The Ground Shots Podcast

Hey ya’ll, This is a quick and dirty solo podcast episode where I update you on some of the things I’m doing this summer including offering in-person ecology immersions in western Colorado on the Grand Mesa. I give a little overview of some of what we did in my last immersion that was 4 days, focused on riparian ecology. Talk on travel, loneliness post-pandemic, the grief of ecological destruction, the importance of community around that grief Some talk on the ‘abodes’ geologic formation in the region Human impacts on riparian ecological zones Support the podcast! A few ways: Substack : groudshots.substack.com Patreon : patreon.com/ofsedgeandsalt Buy me a book on Bookshop Sign up for an in-person ecology course with me or Nikki Hill (Scholarships available) located on the Grand Mesa in western Colorado

read the entirety of the show notes for this episode here. Episode #73 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Alex Zubia (XeF) out of Fresno, California. Alex Zubia, who goes by “Xef” is a Chef by trade. Born and raised in Fresno, CA (yokuts Land). Alex attended The California Culinary Academy in San Francisco (Ramaytush Ohlone land) in 2007. His passion for cooking came with his passion for eating. From 2008-2015 he worked at Community Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Room as a Patient Liaison. During that time he witnessed people from his community dying from diet related issues. That realization led him to opening his food truck, which focused on healthier, farm to fork versions of familiar foods. In 2015, Alex moved to Santa Barbara (Chumash Land) to further his skills as a chef. There, he discovered that so much of the beautiful produce he was cooking with came from Fresno. He wondered why he never saw all this produce available in Fresno. Alex moved back to his hometown in 2021 to fight for food justice as a Food Sovereignty Director at Fresno Barrios Unidos. Alex’s goal is to bring his community back to eating and cooking their indigenous foods which are so plentiful in the Central Valley. In this conversation with Alex, we talk about: food apartheid (or ‘food deserts’) in Fresno, California, which is in the Central Valley of California, a place where so much food is grown yet not a lot of local food is available for the folks who live there food is medicine, culturally and physically Alex’s journey doing work with food, cooking in Santa Barbara and Fresno the corporate industrial food complex as it intersects capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy Alex’s work as a patient liaison at the Community Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Room and how it changed their perspective and what they observed as harmful aspects of the hospital industrial complex The importance of love, community, and good food for good health Navigating the nonprofit world when trying to do food justice work some raving on TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) Chico and Ali Meders-Knight’s model of land tending in California regenerative agriculture stems from indigenous practices The four R’s and more on Transition US (Resist, Repair, Reimagine, Regenerate) Links: Sign up for Summer 2023 field ecology classes in the southern Rockies Late Spring Terratalks Ecology study group, for late April and May Fresno Barrios Unidos Transition US Alex/Xef’s Instagram: alexander_fresno Transition US’ instagram: transition_us Fresno Barrios Unidos’ instagram: fresnosbarriosunidos My Homie’s Kitchen instagram: myhomieskitchen Guest Music: “Walk Away” by Ambeeka

Episode #73 is a solo episode with Kelly Moody, Ground Shots Podcast regular host. I get into a slew of things on this episode, reflecting on camping near the Mexican border and the implication of borders, water, fire and ecological disturbance, summer field immersion programs I’m doing in Western Colorado this season and more. A shorter episode with just me and some sweet banjo tune by Mandalin Sattler as background music. Links for this episode: Ground Shots Substack publication, subscribe for free Patreon Support for the Podcast if you want to support that route Terratalks philosophy and ecology online 3 part class, late Spring Session Waitlist Field Ecology Programs Western Colorado Spring/Summer 2023 in collaboration with Groundwork, sign up here Elderberry’s Center in Paonia, Colorado, Lisa Ganora’s Herbal Education Center Lisa Ganora’s Herbal Constituents Online course, starting at the end of March. Sign up here with my discount code ‘KELLY’ for 10% off and using it also helps support the Ground Shots Podcast! Music for this episode by Mandalin Sattler of Water Daughter and @mossymandalin on Instagram

Sign up for my spring mini study group starting February 10 (sign ups open for a limited time!) here: Terratalk sessions Episode 72 of the Ground Shots Podcast is with Lisa Ganora, herbalist and plant chemist, out of Paonia, Colorado. Lisa and I got together at her Elderberry’s Farm spot, on the edges of Paonia, Colorado’s town limits. On a cloudy day with intermittent rain and snow, we sat in her herb lab, drinking hot tea, to do an interview. Lisa Ganora began studying traditional Western herbalism in the ‘80s. Later, she lived and wildcrafted in the Appalachians where she studied with folk healers and created herbal products to sell as she traveled the festival circuit with her herb booth. After practicing as a community herbalist for a decade, Lisa returned to college and graduated from UNCA summa cum laude with multiple awards in biology and chemistry. After graduation, she focused on studying pharmacognosy and phytochemistry. In addition to directing the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism from 2012-2020 and managing Elderberry’s (a Rocky Mountain herbal education center in Paonia, Colorado), Lisa has also served as Adjunct Professor of Pharmacognosy at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, and has lectured and taught classes at numerous schools and conferences. She is the author of Herbal Constituents, 2nd Ed., a popular textbook on practical phytochemistry for natural health practitioners, which is used by herbal schools and universities worldwide. To see more show notes and what we talked about summaried on this episode, go direct to our blog page for the episode, here. Links: (for extended links list, go to our episode page, linked above) Lisa’s website for Elderberry’s Educational Center Herbal Constituents website Instagram for Elderberry’s Support the podcast on Patreon Ground Shots Substack Publication Donate to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow

