The Good Dirt: Sustainability Explained

Latest Episodes:

43. Practice or Performance? Artistic Expression, Slow Living, and the Role of Social Media with Marlee Grace May 21, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode of The Good Dirt, Mary and Emma talk with dancer, writer and quiltmaker Marlee Grace to consider the question, what are we practicing and showing up for in our day to day lives? Throughout the episode, Mary, Emma, and Marlee dig into the concept of “personal practice” as they reimagine art forms as a practice rather than a performance. Marlee shares why she stepped away from social media, questions the role it plays in our lives, and addresses the platform’s inherently performative nature. She also shares where she finds encouragement and inspiration, and reminds us to take our work seriously (but not ourselves).

Marlee’s work focuses on the self, rituals of devotion, creativity, and art-making. Her practice is rooted in improvisation as a compositional form expressed through dance, writing, quilting, teaching, and hosting artists. Her dance project Personal Practice has been featured in the New York Times, Dance Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The Huffington Post. Marlee is the author of Getting to Center: Pathways to Finding Yourself.

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1:30 - Mary and Emma catch up and talk about natural dyeing and quilting!

6:40 - Dancer, Writer, and Quiltmaker Marlee Grace

Let’s get into the episode:

8:30 - Marlee Grace introduces herself

15:50 - Personal practice

24:20 - Escaping the chaotic and addictive loop of social media

37:00 - Improvisational quilting

39:30 - What inspires and encourages you?

45:30 - Slow living and its challenges

53:00 - What does the Good Dirt mean to you?

Things Mentioned:

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42. A Passion for Wool: What’s Behind a Sustainable Supply Chain with Lani Estill May 14, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode, Mary and Emma sit down with Lani Estill, founder of Lani’s Lana ~ Fine Rambouillet Wool; a commercial wool business and small yarn line based in Northern California. Alongside her family, Lani also owns and operates a vertically integrated diversified livestock ranch producing cattle, sheep, alfalfa and grass hay in the Northern California/Northern Nevada region. With the help of partners like Fibershed and the Carbon Cycle Institute, Lani’s family ranch is now running under a climate-fighting Carbon Farm Plan!

Throughout the episode, Mary and Emma dig into Lani’s life on the ranch and chat about the complexities of owning and operating a truly sustainable supply chain. They also speak to the power of the consumer and talk about the soul satisfying decision to invest in climate beneficial products.

1:20 - Mary and Emma catch up and talk about upcoming events!

Let’s get into the episode:

9:30 - Lani’s Lana Wool!

12:15 - Lani introduces herself

16:00 - Regeneration on the ranch

20:00 - The early days at Fibershed

23:40 - Investing in carbon farming

30:00 - The team

32:30 - The sheep

35:10 - The fabrics

42:00 - The cost of climate beneficial products

49:00 - Dyers and natural dyes

51:20 - What does the Good Dirt mean to you?

Things Mentioned:

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41. Fermented Foods for Health & Happiness with Kirsten Shockey May 07, 2021

Show notes

1:30 - Mary and Emma catch up and talk fermentation around the farm!

8:20 - Introducing Kirsten Shockey of Ferment Works

Let’s get into the episode:

10:30 - Kirsten introduces herself

16:50 - What is fermentation?

19:40 - Bioavailability

22:40 - Fermentation vs Pickling

28:05 - The Wonderful World of Vinegar

34:50 - Fermentation School

38:35 - Fermenting dairy

39:50 - Fermenting safety & policy...it’s safe y’all!

42:00 - Fermentation vs canning...fermentation for the win!

45:35 - Tips & tricks

47:55 - Kirsten’s favorite ferment

49:20 - Gateway ferment for getting started!

51:50 - What does the Good Dirt mean to you?

