#90: Wind Clearwater. 20 years of permaculture in the desert

#90: Wind Clearwater. 20 years of permaculture in the desert

This episode of the Ground Shots Podcast is with Wind Clearwater, a horticulturist and permaculturist who lives near Hotchkiss, Colorado. For over 30 years, Wind Clearwater has been dabbling in horticulture, permaculture and landscape design. For the past 20 years, he has expanded his knowledge of these arts alongside skills like natural building, while living off grid in western Colorado at the Oasis. The Oasis is a land project that Wind has stewarded during this time where he has tended the 'Forest Garden,' a successful dry-land food forest over two decades. He propagates native and edible nursery stock for the Oasis Nursery, which sells desert adapted plants in the region. When he's not working with plants he finds joy playing music, creating art, raising children, growing and learning. We recorded this conversation in the heart of last summer on a hot day before monsoon season, though we didn't end up getting much monsoon rain last season and are gearing up for a dry summer again this year. We start this conversation informally in Wind's earthen home, and then we go on a land and garden tour for the rest of the conversation. There are chicken, water, wind, bug. bird and fly sounds - so be aware this this episode is very auditorily full! There is a little wind interference in a few moment but we tried to cut that down in audio editing as best we could. Links: Wind's website for Oasis Nursery [https://www.oasis-nursery.com/] Durango Wild Soul [https://www.durangowildsoul.org/] Support Francis of Mother Marrow's health journey! [https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-francis-and-livelys-medical-journey] Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use 'GROUNDSHOTS10' at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) [http://www.vibrantearthseeds.com/discount/groundshots10] Ground Shots Ecologies Substack [http://www.groundshots.substack.com/] Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com [http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/] Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries [http://www.instagram.com/goldenberries] / @groundshotspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/groundshotspodcast/] Music: Ted Packard "Holy as Dirt" [https://tedpackard.bandcamp.com/] Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

#89: Morgan Sjogren on advocating for western lands through immersive journalism

Morgan Sjogren writes about Western lands and water through a lens of history, culture, science, and adventure. She is the author of Path of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon [https://www.torreyhouse.org/path-of-light] (Torrey House Press 2023); 2025 Utah Book Award Winner [https://utahhumanities.org/programs/center-for-the-book/utah-book-awards] and Library of Congress "Great Reads from Great Places" selection. Read her stories in Archaeology Southwest, Arizona Highways, bioGraphic, Fast Company, Reasons to be Cheerful, Runner's World, and Sierra Magazine. Her work has been supported by the 2022 Water Desk Grant [https://waterdesk.org/journalists/grantees/] for reporting on the Colorado River and a 2024 Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Independent Research and Creative Works Award [https://reddcenter.byu.edu/Blogs/redd-center-blog/Post/2024-award-recipients]. She was the 2024 Entrada Institute Writer-in-Residence [https://www.entradainstitute.org/]. Sjogren shares her Wild Words [https://wildwords.substack.com/] and explorations on Substack [https://wildwords.substack.com/] and on Instagram @morgan.sjogren [https://www.instagram.com/morgan.sjogren/]. She is based in Utah's canyon country and migrates seasonally throughout the Southwest. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about: * the importance of the context of the colonial history of the lands of the west when advocating for them * some resonance I find in Morgan's work and our shared paths being nomadic, living on public land, being a similar age, and pulling together threads that weave culture, ecology and place in our work * Morgan shares more about her book "Path of Light" and the goal of following Bernheimer's expedition through the desert to better understand his time and place contextualizing it to now. * We reflect on what has changed with public lands in the west since Morgan wrote 'Path of Light.' * We discuss issues of the Colorado river from Morgan's perspective, given her time on the ground in the field exploring this issue in her work (This will resonate with folks who are fans of the episode I did with Jeff Wagner of Groundwork 'We all eat the Colorado River' * The importance of personal connections to landscapes even if our deep heritage is not from those lands, in order to be inspired to protect those places from extraction and privatization for energy industry, even 'green' energy Links: Support Francis of Mother Marrow's health journey! [https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-francis-and-livelys-medical-journey] Morgan's website [https://morgansjogren.com] Morgan's substack: Wild Words [https://wildwords.substack.com] Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use 'GROUNDSHOTS10' at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) [http://www.vibrantearthseeds.com/discount/groundshots10] Ground Shots Ecologies Substack [http://www.groundshots.substack.com/] : Subscribe here Bookshop : recommended books for you [https://bookshop.org/lists/ground-shots-favorite-books] (buying here helps support the podcast) Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com [http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/] Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries [http://www.instagram.com/goldenberries] / @groundshotspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/groundshotspodcast/] Music: original song for this episode! Lucy Wild: Vocals and lyrics Ted Packard: [https://tedpackard.bandcamp.com/] Uncle Steve's Acoustic Guitar, Bowed and Plucked Banjo, Semi-Sentient Pedalboard, recording and production in Logic, with gratitude to Luke Kantola Annika Fae: lyric and watercolor [https://www.etsy.com/listing/4410542622/red-tailed-hawk-the-sky-knows-your-name?content_source=3d420518-54a7-4f80-a96a-0b2c8347f81b%253ALT0c58a59164a92dd9585a04b16a36a06a2e442124&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_query=womens%20fae%20clothing&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&logging_key=3d420518-54a7-4f80-a96a-0b2c8347f81b%3ALT0c58a59164a92dd9585a04b16a36a06a2e442124&ls=s&organic_search_click=1&ref=sr_gallery-1-7] Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

