Episodes

• 2021

• Episode #83, Mental Health and Gardening, with Jordan Mara of Mind & Soil

  Today we meet Jordan Mara of Mind and Soil. He will discuss his company mission, how gardening can be one of the best activities for our mental health, some of the research into specific soil microbes that help our brains and so much more. This is a very exciting and inspiring episode, and Jordan shares about following his bliss to start Mind and Soil, details on how to be involved with his free online workshops, and at the end we dive into the four components of attention restoration theory, which I found very interesting!
  April 7, 2021

  43 min

• Episode #82, How Microbes Negotiate within Soil, with Judy Fitzpatrick

  This is the second part of the interview with Judy Fitzpatrick of Microbiometer. Today we deep dive into microbiology and the workings of the microbial marketplace. We discuss the current state of research, the balance between competition and cooperation of soil microbes, and the environmental influences on these microbes. Then we discuss what some of the cannabis growers are doing to foster microbial balance and why they love growing in soil. Judy shares how the stress response affects flavor and texture of plants and finally what’s going on with carbon and the soil. Thanks for listening to the Get in My Garden Podcast. Please subscribe wherever you listen from and if you want to support the show, please take a moment to leave a positive review on iTunes or elsewhere. It really helps with rankings. Follow on instagram @getinmygarden and check back in spring for a new blog format on the website, getinmygarden.com where you can also sign up for the newsletter blast.
  March 19, 2021

  30 min

• Episode #81, Soil Testing For Microbes with Judy Fitzpatrick

  Today we meet Judy Fitzpatrick, cofounder of Microbiometer.  The first few minutes of this episode, Judy shares her back story, her history in medical diagnostics and then about cofounding soil microbial biomass measurement company, Microbiometer. Judy shares about the distinctions of different available types of soil testing on the market, which is very enlightening. She explains the process by which scientists breed and study bacteria in the lab setting to create strains with a specific purpose for the garden, or for medicine. Then we dive more into microbiology, how bacteria breed, how their DNA gets shared around as they adapt to their environment, and so much more. We learn how to understand the ratio of different fungi and bacteria, how to use this information to gain an ideal soil structure, and how it all works at the microbial level. Thanks for listening to the Get in My Garden Podcast. Please subscribe wherever you listen from and if you want to support the show, please take a moment to leave a positive review on iTunes and elsewhere. It really helps with rankings. Follow on instagram @getinmygarden and check back early spring for a new blog format on the website, getinmygarden.com where you can also sign up for the newsletter blast.
  March 9, 2021

  31 min

• Episode #80, Repairing our Food System and Soil, with Leo Horrigan

  Today we meet Leo Horrigan, a documentary filmmaker with the Center for a Livable Future at John’s Hopkins University,l helping us understand the food system from farming to food access, and creating educational programs around their research. He shares the five most important components to look at as we repair our food system. Leo shares about a lot more including how farming and carbon will always be linked and about how we are studying the prairies and soil to make sure we can restore and unlock the potential of soil.
  February 25, 2021

  37 min

• Episode #79, Hemp as Animal Feed, with Hunter Buffington

  Today we meet Hunter Buffington, Executive Director of the Hemp Feed Coalition. We talk hemp as an animal feed, why it isn’t legal for animal feed yet, some of the roadblocks in the US and Canada, and how the Hemp Feed Coalition is working to change this. Then Hunter shares details about cannabis plant byproducts, many of these potentially being animal feed. We learn a few specific ways that the listeners can be involved with progressing the agenda of the Hemp Feed Coalition Directly. Then we hear details about clinical feed trials that need to take place, and some of the current research about bioaccumulation in the cannabis plant. Hemp is sure to change the nutritional makeup of the food we eat and offers promise for carbon sequestration and regenerative farming. At the end of the interview, Hunter mentions some of the amazing technology being created now using hemp byproducts, and then finally where she thinks the hemp market is headed in the next 10 to 20 years. Follow this podcast on instagram @getinmygarden, send me an email, aaron@getinmygarden.com and subscribe wherever you listen from!
  February 18, 2021

  24 min

• Episode #78, Looking into Soil, Microscope Lifestyle with Nina Folch

  This is the second half of the interview with Nina Folch of Compost Santo. She shares about why she likes composting in the winter, how she looks at microbes in the microscope, and some of the realities of running a Soil Food Web Lab as a career.
  February 3, 2021

