Matt Powers – His Early Years
In this interview, Matt Powers, the creator of the Permaculture Student curriculum, tells much about his own life and what brought him to writing his Permaculture books for kids.
Free Permaculture Course – The First Post Earlier, we published an interview with Andrew Millison, the creator of the Free Permaculture Course offered by Oregon State University. You can listen here. We are very happy that…
Intro to Permaculture Course – The Interview
Andrew Millison is the creator of this free Intro to Permaculture course offered by Oregon State University as an online course. In the interview, Andrew shared that people from all over the world can participate.
Seed Swap - How and Why
The Idea
A Seed Swap can be big or small, simple or a great big party. The later is the case at the first annual seed swap in San Diego.
Conversation with Jerome about Forest Garden Greenhouses and much more
Orange Trees in Colorado
Imagine picking oranges from your tree growing in your very own Forest Garden Greenhouse while outside everything is covered a foot deep in snow.
That is the daily winter reality for Permaculture teacher Jerome Osentowski.
Feeding the hungry and gleaning
Maddie
Maddie Wichman is coordinating gleaning efforts in the San Diego area and in this interview, she explains how gleaning does really benefit all involved. She is an Administrative Specialist at UCSD School of Medicine, an Innerwise® coach and mentor and a Feeding America Food Sourcing Department Volunteer. Her quest is to feed the hungry in our country, more specifically in San Diego. However, the organization, Feeding America, she volunteers her time with, operates Nation wide and it is easy to get involved.
Gleaning
Any gardener with an excess of any kind of fruit or vegetable can call the gleaning crews and they will take care of everything. A tall tree – no problem, they come with ladders. Now, there might be a concern of somebody getting hurt. Again, no problem. Feeding America carries insurance, waivers are signed and the homeowner does not have to worry about a thing. The gleaning crew will even leave some of the harvest ready to eat. But that is not all. Besides feeling good that many can still their hunger with the garden’s harvest, the gift of food is considered a donation and a receipt for a tax deduction is part of the deal. 
A garden full of fallen fruit can attract all kinds of critters most people don’t want to see in their yards. Often, neighbors complain about that person on the block who does not harvest and rodents have a feast and take over the hood. Not anymore with the help of the volunteer force of Feeding America. They come with trucks and scales to weigh the produce and will make sure that none of the fresh product will go to waste. Participants can even decide which organization will receive their harvest.
Even farms big and small can call in the gleaners. Often, for example tomatoes, are still producing, but not enough to make it worth the while to pay an employee to pick. But the volunteer crews are only too happy to pick all that is left. They, by the way, get to take some food home as well.
Innerwise® coach and mentor
Maddie also works with healing modalities and many people consider food a form of energy and certainly a healing modality. However, the healing work she does is not related to produce. Here is what Maddie has to say about Innerwise:
“ Innerwise® is an understanding of the underlying energetic patterns and fields in the lives of humans, animals, systems and environments, it shows the easiest ways to change them to maximize harmonic flow.
I am an instrument for energetic healing. Innerwise® is a significant piece of what I do. However, I integrate many healing modalities for optimal results for each client. I will work with any individual who is willing to change their life (you must be prepared to examine your compromises and change them) this is the work necessary to heal and create flow.
I work with animals, environments and systems, special projects and relationships.”
http://www.lightsourcehealing.org/
Art from Recycled Materials with Joan Green
Introducing Joan
Joan Green, owner of Artlabs, shares much about her work in a conversation with Marianne. She creates art using clean recyclables which have a great chance to end up in the trash. Also many things found in nature become part of her creations. More importantly, she provides art spaces where she leads adults and children alike on a journey to turn trash into treasure. 
Joan was kind enough to compile a resource list with links to the organizations she mentioned in the Podcast and to send pictures to give a better idea what can be used – the sky and one’s imagination is the limit. Her web site is www.greenartlabs.com and her Facebook page is Green Art Labs.
Art Material Resource List
Algalita – Capt Charles Moore’s organization. He discovered the Pacific Garbage Patch and has done extensive research on plastic ocean pollution.
www.algalita.org
reInterpret – A local non-profit in Santee that collects and distributes reusable materials to the community. A great resource for artists and teachers.
www.reinterpret.org
Art Form – A local non-profit in Normal Heights that collects and distributes reusable materials to the community. A great resource for artists and teachers.
www.artformsandiego.org
Trash for Teaching – Collects and distributes reusable materials in LA.
www.t4t.org
Art From Scrap – Collects and distributes reusable materials in Santa Barbara
www.exploreecology.org
SCRAP – Collects and distributes reusable materials in Portland.
www.scrappdx.org
Green Eco Services – A San Diego organization that blogs about sustainability. The founder collects beach trash and redistributes the reusable materials to artists via Craigslist.
www.greenecoservices.com
Remida – Part of the municipal waste stream in Reggio Emilia, Italy that collects and distributes reusable materials.
www.remida.org
Remida Day – The celebration of reusable materials in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
http://remida.reggiochildrenfoundation.org/remida-day/?lang=en
Exploring the whys and hows of a Women's Permaculture Convergence
Jenise and Marianne are talking about the upcoming Women’s Permaculture Convergence in San Diego. We are introducing speakers and topics such as water harvesting, art from recycled materials, the business side of Permaculture, using Social Media to grow the business, inoculating logs with mushrooms and more.
Even though this is a local event, all the information can be applied to your area as well. In fact, one of our intentions is to inspire you to gather like minded people in your area and organize a convergence, conference or however you want to call your gathering around the topics of Permaculture, Sustainable Living or a subject dear to your heart.
In fact, we are putting a resource guide together for you to help you get started organizing. Send us a request along with your best email address and it will be yours.
A New Tradition – Cousins Day
- January 11, 2016
- Tagged as: kids, parenting, Tradition
The Inception of a New Tradition Imagine a house full of kids, laughing and playing and having a good time. But the house doesn’t look like a big family lives here. The children are familiar…
Holiday Traditions: Out With The Old, In With The New
- December 23, 2015
- Tagged as: Holidays, self improvement, Tradition
“You bring the Green Bean Casserole,” your mother tells you in a voice, a bit stressed, a bit annoyed sounding which is not unusual during the Holiday season. “Why?” You say. Just as you did…
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