The Incredible Neem Tree

Ken McCarthy interviews Klaus Ferlow, master herbalist and leading North American advocate of sturdy, fast-growing, versatile Neem tree.

Called “arista” in Sanskrit, it means “perfect, complete, imperishable.” It’s also known in India as the “village pharmacy.”

The neem tree grows rapidly, even under challenging desert conditions, anywhere where there is no frost.

The leaves, flower, twigs, bark, roots, oil, and oil cake are all useful.

Uses include: non-toxic pesticide, … Read more

A great cause – Restoring local grain production in America

This is one of the most fascinating and promising local sustainable food projects I’ve ever seen. Please help take it to the next level.

Click here to learn how you can help

– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org

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Too big to feed?

We’ve had banks that are “too big to fail” that have, in fact, completely failed the financial needs of the economy.

The result?

Financial devastation that millions have yet to recover from.

How about the big agribusiness industry?

Are they getting too big to feed?

This report says: Yes.

You can download a PDF copy here that contains a detailed report on this issue.

Download: TOO BIG TO FEED

What

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African Rice in the Hudson Valley: A local food project of great cultural and historical importance

Click here to learn how to support this worthy project

Ever Growing Family Farm is engaged in a radically innovative act…

They’re successfully growing rice in the Hudson Valley of New York on otherwise marginal land using traditional methods perfected over centuries by farmers from the Senegambia region of West Africa.

After two successful harvests, it’s time for them to get their own rice milling equipment.

They’re halfway there. Let’s … Read more

Inspired agriculture

“Permaculture” is a buzz word, but what does it mean?

It’s simple really: Cooperate with nature.

The method: Observation.

“Create natural cycles, then nature will work for you” says permaculture pioneer Sepp Holzer.

This video explores his famous permaculture farm, Krameterhof, 1,500 feet above sea level between the pine tree monocultures of Austria. He has successfully used groundbreaking techniques such as using ponds as reflectors to increase solar gain for … Read more

Foraging & Feasting with Dina Falconi


Download the mp3 here 

The ideal introduction to plants, herbs and “weeds” would be to have a grandmother (or grandfather) take us by the hand through the fields and woods from an early age.

In these “modern” times, few of us have that experience. Our guest on this installment of PlantWisdom.org, Dina Falcone, certainly didn’t.

Dina grew up in New York City’s East Village in the 1970s, an urban … Read more

“Weeds are part of our future”

Earlier this year, we did an interview with Tama Matsuoka Wong of MeadowsandMore.

It was one of our most popular programs, so I thought you might like to see her TED talk.

If you’d like to help our publishing efforts here at Plant Wisdom—and we can certainly use the help—consider contributing to our parent company, The Real Food Channel, that makes this programming possible.

– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org

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Creating food meadows


Download the mp3 here

There’s farming which can include big corporate farms, small family farms, and gardens.

Then there’s foraging which is roaming around looking for “free” food to pick and eat.

Is there something in between?

Yes there is.

In this wide ranging conversation with Tama Matsuoka Wong we talk about a middle way in which wild edible plants are encouraged to grow.

This is a “new” idea to … Read more

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Practices

One of my favorite places: The New York Botanical Garden.

One of my favorite projects there: Their thirty year project to discover and study the medicinal plants of Belize in respectful conjunction with local healers.

Here’s the whole story straight from the people who lived it.

PlantWisdom.org did an in depth interview with Rosita about her life and work and you can listen to that here.

The book they’re … Read more

In praise of plantain

The Amazing Golden Thread
Bushcraft on Fire
 
Plantagos, Plantains
Eat the Weeds
 
Common Plantain
Northwest Forager
 
Nature’s Miracle Healer
Rick Van Man
 
Plantain – Anti-bacterial band-aid plant
Wisewoman Tradition
 – Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org

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