Root Simple Podcast

A conversation with Eric Rochow of Garden Fork TV.

A conversation with Johnny Sanphillippo of Granola Shotgun about preparing for a crisis.

Root Simple reader Pat just informed me of the passing of Larry Korn, who was a guest on our podcast in October of 2015. Larry was probably best known as the translator of Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution. but he was a lot more than that. Larry, almost single highhandedly, is responsible for bringing Fukuoka's revolutionary ideas to the rest of the world. A few people have told me that Larry's words in this interview changed their lives and so, in his honor, I thought I would repeat the episode.

On this 133rd episode of the Root Simple podcast Kelly and I talk to Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm, described in his author bio as a "homestead, nut orchard and nursery located in Spencer, New York where he grows around 20,000 trees a year using practices that go beyond organic." Akiva's background is in "foraging, wilderness survival and primitive skills." He is also the author of Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies just published by Chelsea Green. In our conversation we discuss how trees could replace a lot of the staple crops in our diet.

Recording in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Long Beach Beekeepers, Max Wong discusses her beekeeping practices and the process of legalizing beekeeping in Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

A conversation with Kendra Gaeta about our sense of smell and the work of the Institute of Art and Olfaction

A conversation with artist Jessica Rath.

A conversation with herbalist EagleSong Gardener.

A conversation with James Heard and Ashton Hamm of UXO Architects

A conversation with journalist David Gumpert about raw milk.

A conversation with Will of the Weekend Homestead on fire safety and homesteading.

Kelly and I discuss the fire safety problems with open floor plans and Kelly shares her favorite dog sports.

On this episode Eric of Garden Fork drops by to opinionate on window glazing, concrete anchors, mouse traps and Harbor Freight.

Kelly and I read and respond to listener questions and comments about cardoons, medlars and Toto's Eco Promenade toilet.

On the podcast this week are three interviews I recorded at the 7th annual National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa in the first week of September 2017. The organizers of the expo, Baker Creek Seeds, hold a press conference in the midst of the fair and that gave me the chance to talk to some really interesting folks including a Hawaiian squash farmer and a world renowned Australian chef.

How do chemical companies influence university scientists? Who pays for research? Why did the California State Beekeeping Association oppose legislation that would have required labeling neonicotinoid treated nursery plants? These are just a few of the controversial questions covered in this episode of the podcast. My guests are Stacy Malkan co-director of US Right to Know and a return visit from beekeeper Terry Oxford of Urban Bee San Francisco.

Our guest this week on the Root Simple Podcast is artist Federico Tobon of WolfCat Workshop. We talk about a lot of things including Federico’s art, adventures in extreme “makerdom,” sharpening tools, knots and even how to train cats! This is an episode that you'll want to follow along in the show notes so you can see Federico's amazing work.

Our guest on this episode is Terry Oxford of urbanbeesf.com and our topic is rooftop beekeeping in San Francisco and Terry’s efforts to deal with the dangers of pesticides.

This week on the Root Simple Podcast we're featuring a podcast we think you should subscribe to: Opposable Thumbs. Hosts Taylor Hokanson and Rob Ray interview a guest each week who issues a creative challenge to the hosts and the next guest on the podcast. We're simulcasting the first half hour of episode #10 on which we attempt to tackle the challenge, "creating problems." To find out what we did you'll; have to listen to the podast. Hint: it involves seed balls, payloads and explosives. To listen to the rest of the show head over to Opposable Thumbs or subscribe to the show in iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher. The show is the first time we've ever been involved in a conversation about alien autopsies and the Cisco on hold music.

Our guest on this episode is "Garden Nerd" Christy Wilhelmi who returns to the podcast to discuss her new book 400 Plus Tips for Organic Gardening Success.

A conversation with garden blogger Erin Shanen of the Impatient Gardener.

Our guest this week is chef and forager Mia Wasilevich. Mia is the founder of Transitional Gastronomy and teaches culinary workshops, wild-food identification and food styling. She was a featured consultant on MasterChef and Top Chef. She is also the author of a brand new book, Ugly Little Greens: Gourmet Dishes Crafted from Foraged Ingredients.

