Homesteading Videos by Paul Wheaton

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell go through a list of books, mostly related to gardening and permaculture, that have made an impact on Paul. He would take notes mostly on the pH certain plants needed and companion planting information. He mentions how different kinds of mulches do well with different kinds of plants. He brings […]

Paul interviews Jacob from earlyretirementextreme.com. (There is also a thread on Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) at permies.com). They talk about Jacob’s experience retiring at 33 (he’s 35 now), and how he got to that point. There are different levels of “extreme” one can take, depending on what is comfortable, but, as Jacob says, “The point […]

Paul, Krista, and Caleb review the movie Roundwood Timber Framing with Ben Law. Paul says that he dislikes the word “forest” compared to Ben Law’s “woodland.” They describe some tools used to work with roundwood, such as a rounding plane. You make your peg sort of octagonal and put it through what is more or […]

Paul and Joe talk about turning the back of her property to a food forest. They begin talking about the success of rhubarb–a nitrogen pig–and growing it in hugelkultur beds. Paul mentions putting a sun scoop in–a horseshoe-shaped garden. The curved end would grow the tallest things. They look at Joe’s siberian pea shrub and […]

Paul Wheaton swings in from the jungle to sit down with Dave Bennett and talk about Horticulture of the United States of Pocahantas (husp). It’s a concept that Paul has made up, and posted about initially on the permies forum. Paul expresses his aim in permaculture and how it differs from most people, and how […]

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell sit down to review Toby Hemenway’s Gaia’s Garden – Chapter Six – Plants for Many Uses. Paul opens the podcast looking for praise on his new mullein video. Paul discusses his motivations for making the video and how it all came together. Jocelyn ties the video in with Chapter 6 […]

Paul Wheaton talks with Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast. Jack shares about Bill Mollison’s story, as well as about the immunity of self-reliant folks during economically harder times, like the Great Depression. Paul and Jack discuss the productive utilization of permaculture rather than hype. They emphasize creating profit, and how “permaculture” does not have […]

Paul Wheaton and Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden, talk about native plants. Toby shares about preferring native, and then, when the native doesn’t do the job, bringing in plants known not to be a problem or take over. He shares about various exotic plants. Purple loosestrife cleans up pollution, attracts native pollinators–clean the water […]

Paul Wheaton and Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden, talk about science. Paul begins by stating they have been discussing “fact, proof, science, and how science rules (and you drool).” Toby used to work for a cancer R&D company, which he considered to be a great job. When they discovered something useful, it went from […]

Paul reviews the third ethic with Toby Hemingway. Toby finds it ironic that people are quick to tell him he should be giving away his book as surplus. Toby goes through some history on how he got his first workshop paid for. When people come to Toby looking for a break on a price he […]

Paul takes a roadtrip and sits down to do a podcast with Toby Hemenway author of Gaia’s Garden, and a group of permies. Paul breaks the ice with Toby and they start off the discussion with the subject of deer control methods. Paul points out that Toby didn’t mention as much about this problem in […]

Paul chats with Maddy Harland from Permaculture Magazine. They discuss the latest issue, and Maddy goes into an article on Sepp Holzer explaining how to build round wood shelters in a day and their multifunctional abilities as animal shelters, earth shelters or vegetable cellars. Maddy defends Sepp Holzers use of big machinery on the land, […]

Paul discusses some company who came to visit early. He and his brother Tim have such different views on politics that it’s hard to believe they’re related. Tim has a passion for politics and is a conservative based on what Paul expresses. Jocelyn explains how politics are not allowed on Permies. Paul would rather discuss […]

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell discuss chapter 5 of Gaia’s Garden, by Toby Hemenway. The chapter was on catching, conserving, and using water. Toby writes of “the 5 fold path to water wisdom,” which includes: 1) having rich soil with lots of organic matter, 2) deep mulching 3) locating plants according to water needs 4) […]

Paul and Jocelyn are visiting Whip & Kelley in Big Fork Montana. He was asked to help solve an infestation problem on an apple tree. Paul sees a lonely apple tree with a deer proofing wire cage and a strawberry plant. ants and aphids were everywhere on this tree and the signs of aphids were […]

Paul, Caleb, and Krista review Geoff Lawton’s movie, “Water Harvesting”. After a little initial joking about Paul’s ‘water sound effects’, the three of them introduce themselves and then discuss the dinner they had along with having watched the movie. Focusing then on the topic, Paul gives an overview of the events of the movie. This […]

