I’m on the always inspiring Garden Fork podcast this week talking with “East Coast Eric” about my adventures in 3D printing, woodworking disasters, and a really useful note taking program called Obsidian. If you subscribe to Eric’s podcast you get to hear an update on my Little Free Blockbuster Library.

On episode 138 of the Root Simple podcast we brain dump with Eric Rochow, a.k.a. “East Coast Eric” of Garden Fork TV about concrete work, bears in the garden, plywood boat building and storm windows. Eric has been a frequent guest on the Root Simple Podcast and is back to fill us in on what he’s been up to under quarantine. During the show we discuss:

• Concrete work using a bonding agent such as Weld-Crete
• De-cluttering the garage
• A big gardening problem
• Building a boat
• Gavin Atkin Ultra Simple Boat Building 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build
• Storer Boat Plans
• Fixing a canoe
• Insulation and new windows

You can also find Eric on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Johnny’s bulk grain. Image: Granola Shotgun.

Johnny Sanphillippo of the blog Granola Shotgun dropped by the Root Simple podcast today to talk about a lifestyle that’s proving useful in our troubled times. I decided to put this podcast out quickly so please excuse the less than ideal audio on my end. During our conversation we discuss Johnny’s most recent blog post, “Recipes for Disaster,” which covers his tips and tricks for living frugally and being prepared for a crisis.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this 136th episode of the Root Simple podcast we talk to author and gardening expert Robert Pavlis about how to improve your soil, how to start seedlings in the winter, how to take care of houseplants and much more.

Robert Pavlis lives on 6 acres of land that he has developed into a large private garden he calls Aspen Grove Gardens that contains around 3,000 perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees in southern Ontario, Canada. He is a Master Gardener, speaker and author on gardening subjects with a background in chemistry and biochemistry. Normally I go over questions with guests before we begin but Robert and I just started talking so we’ll join the conversation mid-stream as Robert is telling me about his upcoming book Soil Science for Gardeners. During the podcast we talk about:

• Soil science for home gardeners
• The problems with soil tests
• Soil prep for native plants
• Fungi inoculation products
• How to open up compacted soil
• Sources for organic material
• Ugh, landscape fabric
• Cardboard in the garden
• Hügelkultur
• Winter sowing
• Baggie technique
• LED lights
• How to water houseplants

You can find Robert at: GardenFundamentals.com, GardenMyths.com on YouTube and via the Garden Fundamentals Facebook Group.

Also–subscribe to Bike Talk!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Root Simple reader Pat just informed me of the passing of Larry Korn, who was a guest on our podcast in October of 2015. Larry was probably best known as the translator of Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution but that underestimates what he did in his life. Larry, almost single highhandedly, is responsible for bringing Fukuoka’s revolutionary ideas to the rest of the world. A few people have told me that Larry’s words in this interview changed their lives and so, in his honor, I thought I would repeat the episode.

Larry authored an autobiography One-Straw Revolutionary. In this interview we talk about Larry’s experience living on Fukuoka’s farm and we delve deep into Fukuoka’s natural farming philosophy. During the discussion we cover how natural farming is similar to indigenous agriculture and how it’s different than permaculture. We also talk about the mystical experience that changed Fukuoka’s life. Larry’s website is onestrawrevolution.net.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the 134th episode of the podcast we talk to DIYer, YouTuber and podcaster Eric Rochow of Garden Fork TV on some eclectic DIY notions and projects including why he’s quitting beekeeping, mental decluttering, washing machine repair, print making and more.ing,

Watch Garden Fork on Youtube and subscribe to the Garden Fork Podcast. You can also find Garden Fork on Patreon.

• Eric’s DIY T-shirt video which includes a tour of Sunset Park Brooklyn
• Why Eric’s giving up beekeeping!
• Mental decluttering
• Washington Post Inspired Life column
• Don’t Give Up signs
• Laura Kampf You Tube
• Steve’s Small Engine Saloon
• Video of Steve fixing $50 generator
• Eric’s Washing machine repair video
• Minimalist podcast
• Lino block printing and stencils

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this 133rd episode of the Root Simple podcast Kelly and I talk to Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm, described in his author bio as a “homestead, nut orchard and nursery located in Spencer, New York where he grows around 20,000 trees a year using practices that go beyond organic.” Akiva’s background is in “foraging, wilderness survival and primitive skills.” He is also the author of Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies (Amazon, library) just published by Chelsea Green. In our conversation we discuss how trees could replace a lot of the staple crops in our diet. During the podcast we also rap about:

• J. Russel Smith Tree Crops (Free download on Archive.org)
• Kat Anderson Tending the Wild
• Mulch, soil and water
• Processing acorns
• Exotics vs. natives – should we learn to love the invasives?
• Tree of heaven!
• Coppicing and pollarding
• Arborist fails and #arboristfails
• How to plant trees

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Photos: Jacob Dickinson

On this bee-centric episode of the podcast I talk with fellow “backwards” beekeeper Max Wong, in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Long Beach Beekeepers, about her techniques as well as her role in the successful efforts to legalize beekeeping in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. During the podcast Max mentions:

• Max’s list of beekeeping supplies
• Beekeeping posts on Max’s blog
• Kirk Anderson
• Charles Martin Simon’s Principles of Beekeeping Backwards
• L.A. Honey Supply
• Honey Love
• Red Bird Restaurant

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this episode of the root simple podcast I talk to Kendra Gaeta about something you probably don’t think about too much–your sense of smell. As usual with the podcast, I have a bad habit of turning off the recorder too soon. After I recorded this interview with Kendra, who is a board member of the Institute for Art and Olfaction, Kendra pulled out a box of scents in tiny vials and proceeded to blow my mind.

Smelling all those vials was a reminder of the sheer range of smells we might encounter and, most likely, ignore in the course of a day. Paying attention to our sense of smell opens up a whole new reality. We think a lot about things we see, hear and taste but don’t give a lot of thought to the way we experience the world through our noses. Kendra will change what you know about your nose! During the conversation Kendra mentions:

• The Institute of Art and Olfaction
• Beyond perfume–who works with scent
• The Smelly Viles
• Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles
• Perfumers Apprentice + Flavors Apprentice (An amazing source for small quantities of scents and flavors)
• The smell of the International Space Station

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Beekeeper and activist Terry Oxford has a great new podcast called Pollinators and Power. The premiere episode features Professor Dave Goulson of Sussex University. Goulson is the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and author of many books on native pollinators including A Sting in the Tale, A Buzz in the Meadow, Bee Quest and The Garden Jungle. You can read a transcript of the conversation and subscribe to the podcast using your favorite app.

Terry Oxford was a guest on episodes 107 and 109 of the Root Simple Podcast.

In her work artist Jessica Rath examines, as she puts it, “how human containment of the land effects non-human species from the propagation of agricultural plants to the sensoria of bees.” She is on the faculty of the Art Center College of Design and her previous projects include works about apple breeding, co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators and a long term project called Farm Unfixed that we spend most of this conversation discussing. During the podcast Jessica mentions,

• Foxfire
• The meaning of “Unfixed”
• Nancy Klehm
• Ozark Regional Land Trust
• Tending the Wild
• Braiding Sweetgrass
• Prescribed burns
• A Better Nectar
• Take Me to the Apple Breeder

You can look at Jessica’s work on her website at jessicarath.com. Sign up for her newsletter to find out about upcoming projects.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• EagleSong’s approach to teaching herbalism
• The bustle in the hedgerow
• Hawthorne trees
• Developing a relationship with the plant world
• Chores!
• Time for Thyme
• Miner’s lettuce
• Aronia berry
• How to make dandelion wine
• Women’s Herb Conference (September 20-22, 2019)
• Gender roles

You can find EagleSong’s website and blog at www.eaglesong-gardener.com.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

You can now listen to the Root Simple Podcast on Spotify. Meaning, I guess, that you can hear us babble in between your carefully curated yacht rock and Jacques Derrida inspired hantological playlists.

A new episode of the Root Simple Podcast featuring herbalist EagleSong Gardener will be “dropping,” as the kids say, next week.

Thank you to John Zapf (a guest on episode 54) for suggesting listing the podcast on Spotify. No doubt, I will receive a call from John accusing me of cooking up this blog post as an excuse to note the existence of Jacques Derrida hauntological playlists. Guilty.

And an update: the Silver Lake Progressive slate that ran for the local neighborhood council won in a landslide. They now have a slim majority of the council and will have their hands full fixing the damage done by their predecessors (who are busy holding last minute meetings in order to spend the last few dimes the council has left after blowing most of their budget on a dubious study). A more important task will be to lay the groundwork for taking the city council of Los Angeles which, according to a recent study, is the second most corrupt city government behind (of course) Chicago. Shake a palm tree here and a lot of rats fall out.

Image: UXO Architects

A few weeks ago I retweeted an article about a nightmarish Victorian house flip that touched off a minor architectural tweet storm. That prompted an email from James Heard and Ashton Hamm of UXO Architects who had some opinions about this flip and about architecture and city design in general. So I asked them to join us on the podcast. During the conversation Ashton and James mention:

• The economics of house flipping
• Architects in the gig economy
• Worker cooperatives
• Financial barriers to becoming an architect
• The Architecture Lobby
• Architecture Lobby Manifesto
• Housing affordability
• Last House on Mulholland Drive communal living proposal
• Codes
• Why do all those boxy new buildings look the same?
• Aesthetics in architecture
• Neutra VDL house

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Image: Library of Congress

If I had to assign a letter grade for my ability to email, schedule and book guests for the podcast I’d have give myself a big “F.” Which is why, dear readers and listeners, you have not had a Root Simple podcast in a few months. I’m hoping to have some more time to address this problem which is why I’m asking for your input. Who would you like me to have on the podcast? What subjects would you like me to tackle? Would you like to be on the podcast? Leave a comment or send us an email at rootsimple@gmail.com!

The image shows the onerous process of  “uploading” a podcast to Apple’s vast podcast warehouse.

This podcast conversation with Fr. Mark Kowalewski, dean of St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles, needs a longer introduction than usual because it might, at first, seem off-topic. But I think it’s safe to say that within the DNA of the urban homesteading, permaculture and ecological movements is a concern with how the world might end and the possibility of either hastening, postponing or avoiding the collapse of human civilization. Then there’s the fact that a significant portion of U.S. government officials believe in some form of a “rapture.”

Of course there are many divergent opinions on the nature of this end, everything from climate change, to energy depletion, to nuclear war to more fringy ideas such as near term extinction. I’ve always been interested in the stories that our cultures tell about the end of the world and what those stories say about present realities. Behind, on one end, the grim future of Mad Max, to another extreme, the techno optimist Mars colony fantasies of Silicon Valley executives is a ghost that haunts our imaginations about the end of things. That ghost, at least in the West, is John of Patmos and his hallucinatory book of Revelation.

Fr. Mark Kowalewski

• John Nelson Darby
• Scofield Reference Bible
• The Last Myth: What the Rise of Apocalyptic Thinking Tells Us About America by Matthew Barrett Gross and Mel Gilles
• St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral Podcast

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week Kelly and I talk to David Newsom about his Wild Yards Project. The goal of the Wild Yards Project is “to give you the inspiration and resources to re-wild your yard and to help others around you to do the same. 10,000 Species a Year Lost. 40 Million Acres of Lawn in the US. The New Wilderness Begins at Home.” During the conversation David mentions:

• Douglas Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants and his talk.
• Film that features David’s backyard
• Wild Yards Project on Instagram
• Lisa Novick interview
• Essay on the Wild Yards Project website, “A Meadow Grows in West Gloucester“
• Wild Yards Map
• Wild Yards Project newsletter (at bottom of page)
• Native plants for realtors
• The Gottlieb Native Garden: A California Love Story
• LA Natural History Museum Garden
• @plasticarmy on Instagram

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

This week on the podcast Kelly and I talk to undertaker, funeral home owner and author of The Green Burial Guidebook Elizabeth Fournier. Elizabeth, known affectionately as the “Green Reaper,” owns and operates Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, Oregon (we’re not making that up). She serves on the Advisory Board for the Green Burial Council. You can find her online at the Green Reaper.  During the podcast we discuss:

• What is a green burial?
• The legality of green burial in the United States
• What’s wrong with a modern funeral?
• National Home Funeral Alliance
• Cremation vs. green burial
• Water cremation (alkaline hydrolysis)
• Burial at sea
• Green burial grounds

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

When I wrote a post lamenting the difficulties of forming and sustaining groups I got an email from Adam Brock, author of Change Here Now, a book which uses architect Christopher Alexander idea of a “pattern language” to find solutions to the many challenges in front of us. A large section of the book develops a pattern language for what Adam calls, “nurtured networks.”

From his bio: Adam Brock is a Denver-based facilitator, entrepreneur and designer. His work lies at the intersection of urban agriculture, sustainable business, and social change. He is a certified permaculture designer and a co-chair of Denver’s Sustainable Food Policy Council. Adam currently serves as Director of Social Enterprise at Joining Vision and Action, Denver’s premier consulting firm for social change organizations. Adam’s website is AdamBrock.me. During the podcast Adam mentions:

• The GrowHaus
• A Pattern Language by architect Christopher Alexander
• Nurtured networks: setting goals, rules and leadership strategies
• Skilled facilitation
• Nemawashi
• “Forming, norming, storming and performing”
• Heirloom currencies
• Nextdoor
• Creating nurtured networks online
• Denver Permaculture Guild
• Human Polycultures

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week is a recording of a talk I gave to the Long Beach Beekeepers on Sunday August 5th 2018.