Susan Tweit is a plant biologist with a calling to restore nature and our connection with the community of the land especially close to home. Plants are her people, as she says, fascinated by the myriad ways they weave the world’s living communities, forming the green tapestry that covers this planet. Susan began her career as a field ecologist studying sagebrush, grizzly bears and wildfires. She reveled in the work and the time outside in the west’s expansive landscapes, but eventually realized she loved the stories in the data more than collecting those data. So, she learned how to tell those stories, not an easy trick for a scientist schooled in dispassionate and impersonal prose. Susan and I met at the Paonia Books opening event in Paonia, Colorado in late fall 2022. During the event, we ended up getting into a conversation about plants by the hard cider sample table, and decided to try at some point to do an interview for the podcast. I was curious about Susan’s work as a writer and botanist, ecology scientist and was excited to dig deeper. We managed to meet up a few weeks later and recorded a conversation in Paonia Books’ back room where they hold writing workshops. She has written a handful of books on a variety of themes. Some of her titles include ‘Barren, Wild and Worthless, Living in the Chihuahuan Desert,’ ‘The Rocky Mountain Garden Guide,’ and ‘Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying.’ read the blog post for the episode, here Links: Susan’s website Paonia Books Support the podcast on Patreon For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial music: Old Maid's Draw by Riddy Arman Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #70 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Sarah Galvin of the House of Yore who was a past guest on the podcast. direct link to episode on our website Listen to Episode #54: Sarah Galvin of House of Yore on the need for madness and chaos medicine in our culture here. You might want to pop over and listen to that episode first before this one to get more context for Sarah’s work, but you can also listen to this episode standalone. In this episode of the podcast, Sarah and I talk about: mothering in the modern era attachment wounds that begin at childbirth and how they are passed down through ancestral trauma lineages how changing ancestral traumas that are passed down happens incrementally, and we do the work for the people who come after us giving birth in her cabin in Alaska without much assistance tracking internal and external landscapes as self-work for healing how living in victimhood narratives even if we are victim to things that have happened to us perpetuates trauma and carries those wounds on radical self-responsibility and self-accountability as a path to healing breastfeeding and birth humor, and more Links: Sarah’s website: House of Yore Sarah on Instagram: @house.of.yore Charity of Mother Marrow’s GoFundMe GoFundMe for the podcast and transmission replacement for Kelly’s truck Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: ‘New Futures’ by Prae Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #69 of the Ground Shots Podcast was recorded in southern Oregon this past August among old Juniper trees tucked just below a special Tableland mesa, with Nikki Hill of Walking Roots, and Sigh Moon assisting in the conversation. Link to our website where you can donate to the podcast, and find the blog post on the podcast episode with photos and bios of Nikki and Sigh Moon as well as a few photos from where we recorded the episode: www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/lithiummine We talk about: What is a tableland or mesa? Nikki’s intention in doing survey work at Thacker Pass, a place in Nevada slated to become a large lithium mine Questioning the sustainability of lithium Seeing wild gardens and patterns on the landscape that reflect historical relationships of indigenous peoples and places How deserts have been hard for European ancestored folks to conceptualize and how this makes it easy for us to consider it a wasteland to be inverted to perpetuate modern culture Considering certain lands sacrifice zones comes from the idea that we are separate from land and that we can actually have an effect the effects of private land ownership on the water table and water flows on land seeing through a lens of botanical archaeology how archaeology is often focused on ‘settled’ life evidence not nomadic life evidence how do we start to re-see why plants are on the landscape in relationship to human historical tending of those plants? the misinformed idea that hunter-gatherers (gatherer-hunters) were not sophisticated in their tending what is the point in caring about anthropogenic landscapes? Nikki’s plant survey process at Thacker Pass in Nevada and some of the plants she found like Yampah, Biscuitroots, Mariposa Lilies and more. Links: Nikki’s Website: Walking Roots Counterpunch article by Nikki: “Botany as Archaeology, to Stop a Lithium Mine’ Nikki’s instagram page: walking.roots Sigh Moon’s Instagram