↓
 

Episode-1624- Get your plants off Welfare with Mike Vertrees

The Survival Podcast Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (21.1MB)

Mike Vertrees Permaculturist and Soil Guru

Mike Vertrees Permaculturist and Soil Guru

Mike Vertrees lives and works part time on a 50 acre homestead in middle Tennessee. He first became interested in soils and compost as a way to repair the eroded clay soil he had in abundance. He mostly focused on what he calls the Hippie Voodoo aspects of soil science.  These included biodynamic techniques, information gleaned from youtube and several books.

Mike soon found that a lot of the information was supported by anecdotal evidence at best, but none the less developed a real passion for experimenting. Mike participated in the Geoff Lawton online PDC in 2013 and took a lot of useful information from the soils sections of the course. In the spring of 2013 Mike came to PermaEthos as one of two original tenant farmers with Jesse Tegtmeier.

Mike spent the season there immersed in all the educational opportunities and took advantage of getting to meet and learn from experts in several farming, permaculture, and homesteading disciplines. Since then Mike has be en sponsored by PermaEthos to study Soil and Soil biology under Dr. Elaine Ingham who has researched proven methods for soil restoration for the last 30+ years.

PermaEthos has partnered with Mike to introduce a Soil Restoration Design Course and Consultancy. This is a program where we work with you to fix or improve your soils over an entire year’s cycle. Mike has organized all his experience and study into a hybrid course of education and consultation. And is here today to talk about that.

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Join the MSB Today

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

Comments

Episode-1624- Get your plants off Welfare with Mike Vertrees — 11 Comments

  1. Great episode, and I loved the idea of a business spraying compost tea on suburban lawns, but I must admit, from the title, I was expecting something more like Mark Shepard’s Sheer Total Utter Neglect method.

    I’m going to listen to episode 1419 now to see if he mentions it there.

    • LOL, sorry, Mark’s wife made him change the name to Strategic Total Utter Neglect to be more accurate. I did adopt his STUN method and applied it to my chickens with great success.

      • I think the 3-4 daily cups of scratch grain disqualifies my chickens as being STUN method, but they are definitely free range; their roost is 20 feet up in my blue spruce. My first set of Swedish ducks, however, was most definitely STUN, inadvertently, due to inadequate fencing; we still get occasional sightings of black ducks in the area.

  3. Great episode! This is an exciting topic for me. Mike do you have any suggestions in what to look for in a microscope? I’m finding a few on Craigslist and am wondering how fancy I need to go for optimum results. Thanks!

  5. Thanks, Jack for correcting me on the “1st legislature in North America” remark. I don’t know enough about Indian organizational features to comment on them, except that I know that before Samoset met with the Pilgrims, he met with several surrounding tribes before he acted. That looked a lot like a legislature from the 10,000 foot view but looking closer it seemed more like rival tribes joining together for defense against a common enemy.

    Alex Shrugged

  6. Disclaimer I have not heard the podcast yet. The soils course sounds cool, but I was thinking the BDC was coming next. I have been waiting holding my breath for that!!

  7. Really enjoyed the show, especially since it featured another Middle Tennessean! I’ve been a fair to middling composter for a decade or so – looks like it is time to ratchet it up. Been interesting making compost this year. I used to water my compost in the desert, and this year, in middle TN, I think I should have made it in a boat, with all the rain we’ve had! Got a few acres, on the way towards self-sufficiency, and living that good life, for when “times get tough, or even if they don’t.” Thanks again for an awesome show and a consistently high quality podcast.

  8. This was another episode that made me realize how profoundly ignorant I am. 😉

    Its great to hear, even obliquely, about something based in science rather than opinion. And as always, startling to hear about the profound difference the application of this scientific understanding makes to results.

    The fantastic thing being, that this knowledge can be so quickly shared and applied. We truly are living in a golden age of information.

    This was also another reminder of how much I appreciate the QUALITY of the members of the TSP community. Its profoundly humbling, and a challenge to my own daily level of thought/action/growth.

    Thanks Mike!

↑