3CR ‘Food Fight’ Show Excerpts Evan Young on Omnivorous Diet

Land, Livestock, Podcasts, Salination, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Evan Young March 5, 2012

Zaytuna Farm – Photo © Craig Mackintosh

In the middle of Winter 2011, Trades Hall in Melbourne hosted a debate between the environmental impacts of an omnivorous diet vs. a vegetarian diet. Evan Young, Permaculture Consultant and former Intern and Staff Member of PRI Australia argued in favour of an omnivorous diet, citing many examples both from nature and modern farming techniques that use the natural pattern. These techniques enhance the environment while providing nutritionally dense foods. The debate was recorded by local 3CR Community Radio show "Food Fight" and they later aired some extracts on their programme — the audio of which is below.

Click play to hear the talk!

ABC Rural Talks to Matt Kilby About Farm Restoration Through Installing Trees and Swales (Podcast)

Commercial Farm Projects, Conservation, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Podcasts, Rehabilitation, Swales, Trees, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 8, 2011

Consultant Matt Kilby stands before one of the swales he has
put in at Gippsland farm, Nambrok.
Photographer: Kath Sullivan

Matt Kilby, the ‘man of a thousand trees‘, shares thoughts with ABC Rural on his work (with Nick Huggins alongside) over the last 18 months at Nambrock, a property in Gippsland, southern Victoria, Australia.

"The first thing we did was put in a swale. A swale is a ditch which runs dead level to contour. The idea of the swale is more of a tree planting system." he said.

"We plant all our trees on the top side of the swale. We plant fertility building trees and all the leaf mulch falls into the swale or ditch, and turns into humic acid when it fills up with water. So all the nutrients are then spread back onto the surface and spread completely around the landscape." he said, describing the swale as a natural way to irrigate. — ABC Rural

Click play to hear the talk!

You Are Part of the Web of Life – A Conversation With Permaculture Designer and Teacher Warren Brush (Podcast)

Aid Projects, Community Projects, Podcasts — by Sustainable World Radio September 29, 2011

by Sustainable World Radio

Warren Brush, co-teaching the pre-IPC10 PDC in Amman, Jordan
Photo © Craig Mackintosh

Warren Brush, Permaculture Designer and educator talks with us about his work in Africa, the power of storytelling, and why children need us to be part of the solution. Brush, co-founder of Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm, has mentored youth and educated adults around the world teaching them Permaculture and other practical life skills.

Click play to hear the talk!

Sustainable World Radio Interviews Margie Bushman & Wes Roe on IPC10

Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Podcasts, Presentations/Demonstrations, Social Gatherings — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor September 10, 2011

Margie Bushman & Wes Roe on Amazon boat tour, IPC8 Brazil

Here’s a great opportunity to get a bit of background and foreground on the International Permaculture Conference & Convergence (IPC10), which is now imminent! Listen to the podcast below to hear Margie and Wes talk to Sustainable World Radio and give their experiences with past IPCs, and their hopes for the current and future IPC events. It’s an inspiring, upbeat conversation that makes me more fired up to go (it’ll be my first!), and I’m sure it’ll be the same for you. At the very least, if you can’t make it yourself, it’ll encourage you to watch via livestream or follow the blog posts on www.ipcon.org over the dates (between September 17-23 and even beyond).

Click play to hear the talk!

ABC’s Bush Telegraph Helps Push National Permaculture Day

Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Podcasts, Social Gatherings, Society — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor May 6, 2011

This little promo interview by ABC’s Michael Mackenzie with Geoff Lawton, Kat Lavers and Liz Silvolli was for Australia’s National Permaculture Day — which saw a flurry of permaculture activity across Australia just a few days ago, on May 1. I post the talk for your interest. I’d welcome reports from the day from organisers and observers of some of the various events. It would be a great way to get people to start thinking about May 1, 2012! Just email me on editor (at) permaculture.org.au

Click play below to hear the interview.

Sustainable World Radio Interview with Doug Weatherbee: Life Within the Soil, Part I

Compost, Fungi, Podcasts, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Structure — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 28, 2011

I had the pleasure of meeting Doug Weatherbee at Geoff Lawton’s PDC course at Quail Springs in California in August 2008. With his coming from an IT background, it’s great, and interesting, to see his metamorphosis into an expert in all things soil.

Given that the soil beneath our feet is the source of all we eat, breathe, possess, and are, and given that it’s disappearing fast, it is imperative that we begin to protect and even restore it. Understanding a little better how it works is one giant step towards accomplishing this.

The content of Sustainable World Radio’s interview with Doug brings one face to face with the absurdity of a monocrop, industrialised, product-based agriculture, as he looks at the real secrets of a healthy soil — mega-diversity in soil life — and its potential to bring not only resiliency, but also gift us with a self-perpetuating system.

Click play to hear the talk!

Continue to Part II

Interview with Jesse Lemieux, Who is Soon to Teach at Zaytuna!

Courses/Workshops, Podcasts — by Patrick Blampied September 25, 2010

I had an amazing chat to Jesse Lemieux today and luckily… I recorded it!

