Grounded Hope

Many folks look at the new year as not just a clean slate, but as a time to take what came before and turn it into what will come next. Here at Grounded Hope, after a year of bringing you stories rooted in regenerative practice, that impulse is as strong as it is anywhere else.

In this episode, which will round out our first season, we'll do a little reflecting on what the past year of episodes has taught us, and we'll be looking forward to how this podcast will regenerate for its second season. We'll also learn about the work ahead for the podcast supporting organization, the Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice, and what regeneration means to some of the folks who work at Agraria. We hope you'll stay with us to find out what's coming up in 2022.

When we think about a seed, what do we imagine? A possibility, maybe — a discovery. Waiting beneath the soil to unfold into something new, our seeds are the hope for our future — but they're also buried deep in our past.

In this episode of Grounded Hope, we'll learn that seeds have stories, and they have memories. We'll learn about the history of seed legislation in the U.S., and how those laws restrict the ways many farmers can use their seeds. We'll meet a farmer who, on his family land, plants seeds that aren't governed by those laws. And we'll hear stories of seeds that have been saved — not only for planting next season, but for generations of farmers and gardeners to come.

Water has a power unlike almost any other element on Earth. In large enough quantities or with enough force behind it, water can effectively lay waste to anything people have built. But water is also fragile — prey to the best laid plans of those same people who drink it and play in it and grow with it.

In this episode of Grounded Hope, we'll learn more about Ohio's water: From the history of the Dayton Flood, to toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie, to the people who are fighting to give the Ohio River rights of its own. In all of these stories, you'll hear some persistent themes: That water connects us all, not just metaphorically, but physically; that its health is often threatened by modern farming practices; and that it's counting on us to take care of it.

In this episode of Grounded Hope, we’ll talk with leading researchers about the future of the hemp industry and what role this ancient crop could play in Ohio’s agricultural future.

Today’s grocery store wheat comes from a variety of grains that were crossbred in the 1960’s to produce a higher yielding and lower cost crop. There is a growing interest in returning to what are known as ancient grains, grain that has been relatively unchanged by selective breeding. These grains are not only more natural, but higher in protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber. But, it’s not as easy finding and planting ancient seeds. There needs to be regional distribution systems in place to process the grains and distribute the products. In this episode of Grounded Hope we follow the path of ancient grains from a farm field in Wyandot County to a specialty mill in Athens and onto the shelves of the Village Bakery where neighbor loaves help to provide food security within the community. Along the way, we learn about challenges to rebuilding our local food systems.

Industrialized monoculture tends to treat insects as pests to be exterminated. What can we do to make them partners? For starters, listen. In this episode of Grounded Hope we learn about a unique Ohio State University research project that records the daily, seasonal and annual rhythms of farm life.  We go into the woods at the Aullwood Audubon Center in Dayton to listen to the Brood X cicadas and learn how their periodical emergence will benefit the bluebird population and other wildlife this year. We ask people what they think the future will be like 17 years from now when Brood X emerges again in 2038. And we talk with Kat Christen, the Farm Education Manager at Agraria, to find out how the simple act of not mowing your lawn can increase the biodiversity of wildlife, both in your community, and on the planet.

Learn more at GroundedHope.org!

Herbalism is seeing a huge rise in popularity, as more and more people turn to natural remedies to keep their bodies healthy. In this episode of Grounded Hope we explore the American medical botanical movement called Eclecticism, visit a soda fountain that doubles as a delicious apothecary, we’ll drop in on a class about foraging for backyard wild edibles, and take a walk in the woods with an Ohio organization that’s working to save medicinal plants in forests around the world.

This month, when the maple sap is flowing, we have three different stories about the importance of trees and our interaction with them. We’ll meet a pioneer in the Cincinnati permaculture movement who is creating a food forest on the Grailville farm, go out with a small batch maple syrup producer to learn how to tap a tree, and hear one man’s journey to save the trees in his community. 

The number of Black-owned farms has drastically declined since the 1920s, and now make up less than two percent of total U.S. farmland. In this episode, we'll talk with one of the organizers of the Black Farming Conference Beyond 40 acres and a Mule, learn how three childhood friends created an urban farm out of an abandoned dumping ground, and hear about the joys of eating food that you've poured your essence into from a first-time grower. Learn more at www.GroundedHope.org

Regenerative Agriculture was the number one food trend in 2020 - with companies from General Mills Foods to the Patagonia clothing company turning to regenerative farming practices in their businesses. 2021 marks the start of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and in this episode, we take a look at how an organization is using regenerative practices to transform a conventional farm into a lush ecosystem, discover how a declining dung beetle population is contributing to greenhouse gas, and learn how regenerative practices in Indigenous Cultures are an important part of their relationship with nature.