52:55 - Don’t be afraid and you've got this

Kirsten's Books:

Things Mentioned:

Upcoming Kefir Workshop
Ferment Works
Plaine Products 20% OFF with CODE: ladyfarmer
fermentationschool.com

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40. Cultivating The Creative Life with Liz Kimball Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

Liz Kimball (MFA, CPC) is a creativity catalyst, writer, coach, speaker, and founder of The Collective, a network of women creators and thought leaders dedicated to fostering cultural change through creativity. Her work has been featured at TEDx, Oprah.com, the NBA, The Guggenheim, NYU, and at universities and institutions throughout the country. In today's episode, we talk about the creative process from many angles, how pursuing our dreams might not be the straight path we imagine, how to foster our creative selves in a world that demands much from us, and how some of these things might be shifting from the pandemic year. Liz talks about the importance of detaching yourself from labels that you’ve placed on yourself since adolescence. Your work in the world is much more important than a title. We discuss how the ideas of slow living and "good dirt" are essential to cultivating the creative life, and building a future we can’t wait to wake up to!

Let's get into the episode:

1:30 - Mary & Emma catch up and chat about plants!

7:00 - Liz introduces herself

20:00 - Rewriting the rules

23:00 - The Collective

27:00 - Discussion around time

35:00 - The creative process

50:00 - Mary recalls her own journey with her creative process

Things Mentioned:

Liz's Website - The Collective
Liz's TED Talk
Howard Thurman - The Sound of The Genuine
Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert
The ALMANAC - Sharon Bailey's Workshop (available to members only)
Lynn Felton - @bonzart

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39. The Role of Activism in the Fashion Revolution with Elizabeth Cline Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

1:30 - It’s Fashion Revolution week!

10:00 - Elizabeth introduces herself

11:00 - Has there been much change in the last two decades in the fashion industry?

20:00 - Why are corporations not paying their factories?

28:00 - The problems in your own closet

38:00 - The PayUp Campaign

42:00 - What does The Good Dirt mean to you?

50:00 - How Farmers in West Texas inspired Elizabeth

Things Mentioned:

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38. The Regenerative Role of Local Fibersheds with Rebecca Burgess Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

On this special live episode of The Good Dirt, Mary and Emma talk with Rebecca Burgess, the founder of Fibershed, a non profit organization that develops regional fiber systems that build soil and protect the health of our biosphere. Fibershed envisions the emergence of regional textile communities that facilitate soil-to-soil textile processes, and create opportunities for localized clothing production and supply. Rebecca speaks about the origins of the organization and its efforts in connecting wearers in numerous regions with local fields where the clothes are grown, working to build viable systems that can be sustained for generations to come.

1:40 - Next week is Fashion Revolution Week

Let’s get into the interview!

6:13 - Rebecca shares her biggest influences

11:35 - The moment that started Fibershed

16:35 - What is Fibershed?

22:50 - Hemp in the fashion industry

30:00 - What’s to come of Fibershed?

40:00 - What does the Good Dirt mean to you?

41:00 - Seniors and the working community

44:00 - What makes for a healthy fibershed?

Things mentioned:

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37. A Calling to the Land with Songwriter Eliza Blue, the Accidental Rancher Apr 09, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Mary and Emma have a wonderful conversation with Eliza Blue, a singer/songwriter who lives and works on a regeneratively-managed ranch raising grass-fed cattle and fiber sheep with her husband and two children. She talks about going from the life of a touring musician to a teaching job in South Dakota, and the pivotal moment when she walked into a friend’s lambing barn at lambing season and knew she had found her calling. Eliza's connection to the land is evident in her stories of life on the ranch and her daily involvement with the animals and the natural environment. She has written a book called "Accidental Rancher," which came out this past spring, and she writes and produces audio "postcards" about ranch life for the North Dakota and South Dakota NPR affiliates. In addition, she has just finished filming for a new series that celebrates rural life through stories and songs called Wish You Were Here.

1:23 - It’s been a year since The Lady Farmer Guide to Slow Living has been released!