page: tenderwildeyes Sigh Moon’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmu0A77ja3o8DZ32ttOsIA/videosSave Thacker Pass Campaign website ‘The Ecology of Eden: An Inquiry into the Dream of Paradise and a New Vision of Our Role in Nature’ book by Evan Eisenberg, a book I read in college on critical ecology that feels relevant to this episode “The Void, The Grid & The Sign: Traversing The Great Basin” by William Fox, all about concepts of void and land value in the Great Basin Desert, a fascinating book “1491” and “1493” by Charles Mann, alternative histories to North and South America mentioning anthropogenic landscapes including ‘terra preta’ in the Amazon, mentioned on the podcast Save Oak Flat and the Apache Stronghold Campaign Angela Moles Ground Shots Podcast interview mentioned on the podcast: Episode #57: Gabe Crawford interviews Angela Moles P.h.D. on the rapid evolutionary responses of plants due to climate change, challenging scientific dogma Past episodes of the podcast featuring Nikki Hill: Episode #31: Wild Tending series / Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford on the basics of wild-tending Episode #33: Wild Tending series / Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford on re-thinking the concept of invasive plants Episode #59: Is there such a thing as an "Invasive Species"? A conversation with Matt Chew Ph.d. hosted by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford Music for this episode: Reverie, Spires and The Undergrowth by Juniper Blue This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #68 of the podcast is a conversation with Adam Larue of Sharpening Stone Gathering, out of Grants Pass, Oregon. visit our blog post on the episode to see a few photos of the land where we interviewed: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/2022/6/12/episode-68-a-conversation-in-a-camas-meadow-adam-larue Adam and I recorded this conversation in a Camas meadow adjacent to his land after I taught wild-tending and critical ethnobotany plant plant walks for a week at the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering, which Adam helps run. In this episode with Adam, we talk about: How Adam got the land that he lives on and runs the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering Some of the methods and madness of logging in Oregon which happens all around Adam’s private inholding near Umpqua National Forest, the herbicide spraying and GMP tree planting replacing forest diversity the downfalls of profit-centered thinking vs. ecological centered thinking some info about the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering which takes place on the land we do the interview on Re-wilding as a hot topic and trend right now dancing with modern technology while trying to reconnect to land Links: For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Interstitial Music: ‘I’m Moving to the Mountains’ by Adam Larue Theme Music: ‘Sweat and Splinters’ by Mother Marrow This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody Sharpening Stone Gathering on Instagram Becoming Wild on Instagram Sharpening Stone Gathering Adam’s Youtube project: ‘Becoming Wild’

Direct link to episode with extra photos and Ted's poetry: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/tedpackard Ted studied History and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University, got a Master’s in Teaching, went on the road with the Momentary Prophets band, and then went to study with Alderleaf Wilderness College and Wilderness Awareness School. He taught various program for youth around the greater Seattle area for many years before relocating to Durango, Colorado to dry out, as he says. After some years of a break, Ted just started up a new nature connection program for youth in the Durango community. Ted does lots of things, including various handcrafts, refurbishing guitars and other instruments, music-making, writing, wood-burning and more. As college peers, we spent a lot of time together researching things like mushroom cults, the esoteric origins of Judeo-Christian religion, the anthropology of psychedelics, zen koans, and more. We both have lived in different places since and woven in and out of each others’ lives so we spent some time really checking in about how we think about things now vs. when we were radical activist driven neo-pagan coyote-trickster troubadour mind-melters. In this episode with Ted, we talk about: Ted’s nature connection mentorship work with youth in Washington and Colorado Ted’s upbringing in northwestern Virginia Our experience in college of community: artists, philosophers, musicians, activists, and neo-pagans and our reflections on that time now seasonal ritual as a somatic map ways that Ted’s anger at an eco-cidal culture has transformed over the years to a yearning for finding points of connection vs. telling someone they are wrong or how to live what is a community of mutuality in a broken society that emphasizes hyper-individualism? activism can look many ways and can even be in small moments of advocacy awareness of the isolation of capitalism is often crippling the reality that financial security is generally not available to our generation (millennials) Ted’s musical projects which include Momentary Prophets from his early 20’s, that had a coyote-troubadour element with community driven instigation, as well as his own solo projects paying attention to ‘nature’ bringing you closer to crazy synchronicities that become signposts to keep going weaving a web of interrelated ideas and ecologies as a way of being trauma, neutrinos, quantum physics intersecting eastern philosophy, bodies as multiplicity, the mycelium nature of everything, music as ecological channeling Links: The Emerald Podcast, mentioned on the podcast Daniel Quinn, author we mention on the podcast Mystic Moon of Norfolk, VA, pagan community mentioned Terence McKenna, mentioned on the podcast Mountain Justice: organization dedicated to ending mountain top removal in Appalachia Momentary Prophets on Facebook Momentary Prophets on Bandcamp (Interstitial music featured on the episode) Ted’s music on Bandcamp (he is putting out a new album RIGHT NOW, his individual music featured in the intro of this episode) Wilderness Awareness School Living Earth School Sophie Strand Ted’s Patreon for his music, art, writing Ted’s revived blog of writing (do yourself a favor and read and savor) Ted’s Venmo if you’d like to donate to help support his musical projects : @Theodore-Packard Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Music: by Ted Packard and Momentary Prophets This...