  29 min

• Episode #77, Business of Biologically Active Compost with Nina Folch of Compost Santo

  Today we meet Nina Folch of Compost Santo located in Northern New Mexico. She is a student of the work of Dr. Elaine Ingham and others, and I’m so grateful to her for sharing so openly about the composting business she manages, the things she most loves about this work, and some of the challenges they have faced while the business has grown over three years. IF you are interested in composting as a business and are are interested in the details of running such an operation, this is an episode for you! I learned a lot from Nina and will feature the rest of our interview ASAP once it’s completed. This episode is published on the first Monday of the year, happy new year, and I hope you have all have had a chance to look to the future and do some planning. Now is actually a great time to start composting. in preparation for spring.
  January 5, 2021

  27 min
• 2020

• Episode #76, Nature Will Save Our Kids, with Jenny Bailey

  I’ve been wanting to have an show for a while about the benefits of getting children back into nature. I recently read, Last Child In the Woods, now a classic book from 15 years ago about nature-deficit in children. If you have younger kids in your life, today’s interview is with Jenny Bailey co-creator and author of a new book series for younger children, including a soundtrack which is featured at the intro to this episode. The series is called, Tales from Mother Earth, and Jenny will be talking today about their first book which is about bees, then she will share about their educational initiatives in the UK and their mission to empower younger people to become passionate and responsible stewards of the earth. But before our interview, I will review another new book, a graphic adaptation, and it is a graphic novel adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Edward O Wilson. For those of you who haven’t read his books including his most recent Tales from the Ant World, he is an amazing and fascinating adventurer, a researcher, biologist and entomologist who has been a staple at Harvard University since the 1950s. 
  November 10, 2020

  21 min

• Episode #75, Vermicomposting and Getting Started in Composting, with John Craig

  This is Episode 75 with John Craig the master composter who runs grassroots nonprofit, We Compost, located inside the Farm and Food Lab in the Great Park at Irvine, California. John tells us how to get started in composting, some basic methods to try, and some of the experiments they are doing with worms and composting at the Farm and Food Lab. Then he shares the components of good composting and about his composting symbol that he has created for people to use while promoting and normalizing composting and compostable products. Later, we discuss the basics of how to deal with specific composting issues and two book recommendations for vermicomposting and understanding the soil food web. Finally, John shares how to find the right local worms that will thrive in your soil, wherever you are located.
  November 3, 2020

  24 min

• Episode #74, BioChar with Tom Marrero

  Today we learn from Tom Marrero of Wakefield BioChar. He shares the background and history of biochar, plus the research and background that led him to start his family business. For those of you excited for a composting specific episode again, I promise that will come soon. So what exactly is biochar, what can it do and what can it not do? Tom tells us all of this and why it is used for soil health and remediation. The last portion is about the different types of biochar and the process of making it, and understanding the overall sustainability of biochar. Reach out to me anytime to connect @getinmygarden on Instagram, or leave a note on the website, getinmygarden.com, or stalk me on facebook.  Also, if you do go to my website, it’s pretty basic, but you can sign up for the newsletter easily there. I have barely sent anything out, but I will send interesting articles and supplemental content through the emails, as well as news about Get In My Garden, and promos when possible.
  October 26, 2020

  24 min

• Episode #73, Holistic Landscapes and Edible Design with Jennifer Lauruol

  Today Jennifer Lauruol will tell us about the ecologically-minded area of Lancaster England where she lives and some of the community and research programs they have there around sustainability and food security. She talks about how she markets herself as an edible landscape designer, helping to restore spaces with native plants using permaculture concepts and getting people interested in healthier garden spaces. She goes into how she is able to get suburbanites to come around to the idea of native plants in their yards, and about ways she incorporates these plants to make a statement in the landscape, as well as some of the terminology she prefers to use when communicating with people unfamiliar with permaculture principles. Jennifer shares some great book recommendation and mentions very interesting landscape designers who have inspired her or paved the way to where we are now in the movement. Listen to the whole episode, because Jennifer gives some great recommendations sprinkled throughout the interview. In the last section, we talk about animal life, keystone species of plants and animals, and understanding each piece of the ecosystem by observation to uncover what nature is telling us in our specific ecosystem. Jennifer discusses going beyond permaculture with an indigenous approach to communication with plants and fungi which places humans directly into the natural environment with so much reverence and connection. You can reach out to Jennifer after the interview, her cantact info is available at the end.
  October 11, 2020

