Commensalist

Commensalist ๐ŸŽ Food Forest, Permaculture, Garden and Farm Design ๐ŸŒณ

๐ŸŒฟ New Episode: Food Forest Podcast โ€“ Looby Macnamara: How Nature-Inspired Design Can Transform Your LifeWhat if permacul...
24/06/2026

๐ŸŒฟ New Episode: Food Forest Podcast โ€“ Looby Macnamara: How Nature-Inspired Design Can Transform Your Life

What if permaculture could shape not only landscapes, but the way we live, relate, and grow? In this episode, host Louis De Jaeger speaks with Looby Macnamara about applying nature-inspired design to everyday life.

Together, they explore Loobyโ€™s holistic approach to permaculture, including her Design Web and its 12 interconnected anchor points. The conversation dives into personal growth, relationships, cultural transformation, and how small intentional actions can ripple outward into broader systemic change.

In this episode, Looby explores:
๐ŸŒฑ Permaculture beyond gardens and farms
๐Ÿ•ธ๏ธ The Design Web and nonlinear thinking
๐Ÿค Applying permaculture ethics to communities and culture
โœจ Small actions that create lasting change
๐ŸŒ Holistic design for ecological and social regeneration

๐ŸŽง Listen to Episode 38 now:
ApplePodcasts โ€“ https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/food-forest-podcast/id1870837259
Spotify โ€“ https://open.spotify.com/show/5ylFpxff6dfY4PsRq8ZSc8
YouTube โ€“ https://youtu.be/zXxNp2NHf5s

โœ๏ธ Show notes & more: https://www.commensalist.com/food-forest-podcast/episode-38

๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐“๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ, ๐š๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽยฐ๐‚ ๐š๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ.This one photo says more than any climate report.Same street. Sam...
24/06/2026

๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐“๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ, ๐š๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽยฐ๐‚ ๐š๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ.

This one photo says more than any climate report.

Same street. Same sun. Same moment. The only difference is what covers the ground.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ
Asphalt and brick soak up the sun all day, then radiate it back at us long into the night. This is the urban heat island effect, baked into how we build.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฌ
Trees don't just block sun. They actively cool the air by releasing water, like a natural air conditioner running for free.

We spend fortunes on air conditioning to fight a heat we designed into our cities. Meanwhile the cheapest, most beautiful cooling technology on earth grows from the ground and asks for almost nothing in return.

A city without trees is an oven. A city with trees is a refuge. ๐ŸŒณ

Which one are we building?

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ More on designing landscapes that cool, feed and heal us, in my book: https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/red-eerst-jezelf-en-dan-pas-de-planeet-9789020970616

Thanks .be for sharing

24/06/2026

๐ŸŒฑ ๐†๐š๐ซ๐๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฆ๐š๐ฒ ๐›๐ž ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ก.

There's a bacterium in healthy garden soil, Streptomyces rimosus, that measurably calms the brain. The prescription is free for life. The only thing you have to do is get your hands dirty.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ
Absorbed through skin and inhalation while you garden, S. rimosus has a real influence on wellbeing. Studies have found increased alpha wave activity in the brain (the signature of relaxation), lower inflammatory markers, and reduced stress compared to people working with sterile soil. It even eased depression-like behaviour and calmed an overactive stress axis in animal models.

๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ž
We evolved in daily contact with the earth for tens of thousands of years. Our immune systems are calibrated by its microbial complexity. Then we paved it, sanitized it, sprayed it and scrubbed it away. Now we live with a deficit our biology never planned for.

The good news: we can do something about it. Grow something, even herbs on a windowsill. Don't scrub your vegetables to death. Buy organic, because some of it really is medicine. And please, let your children play in the dirt.

Our biology hasn't changed. We need soil. ๐ŸŒณ

This is what chapter five of my book is all about. Read it, then go outside and make yourself dirty.

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/red-eerst-jezelf-en-dan-pas-de-planeet-9789020970616

๐ŸŒณ ๐€ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ.Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a town of 2,000 west of Montreal, is the first in Canada t...
23/06/2026

๐ŸŒณ ๐€ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ.

Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a town of 2,000 west of Montreal, is the first in Canada to recognize trees as living beings with the right to life, growth, integrity and regeneration.

Why? Because after being flooded three times, they understand something many cities forget: our biggest ally against climate change is the trees.

We already give legal personhood to corporations, which aren't even alive. So why not to a living being that cools our towns, cleans our air, holds our water and shelters whole ecosystems?

This is what a shift in worldview looks like. Nature as a partner, not a resource to strip. ๐ŸŒณ

๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿผ Full story (CBC): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/terrasse-vaudreil-quebec-tree-rights-9.7243634

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ My book: https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/red-eerst-jezelf-en-dan-pas-de-planeet-9789020970616

Thanks Sophie Whettnall for sharing!

23/06/2026

๐ŸŒฑ ๐”๐ฉ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ÿ—๐ŸŽ% ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐„๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ก'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐๐ž๐ ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ 2050

That's the UN's warning. And here's what it actually means: no topsoil, no food.

2050 is not some distant sci-fi date. It's the year your children become adults. ๐ŸŒฑ

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ž'๐ซ๐ž ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ 
Topsoil can take centuries to form, in some cases a thousand years for just a few centimetres. But conventional agriculture, with heavy tillage, synthetic fertilizers and endless monocultures, strips it away far faster than it can recover. Each harvest takes more than it gives back. The living foundation of our entire food system is being mined, one field at a time.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐›๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ
Regenerative agriculture can put it back. Organic, agroecological, biodynamic. These systems build soil instead of burning through it.

And here's the part most people miss: as a consumer, you fund one system or the other with every single food purchase you make. The regenerative farmer near you already exists, at farmers markets and through community supported agriculture.

Every purchase is an investment in the food system that will exist in 25 years. You're not just buying dinner. You're voting on what kind of soil your children inherit. ๐ŸŒณ

This is chapter five of my new book.

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Get the book here: https://www.standaardboekhandel.be/p/red-eerst-jezelf-en-dan-pas-de-planeet-9789020970616

Sommige veehouders en akkerbouwers werken met hart voor dieren, gewassen, landschap, natuur en milieu, en willen de bode...
22/06/2026

Sommige veehouders en akkerbouwers werken met hart voor dieren, gewassen, landschap, natuur en milieu, en willen de bodem van hun boerderij beter achterlaten dan dat ze hem aantroffen.

Niet alleen uit overtuiging maar ook uit noodzaak. Intensieve landbouw put de bodem uit. Volgens de VN-organisatie Fao is een derde van โ€™s werelds landbouwgronden al onbruikbaar, en de rest wordt in hoog tempo opgemaakt.

Volgens de documentaire Eat more trees van Arne Focketyn en Louis De Jaeger verdwijnt elk jaar 24 miljard ton vruchtbare bodem door roofbouw, grondbewerking, droogte, water en wind. Dat zijn dertig voetbalvelden per minuut.

Eat more trees volgt een Spaanse akkerbouwer en zijn Nederlandse vrouw, die in het verdrogende Zuid-Spanje het tij willen keren. Er is niet genoeg water meer voor intensieve landbouw, dus stappen ze over van een monocultuur naar regeneratieve landbouw met meerdere gewassen, zodat er altijd wel iets is wat de droogte doorstaat. Ze herstellen het gemengde bedrijf, planten een voedselbos en pleiten voor meer bomen: fruitbomen, kastanjebomen, steeneiken.

Een van plastic vergeven woestijn
Maar tegen sla- en broccolimagnaten kunnen ze nauwelijks op. Zoals pioenroos- en lelietelers in Nederland, zo zu**en in Spanje die hebzuchtigen het leven uit de grond. Ook de in cellofaan verpakte broccoli die wij onze kinderen voeren, komt daarvandaan. Zoals de bloemen bij ons, leveren die groenten in Andalusiรซ een fortuin op. Dat lukt een jaar of vijf, daarna blijft er een van plastic vergeven woestijn achter. De teelt begint namelijk onder plastic, dat niemand opruimt.

