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Today’s episode features the most resourceful guests ever, Eddy Garcia & Sam Schiebold from Living Earth Systems.
Eddy and Sam bring a wealth of information on how to re-think how we feed ourselves.
From living on the land to growing tonnage of produce and feeding 20 people from a tiny parking lot.
They are on a mission to inspire and educate the world on how to properly grow and sustain food through plagiarizing nature.
Listen, learn, and let us know what you think about Eddy and Sam’s awesome cause.
Episode Summary
Eddy & Sams’s Background
- Eddy talks about living off the land as a kid in Hawaii on fish and coconuts
- An experience that many would pay hundreds of dollars for
- That reshaped Eddy’s thoughts on wealth
- He realized he could acquire more or desire less
- At a young age, he also realized giving was really important to him
- He never stayed at home and skipped school for surfing
- Sam went a more traditional route
- This included a Physics degree from a top-10 university
- She quickly realized that her degree didn’t mean much to her
- Sam ended up finding her way to Hawaii and got into a concept of permaculture
Permaculture vs Regenerative Farming
- Permaculture is the idea of making a sustainable food source much like a forest
- Eddy & Sam practice something different than Permaculture called Regenerative Farming
- Eddy gives a history lessons on these methods that stem back from the 70s
- He says he just tries his best to just copy nature
- This means not bringing in plastics and artificial fertilizers
- It also means a lot less human interaction
- Patagonia recently released a regenerative farming certificate
Starting Your Own Crop
- Eddy calls out a potato as a great starter
- These grow in warm or cold climates with little effort
- Another option is radishes
- Seed to radish is only a 25-day process
- He also recommends different types of greens
- Eddy also says you can grow a lot of things from organic vegetables
Teaching & Empowering
- Eddy and Sam are producing courses and videos on growing
- These tackle anything from composting to urban farming
- Also helping others overcome a fear of not having a “green thumb”
- These are all around a closed-loop methodology
- This means not bringing in or taking out materials
- That means growing is way cheaper
- We also cover how this could work for busy professionals
- They also teach classes and make films on-site in Hawaii
- This is done on a 170-acre farm in Maui
- They also have tours and farm to table dinners
- Eddy and Sam are also actively bringing a portion of Maui back from being a trash dump.
- Finally, there’s also an intern program!
Key Takeaways
- Acquire more or desire less: Eddy talks about rethinking how we look at money and how nature plays a huge part in that.
- Less with more: It’s amazing what Eddy is able to grow in such tiny areas, some as small as an eighth of an acre
Call to Action
Try to grow something. Potatoes, radishes, or an aquaponic system. If you really aren’t ready, then find some sustainable sources of food for your next grocery run.
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