In This Podcast: Gigi shares how permaculture extends far beyond gardening into communication, community resilience, and social systems change. From EcoVillage living and military service to composting toilets after Hurricane Helene, Gigi explores earth care, people care, and fair share as a lived philosophy. This conversation dives into resource-based economies, repair culture, and the power of collective action. It’s a joyful, grounded exploration of how permaculture shapes both land and relationships..

Our Guest:  Gigi White was introduced to permaculture and foraging in college at Ithaca, New York in 2007 while studying acting and living at the Eco Village Ithaca. Which launched the rocket ship of figuring out how we can begin to work together in groups to live sustainably. After serving as an officer in the US Air Force with a tour in Iraq, she became a lifelong student of connecting nature to people sustainable. And joyful living through Improvisational music and acting.

Key Topics & Entities

1. Permaculture principles: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share
2. EcoVillage at Ithaca
3. United States Air Force service and sustainability
4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
5. Transition Towns movement
6. The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins
7. Humanure and composting toilet systems
8. Hurricane Helene disaster response in Asheville
9. Tool libraries and repair cafés
10. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in permaculture
11. Resource-based vs. capitalistic economies
12. Rocket mass heaters and appropriate technology
13. Grafting fruit trees and perennial agriculture

Key Questions Answered

What is permaculture beyond gardening?

Permaculture is a philosophy and design framework rooted in Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. It includes communication styles, economic systems, animal husbandry, energy design, and community-building—not just food production.

How can communities respond sustainably during disasters?

After Hurricane Helene disrupted water systems in Asheville, Gigi organized education sessions and materials for composting toilets. By mobilizing volunteers, sourcing buckets and sawdust, and partnering with a local tool library, she helped residents create safe, low-resource sanitation systems.

What is humanure and why does it matter?

Humanure is composted human waste managed safely through carbon layering (like sawdust) and proper aeration. When done correctly, it becomes soil after about a year in temperate climates, reducing strain on water systems and rebuilding topsoil.

How does permaculture apply to social systems?

Permaculture extends into communication (including Nonviolent Communication), collective decision-making, barter systems, repair culture, and resource-sharing networks. It asks, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?” and challenges systems like planned obsolescence.

What lessons come from failure in sustainable...

In This Podcast: In this episode, Greg chats with sourdough baker, teacher, and cookbook author Amy Coyne of Amy Bakes Breadto demystify sourdough from starter to slice. Amy shares her personal journey into sourdough, explains the science and simplicity behind naturally fermented bread, and offers practical guidance for beginners and experienced bakers alike. The conversation covers fermentation, hydration, common mistakes, discard recipes, and how to make sourdough fit into busy family life. Throughout, Amy emphasizes patience, experimentation, and joy in the process.

Our Guest:  Amy Coyne is a sourdough baker, teacher and creator behind Amy Bakes Bread, where she shares tried and true sourdough recipes that are approachable, reliable, and fun to make. She's been baking for as long as she can remember, and sourdough has been part of her kitchen for over 13 years. Amy is the author of The Beginner's Guide to Sourdough, A cookbook made to help every home baker feel confident creating incredible sourdough bread from scratch.

1. Amy Coyne
2. Sourdough starter
3. Natural fermentation
4. Wild yeast and bacteria
5. Hydration levels in bread
6. Dutch oven baking
7. Sourdough discard
8. Inclusion loaves
9. Family-friendly sourdough
10. The Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough
11. Amy Bakes Bread
12. Home baking science

What makes sourdough different from conventional bread?

Sourdough relies on natural fermentation rather than commercial yeast, resulting in improved digestibility, lower glycemic response, and better nutrient absorption due to reduced phytic acid.

How do you create and maintain a sourdough starter?

A starter is made by culturing wild yeast and bacteria from flour and water through regular feedings, watching for predictable rise-and-fall cycles, and adjusting temperature and ratios for consistency.

How does temperature affect sourdough fermentation?

Warmer temperatures speed fermentation while cooler conditions slow it down, meaning timelines must shift with seasons and kitchen conditions.

What is hydration, and why does it matter?

Hydration refers to the ratio of water to flour; higher hydration creates a more open, airy crumb, while lower hydration produces a tighter, more structured loaf.

What are the most common mistakes new sourdough bakers make?

Unrealistic expectations, discomfort with wet doughs, and misunderstanding fermentation timing are common early hurdles.

What can you do with sourdough discard instead of throwing it away?

Discard can be used in crackers, pancakes, biscuits, cookies, gravies, and more—adding flavor, texture, and reducing waste.

How can sourdough be adapted for busy schedules and families?

Using refrigeration, adjusting starter...

In This Podcast: Edmund Williams returns to discuss the LEHR Garden system and a breakthrough soil product emerging from it: LEHR Soil Amplifier. By combining ecological soil biology with engineered water flow, the LEHR system grows plants in primarily woody materials while composting beneath living roots. The resulting extracted soil behaves as a powerful biostimulant, dramatically improving plant growth, resilience, and heat tolerance. This episode explores living soil, stable carbon, and how feeding soil organisms transforms plant health.

Our Guest: Edmund is a civil engineer and innovator in the urban and sustainable agriculture arena. He has been working with various municipalities and nonprofits to transform the ways our society feeds itself. The Lear Garden was designed to be a low maintenance system using biology as a part of the automation. To do this, Edmond created a compost bin as the core technology, and like any compost bin, it needs to be emptied periodically, The finished compost that comes out is unlike anything on the market having some very surprising and beneficial properties.

Key Topics

• LEHR Garden (Linking Ecosystem and Hardware for Regeneration)
• LEHR Soil Amplifier
• Biostimulants in agriculture
• Living soil biology
• Stable soil carbon
• Glomalin and mycorrhizal fungi
• Biochar as nutrient buffer
• Urban waste stream composting
• Flood-and-drain raised bed systems
• Heat resilience in desert gardening
• Soil food web
• Tall pot tree propagation method

What makes a LEHR Garden different from hydroponics or permaculture alone?

It integrates both ecology and hardware, using a raised flood-and-drain system filled mostly with wood chips and organic waste, allowing plants to grow in living soil biology rather than inert media.

Why does the garden soil need to be removed and reset?

As woody materials break down, water flow slows, causing anaerobic conditions. Removing and resetting the soil restores oxygen flow and system performance.

What is LEHR Soil Amplifier?

It is the sifted, biologically rich soil produced inside the system, containing earthworm castings, biochar, microbial life, and multiple known biostimulant compounds.

How is this different from regular compost?

Unlike compost made separately, this material forms beneath living roots, encouraging creation of stable soil carbon compounds such as glomalin, which are critical to true topsoil structure.

How much is needed to see results?

Very small amounts are effective — about one gallon can treat roughly 1,000 square feet of garden space.

What plant responses have been observed?

Reports include greener lawns, higher vegetable productivity, improved pest and disease resistance, thicker rose petals, and rapid recovery of stressed trees.

Can it improve heat tolerance?

Gardeners observed lush summer growth during record heat, with plants surviving and producing through extreme desert temperatures.

What is the underlying mechanism?

The product stimulates soil biology, increases mycorrhizal activity, provides mineral buffering through biochar, and enhances nutrient cycling.

Episode Highlights

• LEHR stands for Linking Ecosystem and Hardware for Regeneration
• Gardens grow food in mostly wood chips enriched by composting beneath roots
• Soil removal became the “problem that was the solution”
• Sifted soil behaves as a high-density biological stimulant
• Stable soil carbon forms directly through plant–fungal interactions
• One gallon treats approximately 1,000 square feet
• Gardeners report dramatic improvements during...