De rivier die het land van de hoofdpersonen van water voorziet, is door de roofbouw gekrompen van 35 tot 5 kilometer lengte, de hoeveelheid water die uit de bron komt is gedecimeerd. Over een tijdje is er geen druppel meer, en verlaten de sla-magnaten de zelfgemaakte woestijn om elders land te pachten.

De hoofdpersonen uit de film gaan dapper door en vergroenen hun omgeving. Jammer genoeg wordt gesuggereerd dat verandering begint bij ander inkoop- en eetgedrag door particulieren. Terwijl dat juist altijd de smoes is van de intensieve landbouw: de consument koopt het dus moeten we wel.

Maar afgezien daarvan is het een inspirerende film, die vanaf 2 juli in dertig bioscopen draait.

๐Ÿ’ง ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐œ๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ. ๐„๐š๐œ๐ก ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฐ ๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ง ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ.This Nebraska before-and-after gets shared as a ...
22/06/2026

๐Ÿ’ง ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐œ๐ข๐ซ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ. ๐„๐š๐œ๐ก ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฐ ๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ง ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ ๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ.

This Nebraska before-and-after gets shared as a triumph. Empty plains turned into endless green circles.

But those circles run on the Ogallala aquifer, ancient groundwater that recharge replaces by only a tiny fraction each year. Across the High Plains, decades of pumping have already drained parts of it beyond recovery in any human timescale.

We didn't conquer the dry land. We plugged it into a battery we can't recharge.

Real abundance gives water back instead of mining it. Living soil, trees, deep roots, landscapes designed to hold rain rather than pump it away.

Green from the sky isn't always alive on the ground. ๐ŸŒณ

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ We design landscapes that fix water cycles instead of draining them: www.commensalist.com

Foto:

21/06/2026

We all have the power to shape our lives by finding leverage points and nudging them in the right direction. Sagara reminds us that consistent choices aligned with our values create real, lasting impact over time.
๐ŸŽง From the Food Forest Podcast โ€“ Ep. 37 w/ Sagara
Apple Podcasts โ€“ https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/food-forest-podcast/id1870837259
Spotify โ€“ https://open.spotify.com/show/5ylFpxff6dfY4PsRq8ZSc8
YouTube โ€“ https://youtu.be/6BNjgsuSHmw
โœ๏ธ Show notes โ€“ https://www.commensalist.com/food-forest-podcast/episode-37

๐ŸŒณ ๐„๐š๐ญ ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ goes in premiere in the Netherlands this weekend ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ After the avant premiere and the audience award at ...
21/06/2026

๐ŸŒณ ๐„๐š๐ญ ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ goes in premiere in the Netherlands this weekend ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ

After the avant premiere and the audience award at Film Festival Ostend, the film finally reaches the big screen. Narrated by actress Hanna Verboom. ๐ŸŽฌ

I couldn't be prouder of this film, and of everyone who made it happen.

What is it about? Every minute, the world loses thirty football fields of fertile soil. But everywhere, farmers are proving it can be done differently, by bringing trees and perennial crops back into their land.

From the Amazon to southern Spain, where Dutch farmer Yanniek Schoonhoven shows that living soil holds water while neighbours run dry.

Healthy soil, healthier food, healthier people. Food becomes medicine again. ๐ŸŒณ

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ In Dutch cinemas from July 2. Come watch, and bring someone with you.

Full article (NL): https://www.nieuweoogst.nl/nieuws/2026/06/20/documentaire-eat-more-trees-schetst-radicale-omslag

๐ŸŒผ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐ฒ. ๐ˆ๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ.Farmers across the world are planting wildflower strips beside the...
21/06/2026

๐ŸŒผ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐ฒ. ๐ˆ๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ.

Farmers across the world are planting wildflower strips beside their crops, and pesticide use is dropping because of it.

The flowers attract ladybugs, hoverflies and parasitic wasps. Those insects eat the pests that damage the harvest. Nature does the spraying for free.

Less chemicals. More pollinators. More biodiversity. A field that protects itself.

Farmers aren't the obstacle to a healthier planet. Given the right tools, they're the ones holding the solution. ๐ŸŒณ

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