Several times you’ll hear me refer to the “Backwards Beekeepers.” The Backwards Beekeepers were a group in Los Angeles that promoted a radical style of natural beekeeping. The group’s mentor was Kirk Anderson who you can hear on episode 40 of this podcast.

I’d like to thank the Long Beach Beekeepers for inviting me to speak. Unfortunately, I had to cut out the question and answer session because of poor recording quality but I’d like to encourage any of you in the Long Beach area to attend one of their meetings. It’s a great group.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

In lieu of a Root Simple podcast today (it’s just too hot in our editing room) I’m going to point you to Douglas Rushkoff’s always engaging Team Human Podcast. You should listen to them all but I want to especially commend an episode featuring Palak Shah, Social Innovations Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). At some point in all of our lives we will probably need someone to either help care for children, an elderly relative or take care of us when we get old. Unfortunately we don’t appreciate domestic work for the highly skilled labor that it actually is. Palak Shah has some innovative ideas for how we can take better care of domestic workers.

Image: Renee Garner.

There’s a struggle in cities, around the world, to make streets safer for everyone, especially our children and elders. One hundred years of car-centric planning has created cities and suburbs that are ugly and dangerous. Renee Garner is fighting a plan to turn the road in front of her home in Matthews, North Carolina into what would be, in effect, a multi-lane freeway. During our conversation we talk about her activism and what happened when a local reporter uncovered a trove of mean spirited text messages about her from the (now former) mayor. In addition to her efforts to stop the John Street widening project, Renee is an artist, illustrator and avid permaculturalist. You can find Renee’s website at renee-garner.com. Check out her amazing illustrations here.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Will of the Weekend Homestead returns to the Root Simple podcast to talk about how to get into beekeeping without busting the bank, fireworks, rigging up a simple solar power system and extending your wi-fi. During the podcast we discuss:

• Inexpensive beekeeping.
• Fireworks.
• Will’s small solar system.
• Will on the Garden Fork Podcast discussing his solar power system along with part recommendations.
• Kill-a-Watt.
• Cooking with a Sous Vide machine.
• Broadband-Hamnet.
• Pringle Can Wi-Fi antenna.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this episode of the root simple podcast I speak with Johnny Sanphillippo about the opportunities and challenges of inhabiting suburbia. Johnny asks some provocative questions in our discussion and on his blog Granola Shotgun. Can we make old communities better? How do we deal with the housing affordability crisis? What does the future hold for suburbia?

Johnny describes himself as an amateur architecture buff with a passionate interest in where and how we all live and occupy the landscape, from small rural towns to skyscrapers and everything in between. During the podcast we mention:

• The video Johnny shot of us.
• David Holmgren’s book RetroSuburbia: the downshifter’s guide to a resilient future
• Buying a house in Cincinnati.
• Johnny’s house in Sonoma County.

How do you inhabit suburbia? Join the discussion by leaving a voice mail at (213) 537-2591. We’ll play your comments on the next podcast.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Christy “Garden Nerd” Wilhelmi dropped by the Root Simple compound to talk to Kelly and I about everything from loquats to bees to climate change. You can find her blog posts, podcast, YouTube at Gardenerd.com. She is the author of two books, Gardening for Geeks: DIY Tests, Gadgets, and Techniques That Utilize Microbiology, Mathematics, and Ecology to Exponentially Maximize the Yield of Your Garden and 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success: A Decade of Tricks, Tools, Recipes, and Resources from Gardenerd.com. During the podcast we discuss:

• Chip Drop
• Free Little Library
• Front yard fruit trees
• Bee rescues
• Michael Thiele
• Celeriac
• Loofa
• Jicama
• Styrian hulless pumpkins
• Piteba Nut and Seed Oil Expeller Oil press
• Sow True Seed
• In Defense of Okra
• Tomato varieties: stupice, yellow perfection, Azoychka , Tess’s Landrace, Tigerela, Yellow pear, black cherry, Jeune Femme
• Proper seed storage
• Squirrel Stopper
• Loquats
• Climate Emergency Mobilization
• Climate Emergency Mobilization Los Angeles

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this week’s episode of the podcast Eric Rochow of Garden Fork returns to talk about the struggle of owning an old house, raising queen bees and the over harvesting of ramps. During the show Eric mentions:

• His live question and answer session
• Will of the Weekend Homestead
• New York City water tower video
• Raising queen bees
• Better Bee
• Pacific Ready Cut catalog
• New York Times article on the over harvesting of ramps
• Growing your own ramps
• Eric’s cornpone disaster

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this episode of the podcast (much delated due to home construction projects) we talk to journalist and author David Gumpert about the controversies surrounding raw milk. David was a staff reporter with The Wall Street Journal and a small business editor of the Harvard Business Review. He was also a senior editor of Inc. David is the author of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Food Rights, The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights and the Raw Milk Answer Book. You can find his blog and sign up for his newsletter at The Complete Patient. One of the things that comes up in the conversation is the dairy episode of the Netflix documentary Rotten. David posted a review of that episode on his blog.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Peter Kalmus is an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University. He lives in suburban Altadena, California with his wife and two children on 1/10th the fossil fuels of the average American. Peter wanted me to remind listeners that the ideas and opinions he expresses in this interview are his. Peter is not speaking on behalf of NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or the California Institute of Technology. During the podcast we discuss:

• Climate change guilt
• The dangers of techno-optimism
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report
• Grief
• The documentary about Peter
• Carbon taxes
• #FlyingLess and flyingless.org
• No-Fly Climate Sci
• Citizen’s Climate Lobby

Peter’s website is beingthechangebook.com and you can interact with him on Twitter @climatehuman.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Rowan Jacobsen’s book American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields
• “Merroir“
• Bee Local Honey
• Planet Bee

You can reach Michael via his Facebook page and his email is michaelalberty@gmx.com. Apisoir, apisoir, apisoir!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Closing theme music by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

[Editors note 2022: I’ve come to see Eisenstein’s thinking as deeply flawed listen to this podcast for what I agree are many of the problems with his work. I also have come to see the problems with my own posts here. Sometimes you have to fight. Sometimes you have to be cranky. To not fight or be cranky in the face of death and injustice is an unethical political stance.]

I have a rule about Root Simple content that I call the three “Ps:” keep all posts practical, positive and peaceable (by peaceable I mean non-divisive). This is not to say that I think that we should all put our heads in the sand and ignore the important issue of our time. But if you want strife and conflict there’s plenty of options, especially on the web, and I don’t need to add my voice to the din.

So, ironically, I spent many hours over the past few days writing a cranky blog post that violated all of the “Ps.” In it I railed against Facebook, Elon “Rocket Man” Musk’s techno-utopianism and the horrible day LA politicians and film industry lobbyists stole the green bike lanes on Spring street. While these issues are significant, my post didn’t have anything new to say. I fell into the knee-jerk belligerence trap that Charles Eisenstein said we have to get past in a prescient lecture at St. James Church in London back in 2016. I listened to that lecture again last night and I suggest you listen too if you haven’t already (this is the second time I’ve posted it). In the lecture, Eisenstein articulates a new narrative outside of the old story of “separation.” Eisenstein says,

But on the other hand, we do know what to do. And often what we need to do are precisely those things that seem irrelevant. The heart says yes to them, but the mind says how could that possibly help? How could it possibly help to spend ten years trying to free one orca from captivity? How could it possibly help to spend ten years taking care of one old woman with Alzheimer’s? The things that draw us, our world story does not have a place for them, so they seem impractical, they seem unrealistic or naïve. But when we understand the deep root of the crisis, which is the totality of the story of separation that surrounds us, then we see that yeah, these are actually essential, because they change the foundation of the world-destroying machine . . .

On a personal level, it’s almost a cliché, but bringing more love into the world. And also on a community level, also through what you devote your life energy toward. If it doesn’t fit into the story of separation, if it’s dedicated to bringing beauty, love compassion…..this is not news to anybody, right? But I guess the reason I’m saying it is to illuminate the political dimension of it. And maybe that’s what the song is. To listen to what is beautiful, to what calls to your heart. Maybe that’s the organ that listens to the song, that guides you to do things that the mind, which is still lost in the maze, may not recognize as relevant, but which is actually our path to that more beautiful world that we remember and recognize and carry with us.

In between working on that unsuccessful and angry blog post I was finishing the dovetailed drawers I had constructed over the holidays. Rather than wasting time trying to fight Facebook I could have been writing up a post about those drawers. As Eisenstein suggests, perhaps its time to do the things that don’t make sense and that don’t seem important: pursue beauty, grow something, build something. Stay tuned for a post on those dovetails.

On the podcast this week I talk to Will of the The Weekend Homestead about fire safety and life on his rural Wisconsin getaway. Will is a former firefighter and avid YouTuber and reached out to me to respond to a post I did on open floor plans and fires. During the podcast we talk about:

• Christmas fire safety–keep that tree watered!
• Smoke detectors
• Fire extinguishers and how to use them
• Common causes of residential fires
• What it’s like to be a firefighter
• Will’s career in fireworks
• Upcoming and ongoing projects: outhouse, solar power, Instapot, apple orchard, and Will’s SKYBOX

You can find The Weekend Homestead on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the Root Simple Podcast this week, Kelly and I discuss fire safety problems caused by open floor plans and modern materials and Kelly shares her favorite dog sports (picture above is of our Saluki Ivan in front of a neighbor’s non-open floor plan house). During the podcast we refer to our open floor plan fire safety rant, “Your Open Floor Plan is a Death Trap,” as well as Shigeru Bans’ wall-less house. Then we get to chatting about dog sports including canine nose work, agility, lure coursing, obedience and barn hunting.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

At the risk of becoming the “president of an excuse factory” let’s just say that home remodeling has interfered with podcast guest booking. While there’s no Root Simple podcast this week, should you want to hear me blabbing you can head over to Garden Fork Radio. On the latest episode I talk to host Eric Rochow about my favorite place, the Los Angeles Central Library. In addition to the serendipity that comes from browsing the stacks, libraries also offer many digital resources for free such as: online classes via Lynda.com, magazines, the New York Times, downloadable music, the films of the Criterion Collection via a website called Kanopy and much more. Listen the the Garden Fork Podcast and then ask your local librarian to walk you through the digital resources offered by your library. And if you’re visiting LA, the Central Library is the most handsome building in the city.

• How to apply window glazing putty
• This Old House on triple track windows
• Eric’s concrete anchor video
• Hammer Drill (mine is a corded Makita model)
• Eric’s Harbor Freight kitchen video
• Eric’s Mouse trap video
• Victor electronic rat and mouse trap
• Why you shouldn’t use rat poison
• Growing garlic
• Filaree Farm garlic

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

There will be no podcast this week due to the fact that I’ve spent too much time glazing windows and too little time booking guests. Rest assured that you can look forward to future Root Simple Podcast episodes involving topics as varied as climate science, lard and rum.

If you are glazing windows today and want a podcast to listen to, let me suggest Douglas Rushkoff’s Team Human. While you struggle with the putty, Rushkoff struggles with our troubled relationship with technology through interviews with an eclectic set of guests.  I’ve been binge listening during my long week of fenestration-centric chores.

Do you have a favorite podcast? Leave a comment . . .

On the podcast this week, Kelly and I read and respond to listener questions and comments about cardoons, medlars and Toto’s Eco Promenade toilet! Here’s some links to the topics we rap about:

• What’s a Saluki?
• Los Angeles Bread Bakers (sign up for an invite to the monthly pizza party)
• Our 2010 post on cardoons.
• Our original post on medlars and a follow up post.
• All you need to know about Toto’s Eco Promenade toilet (with elongated bowl–round bowl version is here).

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Hawaiian squash farmer Anna Peach of Squash and Awe Farm.
• Ashley Madrone who represents Mycopia Mushrooms and Bay Area Green Tours.
• Peter Gilmore, executive chef of Quay and Bennelong in the Sydney Opera House. Here’s Chef Gilmore at work:

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

How do chemical companies influence university scientists? Who pays for research? Why did the California State Beekeeping Association oppose legislation that would have required labeling neonicotinoid treated nursery plants? These are just a few of the controversial questions covered in this week’s episode of the podcast. My guests are Stacy Malkan co-director of US Right to Know and beekeeper Terry Oxford of Urban Bee San Francisco. Links:

• Follow the Honey: 7 ways pesticide companies are spinning the bee crisis to protect profits
• “Scientists Loved and Loathed” by Danny Hakim
• 38th Annual Eco Farm Conference

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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I had a great time last week interviewing the always creative and ever resourceful Federico Tobon for the podcast. Federico put up a blog post going into more detail on some of the things we talked about during the podcast, specifically the type of CNC router he uses (the ShapeOko 2 ), his social media rules, a video proving that he’s trained his cats (!), his hand sewn bike messenger bag and a shot of the LA Eco Village rooftop beehive.

We talked for hours before and after recording and could talk for many more. Topics of future conversations could include, for instance, the clever milk crate drawers below the ShapeOko 2 and the tool hanging method in the background. Federico needs to host a TV show.

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Update: Federico wrote up a blog post showing some of the things we talked about.

