Discover Permaculture - The Podcast

In this wide-ranging and deeply human conversation, host Geoff Lawton & Ben, Eric and Sam explore nationalism, immigration, borders and belonging through a permaculture lens. Drawing on Bill Mollison’s definition of a nation as a shared ethic — not a geographic boundary — the discussion reframes global challenges around scarcity, migration, labor and wealth. This is not a political debate. It’s a systems conversation about ethics, ecology and what it really means to belong. Watch the video episode here. Key Takeaways: 00:00 – 01:21 - The episode sets the stage by questioning modern nationalism and its confusion with patriotism. 01:38 – 02:15 - A nation is redefined through permaculture as a shared ethic and worldview, not borders or race. 02:15 – 03:07 - Ethnic nationalism is unpacked as a historical and dangerous distortion of identity. 03:09 – 06:29 - Economic stress, immigration, and labor exploitation are explored as systemic issues rather than moral failures. 06:30 – 08:21 - Modern borders and immigration are revealed as recent constructs that ignore historic movement and trade. 08:46 – 10:29 - Blame is shifted away from immigrants and toward concentrated wealth, power, and policy decisions. 10:29 – 12:41 - Survival instinct, territory, and human behavior are examined through both ecological and social lenses. 13:19 – 15:27 - Passport privilege highlights global inequality and the uneven experience of “freedom of movement.” 16:05 – 17:55 - Scarcity mindset vs. abundance mindset becomes a central theme, tying directly into permaculture ethics. 18:38 – 20:50 - Resource-rich nations suffering poverty reveal how systems, not nature, create deprivation. 21:26 – 22:41 - Geoff introduces the idea of a “permaculture nation” — a global identity rooted in care and action. 22:41 – 27:37 - Immigration reframed as an opportunity for land repair, skill-building, and eventual regeneration at home. 27:37 – 30:19 - Personal responsibility, consumer choices, and voting with time and labor are emphasized. 31:27 – 33:08 - Wealth is redefined as food, water, air, community, and resilience — not money. 33:08 – 35:13 - Local action and community engagement are positioned as real power outside financial systems. 35:13 – End - The episode closes by questioning unchecked systems while affirming permaculture as a practical, hopeful path forward.

Compost isn’t just a pile — it’s the engine that drives soil fertility. In this conversation, Host Geoff Lawton and the regular crew, Sam, Eric, Ben are joined by guest Mohammed to unpack how compost really works, why biology matters more than recipes, and how the same principles apply from a backyard bin to large-scale farms. From hands-on composting stories to soil biology, bokashi, and scaling systems, this episode explores compost as a living process that feeds soil, plants, and people. If it once lived, it can live again. Watch the video episode here. Key takeaways: 00:00:00–01:10: Compost isn’t a thing you make once — it’s a living process driven by biology. 01:10–02:50: There’s more than one way to compost, and if life is breaking things down, it’s working. 02:50–06:10: You don’t really learn compost from books — you learn it by doing it, mistakes and all. 06:10–10:40: Compost works best when animals, gardens, and soil are designed to support each other. 10:40–17:50: With compost and biology, even worn-out land can recover faster than most people expect. 17:50–20:40: Compost builds fertility by feeding soil life first, not by feeding plants directly. 20:40–23:40: Most compost problems come down to balance, and carbon is usually the missing piece. 23:40–28:30: Good compost systems are designed first, and only then supported by the right tools or machines. 28:30–34:40: Compost follows the same rules at every scale — from a backyard pile to broad-acre farming. 34:40–53:30: Whether it’s aerobic or anaerobic, all composting relies on the same living biology doing the work. 53:30–55:30: Bokashi isn’t finished compost — it’s a fermentation step that prepares food scraps for soil life. 55:30–59:30: Compost is about returning life back to life and closing the cycle where it belongs.

Host Geoff Lawton and guests Sam, Eric, and Ben sit down to unpack the evolution of the Greening the Desert project, Jordan — from the early days of dust, salt, and heat to the cool, shaded food forest it became. Together they share field stories, design insights, and the lessons learned while turning a degraded desert site into a living demonstration of regeneration. It’s a roundtable tour through one of the most iconic permaculture projects ever built. Watch the video episode here. Key Takeaways: 00:00 – 03:12: The project begins in the hardest conditions: Conflict, heat and barren soil set the stage for a bold restoration experiment. 03:12 – 07:10: Evaporation is the real enemy in drylands: Shade, wind buffering and hardy pioneers must come first. 07:10 – 12:20: From spiky pioneers to cooperative legumes: Mesquite held the line early, but gentler support species took over as soil improved. 12:20 – 15:24: Water scarcity shapes every design decision: Swales, mapping and strict budgeting kept the system alive with only hours of weekly water. 15:24 – 18:21: A 70-hectare project reveals costly surveying mistakes: Swales accidentally built uphill had to be torn out and rebuilt. 18:21 – 21:11: A plastic bottle becomes the ultimate teaching tool: Geoff uses simple props to show how contour and water movement actually work. 21:11 – 24:01: Eric arrives in 2009 to a Mars-like landscape: Harsh climate, cultural shock and nearby conflict defined his first days. 24:01 – 27:01: Reality challenges the media narrative: Eric finds Jordan welcoming, safe and nothing like he’d been told. 27:01 – 28:31: Hardship resets Eric’s understanding of difficulty: The desert strips away excuses and sharpens purpose. 28:31 – 33:24: Sam’s journey leads to a thriving 2019 site: He arrives to find the project lush, stable and full of students. 33:24 – 36:00: Proof deserts everywhere can be restored: If this site healed, better landscapes can rebound even faster. 36:00 – 40:32: A 'peace army' replaces the military approach: They contrast permaculture’s healing work with systems that fail to make lasting change. 40:32 – 47:27: Ben’s military experience fuels his restoration drive: War showed him the cost of destruction and the need for repair. 47:27 – 50:48: Aid agencies often miss the point: Sam sees operations focused on extraction rather than regeneration. 50:48 – 53:12: Forest systems beat vegetable beds in the long game: True resilience comes from canopy, soil life and structure. 53:12 – 56:46: ‘Invasives’ become vital allies in dead landscapes: Fast pioneers rebuild soil where delicate natives can’t survive yet. 56:46 – 01:00:25: You can’t recreate past ecosystems on degraded land: Regeneration needs a forward path, not nostalgia. 01:02:23 – 01:04:21: Spain’s Almería shows the industrial opposite: A sea of plastic greenhouses reveals the cost of synthetic agriculture. 01:04:21 – 01:05:30: Reed beds close the loop with elegance: Wastewater becomes irrigation and inspires nearby villages.