To access full blog post on the episode, full show notes and a photo diary, click below: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/dougelliott Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies. He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and regional indigenous peoples, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler’s Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels. Links: Doug Elliott’s Bandcamp page, where you can listen to and download all of his full length albums and story recordings: https://dougelliott.bandcamp.com/ Doug Elliott’s website and blog: https://dougelliott.com/ Doug Elliott’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpxmzq7RqmnGeW2R0UnfpQ Todd Elliott’s ‘Mushrooms of the Southeast’ book mentioned in the podcast Article on Bessie Jones, whom Doug mentions in a story on the podcast, national treasure and African American singer (also see video alongside others, displayed on blog post page for this episode) Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody and Ted Packard

Episode #65 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Dave Meesters and Janet Kent of the Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine out of Madison County, North Carolina. https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/terrasylvaschool After trying to get together for a conversation all summer, we finally met up in the early fall at Dave and Janet’s herbalism school classroom at the Marshall High Studios, in Marshall, North Carolina. It was a frigid fall day and when I arrived, they had tea going and snacks out on a table in their beautifully lit and decorated studio space. It was obviously curated and inhabited by herbalists. Dave and Janet run the Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine with Jen Stovall, and have a clinical herbalism practice in the rural area where they live and the nearby city of Asheville, NC. Dave Meesters grew up in Miami, Florida and attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He moved to Asheville, North Carolina in the winter of 1998. In 2003, his formal herbal training began with an apprenticeship with CoreyPine Shane at the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine, and since then his experience has included organizing and staffing a free clinic in New Orleans in the months after hurricane Katrina, and starting and practicing at a free clinic in Asheville’s homeless day shelter. Dave has plans to be involved with another herbal free or low-cost clinic in the future, but until then he sees clients privately and provides care to the mountain folks in his rural Appalachian neighborhood, most of whom would rather see an herbalist than a doctor. From 2013 to 2016, Dave was, with Janet, the director and primary instructor at the Terra Sylva School’s summer apprenticeship program, which was held on the communal mountain land where he resides before the school moved to Marshall. He and Janet are the founders of Medicine County Herbs, an herb apothecary, medicinal plant nursery, and blog. Dave sees herbalism as a way to provide a more appropriate, accessible, pleasurable, and effective form of health care than the dominant model, and as a means to bond and integrate ourselves with plants, the garden, and the wilds. His herbalism is wedded to a life-long resistance to the forces of domination and alienation, especially domination of and alienation from Nature. His practice and his teaching reflect a deep evolving holism attained by listening to, honoring, embracing, and collaborating with the whole of Nature, and by his study of the threads connecting holistic physiology, energetics, ecology, gardening, systems theory, magic, alchemy and permaculture. Janet Kent is a clinical and community herbalist, educator, gardener and writer. The child of two naturalists, Janet grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, learning the amazing diversity of regional wild flowers at an early age. She began studying the medicinal uses of plants when she moved to a rich Appalachian cove high in the mountains of Madison county, North Carolina fifteen years ago. She did not set out to become an herbalist, but as she learned over the years in her forest home, if we are open, we do not change the land we inhabit as much as it changes us. The transformative healing power of the plants around her turned an interest into a calling. The vast power to heal through reconnection is the medicine she most seeks to share. Whenever possible, she encourages her students and clients to grow their own herbs, to make their own medicine, and most of all, to experience the more-than-human world first hand. Here is where deep, foundational healing is most profound. Janet views herbal medicine as a means of reconnecting to the long tradition of plant medicine in rural Appalachia. This tradition has become more relevant with the ailing state of the dominant health care system and the rising cost of herbal medicine. Janet considers herbalism the best option for addressing injustice in health care....