Our guest this week on the Root Simple Podcast is artist Federico Tobon of WolfCat Workshop. We talk about a lot of things including Federico’s art, adventures in extreme “makerdom,” sharpening tools, knots and even how to train cats!  This is an episode that you’ll want to follow along in the show notes so you can see Federico’s amazing work. Here’s some of the things we talk about:

• Federico’s new drill animation piece.
• Flip Book Kit.
• Shapeoko CNC Router.
• Doodlers Anonymous.
• The analog/digital continuum.
• Hundertwasser on 99% Invisible.
• Converting an old 3d printer into laser engraver.
• Federico on the Opposable Thumbs Podcast.
• Federico’s Warm Heart Automata animated sculpture.
• Arthur Ganson’s gear piece at the Exploritorium.
• Federico’s social media philosophy: “Post positive things. Mostly yours. Not too much.”
• Federico’s sharpening philosophy.
• Leatherman Sidekick.
• Paul Sellers woodworker sharpening videos: knife and chisel.
• Scary kickback video.
• Budget bandsaw repair.
• DIY belt sander.
• Making your own bandsaw.
• Sewing a big bag for bees.
• Cool Tools knot tying card.
• Clicker Training for Cats by Karen Pryer.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Terry Oxford is a rooftop beekeeper in San Francisco. On this episode of the podcast we discuss her natural beekeeping methods and her efforts to stop the use of systemic neonicotinoid pesticides such as Imidacloprid. Terry’s website is Urban Bee San Francisco. We get into a lot of topics including:

• Keeping bees on rooftops in San Francisco
• Ants and small hive beetles
• Natural beekeeping
• Splitting
• Natural beekeeper Michael Bush’s website
• Pesticide activism
• Treatment of nursery trees with neonicotinoids
• Senate bill 602 that would have required labeling of nursery plants treated with neonicotinoids
• How the California State Beekeeper’s Association lobbies for the pesticide industry
• How to find a nursery tree not treated with Imidacloprid
• City trees and treatment
• Terry’s bee art
• The Man Who Planted Trees
• Corruption in academia
• US Right To Know

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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This week on the Root Simple Podcast we’re featuring the first half hour of another podcast we think you should subscribe to: Opposable Thumbs. Hosts Taylor Hokanson and Rob Ray interview a guest each week who issues a creative challenge to the next guest on the podcast. Think of it as kind of a maker game show. We’re simulcasting the first half hour of episode #10 on which Kelly and I tackle the challenge, “creating problems.” To find out what we did you’ll; have to listen to the podcast.

Hint: it involves seed balls, payloads and explosives. To listen to the rest of the show head over to Opposable Thumbs #10 or subscribe to the show in iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher. The show is also the first time we’ve ever been involved in a conversation about alien autopsies and the Cisco hold music.  We also discuss:

• Deborah Stratman’s Radio Tower
• The American Target Museum
• Root Simple’s first missile test

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Our guest on this episode is “GardenNerd” Christy Wilhelmi, previously heard on episode 19 of the podcast, who returns this week to discuss her new ebook 400 Plus Tips for Organic Gardening Success. As you might guess we touch on a lot of topics and tips including:

• Monarch VR
• CropSwap
• Time Banking
• Homestead Hamlet
• Repair Cafés
• Sandflex
• Almanac.com
• Epic Seeds
• Baker Creek
• Seed Savers Exchange
• Renee’s Garden Summer Spinach
• National Heirloom Expo
• Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry
• Keeping tomatoes healthy mid-season
• Powdery mildew
• When to harvest tomatoes
• Extending the growing season for tomatoes
• Mulch
• Shade cloth
• Capillary matting
• Don’t pull your bolting vegetables!
• Ollas
• What to do with zucchini?
• Growing wheat
• Hugelkultur
• When to harvest watermelons
• Messina’s squirrel stopper
• Rats!
• America’s Best Gardener Competition

Christy’s website is GardenNerd. You can also connect with Christy on Facebook and Twitter.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Gardening mistakes.
• Dealing with creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) and other weeds.
• Remodeling a cottage.
• Erin’s day job as editor of Sailing Magazine. You can hear more about Erin’s sailing adventures on Garden Fork Radio episode 421.
• How to plant a tree.
• Killing plants.
• Winter and gardening with climate change.
• The folly of taking shortcuts with your soil.
• The importance of testing soil.
• Where to have soil tested.
• Deer!
• Messina’s Deer Stopper.
• Planting a memorial tree.
• Sweet peas.
• Grow lights.
• A lavender lined path.

Websites: The Impatient Gardener, Impatient Gardener on Facebook and Instagram, @impatientgarden on Twitter. Special thanks to Eric of Garden Fork for introducing me to Erin!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Our guest this week is chef and forager Mia Wasilevich. Mia is the founder of Transitional Gastronomy and teaches culinary workshops, wild-food identification and food styling. She was a featured consultant on “Master Chef” and “Top Chef.” She is also the author of a brand new book, “Ugly Little Greens: Gourmet Dishes Crafted from Foraged Ingredients.” During the show we discuss:

• How she got started cooking.
• Mia’s new book Ugly Little Greens.
• Eating invasives.
• Working with mustard.
• Elderflower ghee.
• Nettle aid.
• Mallow.
• Currants.
• Working with acorns.
• Lambsquarters.
• Meal planning.
• Fish sauce.
• James Townsend and Two Fat Ladies.
• Mia’s website Transitional Gastronomy.
• Cottonwood Urban Farm.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Behind the headlines about bee die-offs is an untold story about the methods of conventional beekeeping. There is a sharp divide between mainstream beekeepers and natural beekeepers. In this episode we delve deep into the controversies over how bees are managed with beekeeper Susan Rudnicki. We recorded this episode in front of a live audience at one of Honey Love’s monthly symposiums. We get into a lot of detail on beekeeping methods, so consider this episode a kind of natural beekeeping 101. During the podcast Susan discusses:

• Why are all the bees dying?
• Treatment vs. non-treatment.
• Why most advice is pro-treatment.
• Keeping feral stock.
• Africanized bees.
• Mistakes.
• How often to inspect.
• Swarm prevention.
• When to take honey in a Mediterranean climate
• Dodgy bee removal services.
• The “Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping.”
• What’s wrong with package bees?
• The difference between swarming and absconding.
• That Flow Hive thingy.
• Darwinian concepts in beekeeping.
• “Scientific” beekeeper Randy Oliver’s change of opinion on feral stock: here and here.
• Bee Audacious conference.
• Foundation vs. no foundation.
• Reducing entrances.
• Queen excluders.
• Screened bottom boards.
• Straightening crooked comb.
• Eight frame boxes.
• The problem with organic treatments.
• Les Crowder’s “Top Bar Beekeeping.”

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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[Editors note 2022: I’ve come to see Eisenstein’s thinking as deeply flawed listen to this podcast for what I agree are many of the problems with his work]

It’s Memorial Day in the U.S. which means that most of our domestic readers are probably not reading Root Simple blog posts. For those few of you who are, allow me to suggest a podcast to listen to while you recreate, garden, or mix a cocktail. It’s a lecture by Charles Eisentein delivered last year at St. James Church in London. He begins with the need to stop the paradigm and language of being at war with everything: bugs, people, germs etc. My favorite bit comes during the question and answer session when Eisenstein addresses a concept of interconnectedness he calls, “interbeing.”

Interbeing is the truth. You can only suppress it at great and growing effort, temporarily, until you become exhausted. It’s like a parking lot covered in cement. If you don’t constantly maintain it in a state of ugliness, then beauty will erupt. Dandelions will come up, it’ll crack, and in fifty years it’ll be beautiful. And we are getting exhausted now at maintaining an ugly world.

You can read a transcript of the lecture here and listen to more of Eisenstein’s podcasts here.

• Root Simple’s five gallon metal bucket rocket stove
• Garden Fork’s plastic bucket rocket stove
• Sewing
• Museum of Jurassic Technology
• Center for Land Use Interpretation
• Our first publisher, Process Media
• Derek “Deek” Diedricksen of Relaxshacks.com
• Trademark dispute
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Signal messaging app

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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• Eric’s file cabinet evaporator
• Eric’s evaporator upgrades
• Eric’s flux core welding video
• The Instructables welding class
• Valpak Harbor Freight coupons
• Harbor Freight flux core welder
• Eric’s flux core welding playlist
• LA’s Molten Metal Works maker space and classes
• The Madagascar Institute in Brooklyn welding classes and more
• Harbor Freight ad parody
• Eric’s cast iron seasoning video
• Eric’s cast iron electrolysis video
• Can you use soap on cast iron?

Also, Eric wants to know how many Root Simple readers/listeners follow Garden Fork. Send him an email at radio@gardenfork.tv. You can also find Eric on the Garden Fork podcast, the Garden Fork Youtube channel, Garden Fork for in Facebook and at GardenFork.tv.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Guy Frenkel is one of the most talented bakers I’ve met. If you’ve seen his whole grain, sourdough breads in Instagram (@Ceorbread) and Facebook you’ll know why I had to interview him. During the podcast we talk about his unique baking techniques such as yeast water, stencils and colored doughs. Even if you’re not a baker you’ll be inspired by Guy’s enthusiasm, persistence and creativity. Here are the links Guy mentions:

• Guy’s yeast water pdf
• farmer Larry Kandarian
• Perfect Sourdough Facebook Group
• Udemy online bread making classes
• The Sourdough Library
• T&A Farms

Guy’s social media: @Ceorbread in Instgram, Ceor Bread Facebook, Guy Frenkel in Facebook.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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• The Mayo Clinic’s page on aortic dissection.
• John Ritter died of a aortic dissection. A foundation was set, in his name, that helps educate medical personnel on how to better recognize the symptoms.
• Kelly did not have a heart attack, but it’s always good to review the subtle symptoms of heart attacks experienced by women.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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First off, I want to thank Eric Rochow of Garden Fork for subbing for Kelly and I on the previous podcast (episode 96). Thank you Eric! And I hope everyone listening to our podcast will also subscribe to the Garden Fork Podcast and YouTube channel. Please leave Eric some good reviews too! As for Kelly, she’s doing better and I hope to have her on the next episode of the podcast to talk about her aortic dissection adventure.

On this special live episode of the Root Simple podcast I interview Paul Lebeau, who came all the way from Germany to demonstrate an interesting new home flour mill called the Mock Mill. The Mock Mill was designed by Wolfgang Mock who has, in his career, created what I think are the best home grain mills you can buy. What’s interesting about the Mock Mill is that it’s a stone mill that attaches to a Kitchen Aid mixer. This greatly reduces the cost and footprint of the mill.

I’ve been milling my own flour for several years now with another mill designed by Wolfgang Mock and, like Paul, I think that everyone who bakes–bread, cakes, cookies, anything–should have a home mill. The flour you get is many orders of magnitude better, plus you can make flour with all kinds of exotic grains.

This live event was made possible thanks to a number of people–Roe Sie hosted the event at his shop, the King’s Roost (Roe was a guest on episode 58 of the podcast), an amazing baker named Guy Frenkel, who I hope to have on the podcast soon, Leyna Lightman and the Los Angeles Bread Bakers, a Meetup group that I co-run.

Some other folks in the audience: farmers Larry Kandarian and Alex Weiser, Sherry Mandell from the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project, bakers Rose Lawrence, who teaches classes at the King’s Roost and Dana Morgan, who teaches classes at the Westchester Community Oven at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church (sign up for the Los Angeles Bread Bakers Meetup to find out about those classes). And a big thank you to Sharon for running the mixing board for me!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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First of all, a big thanks to Eric Rochow of Garden Fork. He wanted to do something for Kelly and me, so he set up an interview, guest hosted and edited this episode of the podcast. Please consider subscribing to Eric’s Garden Fork podcast and YouTube channel. Also take a moment to leave a review of the Garden Fork podcast in iTunes and share his podcast and YouTube channel in social media. And Eric has a great suggestion: if you want to do something for Kelly consider donating blood. Thank you Eric Rochow!

Eric’s interview is with photographer and writer Babs Perkins, who documents disappearing foods in the Balkans with a emphasis on cheese making. In the conversation Babs and Eric discuss the politics of cheese in the EU, the challenges of doing a documentary project in the Balkans and the cross cultural values of sharing food. As you listen to the podcast I’d suggest you take a look at Perkins’ stunning photos on her website:

Cheese Stories: Bosnia

Cheese Stories: Serbia

The incredible natural beauty of Bosnia

And those strange concrete monuments put up by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito.

@babsperkins on Instagram

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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• Bean Hole Baked Beans
• 10 Tips on How to Fry Turkey
• Cooking Steak on Charcoal
• How to Plant Garlic
• Source for garlic: Filaree Farm
• Build it Better Yourself (Rodale)

Make sure to subscribe to the Garden Fork Youtube channel!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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You can read the full text of An American Woman’s Home online here.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

With the prospect of a Monsanto/Bayer mashup GMOs are back in the news.

In an interview from 2015, former trader and risk management expert Nassim Nicholas Taleb presents what I think are some of the best arguments against GMOs. In this podcast Taleb tackles:

• The statistical errors found in scientific papers
• The need to apply the precautionary principle
• The unacknowledged risks of catastrophe
• The technological salvation fallacy

In short, it’s not about the health risks of eating a GMO corn chip. It’s more about the way we discount and misunderstand risk. Consider Taleb’s argument the biological equivalent of what happens in The Big Short (a film in Netflix that’s well worth viewing).