#88: Trevor Warmedahl of Sour Milk School & Milk Trekker on the necessity of reclaiming pastoralism

Episode #88 of the Ground Shots Podcast is with Trevor Warmedahl, who tuned in to this conversation from Albania where he was mending from a broken leg. Trevor Warmedahl is a traveler who spends his time documenting the worlds cheesemaking, dairying, and pastoral traditions. In his work as a researcher and cheesemaker, he explores the intersections between traditional and modern practices, from nomadic herders to innovative cheesemakers on the forefront of artisan cheese. Full show notes found here Links: Support Francis of Mother Marrow's health journey! [https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-francis-and-livelys-medical-journey] Trevor's Substack publication: Milk Trekker [https://milktrekker.substack.com/] Trevor's website where you can find Sour Milk School classes when they are scheduled, and where you can pre-order his new book "Cheese Trekking" : Sour Milk School [https://www.sourmilkschool.com/] Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use 'GROUNDSHOTS10' at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) [http://www.vibrantearthseeds.com/discount/groundshots10] Ground Shots Ecologies Substack [http://www.groundshots.substack.com/] : Subscribe here Bookshop : recommended books for you [https://bookshop.org/lists/ground-shots-favorite-books] (buying here helps support the podcast) Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com [http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/] Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries [http://www.instagram.com/goldenberries] / @groundshotspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/groundshotspodcast/] Music: various field recordings by Trevor in his milk trek travels. Milking and pastoral sounds, Sardinian music. Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

#87: Samuel Bautista Lazo and Mandalin Sattler on becoming good food for rock woman in Oaxaca, Mexico

