December 27th, 2012 at 9:21 am (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, fire-building, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, herbology, the combat medic, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, primitive hunting, wild food sources, outdoor survival, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, trauma medicine, field medicine, tracking, bushcraft, primitive bowmaking, nature spiritulity, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, parkour, health and nutrition, economic collapse, power shortage, survival scenario, weapons, self sustainability, pet survival, eco building, homestead livestock, prepping, homesteading, intentional community, community, societal collapse, gardening, herbal medic)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman discusses the entire structure of classes and programs at The Human Path.
He addresses many of the questions that people have about how the program is structured at The Human Path, to include:
- What are the differences between core classes and peripheral or elective classes?
- What are the 4 paths or specialties that a person can follow within the core curriculum?
- What specific things do students learn in each of the specialties?
- What makes The Human Path so different from other survival schools?
- How does learning these skills make a difference in day-to-day life?
- What is the difference between Urban and Primitive tracks of instruction?
- What are the "Four A's" of survival that are a part of the core curriculum?
- How does a student move up from level 1 to level 2 in a specialty?
- How are concepts like teamwork, leadership and community taught as part of the classes?
The next Urban Core Basic class is January 25 - 27th, 2013.
Check out the Winter 2013 schedule for the next 2-3 months!
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December 26th, 2012 at 10:33 am (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, fire-building, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, herbology, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, wild food sources, outdoor survival, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, trauma medicine, field medicine, bushcraft, primitive bowmaking, nature spiritulity, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, parkour, health and nutrition, power shortage, survival scenario, weapons, self sustainability, pet survival, eco building, homestead livestock, prepping, homesteading, intentional community, community, societal collapse, gardening, herbal medic)
In this podcast, Sam Coffman discusses The Human Path growth, classes and real-world action during 2012, as well as the direction for 2013 and beyond.
Sam answers questions such as:
- What kinds of learning experiences were developed throughout 2012 and what can we look forward to in 2013?
- How has the breadth of the curriculum has been defined over the past few years at The Human Path? What exactly does that breadth of information include?
- How have The Human Path instructors evolved with the school?
- Why is it necessary to implement testing and selection procedures for higher level classes and real-world teams? What might that testing procedure look like, and at what point in the different levels will we see it?
- As we focus in the 4 areas of our curriculum delivery - Lecture, Hands-on, Scenario and Real-world missions – how does this all merge to create an ideal learning and even life-changing environment?
- How did Nicaragua figure into learning experience during 2012, and what's next?
- What can we expect to see in 2013 in regards to real-world missions and new classes?
Our new calendar for 2013 is up online here.
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June 25th, 2012 at 2:03 pm (survival skills, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, herbology, wild food sources, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, field medicine, disaster preparedness, readiness, health and nutrition, self sustainability, prepping, societal collapse, gardening)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman discusses a recent news story in which a woman's medicinal and food garden were destroyed by an HOA and the city.
He covers topics such as:
- How can we prepare our own medicinal gardens to avoid falling prey to this kind of ignorance?
- What are some of the different types of urban camouflage gardening (Guerilla Gardening)?
- What are the different height levels and how can we create a medicinal garden in the front yard that uses this to help fit the garden in with HOA and municipal idiot-regulations?
- What are some very good medicinal plants that grow as ground cover and can replace a yard?
- What are some very good medicinal plants that are high ground cover, low-herbaceous level?
- What are some good medicinal herbaceous plants and how can we fit that into our yard in a way that doesn't stand out?
- What is the concept behind forest gardening and how can that help us be more prepared?
- What is the advantage of using local plants?
To learn more about using medicinal plants that you can grow, as well as harvest locally in the wild, sign up for the next Herbology Level 1 class here
Related Items:
More information about the incident discussed in this podcast about the mowed-down garden, news report
Companion Article, 'On Your Side of the Fence'
Upcoming class in Austin, TX: 'Cooking With Wild Edibles', July 26th
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March 26th, 2012 at 3:44 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, herbology, wild food sources, outdoor survival, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, bushcraft, disaster preparedness, readiness, self sustainability, prepping, homesteading, gardening)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman talks about forest gardening.
Forest gardening is a great way to grow both food and medicine in a space and labor-efficient environment. Sam talks about:
- Why a forest garden is a great idea for preppers
- What are the different layers of a forest garden?
- How can you get started on a forest garden even if you don't have any canopy trees?
- How much room does a forest garden take up?
- What are the advantages of food and medicine grown in a forest garden?
- What are some of the examples of food and medicine that Sam has growing in his own forest garden?
To learn more about plant medicine, make sure you are on the mailing list for notification as our herbology level 1 online class comes out over the next few weeks...
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March 8th, 2012 at 11:27 am (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, outdoor survival, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, readiness, self sustainability, homesteading)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman speaks with Jessica Enzo of the Permaculture Education Center about Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) and permaculture education in general. They talk about:
- The advantages of taking a PDC online vs. on-site
- What to look for when finding a PDC course to take
- How much to expect to spend on a PDC course.