Episode #64 is a conversation with Mary Morgaine Plantwalker of Herb Mountain Farm in Weaverville, NC. This episode was recorded in person in the gardens of Herb Mountain Farm August 2021. Mary Morgaine Plantwalker is one of the main caretakers of Herb Mountain Farm alongside her partner, Hart Squire. Located in the oldest mountains on earth, Herb Mountain Farm was established in 1970, originally as an organic vegetable and flower farm, by Hart Squire and his family, in Weaverville, North Carolina. Herb Mountain Farm was a piece of land that had been overgrazed, logged and farmed unsustainably for over a century and needed a lot of conscious stewarding to build up the soil that had been washed away to the Mississippi Delta. Hart, with the help of many hands over the decades, brought in organic matter and plant diversity. For decades, Hart sold vegetable and flowers from the farm to local markets, restaurants and grocers, then built an earth-bermed warehouse on the property for the organic farmers in the area, called Hart Distributing, which eventually grew into a distribution center for organic ale and wine – long before Asheville was beer city! Hart spent several years in California, opening one of the first farm to table restaurants called ‘The Seasons’ in the 1970’s. In 2005, Mary Morgaine (aka Mary Plantwalker) came to work on Herb Mountain Farm’s garlic production crew and first met Hart. She worked there for a few years before starting her own business, Earth Dancers, where she taught an array of “Plants as Allies” classes and workshops. In 2010, Buchi Kombucha took over the warehouse and began what grew into a very successful fermented health drink business. Buchi remained on the farm until they outgrew the space in 2016. In 2011, Hart and Mary Morgaine reconnected and fell in love. They married in 2012, and their union birthed the vision to transition the farm into a Learning Center and Botanical Sanctuary. In 2013, their daughter, Nadia, was born and has been absorbing the gardening and plant knowledge of her parents since day one and gives Hart and Mary Morgaine the inspiration to keep sailing on for the future generations. Herb Mountain Farm’s website Herb Mountain Farm on Instagram United Plant Savers Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Guest music: ‘Overflow,’ ‘Entropy,’ and ‘The One’ by Cole Sullivan This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #63 is a conversation with Marissa Percoco out of Barnardsville, NC. Marissa (she/her) is an avid fermentation enthusiast who has spent the last 10 years exploring community and the wilds, as well as living deeply with various fermented cultures and local plants, and learning how it all comes together. Traveling through the wild places of Tennessee, Florida, the Southwest, California, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and most everywhere in between with her four amazingly adventurous children, Marissa has gathered cultures from far and wide. Deeply rooted in the Earthskills movement and committed to co-creating a new culture within which we, our children and all beings thrive, they are now nesting in Barnardsville, NC, and she humbly offers her humorous experiences to you. She is also the Director of the Firefly Gathering. In this conversation with Marissa, we talk about: rural Appalachia dynamics and gentrification in a valley outside of a hip city, Asheville, NC some stories of Marissa’s moving from the bay area of California to the rural south in the early 2000’s and what it was like initially, the culture shock shifting from years of nomadism to mainly tending one small place in community some of Marissa’s childhood experiences in California with chemically bonded parents and plant loving grandparents farming in west climates vs. arid climates tending tropical plants in a subtropical four season place, and pushing the edge of what is possible during rapid climate change the perspective gained from travel and having an awareness of the plants in those places Marissa’s time in the Gila wilderness doing walks and we geek on plants we found there the pros and cons of isolation living in wilderness areas, co-dependency, addiction and depression wrapped in idealism, and how can we contribute to society living ‘out there?’ Marissa’s mead brewing practice on the road over the years, capturing place through brewing plants how facing the immediacy of death changes perspective Firefly Gathering, sign up for year round classes or attend the annual gathering: http://www.fireflygathering.org Firefly on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/fireflygatheringnc Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #62 of the Ground Shots Podcast features a conversation with Chama Woydak of Homegrown Families and Dancing Springs Farm, out of Asheville, North Carolina. Chama and I have a relationship that spans over a decade, which began when I landed on her farm in 2012 to go to herbal medicine school. We ended up farming together for a few years before I hit the road, and I owe a lot of my knowledge about growing food and caring for animals to Chama who has dedicated the last few decades to these practices alongside her work as a doula and childbirth educator. As you’ll hear in this interview, her work as a farmer tending life and death is inextricably linked to her work as a doula re-humanizing care for others’ births in a society that doesn’t prioritize it or see it as vitally important. In this conversation with Chama, we talk about: Chama’s journey into childbirth education and birthwork The role of doulas in childbirth The difference between a OBGYN, doula and midwife The problematic nature of the medical industrial complex in relationship to birth how doulas can re-humanize care in a culture and system that dehumanizes from the bottom up raising the bar of birth experiences the intricacies of complex medical trauma and how it trickles into our society taking a restorative justice approach to birthwork the connection between farming and birthwork how tending space in nature can help teach us how to tend and care for our human systems (we are nature) doula work is inherently justice work the power of small adjustments and interactions in making big change and how tending land can teach us about this how death and birth are parallel initiations Chama on Instagram: @chamawoydak Homegrown Families on Instagram: @homegrown_families https://www.ashevillehomegrownfamilies.com/ Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: Ebb and Flow, Finger and the Bone by Brown Bird This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #61 of the Ground Shots Podcast features a conversation with Jill Trashley out of Asheville, North Carolina. ... ... Earlier in the Spring, Jill and I met up in Asheville to distill some Lemon Balm together. First, we went to her friends’ house, down the road from hers, where we had permission to harvest Lemon Balm from their very abundant gardens right in the city. The Lemon Balm was in it’s prime. Jill comes to their house often to help in the gardens and harvest extra herbs to distill or to make medicine. Stepping into their yard, I thought for a moment that I was suddenly in Berkeley, California, where gardens and quirky folk abound, tucked into an urban weaving of lush flowering plants and treehouses, Redwoods and backyard nooks. But no, this was Asheville, and the treehouse was in a big healthy Eastern Hemlock tree, the carefully placed rock walls abound, the exposed dirt southern red, the hand built greenhouse off the back of the house full of desert plants one wouldn’t expect deep in Appalachia. We gathered Lemon Balm by cutting bunches and dug up some young plants to transplant elsewhere. Lemon Balm tends to spread easily in some environments and Jill’s friends wanted us to take some away. I later transported some of these plants back to the land where I’m living for the summer and tucked them into an empty bed and wished them well. We took our harvest back to Jill’s house, where we had some mid-day Mertails drinks. (Mertails are elixirs that can be used as mixers instead of alcohol, or with alcohol if you desire, Jill talks more about this company she co-owns on the podcast) I felt so good after having one of these, as my drink was very hydrating on what was a hot day. We started then setting up the copper still Jill owns and got it heating up to prepare for distilling the Lemon Balm into hydrosol. In the time while we were waiting for the still to heat up, we sat down to chat about some of Jill’s projects over the years, including working with trash disposal at festivals, starting a mobile elixir bar, living on the road with intention and more. ... ... Blog post for this episode which includes a photo diary of our Lemon Balm distillation and meetup: www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/jillofnohm Jill on Instagram: @herban_urbalist NOHM on Instagram: @thenohm The Mertails on Instagram: @the_mertails Shop Jill’s apothecary The Mertails online Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: “Clay” by Rising Appalachia This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #60 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a solo episode with