birthday fundraiser for the podcast [https://www.gofundme.com/manage/2025-birthday-fundraiser-for-the-ground-shots-podcast] Episode #89 of the Ground Shots Podcast was recorded in the gallery at Dixza Farm and Rugs in Teotitlan de Valle, Oaxaca Mexico, in early February. It was recorded with Samuel Bautista Lazo, past podcast guest, and Mandalin Sattler, whose music has been featured on the podcast in the past. Rock Old Woman [https://dotycoyote.com/writing/rock.html] Samuel is Benizaa (Zapotec) and lives Xiguie'a (Teotitlán del Valle), located in the Central Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Samuel, his family and community come from a long line of weavers and farmers who have been tending the same land for thousands of years. This region is considered one of the cradles of civilization. Samuel has a Ph.d. in Sustainable Manufacturing from the University of Liverpool. Mandalin is an environmentalist focused on regenerative ecological living, direct action activism and community organization working through the lens of restoration, education and design. She enjoys helping communities, individuals, and families connect with the rhythms of Earth through hands-on land stewardship development & resiliency practices. She is a land steward, birth worker, teacher, artist, musician & nomad. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about: * culture, impermanence, being food for rock woman, thinking outside of dualities * cultural contradictions in Mexico and beyond * what ills us in modern culture: isolation and individualism * to live you must live in the grief * how do we trace the threads back in a system that oppresses us and free ourselves from it? Links: Dixza farm and rugs [https://dixza.com/] Samuel's instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dixzarugsnativefarm/?hl=en&locale=en_US%252525252Cen_US%252525252Cen_US%252525252Cen_US] Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use 'GROUNDSHOTS10' at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) [http://www.vibrantearthseeds.com/discount/groundshots10] Ground Shots Substack [http://www.groundshots.substack.com/] : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! [https://bookshop.org/wishlists/9e7dd68a51afc257a5bdfa8030f10eb3b34c2a1e] Bookshop : recommended books for you [https://bookshop.org/lists/ground-shots-favorite-books] (buying here helps support the podcast) Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com [http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/] Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries [http://www.instagram.com/goldenberries] / @groundshotspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/groundshotspodcast/] Music by: Mandalin Sattler and Samuel Bautista Lazo Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #86: Wild Tending Series/ Samuel Bautista Lazo & Damián Jiménez Martínez on Tseé Xigie radio - ecology, wild tending, land politics (Español/English)

In this episode of the podcast, we talk about: the biodiversity of agaves, some of the issues with cultivation under pressure of capitalism, and private land ownership complexity of the commons in Oaxaca under pressure of modernity agave use for textiles, wild and rare species, and benefit of planting in polycultures we speak to ideas about wild tending in Oaxaca and the issues that come up when trying to reintegrate old ways of tending land in modern times the fact that oaks are not wild tending here or eaten but used to be long ago, what could people here learn from indigenous peoples to the north and vice versa— who tend oaks or piñon pine for food this episode was catered to the local village audience of Teotitlan de Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, on the local radio, so listen with this in mind. It is a language in Spanish and English, if you are a Spanish speaker, you will get a richer experience from this episode Dixza farm and rugs [https://dixza.com/] Samuel's instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dixzarugsnativefarm/?locale=en_US%252525252Cen_US%252525252Cen_US%252525252Cen_US&hl=en] Damien's contact: Teléfono Celular: 9515196315 gabdamian12@gmail.com Radio show facebook page where you can listen [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554477632923&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=PXABNnqzvtnqUn4B&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F15ztoMnW1C%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr] Buy me a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/groundshots] 2025 birthday fundraiser for the podcast [https://gofund.me/aa134aeb] Vibrant Earth Seeds : Regionally adapted to the Southwest. Use 'GROUNDSHOTS10' at checkout for 10% off seed orders (your buying seeds also supports the podcast!) [http://www.vibrantearthseeds.com/discount/groundshots10] Traditional Tanners online hide tanning courses, naturally tanned hides and tool supplier [https://braintan.com/] Ground Shots Substack [http://www.groundshots.substack.com/] : Subscribe here Bookshop buy me a book! [https://bookshop.org/wishlists/9e7dd68a51afc257a5bdfa8030f10eb3b34c2a1e] Bookshop : recommended books for you [https://bookshop.org/lists/ground-shots-favorite-books] (buying here helps support the podcast) Venmo : @kelly-moody-6 Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn website archive and extended shownotes: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com [http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/] Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries [http://www.instagram.com/goldenberries] / @groundshotspodcast [https://www.instagram.com/groundshotspodcast/] Music by: Mandalin Sattler on flute, music from town Hosted and Produced by: Kelly Moody