Living in Balance with Ashwin Manthripragada & Alexx Pryjma

Quail Springs farm is a 450-acre permaculture project in the Lockwood Valley north of Ojai, where they farm, herd, build and teach in as sustainable manner as possible. Ashwin and Alexx, the co-directors, join the podcast to talk about sustainability, the growth of their on-line courses, and the successes of their buildings in withstanding severe heat and receiving top certifications. The ranch was a bleak and barren over-grazed rangeland when it was founded in 2004 and now the namesake springs flow again and the gardens produce abundant food without irrigation. The techniques developed for building and farming have been taught to thousands of people and Quail Springs has partnered with Patagonia and other businesses and nonprofit organizations. We talked about WWOOFs (Willing Workers on Organic Farms), cob buildings standing strong against raging infernos, the camaraderie of communal life, the resonance of Quail Springs in the tech-stressed digital age and much more. We also talked about Ashwin and Alexx's journey to Quail Springs, German high literature, film recommendations and important books. We did not talk about Spey casting for Atlantic salmon, life cycle of locusts or gang tattoos. Learn more about Ojai's northern neighbor at QuailSprings.org.