Paul Wheaton, Jocelyn Campbell and Dave Bennett sit down to review chapter four of Toby Hemenway’s Gaia’s Garden, which Paul proclaims is the best chapter so far in the book. Jocelyn points out that Paul probably loved the opening quote which led them into discussing “soil” versus “dirt” and Paul points out the difference and […]

Review of Gaia’s Garden. Paul and Jocelyn review the first three chapters of the book. The first edition came out in 2000 and the second edition came out in 2009. This podcast covers the forward and the first three chapters but the newer edition does not have a forward. Paul’s edition has a forward by […]

Paul visited a few of other people’s podcasts about permaculture and was impressed with how professional they were. Paul liked Carol Steinfelds podcast in particular regarding composting toilets. Jocelyn mentions that Paul’s podcasts are more conversational. Paul discusses how his podcasts are going out daily and videos every other day and how there is not […]

Paul and Jocelyn have both watched the same movie, Pyramids of Waste, a.k.a The Lightbulb Conspiracy. The movie does a good job documenting how companies plan obsolescence. Jocelyn gives a shout out to Eric Kimmitt for finding the movie. Paul discusses his forum post and how the movie really got lots of attention at Reddit. […]

Paul and Jocelyn discuss both movies, Super­size Me which almost everyone has either heard about or seen and the later (2009) rebuttal, Fatheads. Super Size Me Paul begins with a bad joke and his general overview of Super­size Me, that received huge publicity and rave review, with a simple “utter crap” synopsis. Jocelyn gives a […]

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell review Atlas Shrugged, the movie, as well as its original book, by

A discussion on art and the Summer Solstice in Seattle has already been in progress, butPaul decides it is important enough that it should be recorded. Jocelyn Campbell was invited to a solstice event and Paul asked what sorts of things they were doing at it. She replies about the various visiting, drumming, snacks and […]

Paul and Jocelyn begin a conversation about all of the possibilities, downfalls and challenges of an intentional community Paul begins with underscoring that any community is about getting along whether it is where you live or on a forum like permies. He describes this podcast as a confluence of potentially helpful observations, beginning with being […]

In this podcast Paul Wheaton sits down to a roundtable discussion with friends Rob, Krista, Suzy, and Caleb at the Iron Horse Pub in Cast Iron cook wear and their shock that the ‘non-stick’ modern cookwear actually seem to stick more. Suzy confirms that she has removed the ‘non-stick’ wear from their kitchen and that […]

The podcasts begins as Sepp Holzer’s Aquaculture movie has concluded. Paul states that the Q&A has to be short. He points out that in the movie, Sepp would talk for a long period, but the translation would be brief. From his own experience with three translators, Sepp uses a lot of language that the translators […]

If aphids are on a plant are they a pest? From a permaculture standpoint, the aphids are decomposing plant material. The aphids indicate that that plant should not be there. Sepp Holzer maximizes diversification by randomly spreading seed. Plants that do not grow so we’ll need to be removed and the aphids help remove the […]

In this podcast, Paul debates with Helen Atthowe about how sustainability and efficiency as we currently measure it cannot coexist. Helen has decades of hands on experience working directly on sustainable farming in Montana in addition to having been able to learn directly from Fukuoka. She has also been active as a Missoula County Horticultural […]

A live podcast from the Missoula Montana’s carousel with Jeff Badnock former director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. The carousel naturally is the primary topic of conversation. It was community funded, it’s horses were made locally with hand carved wood by Chuck Kaparich and other members of the community, and it’s apparently quite fast! Plenty […]

In this podcast Paul and Jocelyn review the movie Broken Limbs produced by Jamie Howell and Guy Evans. The film speaks about the apple growers of Wenatchee, Washington, the “Apple Capital of the World”, and actually gives a view on how the agricultural world in the United States is changing. One thing that actually is […]

In this podcast Paul sits down to a roundtable with Karen Biando at LaBiondo Farm and kitchen on Vashon Island, WA to discuss his tour of the farm. They begin by talking about Karen’s experience with “honor system” farm stands. Karen talks about how she has more invested in the cash box than the structure […]

In this podcast, Paul and Jocelyn discuss the movie FRESH, a 2009 documentary by Ana Sofia Joanes, which focuses on our food system and its problems, as well as those who are practicing more sustainable alternatives. Paul starts out the podcast by stating that while Fresh was very well done, he was bored stupid, as […]

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell review the movie, “Permaculture Soil,” with Geoff Lawton. Paul and Jocelyn thought Geoff did a good job discussing the topic of weeds as symptoms rather than problems. They think he could have done better talking about compost, and recommended Helen Atthowe‘s approaches. Geoff was into turning compost a lot, and his system seemed complex […]

Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell answer the questions asked in the “tinkering” forum at permies.com. Jocelyn explains that on permies.com in the tinkering forum there is a thread where anyone can post some questions or subjects that will eventually be answered in a podcast, or taken as the subject for one. The questions answered in […]

The Podcast begins with much lament about the loss of great video footage in the Pacific Northwest and they go on to talk about taking an animal harvest class with Alexia Allen of Hawthorn Farm. This was a new experience for Jocelyn and largely a new one for Paul who had previously slaughter birds on […]

Paul gives a history of computers and explains how he is hoping to find a computer that will last him five years. Back in 2004 Paul bought an IBM think pad and he reached a point where it did not have enough memory. When Paul went to replace his think pad he discovered that Lenovo […]

Paul’s driving down the road, sharing thoughts for this and other podcasts. He touches on the upcoming Mac vs. PC podcast as well as the organic fast food reference system. Wouldn’t it be great if an independent organization rated fast food based on how truly good the food is? It would be a reference guide […]

Be forewarned that this pod cast has some audio issues that were beyond our technical expertise to repair. Paul and Jocelyn speak about pigs form all points of view. First we must say pigs are considered the best livestock to raise in permaculture and second they are Sepp Holzer’s beloved farm workers. Paul starts from […]

Paul speaks with Dave Hunter, the man keen on bees, about mason bees and the great difference between them and honeybees and how much we don’t know about the bee world. Paul starts by speaking with Dave about the problems that have kept on growing with honeybees, like the colony collapse disorder , CCD, and […]

This podcast is a recording of Paul’s Permaculture Tinkerers Presentation A Frank Zappa quote about deviation gets discussed and how we need to deviate from the norm to make changes. Paul explains where he got the inspiration for his thirty minute presentation. Rocket Mass Heaters are briefly discussed. Paul explains how some of the math […]

Paul interviews Ernie and Erica Wisner about Rocket Mass Heaters. Paul discusses the videos he made where he makes a RMH. Ernie and Erica review Paul’s portable rocket mass heater design concept of putting a RMH on a trailer pulled by bicycles. Paul asks Ernie to critique his design in a constructively praise like manner. […]

In this podcast, Paul and Jocelyn sum up what they liked and disliked of the movie, Dirt. First they consider why speak of dirt and not soil. In permaculture, we love soil. Of course the movie is inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. The movie is full […]

Paul and Jocelyn start out by talking about the documentary “Food Matters” Jocelyn fell asleep while watching it, Paul says “I watched the whole thing!” But first, they plan to also talk about water conservation. Also, Paul is setting up an email thing-a-ma-jigger and you should sign up (Ed: the dailyish email list, highly recommended). […]

In this podcast Paul interviews Maddy Harland who is the supreme ruler of Permaculture Magazine. Maddie starts off by describing her time with Sepp Holzer while visiting Portugal. She then explains the problems in the Iberian Peninsula. This area is very arid and very depopulated. Most people in this area are raising sheep and over […]

In this podcast, Paul speaks with Helen Atthowe, and they speak about compost, vegan permaculture, and native plants. Paul recalls the first time he saw Helen’s compost piles 15 years ago. Paul underlines the difference between industrial composting facilities that just serve as getting rid of the industrial waste, and with Helen’s piles of compost […]

In this podcast, Paul gives a presentation based on his raising chickens article. He talks about how he came about writing the article and how people reacted when he first released it. First he goes over what bothers him about how people raise their chickens. He doesn’t like when people say we have to keep […]

In this podcast Paul and Adrien review the movie Vanishing of the Bees, narrated by celebrity permaculturist, Ellen Page. They discuss how colony collapse disorder is heavily influenced by mono cultures and heavy use of pesticides and miteicides. Paul thinks that the movies gives a good message. The movie includes the perspective of commercial bee […]

Paul visits with Helen Atthowe, goddess of the soil. She has a new web site she calls veganic permaculture. Paul and Helen talk about how they are going to not talk about pH and conifers. They do talk a bit about conifer allelopathy and skim over what their current conflicting theories are about how conifers […]

This podcast is part 3 of a recorded presentation Paul gave in Missoula, Montana about farm income. It concludes his talk about Making the big bucks with permaculture! Paul continues in this podcast by taking audience questions. A discussion about regulated versus unregulated sale of foods ensues. Paul gives an example of a small town […]

This podcast is part 2 of a recorded presentation Paul gave on How to make the big bucks with permaculture in Missoula, Montana. The main topic is farm income. He continues by giving examples of people who will pay money to work on a farm. Mary Jane Butters’ farm has people who pay to work […]