A Regenerative Future with Matt Powers

Latest Episodes:

Episode 70 How To Have An Amazing Garden And A 9 - 5 Job Plus A Family Life Aug 28, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever wondered how some people who wrk full time right alongside you have epic gardens with yields all summer long? How do they do that? They make it look effortless. Meanwhile you’re struggling to get things watered, to amend the soil, to prune, to harvest, to chop and drop, and it kind of steals the fun from you? I was there! A lady up the hill grew 10,000 lbs of tomatoes on a 1/4 of an acre! What was she doing!? I actually have a video of what she was doing on my Facebook page and Youtube - I’ll link to it in the description - she was irrigating her gardens and orchards with her duck pond water - with duck manure! It fed those tomatoes superbly! I didn’t have the money, ducks, permission, or really mechanical know how to pull her system off on my land. Plus it was so dry where we were the debate over water was always always an issue. Perpetually pouring new water into a pond didn’t make sense for us. How could I get from point A to point B with no real money! Well I figured it out and did it while still a public school teacher struggling to make ends meet - I scaled up to a full 2 acre garden managed with nothing but a knife, a shovel, manure, animals, straw, pallets, some fencing (in the early stages before I stopped using them), and animal feed - it took a progression, one you can see on Powers Permaculture Family Farm on Facebook if you’d like to go back in time and see my trial and error! It took some tinkering and some places are more stubborn than others but I changed our barren decomposed granite into rich deep dark chocolate colored loam in only a few seasons and in some places within a season... Read the full transcript here: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/blog/2017/8/28/how-to-have-an-epic-garden-with-a-9-5-full-time-job

Book Tour & Advanced Course BOOK SALE! Aug 27, 2017

Show notes

In celebration of the Book Tour & the Advanced Permaculture Student Online launch 9/4, we are having 30% Off Sale on All Books!! http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/shop/ You can watch this as a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWmi9vlRlF8

Episode 69 The Advanced Permaculture Student Online Course In The Works Aug 23, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever wished there was a professional career path for Permaculture, not just gardening or farming, but as in all regenerative work?  Me too! As a high school teacher who’s job it was to prepare young adults for their careers, I was always searching for better options for my students. When I took my Geoff Lawton Online PDC in 2014 he kept mentioning books for school and children, and I went looking for them and I couldn’t find anything but a school garden book for teachers, and I though it couldn’t be that, but after asking Geoff lawton repeatedly about it, I was told that was the book he was referring to, and I was frustrated: how could there be nothing for kids out there?  How’s anyone supposed to make a living at this? LISTEN FOR MORE!!! Don't miss the launch - Join our mailing list & get 10 Incredible Permaculture Practices FREE: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/10-incredible-permaculture-practices

Episode 68 Simple Soil Solutions With Matt Powers Aug 15, 2017

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Simple Soil Solutions with Matt Powers Have you ever looked into some of these newly popularized soil amendment systems and just felt overwhelmed by the steps, time, labor, and costs for special ingredients and inputs? Shouldn’t working with nature be easier - not like an advanced chemistry class recipe? It really doesn’t need to be all that complicated. Soil is pretty simple actually though people are making money all over the world making it sound complex. I’ve worked for years now with Dr. Elaine Ingham a leading global soil scientist who’s groundbreaking work has changed composting and soil biology forever as we know it, and she can break it down to cartoon levels and even has described how she’d do this on video one time when I was visiting and filming her farm. It’s so simple children can understand it in saturday morning cartoon format. Can you dig it? Listen in & learn more... Learn How to Build an Abundant Future with Matt in this free series: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/howtofightclimatechange

Episode 67 Advanced Seed Saving With Matt Powers Aug 07, 2017

Show notes

Get the BEST Seed Possible! Key TakeAways: - Select Seed from the Best Plants in the Worst Soils or Conditions - Select Seed from the Earliest Plants and Save Them Separately - Use Disease & Pests to Increase Disease & Pest Resistance - Be a Rough and Messy Seed Saver Learn more about Seed Saving with an online course on permaculture that features seed to table to preservation lessons: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/the-permaculture-student-online-course

Episode 66 Tigre Pickett Of Wild Playground On Rewilding Human Culture Jul 31, 2017

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Tigre Pickett and Matt Powers discuss a diversity of topics under the great umbrella tent of Rewilding. Relationships, parenting, health, and more are the mix! Learn more about Tigre & Lola's work here: https://wildplayground.com

Have You Tried All The Organic Garden Tips, But Still Don't Have The Garden You Want? Jul 30, 2017