You can listen to Taleb’s interview and download it here.

Our guest is Michael Judd and our topic is permaculture, edible landscaping, straw bale building, mushrooms and even a permacultural approach to death. From his bio: “Michael Judd is the founder of Ecologia, edible and ecological landscape design and Project Bona Fide, an international non-profit supporting agro-ecological research.” He’s also the author of a new book, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist. During the podcast we discuss:

• What Michael learned from living in Latin America for 20 years
• His circular straw bale house
• Handling water through swales on contour
• Dealing with homeowner’s associations
• Pawpaws
• Custard apples
• InStove rocket stove
• Cocktails
• American persimmons
• Mulberries and grafting mulberries
• Jujubes
• Growing mushrooms
• Source for mushroom spawn: Field and Forest and Fungi Perfecti
• A permacultural approach to death and home burial

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Photo courtesy of Michael Garcia

Stephanie Wing-Garcia and her husband Michael Garcia devised an innovative solution to Stephanie’s crippling back pain: they handcrafted a bed made out of sand. We visited Stephanie and Michael in their Los Angeles home and tried out their bed. Stephanie tells us the story of how, while spending a sleepless night toughing it out on a hard floor, she had a flash of inspiration. That inspiration would heal her back and lead them to start their own company: The Ultimate Earth Bed.

Our conversation also ranges over the history of how people used to sleep, from ancient Rome to the patent on the first mattress in 1850, the ecological consequences of conventional mattresses and the connection between the Earth Bed and barefoot running.

For those of you who can’t listen, we also posted about them yesterday.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Photo courtesy of The Ultimate Earth Bed

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Our guest this week on the podcast is London-based artist and researcher John Hartley. John is probably best known for turning an office (desk, computer and business suit!) into a sea kayak. We talk about a bunch of John’s projects, including the kayak, and the intersection of art and ecological thinking. While listening to the podcast I’d suggest taking a look at John’s work which you can see on his website ambivalency.net. During the show we discuss:

• John’s interest in peaks and declines
• Why art is uniquely placed to deal with the problems of climate change
• His “Contingency Research Platform” Kayak project
• Hydrohacks
• Zero Dollar Laptop Project
• William Blake’s Angel Oak
• The Peckham Experiment
• Building Jewellery
• The Goldcrest Standard

Special thanks to Kate of the blog Wild Economies for tipping me off to John’s work.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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The Oostvaardersplassen, an attempt to rewild a very unwild place in the Netherlands.

In case you can’t get enough of our podcasts, let me suggest two other podcast episodes that will definitely be of interest to Root Simple readers and listeners:

WNYC’s Radiolab released an episode, From Tree to Shining Tree which features the mind-bending research of Suzanne Simard. Her work shows that the root systems of forests form a sort of neural network, perhaps even a kind of plant consciousness.

The always worthwhile and thoughtful Ideas show has an episode on Rewilding, the tricky notion of returning landscapes to a “natural” state. One of the examples in the show is an attempt to rewild a region in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from the sea in the 1960s. I’m very familiar with this place from a bizarre, failed project I was involved with that attempted to create a monumental land art piece with explosives. Someday I’ll tell that crazy story, but let’s just say that this part of the Netherlands is probably the most dull landscape in the world. The Ideas show begins with the story of Ecologist Frans Vera introducing wild animals to this very artificial place. The show goes on to explore what “wildness” means. Spoiler: that’s a topic that will never have a neat conclusion.

Our topic this week is gardening myths and our guest is Robert Pavlis. We touch on a number of controversial, hot-button gardening topics such as synthetic fertilizers, roundup and compost tea. Robert maintains a six acre garden near Guelph, Ontario all by himself, he’s a master gardener and a speaker. He has a background in chemistry and biochemistry and runs two blogs: gardenmyths.com and gardenfundamentals.com.

During the show we also discuss the “whys” of gardening, mosquito prevention, stuff you shouldn’t buy and the problems with fish fertilizer.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Our topic this week on the podcast is the spectacular foraged cuisine of Southern California based Pascal Baudar. Pascal is the author of The New Wildcrafted Cuisine, Exploring the Exotic Gastronomy of local Terroir. We cover a lot of subjects in the podcast–everything from wild mustards to harvesting sugar from insects! Here’s just a few of the things we touch on:

• wild mustard
• weeds and invasives
• professional foraging
• wild beer
• Sacred and Herbal Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner
• working with black mustard
• foraging in a drought in August in Southern California
• Pascal’s $350 energy bar
• Native American foraging practices
• Kat Anderson Tending the Wild
• foraging controversy
• what to do with broadleaf plantain (Plantago major)
• lerp sugar
• eating insects
• harvesting your own sea salt
• fermenting with sea salt
• primitive fermentation
• rosin baked potatoes
• fermented hot sauces
• ethics of foraging

You can take a class with Pascal via urbanoutdoorskills.com and make sure to check out Pascal’s amazing Facebook page.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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On the podcast this week is a return visit from Eric Rochow of the “eclectic DIY” site Garden Fork. We talk about using pressure treated wood for raised beds, making coleslaw and Eric’s adventures in deep frying (bacon wrapped grilled cheese!) among other topics. During our conversation Eric mentions:

• The Garden Fork Youtube channel
• Pressure treated wood video
• Homemade pallet breaker
• How to build raised beds
• How to make coleslaw
• OXO salad spinner
• Bacon grilled cheese sandwich
• Deep fried Twinkies
• Donuts made from biscuit dough
• 360 video with a Theta camera

I was also a guest on the June 23, 2016 episode of the Garden Fork Radio Podcast this week to discuss bread, backyard ovens, foraging and more.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Goldfinches on Hooker’s Evening Primrose. Photo: Lisa Novick.

On the podcast this week we talk to Lisa Novick Director of Outreach and K-12 Education of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants. We contacted her after seeing her blog in the Huffington Post, Forage in the Garden, Not in What’s Left of the Wild. In that post Lisa expresses her concern about foraging and suggests that people grow native plants in their yards and in public spaces. While our conversation is California-centric, I think, the principles we discuss apply to other regions. During the podcast Lisa mentions:

• Weeds of the West
• Telling a new story about our urban and suburban landscapes
• Talking to the neighbors
• Impact of the drought
• Design tips from the 2016 Theodore Payne garden tour
• Theodore Payne plant list
• Native gardening mistakes
• Edible California natives
• California natives in pots

Hooker’s Evening Primrose in bloom. Photo: Lisa Novick.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Jim Merkel’s garden, “poop palace” and power station. Photo: CBC.

Now in its 50th year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Ideas show, hosted by Paul Kennedy, tackles controversial topics thoughtfully and in-depth. On the latest episode, a rebroadcast from 2013, Ideas looks at a topic NPR wouldn’t touch with a 100-foot pole:”degrowth.”

As engineer and degrowth advocate Bob Thomson puts it,

Growth has become an element of faith. It’s so deeply ingrained into our cultural narratives. Growth is something that is seen as necessary, where in actual fact, we could probably be a lot happier with less consumption.

The show begins with an interview with Jim Merkel, author of Radical Simplicity, Small Footprints on a Finite Earth and concludes with a visit to the radical degrowth activists of Catalan, Spain.

To those of you who haven’t jumped on the podcast bandwagon yet, I’d suggest Ideas as a start.

The episode I’m talking about, “The Degrowth Paradigm,” can be found here.

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Special thanks to Paul Koudounaris, whose lecture inspired this podcast, and the website Purr-n-Fur for information on ship’s and distillery cats.

Many thanks to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast and blog possible.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is Rishi Kumar, who along with his mother Manju, turned a suburban house in Diamond Bar, California into a lush edible landscape and then went on to form a community educational organization and a suburban farm. You can see what they’ve done on their website The Growing Club. During the podcast we mention:

• Jamun fruit (Syzygium cumini)
• Sheet mulching
• Growing fruit trees close togther
• Raccoons!
• Quail and chickens
• Water harvesting vs. rain barrels
• How the Growing Home became the Growing Club, Sarvodaya Farms and the Growing Commons.
• May 28th greywater workshop.

Many thanks to our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast and blog possible.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

KMO with his new straw bale garden.

Instead of producing our own podcast this week, I had the honor of being on C-Realm Radio in Vermont, hosted by my favorite podcaster (and, as of last month, radio host) KMO. The topic is straw bale gardening. KMO talks first to straw bale garden expert Joel Karsten. Then I chime in enthusiastically on the topic. I’m followed by gardener and artist Lauren Blair. We’re all sort of an opening act for an entertaining 1990s era recording of Terrance McKenna thoughtstyling about “linguistic objects”.

One interesting point that Karsten raises is the issue of persistent herbicides in straw bales. He says its not a problem to worry about. I suggest doing an bioassay to rule out the possibility so, in a way, we contradict each other. Karsten may be right, but I need to do some more research on the subject. If any of you know if persistent herbicides, such as Clopyralid, Aminopyralid, Aminocyclopyrachlor and Picloram, are still an issue for gardeners, please let me know in the comments.

Want to learn how to make delicious cheeses in your own kitchen? It’s easier than you think. Our guest this week is radical natural cheesemaker David Asher, author of The Art of Natural Cheesemaking: Using Traditional, Non-Industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to Make the World’s Best Cheeses.

During the podcast we discuss:

• The difference between natural cheesmaking and the way most cheese is made in North America.
• Using a kefir culture to make cheese.
• The importance of quality milk.
• What if I can’t get raw milk?
• Easy cheeses.
• The ins and out of rennet and how to make your own.
• WalcoRen rennet.
• Using cardoon flowers instead of rennet.
• Tools you need for cheesemaking.
• Hacking a fridge to make your own cheese cave.
• Using leftover whey for fertilizer and cooking.
• Making chèvre.
• How to store cheese.
• The cheese scene in Canada and the legality of raw milk.
• Raw milk cheeses in Quebec.

To find out about David’s classes visit his website The Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is journalist Kris De Decker, the creator of Low Tech Magazine, a blog published in English, Dutch and Spanish that covers low tech solutions in great depth and detail. Without exaggeration, I think it’s safe to say it’s my favorite blog. On the podcast we discuss high tech problems, Catalan vaulting, fruit walls, Chinese wheelbarrows, open modular hardware, fireless cookers and alternate forms of the internet.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

My guest this week is journalist and outdoor enthusiast Jeff Potter who runs outyourbackdoor.com. We talk about cross country skiing, riding bikes paddling boats and even eating road kill. You can find Jeff’s non-lycracentric cross country ski how-to videos in his Out Your Backdoor Youtube channel. During the podcast we also ponder the question, “If you could have only one bike what kind of bike would it be?” We get into canoe vs. kayak, how to roll a kayak and the joys of cyclocross.

Make sure to check out all the cool things Jeff has for sale on his website as well as his wife Martha Bishop’s website lazygal.biz.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Chinese wheelbarrow with sail assist. Image courtesy of Low Tech Magazine.

Yesterday, Erik and I had the privilege of interviewing Kris De Decker, the creator of one of our very favorite Internet resources, Low-Tech Magazine. Those of you who know Low-Tech will understand our vast excitement. To make it all even happier, he seems like a really good guy.

If you haven’t heard of this blog, believe me, Root Simple readers, if you like what we do here, you’ll love Low-Tech. This is the sort of site you fall into and stay for days.

Our interview with him will appear on our podcast next Wednesday, but in the meantime I suggest you whet your appetite by reading some of our favorite articles:

How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware

How to Downsize a Transportation Network: The Chinese Wheelbarrow

If We Insulate Our Houses, Why Not Our Cooking Pots?

Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Spaces

Recycling Animal and Human Dung is the Key to Sustainable Farming

Did you know that you can eat bark? Make a foam from the common mallow weed? Use dandelion as a hops substitute in beer? Our topic this week is foraging and our guest is Leda Meredith. Leda has a certificate in Ethnobotany from the New York Botanical Garden, where she is also an instructor. She is also the author of five books including Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums to Wineberries. Her new book is The Forager’s Feast: How to Identify, Gather, and Prepare Wild Edibles. During the podcast we discuss:

• The ethics of foraging in city parks
• Eating invasives
• Is foraging sustainable?
• Mallow foam
• Vegan mallow mayonnaise
• Dandelion beer
• Foraging in Israel
• Foraging in the winter
• Eating bark
• . . . and, of course, prickly pear

Leda’s website is ledameredith.com and her Youtube channel is here.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

What’s the good side of our historic drought here in California? Native gardens, of course! In this episode of the podcast Kelly and I share the lessons we learned from a native garden tour put on by the Theodore Payne Foundation. During the podcast we discuss:

• a provocative white paper by two UC horticulturalists on why some residential drought measures are shortsighted.
• A blog post we did on the 2016 Theodore Payne Garden tour.
• Pictures of the gardens on the Theodore Payne tour.
• The new Hahamongna Cooperative Nursery and Hahamongna Cooperative Nursery Facebook page.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

In lieu of an episode of our podcast this week, (I’m still debating whether to post every week or every other week) I thought I’d point to this inspiring lecture by media thoughtstylist Douglas Rushkoff. You simply must listen to this talk, entitled “How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity,” and let us know what you think!