Let’s get into the interview!

8:35 - Eliza introduces herself

13:20 - Eliza’s creative endeavor

18:00 - Eliza’s shares a story from the ranch

30:00 - How the pandemic has affected Eliza’s life

33:00 - What inspires Eliza’s music and songwriting?

44:00 - Regenerative Agriculture in the grasslands

50:00 - What does The Good Dirt mean to Eliza?

Things Mentioned:

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36. Living in Rhythm: Women's Well Being with Sharon Bailey Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

Today's guest is Sharon Bailey of The Glow Emporium, a woman’s wellness education and empowerment community. As a homesteader, mother, entrepreneur, and educator living in a small mountain town, Sharon espouses a life lived in sync with nature, and helps other women connect with their own feminine rhythms for a happier and healthier lifestyle. Emphasizing the counter- cultural art of slowing down as a fundamental necessity for coping with the many demands of women today, Sharon offers empowering information and advice for dealing with exhaustion and burnout. In this conversation, Sharon shares her own story of early challenges that led to destructive habits in early adulthood, and how through the experience of giving birth and early motherhood, she came to an understanding of the necessity for taking care of herself and her body. Her passion for supporting other women on the path to claiming full health and well being for themselves is the inspiration for the work she does today.

1:30 - Mary and Emma talk about planning by the moon

Let’s get into the interview!

6:53 - Sharon introduces herself

9:00 - How did Sharon get into health and wellness?

16:15 - The current mission of The Glow Emporium

25:00 - Planning around your hormonal cycle

32:00 - What are we trading our time for?

40:00 - Making sustainability more accessible

48:00 - What does Sharon want us to most take away from this conversation?

Things Mentioned:

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35. A Life of Making with Cynthia Main Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Cynthia Main @sunhousecraft is an artisan maker in Berea, Kentucky who has built a thriving business hand making home goods. Inspired by the timeless traditions of Appalachian crafts, her wooden wares are hand made, often hewn with axe and knife. Brooms are hand woven, with a non-electric process, with utmost attention given to the details of each piece. The materials are sourced and harvested from local, sustainable materials. In this conversation, Cynthia discusses her lifelong passion for learning traditional agrarian skills and the arts of self sufficiency, from farming to building, wood working, furniture making and crafting the basic tools of everyday life. With many of these skills largely forgotten by our consumer culture, Cynthia shares the story of how she has made her way, rediscovering these skills for herself, teaching others, and demonstrating an alternative path through a life of making.

1:20 - Catch up with Mary and Emma

Let’s get into the interview!

12:00 - Cynthia introduces herself

17:50 - The importance of mindful supply chains

20:40 - Broommaking and Appalachia

31:00 - Crafts, accessibility and price

39:00 - Claiming your own power

45:00 - Cynthia’s work in relation to The Good Dirt

48:30 - How 2020 has affected Sunhouse Craft

Things Mentioned:

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34. Slow Living, Personal Growth, and the Power of Plants with Alyson Morgan Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Alyson Morgan (@alysonsimplygrows) is an environmentalist, gardener, artist and photographer, as well as a slow living advocate and mother. Through this conversation, Alyson gives us a glimpse of conscious living through her lens, the realities of juggling a creative business and motherhood, the desire for activism alongside the need for slowing down and being present, and the power of plants in everyday life. Through her beautiful photography and her writing, along with the flower essences she creates for Earth Star Herbals, Alyson offers her gifts of healing to her audience and the world.

1:20 - Mary and Emma talk about the seasonal transition

Let’s get into the interview!

5:34 - Alyson introduces herself

8:40 - How did Alyson get into herbalism

18:00 - Plant allies and personal growth

22:00 - What is a flower essence?

29:00 - Rest and Productivity

33:40 - Living by the moon

40:40 - Balancing slow living and motherhood with COVID

45:00 - What does Good Dirt mean to you?

Things Mentioned: