014, Natalie Bogwalker: Wild Abundance

Soul Soil: Where Agriculture and Spirit Intersect with Brooke Kornegay

Imagine your daily grind--your house, your car, your commute, your job....Now imagine what it would be like to spend days camping in the woods, drinking spring water, breathing clean mountain air, eating freshly picked foods, and spending all day in Nature...learning about growing and gathering cultivated and wild food, making tools, tracking, tanning hides, natural building, and living in a community. What would happen to your energy? Your spirit? Natalie Bogwalker is a fan of watching the transformation that takes place when a guest spends days on her property, exploring their relationship with the land. Natalie is the founder and director of Wild Abundance, a permaculture and homestead school. She’s passionate about teaching and sharing skills that are essential for living harmoniously within the natural systems of the earth.

She and her family live at the Wild Abundance homestead campus in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Natalie spends her time harvesting in the wild, building, gardening, planting, putting up food, growing, teaching, connecting with the community, and playing with her daughter. Amidst all of this she’s constantly scheming about how to introduce more people to Earth-based living, while worshipping the beauty around her.

In the midst of all the turmoil of our modern society, Natalie reminds us to breathe deeply, be outside, put one foot in front of the other, and find like-minded people for support and inspiration.

In this episode...

• Origin story of Wild Abundance

• The joy of helping people find sovereignty and connection

• Soil building techniques used on the Wild Abundance homestead

• Breaking pest and disease cycles

• What happens to people when they begin to participate in the cycles of the seasons and get involved with their own food and shelter production

• Eat something wild every day!

• Natalie's journey to her wild abundant life

• How reshaping education and redesigning curriculum could help us transform our disconnected society

• The Earth Skills and Permaculture Immersion Program curriculum

• How the Barnardsville community developed

• How to have a successful daily practice

Resources

• Firefly Gathering

• wildabundance.net

• Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall Rosenberg

• The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups by Starhawk

• The Earth Skills and Permaculture Immersion Program at Wild Abundance