The lecture is an indictment of the cult of individualism, the false promises of the “sharing” economy and the extractive mentality of “platform monopolies” like Uber and Facebook. Rushkoff’s sincerity and enthusiasm is infectious. Speaking of the hyper-rich class of CEOs he says, “They’re doing evil in their companies so they can have a goat share and send their kids to Rudolf Steiner school. But why not make the world a place where you would want your kids to actually be?”

Rushkoff shows us how we can get out of this mess and into that world we want our kids to live in, though cooperation, by working on a small scale and through developing tools that use the promise of the sharing economy to lift all boats rather than make a few people in Silicon Valley rich.

Want to know how to grow tomatoes? What are the best varieties to plant? Want to learn how to breed your own? Our guest this week is farmer and tomato breeder Fred Hempel. Fred farms and breeds gourmet vegetables in Northern California. His focus is on tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs and edible flowers. In the podcast we ask if there is such a thing as a heirloom tomato? What does a tomato breeder look for in a tomato? Why do supermarket tomatoes taste so crappy? And what happens when you turn a tomato breeding project over to an eight year old. We also talk about how to water tomatoes and prepare soil. During the podcast Fred mentions:

Dumont #4 tweezers

And two tomatoes bred by Fred that you can get seeds for:

Blush Tomato

Orange Jazz tomato

I’ve had the pleasure of tasting these tomatoes at a lecture Fred does at the Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa and they are really amazing.

Fred’s website are: Artisan Seeds and Artisan Seeds in Facebook and Baia Nicchia Farm.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Is your neighborhood not all it could be? Do people drive too fast? Does it feel lonely and anonymous? Is there no safe place for your kids to play? Mark Lakeman has some ideas for how all of us can transform the communities we live in. Hint: it starts with a potluck! Mark is the co-founder of the non-profit placemaking organization The City Repair Project, and principal of the community architecture and planning firm Communitecture. He is also an urban place-maker, permaculture designer and community design facilitator.

And if you’re on the West Coast of the US, you have a chance to participate in a series of workshops this month. For more information visit marklakeman.net. To find out about events in Los Angeles visit change-making.com.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

A brief programing note here instead of a full podcast–the next few months are going to be busy ones around the root simple compound so I’ve decided to produce the podcast every other week–twice a month rather than four times a month. On next week’s episode we’ll have an interview with tomato breeder and farmer Fred Hempel. In the meantime, if you’ve got a commute you want to fill with a DIY podcast, you should also subscribe to our friends at the Garden Fork Podcast which you can find at gardenfork.tv. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back next week.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is Peter McCoy. Peter is a self-taught mycologist with 15 years of accumulated study and experience, Peter is an original founder of Radical Mycology, a grassroots organization and movement that teaches the skills needed to work with mushrooms and other fungi for personal, societal, and ecological resilience. Peter is the lead cultivation expert for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Open Source Ecology and the primary author behind Radical Mycology, a nearly 700-page book on accessible mycology and mushroom cultivation. During the podcast we discuss:

• What are fungi?
• How to cultivate edible and medicinal mushrooms
• How to establish a mushroom bed in your garden
• Tempeh
• Peter’s cultivation how-to videos
• Growing mushrooms in an apartment
• Easy to grow mushroom: King Stropharia
• Source for spawn: Field and Forest
• Plugs
• Improving soil with fungi
• Remediating soil
• Peter’s new book Radical Mycology

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is Dr. Maurice Pitesky and our topic is keeping your backyard poultry flock healthy. Dr. Pitesky is an Assistant Specialist in Cooperative Extension for Poultry Health and Food Safety Epidemiology at the University of California Davis where he researches disease surveillance, food safety management, and other topics related to poultry health. He also does education and outreach to backyard and commercial poultry owners. During the podcast he mentions the UC Davis poultry resource website, a backyard poultry census that you can take part in, and the UC Davis pastured poultry farm research project. We also discuss some simple measures you can take to keep your poultry free of disease as well as how to safely cook eggs and meat.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You cansubscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Flying House from the Biomorphic Biosphere

Our guest this week is architect Glen Small. If you’re not familiar with his work I’d really recommend taking a look at some of his amazing buildings, drawings and models while you listen to this podcast–you can see them on his blog which is Small at Large and at glenhowardsmallarchitect.com. Glen was one of the founders of the architecture school SCI-Arc and is probably best known for his visionary Biomorphic Biosphere Megastructure, which we talk about during the podcast as well many other projects and buildings such as the Downtown Troposphere and the Green Machine.

Green Machine 1977-1980

He was also the subject of a documentary by his daughter Lucia Small, My Father the Genius. During the conversation we discuss the state of “green” architecture, Small’s large proposals as well as his buildings in Nicaragua and much more.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Is there something wrong with the “war” on invasive plants? What are these resilient plants trying to tell us? Is there such a thing as a “natural” landscape? What’s wrong with Glyphosate? These are some of the topics we discuss in our conversation with Tao Orion, author of Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration. Tao is a permaculture designer, teacher, homesteader, and mother living in the southern Willamette Valley of Oregon. She teaches permaculture design at Oregon State University and at Aprovecho, a 40-acre nonprofit sustainable-living educational organization. Tao consults on holistic farm, forest, and restoration planning through Resilience Permaculture Design, LLC. She holds a degree in agroecology and sustainable agriculture from UC Santa Cruz. Her website is www.resiliencepermaculture.com.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

In this week’s episode we talk to Rachel Kaplan who is a somatic psychotherapist, permaculture designer, educator, and author. Rachel lives on a small urban homestead with her family and their many critters in Petaluma, CA. She is a co-founder of the 13 Moon CoLab, an all-woman teaching team offering an evolutionary training, Permaculture from the Inside Out. Her collaborators in this venture are Kyra Auerbach, Delia Carroll and Cassandra Ferrera. Rachel wrote Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living (with K. Ruby Blume), and is currently working on a long-awaited book about community dance ritual with dance luminary Anna Halprin. Her website is: www.13mooncollaborative.com. Friend 13 Moon CoLab in Facebook here. During the show Rachel also mentions: Daily Acts, Starhawk and Mark Lakeman.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

In our first podcast of 2016, Kelly and I review play back excerpts from New Year’s resolution show and discover why it’s a really bad idea to publicize your goals. We go on to discuss the “SMART” (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Framed) way of setting goals. During the podcast we reference an article in Scientific American on the SMART concept. Special thanks to Eric Rochow of Garden Fork TV and Michael Hyatt for tipping me off to the research on this subject.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Southeast Asian vegetables
• Growing rice
• Dry farming
• No-till agriculture
• Growing wheat
• Sonora wheat
• Red Fife wheat
• Dark rye
• Managing risk
• Sheep and draft horses on a small farm

To find out more about what Mai is up to check out her blog farmermai.com.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

What happens to the organic matter you put in the green bin? Where does it go? What could we do with it that could save the world? Kreigh Hampel, recycling coordinator for the city of Burbank, is our guest once again to discuss thinking of organic “waste” as organic “nutrients.” Kreigh was on 042 of the podcast “The Tailpipe of Consumption” to talk about inorganic waste and how it is recycled. Organic matter and the possibilities it has for transforming our cities is Kreigh’s favorite topic. In this podcast Kreigh outlines the current, unsustainable way we deal with organic matter and ways that we can all help change the paradigm.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

If you’d like to pick up a copy of one of Robert’s books visit robertkourik.com.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our topic this week is wildcrafted drinks and cocktails with writer, recipe developer, educator, and herbalist Emily Han. She is the author of Wild Drinks and Cocktails and the Communications Director for LearningHerbs.com. Emily’s website is EmilyHan.com. During the show we discuss the difference between “wildcrafting” and “foraging” and how you can use easily foraged herbs, fruits, pine needles and flowers to make shrubs, switchels, tonics and infusions. Emily also shares her easy distillation method and advice on what to do with all those prickly pear fruits!

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Want to know how you can save your own vegetable seeds? Develop your varieties? Start your own seed library? We talk to David King of the Seed Library of Los Angeles about these topics and more. During the podcast David mentions a few resources including the Organic Seed Alliance and Carol Deppe’s book Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. David blogs at LA Garden Blog and also can be found at The Learning Garden.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week Kelly and I discuss the horticulture and philosophy of the Ridley Scott/Matt Damon film The Martian, which is based on the novel by Andy Weir. It’s apparent that the character played by Matt Damon has read both John Jeavon’s How to Grow More Vegetables and Joe Jenkins’ Humanure Handbook. We have many questions about the film: Can you really grow potatoes on mars? Do you need to compost human waste before applying it to crops? Is NASA headquarters actually full of tasteful, mid-century modern furniture? We also discuss some deeper philosophical issues raised by the film. We reference Adam Bartos’ book of photographs, Kosmos: A Portrait of the Russian Space Age and Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Solaris, which you can view in its entirety for free (part 1 and part 2). Here’s the highway scene from Solaris that I mention. If you saw The Martian let us know what you thought of it!

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Larry Korn with Masanobu Fukuoka.

On the podcast this week we interview Larry Korn, author of One-Straw Revolutionary and translator and editor of Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution and Sowing Seeds in the Desert. We talk about Larry’s experience living on Fukuoka’s farm and we delve deep into Fukuoka’s natural farming philosophy. During the discussion we cover how natural farming is similar to indigenous agriculture and how it’s different than permaculture. We also talk about the mystical experience that changed Fukuoka’s life. Larry’s website is onestrawrevolution.net.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week we interview William Powers author of New Slow City, 12 by 12, Blue Clay People and Whispering in the Giant’s Ear. We talk about living “slow” in the big city and his move from a 12 by 12 foot cabin to Queens and then on to Manhattan.

Powers is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and is on the adjunct faculty of New York University. In addition to his books he writes for the Washington Post and the Atlantic.

During the podcast we discuss:

• micro-apartment living
• living in Liberia and Bolivia
• Josef Pieper book Leisure the Basis of Culture
• 350
• Vicki Robin’s book Your Money or Your Life
• David Abram’s book The Spell of the Sensuous
• John De Graaf

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week Kelly and I discuss my plantar fasciitis situation, our vegetable gardening disasters and what happens when it rains in Southern California.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Hear “East Coast Eric” interview “West Coast Erik” on Garden Fork Radio Podcast Episode #390 about attic fans, stovetop pizza and what happens with the power goes out in LA.

This week we go to the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds in Northern California to the National Heirloom Exposition. The three day Expo is run by the folks behind Baker Creek Seeds and features speakers, a huge hall of heirloom fruits and vegetables, vendors, livestock, a biodynamic pavilion and live music. I’ve attended each year for five years in a row. This year I took my portable recording equipment and on this episode of the podcast you’ll hear interviews with root vegetable expert Grant Brians, Sir Cobalot, Sustainable Santa (yes you heard that right) and we’ll conclude with a discussion about the California Grange. During the show we mention:

• Grant Brians’ farm Heirloom Organic Gardens and his company Gourmet Seeds International
• Lueble Compost method
• Sir Cobalot’s website Living Earth Structures and Youtube channel
• Sustainable Santa on Facebook
• California Grange
• Pilot Hill Grange

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Kelly has jury duty this week and I had no guest. Coincidentally, Eric Rochow of the Garden Fork Podcast also had no guest or host this week so we both agreed to be guests on each other’s podcasts. This is the second time we’ve had Eric on and in this episode he discusses tapping maple trees and making syrup, grilling steaks on coals, crowd funding, pie crusts and meditation apps. Here’s the rundown:

• Planting crops in a cold climate in the late summer
• Tapping sugar maples
• Building an evaporator for making maple syrup
• Earth Eats Podcast
• Cooking “Eisenhower” steaks on coals
• Crowd funding
• Amanda Palmer Ted Talk
• Pie crusts
• Meditation with the Headspace app
• New anchor Dan Harris’s panic attack
• 10% happier app

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

This week Kelly and I interview Brad Barnes and Jenn Collins of the blog The Dew Abides-their mantra is: simple living doesn’t have to be boring. Jenn and Brad live in Columbus, Georgia. During our conversation we talk about decluttering, taking care of elderly parents, living on a food stamp budget and much more. Jenn and Brad reference:

• Jenn’s experience taking care of aging parents
• The Great Purge
• Setting up a bar in the house
• Home carbonation
• Making peapod wine
• Food stamp diet
• A Place at the Table
• Mindful eating
• Hundred dollar holiday
• The division of labor at the Dew Abides household
• Green renovation

Website: TheDewAbides.com,
Social media: Dew Abides in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Today on the podcast Kelly and I head to a unique homesteading supply shop called the King’s Roost to talk to the owner, Roe Sie, about aquaponics. During the show we discuss:

• What kind of growing medium to use
• Types of fish
• Water quality
• What female fish look like
• How to get an aquaponics system going
• How much it’s going to cost
• Troubleshooting

Roe gives a tour of his aquaponic system in this video:

You can connect with Roe through the King’s Roost website as well as Facebook and Instagram.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week we continue our conversation with Craig Ruggless who, along with his husband Gary Jackemuk, runs Winnetka Farms in Los Angeles’ San Fernando valley. In last week’s podcast, episode 56, we talked about Italian vegetables. This week Craig tells us about his double-laced Barnevelder chickens, Muscovy ducks and we complain about our mutual problems with rats and racoons.

