Direct download: PVP074-09162014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 6:27am PDT

Given the amount of confusion that I see on a day to day basis, and the fact that there seems to be a lot of unknowns out there about PDCs, I created this episode to try to answer a lot of the questions that I was getting regarding PDCs.

Now, I am not a PDC instructor and I have only taken one PDC, so I turned to eight well respected PDC instructors (and former PDC students themselves) to get their thoughts on 'What's a PDC.'

Combined these eight instructors have taught hundreds and hundreds of PDCs over the last 30 years and each brings their own twist to the PDC. I asked them all the same questions, and compiled their thoughts into two easily digestible episodes.

At the end of each episode Byron Joel, a PDC instructor himself, and I recap and discuss what we heard, and give our thoughts on PDCs based on our experiences.

To keep things interesting the subject matter was broken up into two pieces...

In Part 1, this episode, we take on the task of answering, What is a PDC? and What isn't a PDC?

In the next episode, Part 2 will answer the questions, What is the value of taking a PDC? and How do I choose and evaluate which PDC is right for me?

Hopefully this show will help answer some questions that you had about PDCs, and indirectly give you a better idea of what permaculture is all about..

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/73

Direct download: PVP073-09122014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 6:49am PDT

This is the real world view of an organic farmer who is serving a community by producing food on scale, farming organic or better, for over 30 years. It hasn’t always been easy, and every day isn’t a tea party, but it has been enjoyable and resulted in a lot of great friendships and memories. This is the story of Nigel Walker and Eatwell Farm.

"Communication is the key, and it is the number one priority for the whole farm for me every week."

"Make your best educated guess, then see what happens and have a contingency."

Key Points brought up by Nigel: Money is the energy to do things. Realize the importance of understanding money. Run the numbers and use the numbers to help think of things on the farm and make priorities. When buying land think of the water situation. Is there a stable water source? Keep all of the water on the farm. Harvest every drop that falls from the sky. Always be looking for new business opportunities and value adds. There are big benefits to shelf stable products. You can sell those products over time. Listen to what customers are asking for and them make that. Easier to make more for existing customers than acquiring new customers. Talk to customers and find out what they want. Consider all of the businesses based on the land-base even if some are small, they all add to the farm income.

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/72

Direct download: PVP072-09092014.mp3
Category:permaculture,agriculture,farming,business -- posted at: 7:37am PDT

As my guest today David Pagan Butler of OrganicPools.co.uk says, "If you want really healthy water, you want it full of life; not devoid of life."

That is what today's show is about. Creating the conditions for life to happen within the water in natural swimming pools. Natural swimming pools unlike their chemical counterparts use no chemicals. The pool water is cleaned biologically by plants and organisms within the water. No smells, no chemicals, no pathogens, biology creating water so clean you can drink it.

David has developed a system of building natural pools that is both cost effective and ecologically enhancing. Natural pools that utilize natural biological processes to keep the water clean. The classic case of nature doing something equal to or better than some chemical made in a factory - clean, pathogen free drinking water, in swimmable form.

Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/71

Direct download: PVP071-09052014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 7:43am PDT

I want to talk about something which I call the impossible task. It is something that each one of us struggles with. We all have something that that we really want to do yet we don't think it is possible, at least not easily possible, and we don't try it. I am here to tell you today, that it is possible and worth trying for.

I want to start today talking about a woman name Bronnie Ware. You probably haven't heard about her, but she is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. As humans at the end of our lives we have very clear visions as we look back. Everything comes to the surface. Bronnie would ask them "do you have any regrets, would you do anything over?" One of the top five regrets was:

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/70

Direct download: PVP070-09022014.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 6:00am PDT

1