- How does permaculture fit into preparedness and the "prepper" lifestyle?
- What are some ways that a person can get started on their own with permaculture concepts aroung the house and garden?
- What are the underlying fundamentals of permaculture, and why is it important?
- How can a person get started with the Permaculture Education Center if they want to get their PDC online? How long does it take?
You can check out more about online permaculture design certification by going to the Permaculture Education Center website
You can also sign up to learn about growing, wildcrafting and using medicinal plants by attending the Herbology Level 1 class at The Human Path here: online registration
The Online Permaculture Education Center's mission is to provide Permaculture education while promoting and demonstrating sustainable living techniques to the world.
Main Instructors: Alan Enzo, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Enzo (also known as "Enzo") is an award-winning researcher and international consultant in Ecological Economics and Ecological Design (Permaculture). He is a registered Instructor and Consultant with the Permaculture Research Institute in Australia. He earned a Ph.D. in Management (specialization in Ecological Economics), and an M.B.A. in Sustainable Business from Tennessee State University. He is passionate about sustainable systems research, alternative local economic systems, natural building, organic food production, and helping students and clients start their own small green businesses.
Jessica Enzo, B.A.
Jessica Enzo is a Permaculture co-teacher and consultant, and is also a certified Health Coach specializing in Integrative Nutrition. Jessica has a love of natural landscapes and an eye for patterns and appropriate design. Her passion and desire is to demonstrate and share her love of Permaculture and its amazing principles with as many people as possible.
The Enzo's are currently working to create a Permaculture Demonstration site and Education Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Alan and Jessica are respected teachers and consultants in the region, and are best known for designing the new Permaculture Demonstration site at the Mother Earth News Ecovillage near Asheville, N.C. This famous ecovillage was one of the first established in the United States. In addition to teaching and consulting, the Enzo's work with other Permaculture and Sustainability professionals to help re-localize economic activity and organic food production, while creating a network of small local green businesses in the Southern Appalachian Mountains Bioregion (Katuah).
In 2011, Alan and Jessica Enzo, Tom Brody, Ian Booth, Galen Hull, Raoul Russell, and several other leading Permaculture teachers created a new online PDC curriculum and started PermacultureEducation.com. The site is now managed by the Ecological Education Association - a collective of local Permaculture teachers and consultants in Southeast U.S.
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February 7th, 2012 at 1:42 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, self sustainability, eco building)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman continues the discussion about building an 'intentional community' with Tim Bennett, a man who has gone off the grid for his family's home.
Sam and Tim discuss:
- how to turn a crisis situation around into a positive change
- urban sustainability solutions
- life on the homestead: working with a generator for larger energy needs
- plans for a DC refrigerator out of a top-door freezer
- the winter garden and permaculture setup as part of the homestead
- how dividing the labor and working together is the missing element to success for many
- how many people Tim envisions is about right to meet the needs of an intentional community
- security concerns in a post-disaster situation on a homestead
- how being far off the beaten path helped to protect their supplies while the building process was in progress
Listen to the first part of this podcast: Episode 097: The Intentional Homestead
Tim Bennett and Rebecca Nantz and their three children were headed for success as house flippers. Then the bubble popped. They became a paycheck to paycheck family. They knew they could push themselves, continue treading the stress of the monthly bills, and make it another 20 years. But they decided "Instead of struggling, Let's have an adventure!" So they sold or gave away most of their material "stuff" and set up a camp in the North Georgia mountains where they began to build an off grid, reciprocal roof, earth bermed home. They used round wood timbers, cob, local stone, recycled materials, and alternative building techniques.
Their EarthinMind website
The EarthinMind Facebook page
Recommended reading resources:
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book
by Mike Ohler
Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
by Toby Hemingway
The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It
by John Seymour
Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills (Second Edition)
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January 30th, 2012 at 6:09 pm (urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, self sustainability)
Melanie Jamison joins us today from Austin-area organization, Vajra Azaya. This is a non-profit group that focuses on practicing building, gardening and engineering methods of self-sustainability. They are currently constructing two communities that will be self-sufficient, along with community gardens and other local community events to share and train others in these methods. Today Sam Coffman and Melanie discuss:
- the purpose of the Vajra Azaya group, where they are located and the goals of these communities
- the East Austin community is breaking ground on 3 octadome living structures, a community center and surrounding produce gardens
- the Bastrop project which will include 4 to 5 living structures, a workshop, healing hut, gardens and accompanying overhead apartments
- how a dream inspired the quest to build self sustaining communities
- hugulkultur - what it is and what they are using it for
- current experiments underway with green engineering techniques: winter sowing, raised garden beds, tinfoil radios, clay pot fridges, and more
- learning how to design things that work without electricity
- the February workshops on welding and building earth bricks
- the February/March upcoming workshops on gardening topics from permaculture to aquaponics to wicking beds.