  37 min

• Episode #72, Woniya Thibeault Teaches Ancestral Skills, Discusses Buckskin Revolution and Tuning Into Our Environments

  You are listening to Episode 72 of the Get In My Garden Podcast. Woniya was runner up on the survivalist show Alone, Season 6, where she survived two and a half months in the far northern region of Canada. Today she shares her ideas for how to foster the right mindset and have a high chance to surviving in any environmental conditions, some simple practices we can all use to open our senses to our environments and how to connect with our landscape wherever we are located. Then Woniya talks about her experiences teaching people about ancestral skills and all the awesome programs she has created through her business, Buckskin Revolution. You can follow her work and learn more about her by searching Buckskin Revolution on social media and online. You can follow this podcast @getinmygarden on Instagram, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen from, if you’d like to receive new episodes. Also, please leave positive reviews if you want to support the show! Next up we will have more natural farming stories and learning from Elton Ray James and Kyle Perry.
  July 15, 2020

  26 min

• Episode #71, Beer-Kashi Business and Fungal Dominant Soil Creation with Kyle Perry

  Today we meet my new friend Kyle Perry, second generation horticulturist and regenerative farmer based in Tennessee. We discuss his two new businesses, Beer Kashi and Native Soil Company and learn about the double fermented kashi he is created from spent brewery grain. Then we talk about his fungal dominant soil product he has created and the awesome bioreactor he is using. We also talk about alternative uses of kashi grains, no-till farming and vermicompost. You can find Kyle and his companies online nativesoilco.com and @beerkashi on instagram. Follow this podcast @getinmygarden and sign up for the newsletter on getinmygarden.com Later this week, the amazing and talented Woniya Thibault, primitive skills expert, subsistenance farmer and survivalist, competitor and runner up on Season 6 of the History Channel show called, Alone, which is also available on Netflix, will join us to discuss how we can all become closer to the earth and gain primitive skills. Then next week, we have second half of my interviews with Elton James and Kyle Perry.
  July 7, 2020

  17 min

• Episode #70, Cannabis Micro-Business and Mind-Expansion Lifestyle with Mushroom Activist, Elton Ray James

  Today we meet Elton Ray James, cannabis grower and lifelong mushroom activist, co-creator with his wife of the largest mushroom growing group on Facebook. He shares how he ended up developing a cannabis business with a California micro business license and what that can mean for growers getting into the industry. Then Elton discusses how mushrooms can open the mind to a lifelong thirst for knowledge, and some of the very awesome visions he has for developing his farm into an entheobotanical tourist destination. I ask him about where we are culturally with magic mushrooms and other psychedelics. Then Elton talks about how his life working with fungi affects his farming methods. Later in the month I will publish the rest or Elton’s vision for creating his destination farm he calls an amazement park! At the end of this week, we will meet a soil entrepreneur from Tennessee discussing his novel soil business and his beer kashi product made from spend brewing grains. Then next week, the amazing and talented Woniya Thibault, primitive skills expert, sustenance farmer and survivalist, competitor and runner up on Season 6 of the History Channel show called, Alone, which is also available on Netflix, will join us to discuss how we can all become closer to the earth and gain primitive skills. She will also tell us about her educational company called Buckskin Revolution.
  July 1, 2020

  20 min

• Episode #69, Locally Adapted Microbes, KNF Methods and Community Outreach with Marco Thomas

  This is Part 2 of my chat with natural farmer and community activist Marco Thomas in Petersburg, Virginia. We talk more about the IMO solutions, Korean Natural Farming principles and building up the farmers market culture in his city. His mission is to share with his community and teach them that it is possible to feed a family low-cost, nutritious food off a small piece of urban land. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen from, and if you didn’t hear the first half of the interview, listen to #68. Follow Marco’s work on instagram @marco_is_growing to see his amazing garden and projects. Follow this podcast @getinmygarden.
  June 20, 2020