Show notes

Click Here: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/permaculture-gardening-with-matt-powers Have you followed all the organic gardening advice out there that you can find and are you still not seeing the kind of results you’re looking? I was there - I wanted a giant garden so I could stop paying huge sums of money for organic food and still provide safe food for my family (my wife is a 3 time cancer survivor and we have two young boys and I was just a substitute teacher at that point - so this HAD to work for me). The deer, wild pigs, ground squirrels, the dead dirt, the drought, the heat. It was all so extreme in the Central Valley of California that most people thought it was impossible to garden there unless you spent more money and time than it was worth. I didn’t have money - I had the ability to research, study, and test the most cutting edge and advanced gardening techniques though - I had access to land and the internet. There are many amazing techniques, methodologies, and disciplines out there, but none of them cut it in the 140°F soils, severe drought, and heavy animal pressure that I was experiencing. It took permaculture design course for me to understand the principles behind my situation, so that I could partner with nature and grow hundreds of pounds of food effortlessly in 2 acre year-round garden without fences while growing feet of soil and astonishing local farmers and enchanting PBS viewers and local visitors. No offsite inputs were used aside from straw, animal feed, manure, and seeds and it was managed with only hand tools. Is this just for folks in my climate or able-bodied folk like me? No, it’s based on universal natural principles: I’ve taught students how to apply permaculture principles to gardening in all the major climates and on all continents excepting Antartica, helping hundreds of students of all ages and abilities in my online courses over the pasts 2 years. My students are saving gallons of seed, growing hundreds of pounds of food, and growing rampant gardens of unruly beauty - many of my students are also becoming leaders and teachers in their regions and communities, and you can too. You’ve waiting long enough for the garden of your dreams - your time is now: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/course-signup/permaculture-gardening-with-matt-powers

Episode 65 - Hope and Climate Change Jul 28, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever thought about the magnitude of the Climate Change problem? How many people there are now? How little there is left of pristine nature? Has it ever just eaten up your hope? It’ll ruin your day - it could ruin a week, a month, your everyday - your island might be washing away, BUT the power, rapidity, and awe inspiring capabilities of nature will always inspire those of us willing to observe. HOPE is a product of Observation, research, practice, and reflection. We feel hope when we see a positive future for ourselves and our communities. HOPE is a product of Observation, Research, Practice, and Reflection. We feel hope when we see a positive future for ourselves and our communities. - Observe Nature - Look at how the ruins of Detroit has been reclaimed by nature. - Research the Power of Nature - The Loess Plateau, Geoff Lawton’s Greening the Desert, Al Baydha Project, & NanoClay. Fungi can eat cigarette butts, Mealworms eat styrofoam, Bacteria eat crude oil, and so much more. - Practice Working with Nature - Permaculture and all regenerative living practices. - Reflection - Hope comes from working ethically with Nature and Observing the results over time. If you are feeling hopeless, - Get out in Nature - Go for a Hike or Walk and watch the birds closely - Watch Lessons of the Loess Plateau (Youtube), Greening the Desert with Geoff Lawton (Youtube), or From Sand to Soil in 7 hours (TEDtalk) or read The Permaculture Student 2 which features many amazing large-scale examples. - Grow a Garden, Compost All Organic Waste, Use Graywater to Irrigate your Garden, & try adopting the strategies and technology featured in The Permaculture Student 2. - Meditate (Clear Your Mind), Pray (Direct Your Mind), & keep a Gratitude Journal (Frame Your Mind) Learn to live an abundant and hope-filled life with The Permaculture Student 2: http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com/shop/the-permaculture-student-2-pre-order-only

Episode 64 Eddy Garcia Styrofoam Eating Mealworms And Healing Hawaii Jul 24, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever wished we could easily recycle styrofoam? Have you ever wondered if there's more than red wigglers to the vermicomposting picture? Join us in a conversation with Hawaii's Eddy Garcia talking about turning surfboards into vegetables, solving pollution, and learning from Mother Nature. Learn more about Eddy's work here: http://livingearthsystems.com Photo Credit: Eddy Garcia 2016

Episode 63 The 5 Steps To An Abundant Future LIVE At Golden Coast Mead Jul 17, 2017

Show notes

This is the first time running through the 5 Steps to an Abundant Future in front of an audience & with local representatives of the 5 Steps speaking as well. It was AWESOME!! Huge thanks to Frank Golbeck & Golden Coast Mead for hosting this event. The 5 Steps to an Abundant Future 1. Build Soil 2. Grow Forests 3. Restore the Oceans & all Water 4. Restore Biodiversity 5. Rewild Human Culture Do you want to setup one of these in your area? Contact us: Matt@ThePermacultureStudent.com

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