Tao Orion: Beyond the War of Invasive Species, Resilient Permaculture Design, and Transition Homesteading | Ep.14

What is ecosystem restoration and what are some common challenges of living off-the-grid?

Tao Orion—author, teacher, and mother—shares her experience with us on today's episode of Ancestral Health Radio.

This was a fun chat, for sure. Because some day in the near future I'd like to purchase land and start a family myself.

We discuss the need for a more holistic approach to land restoration, the medicinal properties of certain invasive plant species, and what tending the wild versus plow-based agriculture looks like.

In today's episode, you'll also learn...

• Why your pastured eggs may be supplemented with grain, 
• The invasive species that can heal a common antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria,
• Questions to consider before transitioning to land or rural property of your own, and...
• Much, much more.

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Episode Breakdown

• Where Tao believes the future of restoration is going

• Why you don’t need a lot of space to grow vegetables

• Tao discusses ideas about communal or cooperative land management models for animal products

• Oregon’s land use laws

• Tao talks about the realistic challenges of animal husbandry

• Why your pastured eggs may be supplemented with grain

• Why Tao grew black soldier fly larvae

• The many different animals Tao has raised and their associated costs

• Why Tao is unsure of the sustainable management of invasive animal species

• Tao’s concerns of herbicide contamination due to Oregon’s forest practices

• Why Tao believes pesticides get more attention than herbicides

• The dangers of glyphosate

• Tao’s advice for people new to foraging or spending time in these managed outdoor areas

• The medicinal benefits of invasive species

• How to wildcraft Japanese knotweed

• The traditional use of the Brazilian peppertree

• Why Tao says it’s important we learn to read our landscape and use land use history

• How indigenous people in California used fire to clear land and reset the succession of perennial plants and grasslands

• Plow-based, annual agriculture and the domestication of the ox

• What would happen if we were to increase the worldwide organic material by 1%

• Why Tao thinks animal-based agriculture is insane

• The permaculture mindset

• Tao emphasizes the benefits of plant and animal stewardship and where she believes you should begin

• Important points and challenges to remember when deciding on a future homestead