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Covid-19

Gardening Our Way Through Calamity with Will Bonsall: PYP 401

Will Bonsall is a self-described “back-to-the-land hippie homesteader,” and author of two extremely important and prescient books: Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical Self-Reliant Gardening, and Through the Eyes of a Stranger, an adventure novel that explores what a sustainable society might look like following what he calls “the calamitous times” of the 21st century. 

I took the gardening book off the shelf as soon as my family and I returned from South Africa, as we were several weeks behind in setting up the garden for this year, and I foresaw a need to grow “calorie crops” like wheat, buckwheat, corn, and sunflowers in addition to the usual tomatoes, basil, okra, pepper, onions, eggplant, and summer squash.

The introduction of the book caught me off-guard, as it was speaking specifically about the societal collapse that is occurring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not specifically as in “coronavirus from Wuhan in March 2020,” but in terms of the cascade of breakdowns that will threaten our food and energy supply, and leave people to fight over scarce resources.

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The Power of Diversity: PYP 397

One of the factors that weakens any system – a garden, a community, a nation – is lack of diversity.

Monocultures provide economies of scale, but also opportunities for scaled disaster. A messy, diverse ecosystem is far healthier and more resilient.

Today I talk about how we support diversity in our garden, and why the messiness and inefficiency is more than compensated for in terms of yield and risk management. 

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Gardening with Nature: PYP 396

Today I talk about one element of my gardening practice and philosophy: working with, rather than against nature.

This includes growing perennials, mulching with wood chips, and refraining from unnecessary tilling.

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Investing for an Uncertain Future: PYP 395

Those of us in one kind or another of “limbo” – life, career, relationship – are all facing the same question: what do we do with our time and energy right now to support our future?

When the future is so uncertain, our old “default” answers can feel insufficient.

Today I talk about my own “investment philosophy” with regard to time and energy.

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Self-Care: PYP 394

Some of us have had more time for self-care over the past few weeks than we even know what to do with. And we’re loving it.

How can we take advantage of this time to make ourselves, our families, our communities, and our societies healthier and more compassionate?

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Homecoming: PYP 393

How we got home from South Africa.

Returning tomorrow with a clear and rested head, for all new daily episodes.

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Corks in the Stream: PYP 392

We may be going home tomorrow. There are dozens of unknowns, and we have little to no control over any of them.
I’ll stay in touch as I can!

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Weaving a Web of Generosity: PYP 391

In tough times, you might expect people to hunker down and hoard what’s theirs.
We see some of that these days, for sure.
But we also see incredible displays of generosity. I personally am benefiting from the generosity of my listeners as I broadcast from lockdown in South Africa.
Today I talk about how generosity benefits us as givers and receivers.

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Training Montage: PYP 390

People are comparing their experience of lockdown as an endless repetition of Goundhog Day, the 1993 Bill Murray movie about a man trapped in the same day over and over again.

What I recall about that movie was, once Bill Murray’s character makes peace with his situation, he uses it to better himself.
Piano. Ice sculpture. French. And lots of other skills and interests

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Sifting Through Conspiracies: PYP 389

In a world full of conspiracy theories, how can we know what to believe?

We can’t.

But we can choose to adopt worldviews based on whether they empower us to help ourselves, others, and the world.

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