Kelly, glimpsing into a window of Spring in southern Appalachia. In this episode of the podcast, I chat about paying attention to details of place and how those moments of attention become stories of reverence. Some observations late May on the current land where I’m spending time Info on and experiences with Nettle, Wood Nettles and Nettle relatives The everyday journey of land-tending in different environments and playing with cultivated/wild tending dynamics How land-tending looks so different in different places Plants are old friends! Some thoughts on invasive plants and biological invasions in the South Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #59 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Professor Matt Chew, and is hosted by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford. Dubbed a ‘gadfly of invasion biology’ by Scientific American, Matt Chew is known for critiquing ecology’s overreliance on societal metaphors and conservationists’ misapplication of notions like ‘nativeness’. Dr. Chew has a B.S. Environmental Interpretation and an M.S. Range Science (Ecology) from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from Arizona State University. As statewide Natural Resources Planner for Arizona State Parks, he coordinated their Natural Areas Program, researched wildlife issues, and served on interagency committees, one of which also included his future wife, plant ecologist Julie Stromberg. Julie was recently featured as a guest on Kollibri terre Sonnenblume's podcast, Voices for Nature and Peace. With Julie's encouragement, he abandoned government work to earn a biology Ph.D. based entirely on historical research. Currently employed at Arizona State University, Dr. Chew conducts a field course in ‘novel ecosystems,’ lectures in ‘history of biology’ and ‘biology and society’, and works with postgraduate students. He was awarded an Oxford research fellowship in 2014. His articles in "Nature," "Science" and other publications have been cited in over 200 different journals. Former podcast guests, Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, Gabe Crawford, and Nikki Hill host this episode. Nikki Hill has a degree in environmental science and has worked in restoration and agriculture. Currently she invests her energy in wildtending efforts. Nikki and Kollibri co-authored a zine together called, "The Troubles of 'Invasive' Plants," which you can download for free on Kollibri's blog, linked in the show notes. Kollibri terre Sonnenblume is a writer, photographer, podcaster, tree hugger, animal lover, and cultural dissident. Past experiences include urban bike farmer, Indymedia activist, and music critic. Kollibri holds a BA in “Writing Fiction & Non-fiction” from the St. Olaf Paracollege in Northfield, Minnesota. Kollibri hosts and curates the Voices for Nature and Peace Podcast. You can read his writings focused on ecology and politics at Maska Moskska press, linked in the bio. Gabe Crawford was raised on a small homestead outside of Durango, Colorado and started learning about plants from an early age. He got launched on his plant journey by studying with Katrina Blair at the Turtle Lake Refuge in Durango. He moved to Sandpoint, Idaho where he worked with Twin Eagles Wilderness School and Kaniksu Land Trust mentoring kids. Through this, he started naturalist training which opened him up to the world of wild tending, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the ancient and intricate relationships between humans and ecology. Gabe spent time with Finisia Medrano learning about the ancient wild gardens of the west that were and still are tended by indigenous peoples and was taught how to tend these first foods and plant back for future abundance. He collects the seeds of native foods plants, fruit trees, berries and other exotics to plant feral orchards and wild gardens. In this conversation, Kollibri, Nikki and Gabe take a deep dive into the history of "invasion biology" and reveal its scientific shortcomings and its cultural biases. This is a crossover episode with Kollibri's podcast, Voices for Nature and Peace, so we are airing it on both podcasts at the same time. I highly recommend checking out Kollibri's guests and the breadth of what he has been covering lately visiting the intersections of social action, politics, the environment, animals rights, land justice and more. Also check out Kollibri’s weekly column read out loud on his platform Radio Free Sunroot. You can also find Voices for Nature and Peace on most mainstream podcast streaming platforms. Links: Kollibri’s website where you can find his writings,...

