My guest today is Nathan Carlos Rupley. A member of my permaculture community, he spends his time as a stay-at-home dad, self employed-artist, and aspiring hunter-gatherer.

When not hanging out with his family or walking in the woods, you can find him reading about a wide range of subjects including simple living, foraging, native agriculture, natural building, “primitive” technology, philosophy, applied ecology, theology, and much more. He brings this knowledge to the table today as we discuss what he’s learning from the native plants of his ancestors.

The exploration of these plants and the related cultures provide insights into his place in the world and where he comes from. This leads to a conversation that ranges around a variety of thoughts including how we can learn more about plants and their uses by studying folk and Latin binomial names. What understanding ancestral plants can teach us about our identity. The impacts of colonization, on the colonized and colonizer. And being good mentors and ancestors now and for the future.

You can email Nate at nathanrupley@yahoo.com, with any comments, or questions, if you want to rewild your yard, or, if you’re ever in Central Pennsylvania, would like to join him for a foraging class or plant walk.

Resources Nathan Carlos Rupley (Website) Nathan Carlos Rupley (Patreon) Nathan_Carlos_Rupley (Instagram) Gathering on YouTube Samuel Thayer / The Forager’s Harvest Steve Brill Backyard Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Peter Del Tradici Fandabi Dozi (YouTube) Ron Eglash - The fractals at the heart of African designs (TED Talk)