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We sit down with Kate Forester (Landscape Architect, ASLA Oregon CBAC) and Laura Squillace (Architect, Green Hammer) for a working session about process: who gets called first and why it matters, the early decisions that shape everything after (a dry well or a rain garden is a choice with consequences), and how a landscape can stack functions the way a high-performance building does. We discuss One Water, climate-adaptive solutions, and why buildings and landscapes should be designed together. Kate works at the scale of rivers, wetlands, and habitat corridors. Laura designs zero-energy and regenerative buildings, including a project going for Living Building certification. Both say the same thing: neither of them can do the work alone. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet The Guests 02:33 Defining Regenerative Design 04:18 Origin Stories 07:35 Stewardship And Place 08:49 Designing With The Land 11:12 Ecology And Regulation 14:34 One Water Mindset 16:17 Coastal Resilience Training 20:00 Fire And Water Systems 22:28 Collaborating Early 24:13 Living Machines Teaser 24:29 Living Machine Basics 25:47 Why It Feels So Hard 27:20 Selling It To Cities 29:58 One Water Rain Gardens 32:58 Rethinking Native Plants 34:12 Climate Adaptive Science 36:56 Nurseries And Habitat Layers 40:05 Oak Savanna Senior Community 43:18 Teaching Courage And Tribe 46:36 What Keeps Them Going 48:21 Closing Thoughts This episode was a live recording of Common Ground, a Sustainable Building Week 2026 event. Follow Kate: Website: https://www.herrerainc.com/ Herrera on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herreraenvironmental/ Follow Laura: Website: https://greenhammer.com/ Green Hammer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenhammerinc/ Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, we sit down with Emma Kraft Saldivar, President of Kraft Custom Construction, the Salem, Oregon design-build remodeling company her father, Robert Kraft, started in 1982. Emma came to construction from psychology and case management, and she brings that background into every project and client conversation. Emma describes “longevity planning” as designing homes around how clients live now and in the future, focusing on purpose, feelings, routines, community, and wellness. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start 00:33 Meet Emma Kraft Saldivar 01:56 Designing for Future You 04:19 From Psychology to Construction 08:03 Project Types and Service Area 09:10 Discovery Call and Fit 10:57 Curiosity Builds Trust 13:43 Homes for Community 17:37 Wellness and Hobby Spaces 19:51 Budgeting for Longevity 23:36 Where to Spend vs Save 27:30 Invest in Infrastructure 31:23 Stormwater and Regenerative Design 33:44 Leading Change on Teams 34:25 Collaborating Early Pays Off 38:20 Building the Right Expert Team 43:02 Emma’s Next 20 Years 44:03 Closing Thoughts Follow Emma: https://www.kraftcustomconstruction.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kraftcustomconstructioninc/ Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up. About Emma: Emma Kraft Saldivar is the second-generation owner and president of Kraft Custom Construction, a design-build remodeling company serving Oregon’s Willamette Valley since 1982. She leads the company with a focus on thoughtful design, lasting craftsmanship, and creating homes that support the way people live today while standing the test of time. With a background in social work, Emma brings a people-centered approach to the remodeling process, grounded in listening, understanding her clients’ needs, and helping them make informed decisions about their homes.

Hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark close out Season 2, and share what changed how they run their own teams, what's happening underground that most landscapers never measure, and why the same values keep showing up whether you're in the Pacific Northwest or rural Australia. They also discuss the challenge and value of hosting controversial episodes and inviting honest dialogue. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start 00:33 Season Two Reflections 01:20 Handling Controversy 03:03 Community Dialogue Matters 05:19 Season Three Vision 07:25 Favorite Season Two Guests 08:06 Global Lessons and Values 09:56 Stories That Inspire Change 13:18 Scaling Regenerative Business 15:25 Stewardship Mindset Shift 16:57 Backyard Aliveness 20:40 Time Perspective and Care 22:13 Woo Woo and GeoTuning 23:45 Industry Builders and Events 25:45 Generational Wealth of Land 27:11 Legacy for Our Kids 29:16 Purpose and Response 30:58 Celebrate and Stay Connected 32:11 Closing Thoughts Follow Brit and Bethany: Brit: https://be.land/ @theblueprintearth Bethany: https://www.bethanyrydmark.com/ @brydmarklandscapes Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, host Brit Sastrawidjaya sits down with Mark Woolbright, founder of Verdtech (verdtech.com), maker of Varden, a lightweight, plantable retaining wall and vertical garden block system. Mark invented one of the first plantable concrete retaining wall systems in the US after seeing vertical gardens built into small Swiss retaining walls on a backpacking trip, spent decades engineering drainage, soil, and structural systems for that original system before industry consolidation moved him to sell, and has now rebuilt the idea from the ground up as Varden. CHAPTERS 00:00 Start 00:33 Meet Mark Woolbright 02:38 Europe Inspiration 04:06 Concrete Wall Business 07:55 Engineering and Drainage 11:57 Soils Compost Carbon 14:50 Industry Consolidation Exit 19:20 Why Plastic Blocks 22:28 Testing Policy Barriers 28:33 Design Focus and Planting 40:09 Marketing Webinars Education 50:03 Habitat Toad Condos 54:42 Closing Thoughts -- Follow Mark: Website: https://www.verdtech.com/ Verdtech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Greenwallmojo Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. -- ABOUT MARK WOOLBRIGHT: Mark Woolbright is an inventor and innovator of living walls with over 30 years in design, manufacture, marketing, and installation of plantable, living wall systems. Mark graduated from Eastern Illinois University and is currently Managing Member of Greenwall Ventures, LLC, and most recently, CEO/Founder of Verdtech, Inc. Throughout his career, he has been awarded twenty patents, with more applications pending. Mark has served on the Board of the St. Louis USGBC, as a member of the Green Wall Committee of GRHC which develops course curriculum for its Green Walls 101 course and has been a certified Biophilic Design trainer through GPGB. He is passionate about educating the building community on the environmental benefits of Living Walls and best practices for their use. ABOUT LAND LANGUAGE: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