Episode #58 of the podcast features Sean Croke, who runs the Hawthorn School of Plant Medicine in the Pacific Northwest. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about: Sean’s herbalism practice herbalism during covid and the gain in interest in natural medicine since the pandemic started some special characteristics of Cascadia and the Pacific Northwest Sean’s school, the Hawthorn School of Plant Medicine based in Olympia, Washington, a little bit on how it started and how it has evolved over time Sean’s focus on propagating wild plants before wildcrafting the Olympia Free Clinic and how it used to function Links: Hawthorn School website Understory Apothecary Want to share something? Call the podcast and leave a message (while you’re there, if your ok with us airing it on the podcast, give us verbal permission): 1-434-233-0097 Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: Losgrinn by Vaughn Aed Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #57 of the podcast is a conversation between Gabe Crawford and Dr. Angela Moles. Gabe Crawford, a former podcast guest, hosts this episode of the Ground Shots Podcast. Gabe has been conducting research on the history of anthropogenic landscapes, ecology, botany, and ethnobotany, and discovering bias and racism in those fields that have carried into our understanding of human relationship with the land today. This research also inevitably brings one to diving into the science and culture of invasion biology, a fairly new field of study. If you’re a regular listener of the podcast, you know that we have spoken a few times on anthropogenic landscapes and visit the often controversial topic of invasive plants. We spoke about this with Nikki Hill on Episode #33 of the podcast, and on more recently on Episode #53 of the podcast. After diving into this controversial topic and realizing that it is complex and requires looking at a lot of different perspectives, Gabe decided to reach out to Dr. Angela Moles, whose articles he discovered in his research. Angela Moles in an Australian scientist doing research on plant morphology and rapid plant evolution and many of her findings are challenging previously held as true assumptions in the scientific community about the ways certain plants function under certain conditions. Professor Angela Moles is the director of the Evolution & Ecology Research Centre at UNSW Sydney in Australia. Her research aims to improve understanding of plant responses to climate change, and to quantify the ways introduced species change when they are introduced to new ranges. Angela is also a mother, and a surf lifesaver. In this episode of the podcast, Gabe and Angela talk about: Angela’s research with the Global Herbivory Project and in evolutionary biology and ecology how plants and animals can evolve and change faster than we previously though, and Angela’s quantifiable research on this the change in cultural attitudes towards introduced species in the last hundred years some history on the Acclimatization Society, which encouraged the introduction of non-native plants from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries to lands being colonized, as a way to bring familiarity to settlers and with the assumption that this practice enriched foreign ecologies dogma present in the scientific community how ecosystems are dynamic and don’t just stay in one place how difficult it is for scientists to make paradigm shifts some Australian anthropogenic landscape ecology, fire, colonization whether it is the invading plants that are the issue or the change in disturbance regimes of landscapes including native folks in ecology and urban ecology work the gridlock between the need for assisted migration or ‘natural’ self-led plant migrations due to climate change, and the fear of invasive plants harming ecosystems Links: Gabe Crawford, guest host, on Instagram: @plumsforbums Article by Angela Moles and research team: “Invasions: the trail behind, the path ahead, and a test of a disturbing idea” Journal of Ecology. 2012. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01915.x I highly recommend perusing Google Scholar and reading other academic articles written by Angela Moles, of which there are many, to get more perspective on her groundbreaking research. Angela’s UNSW Sydney webpage Acclimatisation society Angela’s Global Herbivory Project Call the podcast and leave a message (while you’re there, if your ok with us airing it on the podcast, give us verbal permission): 1-434-233-0097 Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more:...

In this episode of the podcast, Gabe Crawford, a former podcast guest, catches up with Dan Nanamkin, who was featured previously on Episode #39 of the Podcast. Dan Nanamkin is from the Chief Joseph Band Of Wallowa, Nez Perce, and Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington State has been an advocate/teacher for indigenous culture, community unity, youth empowerment, racial equality, and peace for several decades. Prior to Standing Rock, Dan took one of the leads in helping to restore ancient canoe culture of the northwest plateau tribes, the River Warriors. This inspired him further to connect with the Water, something that led him to Standing Rock. He endured months of peaceful front line action at Standing Rock from September 2016 until March 2017. Dan has since traveled across the nation speaking with his two dogs and band, the One Tribe Movement. ​ Dan advocates for people to be better informed, to get more involved, to resist racism and violence, and to support the movement to protect Mother Earth. He is a public presenter, musician and author who remains active in bringing forth awareness of Native culture. His mission is to connect modern day people with the traditions that are still absolutely relevant and critical to life today. Dan hopes to bring back traditional knowledge of the earth/plants/medicines and survival in a way to encourage healing, wellness and respect for balance with Mother Earth and all living things. In this conversation with Dan and Gabe, they talk about: Dan’s new podcast “Honor All Life” update on Sovereignty Camps and the name change to Young Warrior Society organic food access on the reservation how Dan’s community stepped up during Covid to support one another some #landback talk from Dan’s perspective the difficulty of being able to tend and harvest native first foods with how land is now split up in modern times due to colonization, racism, access issues some updates on Dan’s land projects Links: Dan’s link-tree page with links to all of his projects: https://linktr.ee/nanamkin Guest Host, Gabe Crawford’s instagram page: @plumsforbums Call the podcast and leave a message (while you’re there, if your ok with us airing it on the podcast, give us verbal permission): 1-434-233-0097 Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: “I am a Bird” by Fen Swale This episode hosted by: Gabe Crawford Produced by: Kelly Moody