What does real food security look like? It’s not stockpiling tins or waiting for governments to fix broken systems—it’s designing abundance right where you are. In this episode of Discover Permaculture: The Podcast, Host Geoff Lawton sits down with Sam Parker-Davies, Ben Missimer, and Eric Seider to explore how permaculture transforms anxiety about the future into empowered action. Watch the video episode here. Key Takeaways: 00:01:09 – 00:02:00: Food security isn’t about stockpiling tins; it’s about designing ecosystems that continuously produce abundance. 00:11:57 – 00:12:26: There’s a big difference between feeding people and nourishing them—true food security is about nutrition, not just calories. 00:14:12 – 00:15:03: Nutrition can come from small, diverse systems; calorie crops are bulkier, but permaculture widens the range beyond rice, wheat, corn and soy. 00:44:15 – 00:45:26: Peri-urban agriculture—farming on the edges of cities—can bridge urban diversity with rural productivity and strengthen food security. 00:45:26 – 00:46:29: We could meet all human nutritional needs on just 4–6% of the farmland currently in use. 00:58:07 – 00:58:29: Permaculture designs for abundance—not just for ourselves, but for people we’ll never meet.

In this episode, host Geoff Lawton and guests Ben, Eric, and Sam explore what it really means to be responsible — for ourselves, our communities, and the Earth. They unpack how modern systems have stripped away our sense of agency and why permaculture offers a pathway back to empowerment. From personal energy audits to the illusion of technological choice, this episode challenges you to rethink your role in shaping the future. If you’ve ever felt powerless about the state of the world, this conversation will remind you how much power you still hold. Watch the video episode here. Key Takeaways: 00:00:30 – 00:00:53: Responsibility is the ability to respond—it’s about how we meet challenges head-on. 00:01:46 – 00:02:17: Carbon credits aren’t a solution; designing our own systems of provision is. 00:02:49 – 00:03:14: The prime directive of permaculture is taking responsibility for our own needs first. 00:29:10 – 00:29:52: Nature doesn’t have a design problem—humans do. We can be as positive as we are destructive. 00:30:50 – 00:31:19: “It’s no measure of health to be well adapted to a profoundly sick society.” 00:52:14 – 00:52:41: Moments of crisis often spark the realization that there is another way—and permaculture offers that way forward.

In this first episode of Discover Permaculture: The Podcast, Host Geoff Lawton is joined by Ben Missimer, Eric Seider, and Sam Parker-Davies to explore how water shapes landscapes, communities, and even peace itself. Water is the lifeblood of every living system and the foundation of good permaculture design.  From the hidden rainmakers of the forest canopy to the power of LiDAR mapping and the revival of ancient aquifers, this conversation dives deep into how we can read, restore and regenerate the Earth through design. Watch the video episode here. Key Takeaways: 00:01:48 – 00:03:26: Water is the mainframe of design—slow it, spread it, soak it, and deserts like Jordan’s Dead Sea Valley can turn into abundance. 00:04:13 – 00:08:35: High-resolution LiDAR mapping has revolutionized permaculture, exposing the flaws in low-resolution satellite data and giving designers accuracy to work with. 00:15:34 – 00:19:04: Myths about water persist—pure water doesn’t “go off,” swales don’t breed mosquitoes, and clean rainwater is often safer to drink than tap water. 00:22:08 – 00:23:56: Designing with water means reducing evaporation, increasing condensation, slowing flow, soaking, storing in ponds and aquifers, and letting water touch as much life as possible. 00:25:20 – 00:27:35: Removing trees from ridgelines is the fastest way to create deserts; responsible grazing and reforestation are essential to recharge aquifers. 00:29:18 – 00:31:54: The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest in the US, is being drained—some areas may run dry in 20 years—showing the urgency for water-harvesting earthworks at scale. 00:40:19 – 00:41:42: Condensation drip from trees is more reliable than rainfall—cutting down “rain trees” collapses the hidden cycles that keep rivers and streams flowing. 00:52:31 – 00:55:08: Swivel pipes in swales at Zaytuna Farm make water management flexible—transforming once-dry valleys into permanent wildlife ponds. 01:06:29 – 01:07:41: From broad landscapes to home gardens, humans can design water systems that cooperate with nature, just as beavers slow rivers and birds disperse seeds. 01:09:02 – 01:11:32: New mapping reveals entire catchments and flood flows unseen before, allowing designers to prepare for floods and store years of water in hours of rainfall. 01:13:19 – 01:14:41: Of all the water on Earth, only a tiny fraction is available in rivers, lakes, and soils—most is saltwater, ice, or locked underground. 01:24:42 – 01:25:45: Water can be a peace blanket—when designed well, it provides enough for everyone and removes reasons for conflict. 01:28:24 – 01:29:04: Water systems don’t just hydrate landscapes—they feed us too. Aquaculture offers more production per area than farming on land.