  19 min

• Episode #68, Harvesting Local Microbes For Garden with Marco Thomas

  Today we learn more about Korean Natural Farming and making indigineous microorganism solution from Marco Thomas an urban gardener and natural farmer based in Virginia. His mission is to share with his community and teach them that it is possible to feed a family low-cost, nutritious food off a small piece of urban land. This interview will be published in two parts, so subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen from, and hear the second half later in the week. Today, Marco discusses the first steps to getting starting in natural farming and enriching the land with locally harvested microbes. Follow Marco’s work on instagram @marco_is_growing to see his amazing garden and projects. Follow this podcast @getinmygarden.
  June 17, 2020

  19 min

• Episode #67, Mushroom DNA Sequencing and Breeding with William Padilla Brown

  We are back with William Padilla-Brown discussing how to grow mushrooms in a hugelkultur mound, how a myco-focused permaculture lifestyle has benefitted his young son, and then he shares some of the most interesting things he is working on right now such as mushroom breeding for traits and understanding their DNA. William is a great example of a super-learner who is working towards a healthier world. He always has many interesting current and upcoming projects which he will share at the end of the podcast.
  June 13, 2020

  10 min

• Episode #66, Making Business Out of Soil, Soil Food Web and Microbes

  This is the third segment with Casey Ernst and Keisha Wheeler of Catalyst BioAmendments, a composting and soil company they run with business partners, Zach Ellis and Gregory Munn in Northern California. You can follow their adventure on instagram @catalyst_microbe_adventure, and you can follow mine @getinmygarden. If you want to hear more from them, you can tune in to some of the earlier episodes this past several weeks. In this episode we learn the backstory of how two soil food web geeks took their passion for microbes and their education with Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web School and made it into a business. Then we discuss the popularity of soil food web with the cannabis industry and the special considerations for this crop. Lastly, Casey quickly talks about caring for the compost and soil food web during the winter months.
  June 10, 2020

  10 min

• Episode #65, Bootstrap Market Gardening and Strategy with Steve Abbott

  This is Episode #65 of the Get In My Garden Podcast, and today we are back with Steve Abbott of Abbott’s Family Farm discussing considerations when getting started as a market gardener and how to bootstrap your way to profits. Steve shares what he has learned about the importance of building relationships at the farmers market and building your loyal customer base. Then he talks crop considerations and rotation strategy. If you are considering market gardening, you can also listen to more content from Steve Abbott in Episode #62 which was published a couple weeks ago. Send me a message on the website getinmygarden.com or via instagram @getinmygarden where I share content about this podcast. Also, sign up for the weekly newsletter which includes highlights from the podcast, information about the guests, supplemental content including amazing articles and books I discover, as well as products and promotions you literally cannot live without. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. Anyhow, you can also be added to the list by joining the facebook group Soil Balance with Microbes, Minerals, Fungi, Fertilizer and Bugs, the sharing your email in the question when you first join. Next week we will have more content about the soil food web including composting. Stay tuned!
  June 4, 2020

  17 min

• Episode #64, Hugelkultur Gardening and Spirulina Cultivation with William Padilla-Brown

  This is Episode #64, and today we’re back with William Padilla-Brown who was on the podcast last year sharing about edible algae, and today he shares about how he has set up his new hugelkultur mounds for gardening and what he is planning for a new spiralina pond. He shares some more details about how he is successfully growing, testing and harvesting this algae and how he eats it. Spirulina is basically one of the most nutrient rich and protein dense foods available used throughout history as a food source. And for those of you who haven’t heard of Hugelkultur, it is a very old and intelligent gardening method using wood, compost and other layers that feed the Soil Food Web. William is an inspirational educator and adventurer, a talented guy interested in many things. He lives and works to create a more holistic world, and you can follow his work and life via his active instagram account @mycosymbiote. While you’re on instagram, you can follow this podcast and me @getinmygarden and send me a DM to let me know what awesome things you are doing or learning about that I should feature on the podcast. Please subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen from if you like the show, and sign up for the newsletter on my website www.getinmygarden.com or via the facebook group I started called Soil Balance with Microbes, Minerals Fungi, Fertilizers and Bugs. It asks for your email when you first join.
  June 2, 2020

  10 min