Urban Herbs: Growing Medicinal Plants in the City
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Release Date: 01/15/2018
Life Design and Cultivation
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
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...
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Cultivating Seeds of Regeneration at Beejvan
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
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...
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Permaculture for Our Changing World
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Episode 169: Is Permaculture the best option that we have to meet the demands of an unpredictable future? In this lively conversation with Rosemary Morrow, Margie Bushman, and Wes Roe, we discuss the potential Permaculture holds in restoring degraded ecosystems around the globe. Rosemary Morrow is a Permaculture designer, teacher, and earth restorer. She is the author of numerous publications including Permaculture Teaching Matters and The Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture. Rosemary is the co-founder of the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute and Permaculture for Refugees....
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Water Always Wins- Slow Water Solutions for Drought and Deluge
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
What does water want? What happens when we allow water to be water? Author Erica Gies explores the concept of Slow Water in her new book Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge. Slow Water approaches are unique to each place and work with natural systems. Slow Water is key to greater resiliency and offers multiple benefits including reducing floods, droughts, and wildfires. The Slow Water movement asks where our water comes from and examines the impact that our water treatment methods have on the environment, other people, and animals. In this episode, Erica...
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Gardening Like Nature
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Learn how to garden like nature from writer, horticultural consultant, and educator Dr. Lee Reich. We start with an audio tour of Lee’s award winning “farmden," which is more than a garden and less than a farm. Packed with plants, including Paw Paws, Hardy Kiwi, Gooseberries, Figs, and Filberts, Lee uses his land as a test site for showcasing his gardening techniques. After 40 years of tending the land, Lee not only grows healthy fruits and vegetables, but also lots of fertile soil and compost. Lee and I discuss the art and science of building soil from the ground up following his...
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Why the Ocean Matters
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Episode 166: Did you know that oceans make life possible on our planet? Even if we live far from the coast, our lives are influenced by the ocean. Oceans generate oxygen, capture carbon, shape weather, and provide habitat for countless creatures. To learn more about these vast, yet fragile bodies of water that make our planet unique, beautiful, and able to support life, I speak with world renowned ocean scientist and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle. In this inspirational interview, Sylvia shares her thoughts about what we can do to help our oceans and why urgent action is needed now. We...
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Introducing the Regenerative Media Alliance
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Episode 165: This special episode introduces the Regenerative Media Alliance, a project I have been working on for quite some time with fellow podcast producers Oliver Goshey and Scott Mann. The Regenerative Media Alliance or RMA is a cooperative group for podcasters and media creators working in the Permaculture, sustainability, and regenerative fields. Podcasting can be a bit lonely. If you're like me and you produce your podcast in your "Shoedio" (also known as a bedroom closet), you know how isolating it can be talking into a microphone and not knowing if there's anyone out there who...
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Raptors and Rodenticides- the Unintended Consequences of Rat Poison
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Episode 164: Are you a fan of Raptors or birds of prey? Members of this large group of magnificent birds include hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. For many of us, seeing raptors in cities and in the wilderness is awe-inspiring. To learn more about these amazing birds, I am joined by Lisa Owens Viani and Allen Fish, co-founders of the nonprofit Raptors Are the Solution (RATS). We begin by chatting about the wonders of raptors and why Lisa and Allen have devoted so much of their lives to helping these birds. We then discuss the impact that anticoagulant rodenticides is having on...
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The Generosity of Meadows
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Episode 163: What if you could replace your monocrop grass lawn with a “solar powered regenerative system that stores carbon while creating habitats”? You can! Learn how in this informative episode with Owen Wormser. Did you know that the average lawn is a a biological desert that needs vast amounts of resources to stay alive? By replacing your lawn with a meadow, you can sink carbon, retain water, provide habitat, attract pollinators, create beauty, and save money. Owen fills us in on how to transition your lawn to a biodiverse meadow and what a meadow needs to thrive. He shares...
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The Future is Nuts!
Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast
Is the future nuts? According to our guest Michael Judd, it definitely is, but in a good way! Michael shares his vision of a bountiful and food secure future where nut tree orchards and farms abound. Resilient perennial crops with a multitude of ecosystem services, nut trees improve soil health and stability, provide habitat for animals, increase diversity, and offer nutrient rich food. Learn about the promise that these trees hold for our nutty future.
info_outlineEpisode 144: Do you live in a city and want to grow your own herbal medicine? In this episode, urban farmer and community herbalist Bonnie Rose Weaver shares the joys of growing medicinal plants in an urban environment.
In 2014, Bonnie launched the seed to bottle apothecary 1849 Medicine Garden, a project that taught urbanites about the benefits of locally grown plant medicine. 1849 included an herbal CSA- or community supported agriculture program where members receive herbal tinctures created from herbs grown in their area. Bonnie grew her herbs on a 1/16 of an acre in San Francisco, CA.
Bonnie believes that medicine is all around us, even in the heart of the city and that taking herbs grown locally can be potent medicine. In this interview she talks about how she propagates herbs (sowing seeds in flats - not cells), why it's important to reproduce a wild quality in your plants, and how plants grown in your neighborhood or bioregion face many of the same stressors that you do, making them effective medicine. Bonnie also talks in detail about some of her favorite herbs including Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), Grindelia (Grindelia robusta), Milky Oats (Avena sativa), and Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).
Bonnie is the author of the book, Deeply Rooted: Medicinal Plant Cultivation in Techtropolis. Find her online at: 1849MedicineGarden.com.