More about Vajra Azaya: Vajra Azaya was created as a non-profit entity to build self-reliant communities that include capacity for food, housing, community, and economic development. Vajra Azaya assists with the development of these communities while also providing educational opportunities for the public in the building methods and technologies used so that others can replicate our efforts.
To link for more information about Vajra Azaya: www.vajraazaya.org
To get involved in upcoming projects with affiliated communities join the meetup.com group at: http://www.meetup.com/Vajra-Azaya/
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January 23rd, 2012 at 2:09 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, outdoor survival, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, readiness, economic collapse, power shortage, self sustainability)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman and Mark Kirkwood discuss aquaponics, homesteading and off-grid power.
- What is necessary to set up your own aquaponics system?
- How much does it cost to get started on your own homestead?
- How much are the homestead lots selling for in the off-grid community that Biotechture is teaching and assisting with (south of Tyler on a lake)?
- Should you be concerned with local/county building codes when building off the grid? If so, what’s the best way to deal with them?
- What is a “ferro dome” and why is that an easy, strong and efficient roofing solution when combined with earthships?
- How much does it cost to build an earthship and how much work is it?
- What is the training class opportunity that Biotechture Training is offering – which is almost a free way to experience building an earthship, or have free labor for your own earthship?
- What is a vertical-axis turbine wind generator vs. a horizontal axis turbine? Why is this simper, cheaper and easier?
- How is a washing machine motor superior for DC power?
- How can you start preparing right now to eventually get yourself off the grid and work within a small, localized economy?
Visit Biotechturetraining.com for more information on upcoming homesteading, aquaponics and other classes!
Biotechture Training.
We are a non-profit organization. Our mission is to teach, as many people as are willing to learn, how to live sustainably, because no one should have to pay a cost just for living. To build Earthships which are off-grid, self-sustained homes that provide not only for all the basic human needs of shelter, food, water, and power; but also needs of comfort, safety, technology, and abundance. An Earthship can provide all that using technologies and resources available today. Earthships are radically sustainable buildings made with recycled materials. Earthships can be built in any part of the world, in any climate and still provide solar power, wind power, catchwater, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production through aquaponics farming.
On Monday, we will continue the second half of this podcast with a discussion between Mark and Sam about Aquaponics as part of the self-sustainability model.
Related Resources
Biotechturetraining.com website
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August 23rd, 2011 at 11:12 am (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, outdoor survival, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage)
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Joe Alcoces has been taking classes at The Human Path for the past few years. His experience in classes runs the whole gamut - from primitive and urban core basic to herbology to permaculture/homesteading, land navigation, level 1 core classes and more.
This discussion with Joe is the 2nd of several student discussions that will be posted intermittently over time. The idea behind these is to get the input and ideas from people taking classes at THP and how that information and knowledge affects their own personal experiences. |
| This discussion with Joe starts with his conclusions on buying a piece of land to make a homestead for himself and his family, and then moves into his excellent advice on "super-couponing" as a way to affordably stock up on food and materials. Finally, Joe talks about the THP classes and how they have played a role in his own homesteading, home medicine and preparedness activities.
Today's discussion includes:
- your own homestead: how building community and security is a necessity. Doing it alone simply isn't enough.
- building the home stores: couponing and how it works to save money.
- empowerment from learning self-sustaining skills that will help build a homestead, sense of independence and more.
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August 19th, 2011 at 12:19 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming)
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Joe Alcoces has been taking classes at The Human Path for the past few years. His experience in classes runs the whole gamut - from primitive and urban core basic to herbology to permaculture/homesteading, land navigation, level 1 core classes and more.
This discussion with Joe is the first of several student discussions that will be posted intermittently over time. The idea behind these is to get the input and ideas from people taking classes at THP and how that information and knowledge affects their own personal experiences. |
| This discussion with Joe starts with his own experiences in buying a piece of land to make a homestead for himself and his family, and then moves into his excellent advice on "super-couponing" as a way to affordably stock up on food and materials. Finally, Joe talks about the THP classes and how they have played a role in his own homesteading, home medicine and preparedness activities.
Join us for today's discussion on:
- What goes into picking a homestead location
- Where agricultural considerations come into play
- Things to consider when drilling for water wells: shallow drilling, hand drills vs. having a company drill
- The trial and error process of making mistakes on a first-time homestead
- How urbanization and government reliance has stripped some of us of the ability to 'do it all' ourselves, develop the varied skills needed to live independently and figure out problems on our own
- The desire not only to learn how to homestead independently, but to pass the knowledge and resources down to future generations
- Using permaculture and forest gardening concepts to help repair, mold and change the land into an ideal homestead
- Planning: when starting, it is important to really consider the long-term goals for the land, the purpose of having it and how to be an efficient and thoughtful caretaker while learning about how to do so with the surrounding community.
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