Behind the headlines about bee die-offs in recent years is an untold story about the methods of conventional beekeeping. There is a sharp divide between mainstream beekeepers and natural beekeepers. In this episode we delve deep into the controversies over how bees are managed with beekeeper Susan Rudnicki. We recorded this episode in front of a live audience at one of Honey Love’s monthly symposiums. We get into a lot of detail on beekeeping methods so consider this a kind of natural beekeeping 101.

Between Kelly's aortic dissection and my mom's passing it's been a difficult few months here at Root Simple. Eric Rochow of Garden Fork noticed that I haven't put out a podcast episode in a long time and offered to interview me. So, on episode 101, you'll hear Eric interviewing Erik about Root Simple, our books and my background. Despite the differences in the way we spell our names we have a lot in common!

A conversation with Eric Rochow of GardenFork.tv about maple tapping and making maple syrup, welding and taking care of cast iron.

Guy Frenkel is one of the most talented sourdough bakers I've met. If you've seen his breads in Instagram and Facebook you'll know why I had to interview him.

On this episode of the podcast Kelly sits down to tell the story of her aortic dissection and subsequent emergency open heart surgery, that took place on November 25, 2016. We also take some time to thank all the many people who helped us, especially the doctors, nurses and staff of Kaiser Permanente's Los Angeles Medical Center and you, our readers and listeners, who sent so many kind notes and prayers.

On this special live episode of the Root Simple podcast I interview Paul Lebeau, who came all the way from Germany to demonstrate an interesting new home flour mill called the Mock Mill. The Mock Mill was designed by Wolfgang Mock who has, in his career, created what I think are the best home grain mills you can buy. What's interesting about the Mock Mill is that it's a stone mill that attaches to a Kitchen Aid mixer. This greatly reduces the cost and footprint of the mill. I've been milling my own flour for several years now with another mill designed by Wolfgang Mock and, like Paul, I think that everyone who bakes--bread, cakes, cookies, anything--should have a home mill. The flour you get is many orders of magnitude better, plus you can make flour with all kinds of exotic grains.

Guest host Eric Rochow interviews photographer and writer Babs Perkins, who documents disappearing foods in the Balkans with a emphasis on cheese making. In the conversation Babs and Eric discuss the politics of cheese in the EU, the challenges of doing a documentary project in the Balkans and the cross cultural values of sharing food.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner in the US, perhaps it's time to surprise your friends and family with some new cooking techniques. How about baking beans in a hole or deep frying your turkey. I discuss these topics, plus how to plant garlic with Eric Rochow of Garden Fork.

Kelly and Erik discuss Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe's urban homesteading book An American Woman's Home.

Our guest is Michael Judd and our topic is permaculture, edible landscaping, straw bale building, mushrooms and even a permacultural approach to death. From his bio: "Michael Judd is the founder of Ecologia, edible and ecological landscape design and Project Bona Fide, an international non-profit supporting agro-ecological research. He’s also the author of a new book, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist."

A conversation with Stephanie Wing-Garcia and Michael Garcia inventors of an innovative new mattress made out of sand called the Ultimate Earth Bed.

Our guest on the podcast is London-based artist and researcher Our guest this week is London-based artist John Hartley. John is probably best known for turning an office (desk, computer and business suit!) into a sea kayak. We talk about a bunch of John's projects, including the kayak, and the intersection of art and ecological thinking. While listening to the podcast I'd suggest taking a look at John's work which you can see on his website ambivalency.net.

Our topic this week is gardening myths and our guest is Robert Pavlis. We touch on a number of controversial, hot button gardening topics such as synthetic fertilizers, roundup and compost tea. Robert maintains a six acre garden near Guelf Ontario all by himself, he’s a master gardener and a speaker. He has a background in chemistry and biochemistry and runs two blogs: gardenmyths.com and gardenfundamentals.com.

Our topic this week is foraging with Pascal Baudar. Pascal is the author of The New Wildcrafted Cuisine, Exploring the Exotic Gastronomy of Local Terroir.