Jesse is farm-sitting Zaytuna while Geoff’s away and also teaching a PDC there starting on November 21st. With such big shoes to fill I thought I’d pick his brain on all things permaculture to see if he’s up to it.

We talked about the newly launched PRI Canada and the permaculture explosion in the region, his background, being taught by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton, his experience teaching, the perils of temperate gardening in the extreme arid conditions in Jordan, and where he thinks Permaculture is heading over the next 60 years.

Just chatting to him for that short time I already feel like I’ve known him for years and I’m certain he’s up to the job. Have a listen. Click play below:

PDC Interview, Part 5: Jarrod, Liz and James

Courses/Workshops, Podcasts, Society — by Harry Schnur August 3, 2010

Zaytuna Farm
Photo © Craig Mackintosh

Harry Schnur from Taipei, Taiwan, recently completed his PDC with Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm.

He has two shows on the only English community radio station in the region and did a series of interviews for one of his shows during his time at the farm.

Below is part 5, an interview with PDC students, Jarrod, Liz and James. Click play to listen!

PDC Interview, Part 4: Lindsay Dailey

Courses/Workshops, Podcasts — by Harry Schnur July 30, 2010

Lindsay Dailey (right), at Zaytuna Farm

Harry Schnur from Taipei, Taiwan, recently completed his PDC with Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm.

He has two shows on the only English community radio station in the region and did a series of interviews for one of his shows during his time at the farm.

Below is part 4, an interview with Lindsay Dailey, permaculture designer and PRI student, at PRI’s Zaytuna Farm. Click play to listen!

Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker, Episode 10: Peppi in Malta

Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Podcasts — by Patrick Blampied July 29, 2010

Aerial view of Bahrija valley and surrounding cliffs

Peppi Gauci

‘Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker’ is a weekly podcast show from PRI Australia aimed at documenting the experiences of people out in the field and making more information available about what’s happening in the Permaculture world.

This week I’m speaking with Peppi in Malta about his project, Bahrija Oasis, which he setup eight years ago in Rabat, Malta.

Click play to hear all about it!:

Click for more…

Terry McCosker Joins the Dots on the Challenges and Solutions of Food Production, Landscape Health and Human Health

Conferences, Conservation, Food Shortages, Plant Systems, Podcasts, Population, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss, peak oil — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor July 20, 2010

I’d never heard of Terry McCosker of Resource Consulting Services before, but here he is giving an excellent talk to ABC Rural’s Bush Telegraph Radio on the need to go ‘back to the future’ in our agricultural systems as our populations balloon in combination with disturbing land resource declines. Terry talks about how cheap fossil fuels have been used for soil mining, and that current and upcoming energy/soil/water constraints will force us back to where we need to go to solve our food production challenges, with the effect that this can also solve our environmental and human health problems. Terry also refers to David Montgomery’s excellent Dirt – the Erosion of Civilizations book, talks about peak phosphorus, compost, compost teas, the need to ‘fire up the biology’ in our soils to harness the inherent energy found in natural systems – thus replacing the artificial ‘propping up’ of those systems with fossil fuel energy, and in doing so increasing plant health to further reduce/remove the need for chemical inputs.

The podcast is well worth a listen. Click play below:

I love to see people joining the dots like this!

Should you be in the area, Terry and others will be speaking at a three-day conference in Brisbane, titled ‘Farmers – Heroes of our Future‘ from July 20-22. You can view the conference program here. Given it’s July 20th as I type, it may be too late to register and go along, but if you’re in the Brisbane area I’ll leave you to make your own enquiries if you’re interested. Sounds like it’d be a great event to attend.

PDC Interview, Part 2: Rob Avis

Courses/Workshops, Podcasts — by Harry Schnur July 17, 2010

Harry Schnur from Taipei, Taiwan, recently completed his PDC with Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm.

He has two shows on the only English community radio station in the region and did a series of interviews for one of his shows during his time at the farm.

Below is part 2, an interview with Rob Avis from Verge Permaculture. Click play to listen!

Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker, Episode 9: Andy in Morocco

Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Networking Sites, People Systems, Podcasts, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Patrick Blampied July 14, 2010

This post has moved here!

PDC Interview, Part 1 – Geoff Lawton

Podcasts — by Harry Schnur July 6, 2010

Harry Schnur from Taipei, Taiwan, recently completed his PDC with Geoff Lawton at Zaytuna Farm.

He has two shows on the only English community radio station in the region and did a series of interviews for one of his shows during his time at the farm.

Below is part 1, an interview with Geoff Lawton. Click play to listen!

Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker, Episode 8 – David Spicer in Jordan

Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Podcasts — by Patrick Blampied July 1, 2010

‘Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker’ is a weekly podcast show from PRI Australia aimed at documenting the experiences of people out in the field and making more information available about what’s happening in the Permaculture world.

In Episode 8 I’m speaking to David Spicer during the second part of his aid work trip, a stop over in Jordan to work on a shower/toilet block for PRI Jordan. This was recorded just before he headed to Palestine to co-teach a PDC there.

Click play to hear the interview:

Subscribe to Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker.

Further Reading/Watching:

• Jawaseri School Garden
• Greening the Desert II
• Letters from Jordan – Jordan Welcomes the 2011 International Permaculture Conference & Convergence