Obsessed with Plants Podcast

Ep. 12 How to Create a Middle Earth Themed Garden If have ever had the desire to create a Lord of the Rings themed garden or food forest - this is for you. If you having, we just might inspire you to doing this very thing! Imagine a space in your yard that reminded you of the Shire, Rivendell, or the gardens of healing in Gondor. Yes, the knowledge of the lore of middle earth botany runs deep in this podcast episode, as does the knowledge of the plants in the Lord of the Rin...

Weeds, which are often referred to as the right plants in the wrong places, can be a nuisance for some food foresters and gardeners. In this episode, we'll share ways to control weeds in a food forest or agroforestry system. Before we jump in, we'll talk a bit about why they are there in the first place. Understanding the concept behind their presence in the landscape will help us navigate them in our own garden spaces. This episode covers weeding strategies like hand-pul...

One of the most effective initial ways to cover, build, and protect your soil is to blanket new garden areas with a deep layer of wood chip mulch. As they decompose, the mulch builds organic matter and increases the soil biology, resulting in healthier plants and more abundant fruit. Although there are many benefits for a land steward when we choose to continue the wood chipping process, it's not a blanket scenario that needs to happen indefinitely. So, if you are wondering how long...

A successful food forest starts with rich and living soil. If you want to experience high yields of fruit and vegetables from your food forest, the soil life is the key to abundance. As with all things, there are many ways to approach soil building, amending, and fertilization within a regenerative system. Some methods require human interaction, while others invite animals within the system. Some methods are free, while others will cost money for the whole ingredients....

If your food forest is struggling to meet the expectations for annual food production, it is often beneficial to step back and analyze the system. No one wants a "food-less forest" when the initial goal was abundance. In this permaculture podcast episode, we will have a lengthy chat about what can cause a slowing of production and what can be one to bring back the abundance. Whether your new system (< 3 years old) has never started producing OR your mature food forest ...

Wouldn’t it be nice if we each had $500K to get started on our dream property and food forest? Better yet, wouldn’t it be nice if we had $1M and could retire and just become full time farmers on that land? Well, unfortunately many of us need to start on either a limited budget or limited time constraints, however – we can still take steps forward. In this episode, David and Kris will share not only how they got started planting their food forests, but also g...

Welcome to the Obsessed with Plants podcast with David Starbird and Kristofer Edler. This deep-dive podcast will cover some of the nerdy topics that need a little more attention in the permaculture community. Both David and Kris have extensive backgrounds in regenerative agriculture with years of growing experience. In this introductory prelude to the podcast, you’ll have the opportunity to get to know your hosts a bit and learn about their passion and experience. Dav...