• Barnevelder chickens
• TLS Ranch Barnevelders
• Biosecurity
• Muscovy Ducks
• The raccoon menace
• Weeks colony in Winnetka
• Craig’s grape arbor
• Aquaponics
• Harrisina metallica – Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer
• Rats!
• The Kitchen at Winnetka Farms on Facebook

If you’d like to stay in touch with Craig you can find him at The Kitchen at Winnetka Farms.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Photo: Lexicon of Sustainability.

Our guest this week is Craig Ruggless who, along with his husband Gary Jackemuk, runs Winnetka Farms in Los Angeles’ San Fernando valley. Craig and Gary grow heirloom Italian vegetables, breed standard double-laced Barnevelder chickens, bake bread, preserve food and much more. In the first part of our conversation we’ll talk about Craig’s Italian heritage and heirloom Italian vegetables. In the second part, on next week’s podcast, we’ll discuss urban livestock. During part 1 Craig mentions:

• Spigarello as the new kale
• Radicchio di Castelfranco
• Red Pear Tomato
• Striato di Napoli zucchini
• Lunga di Napoli squash
• Making pumpkin syrup
• Candied fruits
• Cardoons

If you’d like to stay in touch with Craig you can find him at The Kitchen at Winnetka Farms.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

My guest this week is designer, craftsman, carpenter and educator Will Holman. Will is the author of Guerilla Furniture Design and many how-to articles for magazines and web sites. During the podcast we discuss:

• Arcosonti
• Rural Studio
• Making furniture out of cardboard
• Frank Gehry’s cardboard furniture and Shigeru Ban’s cardboard architecture
• Holman’s Instructables projects
• Guerilla Design principles: Honesty, utility, economy and beauty
• Ikea hacking
• Open Works – the makerspace Will is helping build in Baltimore
• Opendesk
• Will’s website Objectguerilla.com

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our topic this week is using digital design tools such as Sketchup to conceptualize and build simple projects around your house or apartment. Our guest is designer John Zapf, proprietor of  Zapf Architectural Renderings and the genius behind our chicken run. During the podcast we discuss:

• Why you should draw up plans before you build something
• Architectural Graphics Standards
• Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) technology
• John’s Cat Bed 7 (pictured above)
• Using pen and paper
• Making physical models
• Architectural scale and rulers
• Cinema 4-D
• Sketchup (a free and simple 3-D tool)
• Rhino
• Adobe Illustrator
• Thingiverse
• 3-D Printing
• Low-tech CNC using just a video projector and your computer
• MoI Moment of Inspiration
• How to learn good design

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this week’s podcast Kelly and I discuss our recent breakfast nook remodel and conclude with Kelly’s ideas about how to choose paint colors. I’m so lucky to have a resident Master of Fine Arts! We’re also lucky to have a digital copy of Architectural Graphics Standards!

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• The Idler and Tom Hodgkinson’s book How to Be Idle: A Loafer’s Manifesto
• The band Calexico (you can download a free song and see a concert on their website).
• Hencam.com
• Architectural Graphics Standards
• Barefoot Ken Bob

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On episode 51 we listen to a comment about toilets from Eric Rochow of Garden Fork TV. Eric mentions a podcast episode of Tiny House Chat where they talk about composting toilets. Then we discuss poultry biosecurity lessons that “West Coast” Erik learned at a recent conference. So, yes, toilets and poultry! Take that Elon Musk!

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Secrets to vegan cooking
• Tips for healthy home cooking
• Roasting vegetables
• Making your own mayonnaise
• Involving kids in the kitchen
• The problems with cooking shows
• Working with leftovers
• Advice for throwing a party
• Jennie’s book Who Wants Seconds?
• How to not burn your soup
• Food swaps

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is organic beekeeper and gardener Patrick Pynes. I met Patrick through a comment he left on a blog post I did about Africanized bees. We talk about this subject as well as top bar hives and what it means to keep bees, as Patrick puts it, “beecentrically.” Patrick’s website is Honeybee Teacher. During the podcast we discuss:

• Les Crowder
• The language around beekeeping: “beecentric” vs. anthropocentric approaches to honeybees and “Bee-having” vs. “beekeeping”
• Dealing with swarms
• Golden Mean Top Bar hive, which you can see at backyardhive.com
• Africanized bees
• Aggression vs. defensiveness
• Top bar hives and Africanized bees
• Inspecting bees
• Advantages of top bar hives
• Eight frame Langstroth hives with foundationless frames
• Diseases

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On this week’s podcast we discuss our new low flow toilet and the concept of humanure. During the show we mention:

• Toto Eco Promenade
• The toilet passage of David Foster Wallace’s essay A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again
• The Humanure Handbook
• Brad Lancaster’s humanure system
• The Water-Wise Home by Laura Allen

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Raised beds
• Hoop houses
• Crawl space vents for hoop houses
• Foraging for garlic mustard
• Bread Earth and Fire ebook
• Decluttering
• Beekeeping
• Honeybeesuite.com
• Mite treatment
• Keeping bees in the winter
• Mudsongs.org
• That Flow Hive thingy
• Bears!
• Birdhouses
• No-knead bread in a slow cooker
• Slow cooking and pressure cooking
• What to do with pallets

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

In this special Catcast, we talk to Dr. Tracy McFarland, who was our guest on Episode 36, about caring for older cats. During the podcast we discuss:

• Signs you need to take the cat to the vet
• Dental disease
• Oxifresh oral hygene
• The dietary needs of older cats
• Dry or wet food?
• Obesity
• Arthritis
• Kidney disease
• Water
• Hyperthyroidism
• avmi.net
• Grooming
• Step stools
• Checking your cat’s teeth and gums
• Feeding times
• Urinating outside the litter box
• Integrating older and younger cats
• Heating pads for older cats

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

No Root Simple podcast this week. Instead I thought I’d point you all to an interview with science writer and Institute for Figuring co-founder Margaret Wertheim. In this deep and profound discussion, Wertheim gets to the philosophical core of our current ecological/spiritual crisis. Along with her sister Christine Wertheim, they orchestrated a crochet coral reef that is touring the world. In June the coral reef will be on view in Minneapolis alongside Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester.

In episode 45, Kelly and Erik discuss whole grain baking, specifically a workshop the Los Angeles Bread Bakers put on featuring the very talented Dave Miller. The picture is of the bread Dave baked in the workshop. Clockwise from upper left: einkorn, sonora wheat, charcoal wheat and spelt/rye. Miller was featured prominently in Michael Pollan’s book Cooked. During the show we mention:

• Dave Miller (see this detailed profile by Farine)
• Josey Baker
• Mark Stambler
• Nan Kohler of Grist & Toll
• Lodge Combo Cooker
• Though it’s made with yeast and the dreaded white flour, this is the famous New York Times bread recipe that Kelly mentioned. Many people have been introduced to home baking and the no-knead technique via this recipe, and that is a very good thing.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is Daniel Kent, creator of the Cabin Textbook Dweller’s Textbook and Dean of Beverages at the Institute of Domestic Technology. In our first outdoor podcast (recorded in the mountains near a creek) Kelly, Daniel and I discuss:

• Daniel’s carbonated shower
• Gin and Tonic theory
• Carbonated Coffee
• Kelly and Erik’s carbonation system
• How to make your own clear cocktail ice
• The Old Fashion
• Making your own bitters
• Herbs of Mexico
• Institute of Domestic Technology classes
• Wool and how to wash it
• Roasting your own coffee with a Whirley Pop
• Sourcing green coffee at Sweet Maria’s and Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders
• Cowboy coffee
• Sharpening tools

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Yvonne Savio is the Master Gardener Coordinator for UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County. In this episode of the podcast we pick her brain about:

• Why you should grow your own food.
• Favorite vegetables.
• How to harvest vegetables.
• How to prepare a vegetable garden.
• Making compost.
• The problems with municipal compost.
• Raised beds vs. growing in the ground.
• Where to buy soil.
• Testing soil.
• How to irrigate vegetables in a drought.
• Buried buckets for watering vegetables.
• Seeds vs. seedlings.
• Succession planting.
• How to plant seedlings.
• The website and calendar that Yvonne is putting together.
• Grow LA Victory Garden Program

You can reach Yvonne at ydsavio@ucanr.edu.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week is Kreigh Hampel, recycling coordinator for the city of Burbank, a city of over 104,000 people within Los Angeles County. The title of this podcast, “The Tailpipe of Consumption” is from Kreigh’s own words. I think, after listening to the show, you’ll appreciate why Kreigh, who has to deal with the damaging waste of our consumer lifestyle, is so concerned about our consumption and about the changes we all need to make to our lifestyles.

During the show we discuss:

• The dangerous stuff people put in the recycling
• Producer responsibility
• How recycling enables waste
• Master Recycler Program
• Reduce, reuse, repair
• How plastics are recycled
• What the plastic number codes mean
• The problem with #7 plastics
• What happens to recycled plastics
• What happens to paper
• Styrofoam

Links:

Burbank Recycle Center website

Burbank Recycle Center on Facebook

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Kelly and Erik discuss some of the unusual sounds heard around the Root Simple compound: chickens, cats, bees and, yes, Kaiser Permanente’s music on hold.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest on the podcast is the one and only Kirk Anderson, a natural, no-treatment beekeeper and our mentor. Kirk tells a lot of funny stories and shares his wisdom on how to keep bees in a big city. During the podcast we discuss:

• Mean bees
• Africanized bees
• Treating bees
• Buying package bees vs. collecting feral bees
• Michael Bush’s method of re-queening a hot hive
• How to keep bees in an urban environment
• Why Kirk doesn’t use foundation
• What’s ailing the bees and what’s wrong with the big beekeepers
• Movie: More Than Honey
• Langstroth vs. top bar
• Kirk’s and Russel Bates’ how-to videos on Youtube
• Kirk on Facebook

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

The Root Simple Podcast is on “Spring Break” while we work on some critical infrastructure around the compound. In other words, I failed to book guests and I’ve got a lot of repairs to do on our old house. We’ll return next week with our regularly scheduled program.

I thought I’d use this break as an excuse to remind you that we’d love to get some listener questions via our Google Voice number: (213) 537-2591. Call us and leave a question, comment or conundrum. We’d love to hear from you.

There’s a lot of repetitive manual labor to do around our household this year. Kelly and I are in the midst of re-doing our garden and fixing up a few rooms of our old house. While I could execute my duties in a contemplative and mindful silence, the fact is that I’m not that type of person. I’m also not the audio book type, so when I’m working I like to listen to podcasts. Here’s a selection of what I subscribe to:

C-Realm Podcast
This is the first podcast I ever subscribed to and it’s my favorite. It’s hard to pin down exactly what this show is about other than that the “C” stands for “consciousness,” but in no way would I call it “new age.” The topics vary widely, everything from resource depletion to singularitarians to heady economic theory. The talented, thoughtful and compassionate host goes by the pseudonym, “KMO” and it’s been interesting over the years to hear his ideas change. Lately, KMO has come out of a doomer phase and has shifted his focus to a new set of guests who are articulating the problems and possibilities or our time. KMO also has a paid subscription podcast called the C-Realm Vault, which I also enjoy.

Futility Closet
A romp through historical curiosities. Recent episodes have covered the 1925 serum run to Nome, a 19th century attempt to balloon over the North Pole and Victorian children’s author Favell Lee Mortimer’s offensive travel book.

In Our Time
Host Melvyn Bragg corrals a posse of academics to discuss topics in history, religion and philosophy. When guests drop big words like “hermeneutics” and “teleology,” Bragg always brings them down to earth and makes them explain things in plain English. This show has filled in many gaps in my education and functions as a reminder that not all of the media in this world is fixated on Kim Kardashian’s derriere.

On Being
Like Bragg, On Being host Krista Tippett has an almost supernatural ability to tackle difficult subjects, in this case religion and spirituality. I’m especially fond of a recent episode, a rare interview with poet Mary Oliver.

Radiolab
A highly produced NPR show. Readers of this blog will especially enjoy the episode, “How do you put a price tag on nature?”

Reply All and Start Up
Two podcasts from a new podcasting network founded by This American Life producer Alex Blumburg. Reply All tell stories about the people behind the internet and Start Up is a recursive look at founding a podcasting network.

99% Invisible
An short and to the point show on design and architecture.

Grow Edible
Homesteading advice from Seattle blogger Erica Straus.

Do you have a favorite podcast? Leave a comment!

First, I want to thank all of you who have subscribed, listened to and given us feedback on our podcast. I think there are many more of you who might like our podcast but are flustered by the user-unfriendly technology of podcasting.

You can, of course, just use the player that we embed in our podcast blog posts. But then you can’t do your dishes or listen to us natter on during your commute to work. If you’ve got a mobile device you can subscribe and have the podcast automatically downloaded via:

• Apple’s Podcasts App
• Via iTunes
• Sticher (Android users and in some Ford and GM vehicles)

When I’ve got some menial chores I make sure to load up my cast-off iPhone with my favorite podcasts. I’ll share some the podcasts I listen to in a future blog post.

• His transition from astrophysics to climate science and why he made the switch.
• The carbon footprint of climate science.
• Not giving climate skeptics any more airtime.
• The disconnect between evidence and action.
• Meditation.
• Techo-fixes vs. “pulling back.”
• Figuring out your carbon footprint.
• Avoiding flying.
• The carbon footprint of food.
• Becoming a vegetarian.
• Dumpster diving.
• Growing food.
• RIPE Altadena.

