Podcast
#011 Nico Botefur of Essence Arenal: Permaculture Designed Hotel, Restaurant, and Food Forest
Nico Botefur of Essence Arenal shares how he’s turned a couple of rooms on a denatured piece of property into a thriving business, food forest, and employment opportunity for entrepreneurs in his region. Located at the base of the beautiful Arenal Volcano, his hotel/restaurant/spa is an excellent example of what magic can come with patient and persistent application of the permaculture principles to one’s business. Nico and I discuss his use of bamboo for a wide variety of projects from glamping tent frames, to greenhouses,...
#010 Meghan Casey of Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat: Community Outreach Creating Regional Resilience
.This interview, with Meghan Casey of the Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat, is the kind of conversation that can change the fabric of a project’s relationship with its region and neighbors. We discuss community outreach projects that anyone can do: including teaching English, promoting cooking classes and homestay/farmstay experiences for guests to have authentic cultural experiences with the locals, organizing cacao and coffee tours, raising children in such a work-life situation, and more! If you’ve wondered...
#009 Estéban Acosta of Sembrando Flores and Viogaz: Biodynamics, Commercial Crops, & Home-Scale Biodigesters
Today’s episode is with Estéban Acosta of Sembrando Flores & Viogaz, Costa Rica’s leading manufacturer and installer of bio-digesters for home-scale, as well as commercial, uses. We discuss the spiritual side of agriculture through the application of biodynamic principles, growing “green manure” (mucuna beans), and the benefits of using a biodigester to process grey water and black water. Esteban is a consultant and international spokesperson for the biodynamic movement. This episode is sure to bring you value.I...
#008 Terry Lillian Newton of Kindred Spirits: Raising Horses using Permaculture and Mindfulness
In today’s episode with Terry Lillian Newton of Kindred Spirits, we explore horse care, equine therapy, using connection with horses to enhance yoga and meditation practices. Permaculture, & natural medicine. It’s a conversation filled with intriguing stories, practical advice, and inspiration to follow one’s dreams. Terry shares her top tips for horse care in the tropics, as well as things that aspiring owners would do well to consider before solidifying their commitment. We've created a PDF with some of Terry's top...
#007 Aly Khan & Alnoor Ladha of Brave Earth: Building Community
Building community is a central focus for many back-to-the-land projects. Most commonly, that community is comprised of internal share-holding members, long-term guests, or the extended community of the surrounding village. For some projects, that would also include short-term guests and off-site investors. No matter what community means to you, many agree that a shifted focus toward a healthy sense of community is vital for a sustainable future.Today’s episode dives deep with Aly Khan & Alnoor Ladha of Brave Earth (Tierra Valiente),...
#006 Ancel Mitchell of Finca La Isla: Cacao – Traditional Roots to Cottage Industry
Welcome to the world of Ancel Mitchell, herbalist, storyteller, chocolatier, and overall quality human being. In today’s episode we dive into the value of connecting with & supporting local indigenous communities, various ways that one might prepare a cacao bean, and the value of embracing the mythological roots of our plant medicines. Ancel is one of the key players of Finca La Isla, along with her partner Peter Kring from last week’s episode. Both of these pioneers have had a lot to share. Kick back and...
#005 Peter Kring of Finca La Isla: Fruit Forest Maintenance & Farmers Markets
Meet Peter Kring, a nurseryman and farmer who has 30 years experience in tropical agriculture. Peter has introduced many valuable species into cultivation in Costa Rica and maintains a collection of over 200 species of fruit trees. His farm, Finca la Isla, on the Caribbean coast, offers a plethora of workshops in horticulture, medicinal plants, chocolate making, fermentation, and farm to table practices. In today’s episode, Peter shares with us his insights into sustainability through producing goods to sell at the farmers...
#004 Justin Dolan of The Permaculture Country Club: Designing for Resilience
The conversation continues from last week’s episode with Justin Dolan of St Michael’s Permaculture Country Club, in Central Pacific Costa Rica. Justin mentions a number of the innovations that he’s been experimenting with, including natural building with bamboo, bioremediation, soil health, natural cooling with living rooftops and vines, waste management, and more.
#003 Justin Dolan of The Permaculture Country Club: Bio-diversity, Bokashi, and Competition within Community
In today’s episode, we join Justin Dolan at the St Michael's Permaculture Country Club in Central Pacific Costa Rica. Justin shares his passion for seed propagation, medicinal plants, and using bio-ferments for healthy soil as well as animal care
Follow their Insights!
Subscribe to get notice of bonus content & further exploration on some of these timely topics.
I am:
We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously.
Follow Us On:
Observe and Interact
The following Principles are those first identified and defined by David Holmgren in his book “Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability.” My own adaptation follows each as to how I feel these Principles may be applied to our lives and business...
Catch and Store Energy
Catch and Store Energy: “By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.” Let’s start with a note about self-care. My friends, human potential is more powerful than we can comprehend. The computing power of our brains...
Obtain a Yield
Obtain a Yield: "Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing." There are many different types of yield that can be collected from the fruits of our efforts. Whether it’s turning last year’s composted kitchen scraps into this...
Creatively Use and Respond to Change:
We can have a positive impact on in- evitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time. Change happens. It’s up to us to decide how we’re going to respond to it. To remain firmly fixed, in the face of change, can be difficult and...
Use Edges and Value the Marginal:
The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse, and productive elements in the system. As someone who enjoys dreaming up systems composed of systems connected in synergistic ways, this...