The Ground Shots Podcast Kelly Moody

Susan Tweit is a plant biologist with a calling to restore nature and our connection with the community of the land especially close to home. Plants are her people, as she says, fascinated by the myriad ways they weave the world’s living communities, forming the green tapestry that covers this planet. Susan began her career as a field ecologist studying sagebrush, grizzly bears and wildfires. She reveled in the work and the time outside in the west’s expansive landscapes, but eventually realized she loved the stories in the data more than collecting those data. So, she learned how to tell those stories, not an easy trick for a scientist schooled in dispassionate and impersonal prose. Susan and I met at the Paonia Books opening event in Paonia, Colorado in late fall 2022. During the event, we ended up getting into a conversation about plants by the hard cider sample table, and decided to try at some point to do an interview for the podcast. I was curious about Susan’s work as a writer and botanist, ecology scientist and was excited to dig deeper. We managed to meet up a few weeks later and recorded a conversation in Paonia Books’ back room where they hold writing workshops.
She has written a handful of books on a variety of themes. Some of her titles include ‘Barren, Wild and Worthless, Living in the Chihuahuan Desert,’ ‘The Rocky Mountain Garden Guide,’ and ‘Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying.’
read the blog post for the episode, here Links: Susan’s website
Paonia Books
Support the podcast on Patreon  For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO:
@kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   
 Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial music: Old Maid's Draw by Riddy Arman Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #70 of the Ground Shots Podcast is a conversation with Sarah Galvin of the House of Yore who was a past guest on the podcast. 
direct link to episode on our website
Listen to Episode #54: Sarah Galvin of House of Yore on the need for madness and chaos medicine in our culture here. You might want to pop over and listen to that episode first before this one to get more context for Sarah’s work, but you can also listen to this episode standalone.
In this episode of the podcast, Sarah and I talk about: mothering in the modern era
attachment wounds that begin at childbirth and how they are passed down through ancestral trauma lineages
how changing ancestral traumas that are passed down happens incrementally, and we do the work for the people who come after us
giving birth in her cabin in Alaska without much assistance
tracking internal and external landscapes as self-work for healing
how living in victimhood narratives even if we are victim to things that have happened to us perpetuates trauma and carries those wounds on
radical self-responsibility and self-accountability as a path to healing
breastfeeding and birth humor, and more
Links:
Sarah’s website: House of Yore Sarah on Instagram: @house.of.yore Charity of Mother Marrow’s GoFundMe
GoFundMe for the podcast and transmission replacement for Kelly’s truck
 
Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project  For one time donations to support this work: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO:
@kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   
 Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: ‘New Futures’ by Prae Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #69 of the Ground Shots Podcast was recorded in southern Oregon this past August among old Juniper trees tucked just below a special Tableland mesa, with Nikki Hill of Walking Roots, and Sigh Moon assisting in the conversation.
Link to our website where you can donate to the podcast, and find the blog post on the podcast episode with photos and bios of Nikki and Sigh Moon as well as a few photos from where we recorded the episode: www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/lithiummine
We talk about: What is a tableland or mesa?
Nikki’s intention in doing survey work at Thacker Pass, a place in Nevada slated to become a large lithium mine
Questioning the sustainability of lithium
Seeing wild gardens and patterns on the landscape that reflect historical relationships of indigenous peoples and places
How deserts have been hard for European ancestored folks to conceptualize and how this makes it easy for us to consider it a wasteland to be inverted to perpetuate modern culture
Considering certain lands sacrifice zones comes from the idea that we are separate from land and that we can actually have an effect
the effects of private land ownership on the water table and water flows on land
seeing through a lens of botanical archaeology
how archaeology is often focused on ‘settled’ life evidence not nomadic life evidence
how do we start to re-see why plants are on the landscape in relationship to human historical tending of those plants?
the misinformed idea that hunter-gatherers (gatherer-hunters) were not sophisticated in their tending
what is the point in caring about anthropogenic landscapes?
Nikki’s plant survey process at Thacker Pass in Nevada and some of the plants she found like Yampah, Biscuitroots, Mariposa Lilies and more.
 
Links: Nikki’s Website: Walking Roots
Counterpunch article by Nikki: “Botany as Archaeology, to Stop a Lithium Mine’
Nikki’s instagram page: walking.roots
Sigh Moon’s Instagram page: tenderwildeyes
Sigh Moon’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmu0A77ja3o8DZ32ttOsIA/videosSave
Thacker Pass Campaign website
‘The Ecology of Eden: An Inquiry into the Dream of Paradise and a New Vision of Our Role in Nature’ book by Evan Eisenberg, a book I read in college on critical ecology that feels relevant to this episode
“The Void, The Grid & The Sign: Traversing The Great Basin” by William Fox, all about concepts of void and land value in the Great Basin Desert, a fascinating book
“1491” and “1493” by Charles Mann, alternative histories to North and South America mentioning anthropogenic landscapes including ‘terra preta’ in the Amazon, mentioned on the podcast
Save Oak Flat and the Apache Stronghold Campaign
Angela Moles Ground Shots Podcast interview mentioned on the podcast: Episode #57: Gabe Crawford interviews Angela Moles P.h.D. on the rapid evolutionary responses of plants due to climate change, challenging scientific dogma
Past episodes of the podcast featuring Nikki Hill: Episode #31: Wild Tending series / Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford on the basics of wild-tending
Episode #33: Wild Tending series / Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford on re-thinking the concept of invasive plants
Episode #59: Is there such a thing as an "Invasive Species"? A conversation with Matt Chew Ph.d. hosted by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume, Nikki Hill and Gabe Crawford
Music for this episode: Reverie, Spires and The Undergrowth by Juniper Blue This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody

Episode #68 of the podcast is a conversation with Adam Larue of Sharpening Stone Gathering, out of Grants Pass, Oregon. visit our blog post on the episode to see a few photos of the land where we interviewed: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/2022/6/12/episode-68-a-conversation-in-a-camas-meadow-adam-larue
Adam and I recorded this conversation in a Camas meadow adjacent to his land after I taught wild-tending and critical ethnobotany plant plant walks for a week at the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering, which Adam helps run.
In this episode with Adam, we talk about:
How Adam got the land that he lives on and runs the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering
Some of the methods and madness of logging in Oregon which happens all around Adam’s private inholding near Umpqua National Forest, the herbicide spraying and GMP tree planting replacing forest diversity
the downfalls of profit-centered thinking vs. ecological centered thinking
some info about the Sharpening Stone Earthskills Gathering which takes place on the land we do the interview on
Re-wilding as a hot topic and trend right now
dancing with modern technology while trying to reconnect to land
Links: For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO:
@kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Interstitial Music: ‘I’m Moving to the Mountains’ by Adam Larue Theme Music: ‘Sweat and Splinters’ by Mother Marrow This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody Sharpening Stone Gathering on Instagram Becoming Wild on Instagram Sharpening Stone Gathering Adam’s Youtube project: ‘Becoming Wild’

Direct link to episode with extra photos and Ted's poetry: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/tedpackard
 
Ted studied History and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University, got a Master’s in Teaching, went on the road with the Momentary Prophets band, and then went to study with Alderleaf Wilderness College and Wilderness Awareness School. He taught various program for youth around the greater Seattle area for many years before relocating to Durango, Colorado to dry out, as he says. After some years of a break, Ted just started up a new nature connection program for youth in the Durango community. Ted does lots of things, including various handcrafts, refurbishing guitars and other instruments, music-making, writing, wood-burning and more. As college peers, we spent a lot of time together researching things like mushroom cults, the esoteric origins of Judeo-Christian religion, the anthropology of psychedelics, zen koans, and more. We both have lived in different places since and woven in and out of each others’ lives so we spent some time really checking in about how we think about things now vs. when we were radical activist driven neo-pagan coyote-trickster troubadour mind-melters.
 
  In this episode with Ted, we talk about: Ted’s nature connection mentorship work with youth in Washington and Colorado
Ted’s upbringing in northwestern Virginia
Our experience in college of community: artists, philosophers, musicians, activists, and neo-pagans and our reflections on that time now
seasonal ritual as a somatic map
ways that Ted’s anger at an eco-cidal culture has transformed over the years to a yearning for finding points of connection vs. telling someone they are wrong or how to live
what is a community of mutuality in a broken society that emphasizes hyper-individualism?
activism can look many ways and can even be in small moments of advocacy
awareness of the isolation of capitalism is often crippling
the reality that financial security is generally not available to our generation (millennials)
Ted’s musical projects which include Momentary Prophets from his early 20’s, that had a coyote-troubadour element with community driven instigation, as well as his own solo projects
paying attention to ‘nature’ bringing you closer to crazy synchronicities that become signposts to keep going
weaving a web of interrelated ideas and ecologies as a way of being
trauma, neutrinos, quantum physics intersecting eastern philosophy, bodies as multiplicity, the mycelium nature of everything, music as ecological channeling
  Links: The Emerald Podcast, mentioned on the podcast Daniel Quinn, author we mention on the podcast Mystic Moon of Norfolk, VA, pagan community mentioned Terence McKenna, mentioned on the podcast Mountain Justice: organization dedicated to ending mountain top removal in Appalachia Momentary Prophets on Facebook Momentary Prophets on Bandcamp (Interstitial music featured on the episode) Ted’s music on Bandcamp (he is putting out a new album RIGHT NOW, his individual music featured in the intro of this episode) Wilderness Awareness School Living Earth School Sophie Strand Ted’s Patreon for his music, art, writing Ted’s revived blog of writing (do yourself a favor and read and savor) Ted’s Venmo if you’d like to donate to help support his musical projects : @Theodore-Packard Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project  For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO:
@kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Proje

To access full blog post on the episode, full show notes and a photo diary, click below: https://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com/podcastblog/dougelliott Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies. He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and regional indigenous peoples, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler’s Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels.  
  Links: Doug Elliott’s Bandcamp page, where you can listen to and download all of his full length albums and story recordings: https://dougelliott.bandcamp.com/ Doug Elliott’s website and blog: https://dougelliott.com/ Doug Elliott’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpxmzq7RqmnGeW2R0UnfpQ Todd Elliott’s ‘Mushrooms of the Southeast’ book mentioned in the podcast Article on Bessie Jones, whom Doug mentions in a story on the podcast, national treasure and African American singer (also see video alongside others, displayed on blog post page for this episode)
Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute monthly to our grassroots self-funding of this project  For one time donations to support this podcast: Paypal : paypal.me/petitfawn VENMO:
@kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   Our website with an archive of podcast episodes, educational resources, past travelogues and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project This episode hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody and Ted Packard