You can find out more about Peter through his be-cycling website. You can also download an excerpt of his book-in-progress (pdf) and see slides from one of his talks (pdf).

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Nance’s explanation of The Ground Rules is really inspiring. She’s developing a manual to help people develop similar programs and will be coming out with a book about soil in the fall.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

I had the honor of speaking to two of my DIY heroes Mark Frauenfelder and Kevin Kelly on the Cool Tools Podcast about some of my favorite gadgets. We discuss the KoMo FlicFloc Flaker, roasting coffee with a Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper and my Xtracycle cargo bike.

When our electric toaster broke, I did a post about my attempt to fix it and my search for non-electric alternatives. This led to my conversation on this week’s episode of the Root Simple Podcast with Ed Dulles, inventor of the DeltaToast, a stove-top alternative to the conventional electric toaster. We discuss Ed’s transition from the financial services industry, from someone who “writes emails” to being a “maker” of tangible objects. In the conversation we also cover how Ed took the DeltaToast from concept to market. I’ll do a review of the DeltaToast soon, but let me just say that it’s esthetically pleasing, fold-able, easy to clean and repair. It’s also made by Italian workers who make a living wage. During the podcast we also discuss:

• Brustolina, an Italian stove-top toaster
• I reference the Ted Talk by Thomas Thwaites on building a toaster from scratch

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• The importance of checkups
• What makes cats unique from a biological perspective
• Cat dental care
• Vaccinations
• Rabies
• Feline panleukopenia virus
• The outdoor vs. indoor cat debate
• Ohio State University advice on environmental enrichment for indoor cats (pdf)
• DIY cat toys
• A toy to be careful about
• Strange things Dr. Tracy has removed from cat’s stomachs
• Plants that are toxic to cats
• What should you feed your cats
• The raw food debate
• Natural veterinary food and homemade pet food resource: balanceit.com
• AAFCO feeding trial
• How to tell if your cat is fat
• Meal feeding cats
• How to know how much to feed a cat
• Dry vs. wet food
• Flea control
• Heartworm
• Listener questions: weepy eyes,
• L-Lysine
• Cat social hierarchy
• Zylkene

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• Marsala, the Official Pantone color of 2015
• Andean Free Trade Agreement
• The Fifty Mile Bouquet by Debra Prinzing
• Sue Keating and sweet peas
• Hashtags: #losangelesgrown, #slowflowers and #cagrown
• Silver Lake Farms on Instagram

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On episode 34 Kelly and Erik discuss their experience decluttering the house using the methods of Marie Kondo. During the discussion we mention:

• Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors
• Center on Everyday Lives of Families
• Tokyo: A Certain Style (a book that shows cluttered Japanese apartments)
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
• Paperbackswap.com
• Bookcrossing.com
• Project Gutenberg
• Sony Reader
• Kindle Paperwhite
• Little Free Library Movement
• Selling books at Powell’s and The Last Bookstore
• Konmari t-shirt folding method

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Joanne Poyourow of Environmental Change-Makers tells the story of her part in trying to ban GMO seeds in Los Angeles. During the show Joanne mentions:

Links
Ruth Reichl visits baker Richard Bertinet in England

Joaquin Oro wheat

White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

With Kelly off visiting family, I’ve put together a short and simple podcast this week. I read my blog post, Let’s Talk About the Holidays and the reader comments. I conclude with, of course, some Bulgarian Christmas bagpipe music.

Links:

A reader mentions two blog posts about parenting during the holidays:
When Mommy and Daddy Took the Toys Away
Five Ways Frugal Living Benefits Kids

I mention Shannon Hayes’ post:
Murdering Santa and Other Tips for Enjoying the Holidays

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the holiday edition of the Root Simple Podcast, Kelly and I discuss non-electric toasters, Kelly takes a pledge and we conclude with a conversation about compostable Christmas decor. During the podcast we mention:

• Maker Manifesto (we meant the Maker’s Bill of Rights).
• Designer Thomas Thwaites’ toaster project
• DeltaToast
• An Italian non-electric toaster called the Tostapane which is available at Fante’s Kitchen Shop
• Cats knocking over Christmas trees

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest this week on the Root Simple Podcast is Shannon Hayes. Shannon is the author of many books including Radical Homemakers, Long Way on a Little and The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook.

She has a new book of essays called Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled, a smart, funny, moving account of the challenges and joys of living the DIY life. Shannon also raises grassfed livestock on her family’s Sap Bush Hollow Farm. You can find her books (in both hard copy and ebook formats) and farm products on her website, theradicalhomemaker.net. During the podcast we discuss:

• Grass fed beef
• Radical Homemakers
• Gender roles
• Her new book Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled
• Messes
• Making relationships work
• Perfectionism
• Home schooling
• Higher education
• Student debt
• Occupy Wall Street
• Reclaiming the holiday season
• Shannon’s sock knitting machine

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

• What is biochar?
• How is it made?
• Can you make it at home?
• Biochar and heavy metals
• How it improves soil texture
• History of biochar
• Biochar and pH
• How to use biochar
• Using biochar in compost to reduce pH
• How commercial biochar is made
• The Biochar Journal
• Biochar in animal husbandry
• The Biochar Revolution
• Blue Sky Biochar Facebook Page
• I mention an article from the Washington State University, Biochar: A Home Gardener’s Primer

And thanks to Root Simple Podcast listener Max Morgan for connecting me with Michael.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Colin Bogart of the LACBC. Image: Tropico Station.

In episode 26 Kelly and I interview Colin Bogart, Programs Director at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, about how to ride a bike in the city, commuting by bike and the politics of making our communities more bike friendly.  Colin shares his experience of growing up in the suburbs and how he got back into riding a bike. During the discussion (fueled by a bottle of wine, I’ll note) we discuss:

• Aids Lifecycle
• Bike Summer
• Riding to work
• Is riding a bike in the city safe?
• Riding slow
• Keeping cool when you’re being honked at
• Lane positioning
• Avoiding the door zone
• Hand signals
• “Dork” mirrors, i.e. a rear view mirror
• What to wear
• The politics of bikes
• LACBC Newsletter
• LACBC Local Chapters

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Of the 25 podcasts we’ve produced, this may have been the most difficult to put together. I don’t think most people know how contentious beekeeping practices are. There’s a sharp divide between natural/non-interventionist approaches and conventional beekeeping. I’m on the natural side, but I hope I was fair in my description of the California Beekeeper’s convention that I attended this week. During the beekeeping part of the podcast Kelly and I mention the following beekeepers: Micheal Thiele and Micheal Bush. We also mention Honeylove.org. We conclude with a plea for more citizen science projects on pollinators such as the Sunflower Project.

We conclude with a discussion of a series of household disasters, including breaking a precious tool, the Silent Paint Remover and burning a batch of spicy maricopa beans.

Make sure to listen until the end for Kelly’s eloquent addendum on the discussion.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoJ0OHWl3b8

• Jacques de Vaucanson’s 1739 mechanical pooping duck
• A University of California study, Hedgerows enhance beneficial insects on farms in California’s Central Valley
• The UC Davis Arboretum Allstar list
• Piet Oudolf’s book Planting: A New Persepctive

In the sewing portion of the podcast, Kelly talks about:

• Sew L.A.
• Second Skin: Choosing and Caring for Textiles and Clothing

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

The combination of responsibilities this week and passing a kidney stone last night means that we’re calling a close to the first season of the Root Simple Podcast and planning new episodes for season two. That’s a pretentious way of saying there’s no podcast today. We’ll be back next week.

Who would you like to see as guests? How do you like the podcast so far?

In episode 23 of the Root Simple Podcast, Kelly and Erik give an update on their housecleaning habits, read some spam poetry and discuss Randy Fritz’s shoemaking workshop. Some links we mention:

• Wired Magazine’s article on the laborers who moderate social media comments.
• Earth Skills
• Shoe making classes offered by laughingcrowe.com
• Sewing classes at Sew L.A.
• We’ll add a link for Randy’s website when he finishes it–in the meantime, if you’re within striking distance of Santa Barbara and are interested in shoe making lessons, go ahead and shoot us an email at rootsimple at gmail dot com and we’ll hook you up with Randy.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho and Choc. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Mark Stambler was baking bread at home and selling it at local shops, until a knock at his door one day from the health department. Rather than get angry he got the law changed and the story of how this happened is the subject of this week’s Root Simple Podcast. During the podcast Mark mentions:

• The Sustainable Economies Law Center
• Los Angeles Bread Bakers
• Facebook pages for the cottage food bill and cottage food businesses: https://www.facebook.com/groups/282510503800/
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Creatingyourcaliforniacottagefoodbusiness/

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

A conversation about the ultimate slow food, quince, with Barbara Ghazarian, author of Simply Quince and Simply Armenian. If you have room, you should definitely make room for a quince tree. If not, you should work with this amazing fruit. During the podcast Barbara discusses how to prep and cook quince. We also talk about savory dishes made with quince and take a detour into a discussion about muhammara. We also discuss:

• The National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Quince
• Barbara’s Youtube video on how to prep quince
• Quince coring tool (a.k.a. The Fresno Armenian Cooking Widget) Buy it here.
• Medicinal quince seed tea

You can find out much more about quince on Barbara’s website: queenofquince.com. You can connect with Team Quince on Facebook and on Twitter: @gotquince

If you’d like to plant a quince tree check out the selection of bare root trees at Bay Laurel Nursery. Order soon as they sell out.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Image: Emily Green, chanceofrain.com

In episode 20 of the Root Simple Podcast Kelly and I discuss the mow and blow landscape paradigm with writer and avid gardener Emily Green. During the discussion Emily also talks about the politics of lawn culture and the unholy alliance of politicians, the real estate industry and landscape maintenance tool manufacturers.

Emily has written for many newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and the Independent. She blogs at Chance of Rain.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 2011 Emily says,

What would you do if a neighbor came to you and asked, “For 20 minutes every week, may I turn on your vacuum cleaner, smoke detector and garbage disposal and run them all at once?”

Holding that thought, consider if the neighbor added, “Ah, may I also blow noxious dust your way for those same 20 minutes?”

Imagine that not just one neighbor on the street asked it, but eight. Imagine that each one just wanted their 20 minutes to blare noise and blow dust. It would be sometime between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Add up the minutes and they would equal about six straight days of noise a year. The dust would stay suspended longer, an element of smog.

Given the choice, most people would say “no” in terms unrepeatable here, so most Angelenos don’t ask for permission. They just blast noise and blow dust at their neighbors. They call it gardening.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the podcast this week we review different approaches to backyard vegetable gardening with “Gardenerd” Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd.com. Christy is also the author of Gardening for Geeks and has a podcast, The Gardenerds Tip of the Week. During the show we discuss:

• Biodynamics
• Biointensive/French Intensive
• Alan Chadwick’s Garden at UC Santa Cruz
• John Jeavons
• Double digging vs. no-till
• A documentary about Ruth Stout
• Breaking up soil with permaculture method
• The power of mulch
• Square foot gardening
• Peat moss vs. coir
• Growing carbon and compost crops
• Heavy metals
• Phytoremediation with milk thistle and chicory
• What to fill a raised bed with
• How to deal with shade
• Integrating livestock: chickens and bees
• What to do with Peruvian pepper trees (Schinus molle)
• Attracting pollinators

You can also connect with Christy on Facebook and Twitter.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the 18th episode of the Root Simple Podcast I talk to Wendy Tremayne and Mikey Sklar of the blog Holy Scrap Hot Springs. Wendy is the author of the book The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living. Wendy and Mikey are the ultimate “makers” and it was great to finally get a chance to talk to them and talk about their experiences in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. During the podcast we discuss:

• Mikey’s Battery Charger Kit
• Wendy’s wildcrafting
• Their adventures in biodiesel production
• 6x6x10 Remesh as a framework for shade cloth over vegetables
• What failure teaches
• Wild desert foods
• How they juice prickly pear fruit
• “Mad skills”
• Mikey’s temperature controller for fermentation and sous-vide

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the seventeenth episode of the Root Simple Podcast Kelly and Erik discuss Erik’s recent trip to the National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, California. Some of the things and people we mention during the podcast:

• California Rare Fruit Growers
• Rachel Kaplan, author of Urban Homesteading
• Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts
• Apiculturalist Michael Thiele
• “Fruit Freak” John Valenzuela
• Franchi seed seller The Heirloom Seed Store
• Permaculturalist Toby Hemenway

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the sixteenth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we interview naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of The Urban Bestiary, Crow Planet, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent and Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds.

During the podcast Lyanda covers:

• The effect of the drought on urban wildlife
• Invasive species
• How to get along with wildlife such as skunks, possums, raccoons and coytes
• The problem with relocating animals (except rats!)
• Moles and gophers
• Seeing raccoons during the day
• Root Simple’s CritterCam
• Possums!
• Preventative measures
• How to encourage wild animals and increase diversity by planting native plants and trees

Lyanda also answers listener questions about hawks, coyotes, and feral cats.

Lyanda blogs at The Tangled Nest.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Our guest on the next episode of the Root Simple Podcast will be Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild. We’re interviewing her tomorrow (Thursday) so if you have a question about coyotes, moles, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rats or any of the other creatures that visit our urban backyards, leave a comment.

Our worm bin.

On the fifteenth episode of the Root Simple Podcast Kelly and Erik discuss how our cleaning project is going, worm composting, the ongoing skunk menace in our garden and we review two books. Apologies for some clipping in the audio and the cat interruptions.

Worms
During the worm composting segment we cover:

• Why worm composting rocks!
• Our wood worm bin.
• Kelly’s post on basic worm composting and resources.
• Santa Monica College’s worm bin.

Skunks

• The BirdCam Pro (how I discovered that my skunk proofing did not work.
• Our skunk proof vegetable bed.
• Our late dog’s skunk hunting adventures.

What are we reading

Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof.

Bread: A Global History By William Rubel.

Kelly mentions Werner Herzog’s Happy People: A Year in the Taiga.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the fourteenth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we talk to chef, historian, educator, consultant and speaker Ernest Miller about pressure canning.

During the show we dicuss two types of pressure canners:

Presto 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker

Ernie recommends you get a canner with a weighted gauge–because it can be difficult to get dial gauges calibrated.

We go on to discuss botulism and the case of the Seattle man who improperly canned game.

Ernie mentions some sources for safe, tested recipes:

• USDA Guide to Home Canning
• So Easy to Preserve
• National Center for Home Food Preservation
• Ball
• University of Alaska Fish Canning Recipes

We conclude with answer to listener questions including:

• Modifying recipes
• The difference between pressure cookers and canners
• Glass top and induction ranges and pressure canning
• Canning salsas
• Canning meats

You can follow Ernie’s company, Rancho La Merced Provisions on Facebook. Make sure to check out his beautiful glass fermenting vessels. And like the Master Food Preservers of Los Angeles County on Facebook.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Image: Hencam.com.

On the thirteenth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we talk to chicken expert and author Terry Golson. Terry fields chicken questions from all over the world through her blog hencam.com where, as the name implies, you can watch her hens live through the interwebs.

One of the main points Terry makes during the podcast is that chickens have not really been bred to live long and that they start to get health problems after two years of age. When I solicited questions for this podcast, sure enough, most of the questions were related to health. By the way, I think I managed to ask Terry all the questions–many thanks to the listeners and blog readers who sent them in.

During the interview Terry mentions:

• Her blog post on why she does not go to a Vet to treat her chickens.
• Keeping antibiotics on hand as well as other things you should have in your chicken first aid kit.
• Terry’s “spa treatment” she uses to deal with egg binding.
• Doing a chicken necropsy.
• Why Terry doesn’t keep roosters.
• Where to source chicks and pullets.
• When and how to euthanize a sick chicken.
• I mention free necropsies provided by the University of California Extension Service for California residents.
• What Terry thinks about those rooster rings that supposedly keep roosters from crowing (hint: she doesn’t like them!).
• Terry answers Root Simple podcast listener questions.
• What to feed your chickens.
• Corn and soy in feed.
• A brief mention of Terry’s post on training animals.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Master Food Preserver and chef Ernest Miller will be our guest on a future episode of the Root Simple Podcast. I’m doing the interview this Friday and we’re going to talk about pressure canning. If you’ve got a pressure canning question please leave a comment on this post or call our podcast hotline at (213) 537-2591. Ernie is extremely knowledgeable and now is your chance to get those canning questions answered.

In this week’s episode, Kelly and Erik discuss the documentary Damnation, what we’re reading and answer a three part reader question about bread, weeds and fertilizer.

We briefly mention our experiment in house cleaning inspired by a post on Apartment Therapy.

Those damn dams!
Go to the Damnation Website to watch the documentary trailer and find links to where you watch the whole movie.

Via Youtube, a documentary on China’s massive Three Gorges dam.

I didn’t mention it during the podcast, but I used to work at the Center for Land Use Interpretation. The CLUI did a show on towns submerged by dam building projects called Immersed Remains.

What we are Reading
Kelly is reading The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv.

Erik is reading Psychomagic by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Listener Questions
We answer Gloria’s questions about making bread, weeds and fertilizer. Summary: get Josey Baker Bread, mulch and pee in your garden!

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Image: Hencam.com.

I’ll be interviewing poultry expert, author and HenCam.com blogger Terry Golson for the Root Simple Podcast this Thursday morning. If you have any chicken questions you’d like me to ask leave them in the comments for this post.

Kosova long crowing rooster chick. Image: Wikimedia.

In the eleventh episode of the Root Simple Podcast, Kelly and I discuss our new house cleaning routine, long crowing roosters and we answer a reader question about emergency water storage.

Cleaning
Apartment Therapy post on cleaning: How to Clean Your House on 20 minutes a Day for 30 Days.

Erik references the importance of processing your inbox, an idea learned from a book Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Long Crowing Roosters
The Wikipedia article on long crowing roosters.

A youtube playlist of long crowing roosters.

Musical break
“Banty Rooster Blues” by Charley Patton.

Listener Question: Water Storage for Emergencies
A correction to the podcast–the Food Safety Advisor is not free to download, but the information on water storage that I reference can be found here.

Amazon link to the water storage container we use.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

Behold. If you are reading this post on rootsimple.com you will now find a convenient podcast tab where we have put all of our past episodes. There’s more to come including our next episode on long crowing roosters!

And we need some listener questions! Stump us! Befuddle us! The listener line is (213) 537-2591. Or you can email us at rootsimple@gmail.com–put “podcast question” in the subject line.

You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. 

In episode 10 of the Root Simple Podcast, Kelly and I have a conversation with Erica Strauss, professional chef turned gardener and self described urban homesteading fanatic. Her voluminous and amazing blog Northwest Edible Life offers practical advice on a wide variety of topics: food preservation, gardening, keeping livestock in urban spaces, kitchen tips and home economic hacks. Some of the many topics we touch on in the interview include:

• How she got started homesteading
• Gardening in the Northwest United States
• Four season gardening
• Growing fruit in the Northwest
• Dave Wilson’s Backyard Orcharding
• Her viral blog post, The Terrible Tragedy of the Healthy Eater
• Meal planning for families
• Time management on the homestead
• Getting up early to get things done
• Irresponsible chicken keeping
• Livestock vs. pets
• Ducks vs. chickens
• Slugs and snails
• Lining a duck pond with clumping cat litter
• Duck housing
• Selecting and preserving avocados
• Erica’s book project

You can also find Erica on Facebook.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the ninth episode of the Root Simple podcast Kelly and Erik recap a post on artificial turf as well as our reaction to the frightening landscaping at one of our local utility’s distribution stations.

During the course of our artificial turf discussion we mention the amazing garden at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History which demonstrates how you can create a garden in a dry climate that welcomes wildlife and does not use grass. We also mention an organization in Petaluma, California called Daily Acts that has set a good example by creating turf-free gardens on municipal and private property. As examples of parks that are either turf-free or use turf strategically, we mention the High Line in New York City and Playa Vista Park in West Los Angeles.

Fashion on the Homestead

In the second part of the podcast we discuss the homesteading fashion conundrum inspired by a quote from dapper film director (and cat lover) Alexandro Jodorowsky.

Kelly talks about her strange uniform idea and I mention Johannes Itten’s uniform for the Bauhaus (that, during the podcast, I mistakenly attribute to Kazimir Malevich–oops!).

We also mention Soviet artist Alexander Rodchenko’s attempt at a uniform.

We close with a quote from David Lee Roth, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how good you look.”

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

On the eighth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we speak with Erin Alderson about milling your own flours at home. Erin is the author of The Homemade Flour Cookbook and blogs at naturallyella.com.

In our conversation Erin mentions that she uses WonderMill Grain Mill.

We also discussed where to get unique grains.  Erin mentions a few sources in her book:

Bob’s Red Mill
Arrowhead Mills
Nuts Online
Jovial Foods (source for Einkorn)
Lundberg Family Farms

I’ll add that if you’re in the Los Angeles area you can buy flour and grain at Grist & Toll in Pasadena.

After my conversation with Erin I briefly mention my purchase of a flour mill, the KoMo Classic Mill.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. 

On the seventh episode of the podcast we open with Kelly’s cure for stepping on glass shards. Then we discuss the passing of our favorite chicken “Handsome.”

Prompted by a recent comment on the blog we review an old post on three power tools every urban homesteader should own: drill, circular saw and jigsaw.

Lastly, we expand on a recent post about composting brew waste, coffee grounds, juice pulp and coconut husks. In other words, “hipster compost.” During the discussion we answer a reader concern about black solider flies in compost. For more info on soldier flies (they are beneficial in compost but can be a problem in worm bins) see Oregon State’s black soldier fly page. We conclude with another reader concern about contamination in compost and reccomend doing a bioassay test to see if you might have a problem. Washington State has a pdf on how to bioassay your own compost.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

Our guest on the sixth episode of the Root Simple podcast is professional cook and Los Angeles County Master Food Preserver Hae Jung Cho. During the show Hae Jung walks you through the ingredients you’ll need for a basic kimchi as well as how to make it. You’ll find the recipes below.

Hae Jung showing off her special kimchi gloves.

Here are the two recipes she walks through on the podcast:

Poggi Kimchi (Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi)

Diced Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)

During the podcast, Hae Jung mentions a book that contains just about all you’d ever want to know about how to make the many different varieties of kimchi: Good Morning Kimchi

Kimchi Classes
Hae Jung will also be teaching two classes in Los Angeles in August. The first will be on Saturday, August 2, from 10 am to approximately 1 pm. Here’s the info:

Details of Kimchi Class:
The 3-hour class will be a hands-on experience where you will make two kinds of fermented kimchi – napa cabbage (poggi kimchi) and radish (kkakdugi) – and one quick pickle.  We will then share a light meal of rice, kimchi, soup and other side dishes.  You will leave the class with three containers of kimchi and pickles that you have made, printed recipes and the know-how to replicate the kimchi at home.  Class size is limited to eight people. Cost:  $75.

Koreatown Market Tour
In addition, Hae Jung is organizing a guided tour of supermarkets and specialty food shops in Koreatown on the following Saturday, August 9.  This tour is geared toward people who want to shop for and eat Korean food at home, especially helpful for those who want to shop for kimchi ingredients. Cost: $25.

To sign up for the classes email Hae Jung at: hjc90026@yahoo.com.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

Image: tenthacrefarm.com

In the fifth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we talk to Amy and Vince Stross of Tenth Acre Farm in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We begin with the story of why Amy quit her job and how she began to radically transform their yard. Some of the first work they did involved constructing berms and swales in the front yard, the only part of their property that gets enough sun to grow edibles. Amy and Vince describe the trial and error process they went through to perfect this water harvesting system.

We also discuss the beautiful result you see above–a front yard that combines edibles as well as flowers that both please the neighbors and provide habitat for beneficial insects. The magic extends out into the parkway which is planted with a cherry tree guild.

Amy and Vince go on to discuss how belonging to a CSA inspired them to cook from scratch and learn how to preserve food. This knowledge came in handy once their garden got really productive. Amy shares why buying a pressure canner is a good investment.

We talked to Vince about his post on making a non-electric mason jar vacuum sealer with an automotive brake bleeder. This is a cool and low cost alternative to the electric Food Saver vacuum sealer.

And Amy discussed her provocative post on why they don’t keep chickens.

According to Amy, homesteading is “more of a marathon than a sprint.” They are in it for the long hall.

We conclude by having Vince and Amy answer a Listener question about living a sustainable life in a cold climate (something we know nothing about!). Amy mentions growing fruit trees and freezing fruit in one pound packages. Canning projects then take place in the winter when heating up the kitchen also heats the house. Vince talks about growing greens year round and references the books of Elliot Coleman.

You can visit their blog at tenthacrefarm.com. Amy also does a newsletter (see the sidebar on their website). When you sign up for you’ll get a free ebook describing a little more about all the amazing things they are up to. We could have chatted for hours.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

On episode four of the Root Simple Podcast Kelly and Erik discuss the tricky ethics of eggs and mayonnaise, what kind of solar food dryer is the best and we answer a question from Ed about earth ovens.

Plans for the Appalachian Solar Food Dryer can be found in an article on Mother Earth News.

We have a detailed post on how we built our adobe oven here.

If you want to leave a question you can call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com.

The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho.

A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

This week on the Root Simple Podcast Kelly and Erik discuss cooking from scratch, making tortillas, bathroom cats, fencing and answer a reader question about chickens in small spaces.

If you want to leave a question you can call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com.

The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho.

A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

On the second episode of the Root Simple Podcast we discuss the documentary Fed Up and what happened when we gave up sugar for a week. We also discuss that secret project that Erik completed while Kelly was off camping and we answer a reader question about contaminated soil.

If you want to leave a question you can call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com.

The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho.

A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.

As they say in Silicon Valley, if you’re first release is perfect you’re too late. With that in mind, I’m finally putting up the first (after a few false starts) Root Simple audio podcast.

Right now the format is Kelly and I recapping recent blog posts and going into greater detail. Plus we answer some long overdue reader questions. When we get more comfortable with podcasting we’ll start having guests.

In this episode of the Root Simple podcast we discuss transplants vs. direct sowing, the book Josey Baker Bread, gluten intolerance and answer a listener question about rats.

Let us know what you think and what you’d like us to cover. If you want to leave a question you can call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com.

The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho.

A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store.

The Root Simple Podcast is now available in the iTunes store here.

So what topics and projects would you like us to tackle in future episodes? Please let us know in the comments . . .