Sarah Lebner is the founder and director of Cooee Architecture, a sustainable residential practice based in the alpine region of south-east Australia, where she designs energy-efficient, low-carbon homes for rural and regional communities. We discuss bushfire-resilient design beyond codes, including defensible sites and landscape strategies, and contrast Australian mandates for rainwater tanks and firefighting reserves with U.S. approaches. Chapters: 00:00 Start 02:49 Sarah’s Origin Story 06:23 Trust and Greenwashing 09:12 The 18 Intentions 11:56 Bushfire Resilient Design 16:31 Rainwater Rules and Storage 22:12 Energy Ratings and Retrofits 33:26 Sharing Knowledge at Scale 38:41 Better Team Collaboration 46:02 My First Architecture Job 48:51 Why It’s Called Cooee 50:13 Getting Back to Yourself 51:47 Closing Thoughts Follow Sarah: Website: https://www.cooeearchitecture.com.au/ Xera Plants on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cooee_architecture Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up. About Sarah: Sarah Lebner is the founder and director of Cooee Architecture, a sustainable residential practice based in the alpine region of south-east Australia, where she designs energy-efficient, low-carbon homes for rural and regional communities. Before returning to the area she grew up in, Sarah was Principal Architect at Light House Architecture and Science in Canberra, one of Australia's leading building science practices, where she spent years working at the intersection of passive design, thermal performance, and affordability. She is the author of 101 Things I Didn't Learn in Architecture School, a 2023 recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour Prize, and the sole winner of the Institute's 2020 National Emerging Architect Prize. Alongside her architectural work, Sarah runs Cooee's scalable resources arm, creating affordable tools and guides to help everyday homeowners retrofit their homes for comfort and efficiency.

Molly Sedlacek is the founder of ORCA, a female-founded landscape design and product studio based in Los Angeles. In this episode, she shares how her upbringing with a landscape-designer mother and forester father shaped her belief that materials are living participants, emphasizing simplicity, permeability, and designing for visible time and patina rather than permanence. We address fire-smart landscape design, including Class A fire-rated black locust lumber and the importance of keeping trees, plus advocacy through client questionnaires that tap sensory memories. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet Molly of ORCA 02:49 ORCA Name and Roots 04:14 Nature First Design 08:06 Client Questionnaire Prompts 11:37 Designing for Enough 13:41 Visible Time in Gardens 16:39 Local Materials and Pavers 23:30 Wood and Fire Smart Design 31:46 Advocacy Through Education 34:57 Docent Workshops Launch 42:28 Patina Over Maintenance Free 49:19 Rethinking Concrete and Pools 54:32 Closing Thoughts Follow Molly: Website: https://www.orcaliving.com/ ORCA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orcaliving/ Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, we sit down with Julie Weiss, a designer and gardener based in the Pacific Northwest and board member of the North American Friends of Great Dixter. Julie spent eighteen years at Vanity Fair. She then went on to apprentice for two years at Great Dixter under head gardener Fergus Garrett, and came home calling herself a garden steward instead of simply a designer. Julies shares with us: cover planting standards, soil and aftercare, trusted research sources, and the value of native plants for resilience and biodiversity. Chapters: 00:00 Start 02:43 From Art School to Magazines 03:51 Roof Garden Awakening 04:36 Great Dixter Training Years 06:00 Design Skills Carry Over 08:45 Biodiversity and Bug Love 10:43 How Dixter Teaches 13:34 Planting Standards and Soil 16:43 Regenerative Soil Practices 22:23 Natives and Nursery Education 24:18 Garden Culture England vs US 28:00 Resilient Gardens and Ethos 32:39 Native Plants Ease Anxiety 33:04 Manzanitas and Dry Summers 33:59 Stewardship and Bossy Natives 35:27 Realistic Garden Maintenance 37:21 Succession Planting Basics 42:00 Matrix Planting Over Mulch 43:45 Control Culture and Invasives 46:58 Gardens That Move and Biodiversity 49:43 Old World Ethos and Materials 54:45 Gardening for Wildlife and Hope 56:45 Ecological Design Ripple Effects 58:46 Closing Thoughts Follow Julie: Website: https://www.julieweissdesign.net/ Instagram: @julieaweiss Follow Land Language: Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark sit down with Andrea Palacio, co-founder of Crewless. Andrea walks through how she used AI to rescue her Florida lawn care company from near-collapse, and what she learned when she stepped too far away. Andrea went from answering 50+ calls a day with a newborn in her arms to building Crewless: an AI implementation consultancy that helps home service businesses get their time back. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:53 What AI Implementation Means 03:13 Crewless Origin Story 05:47 Crisis Sparks Automation 08:16 Quick Wins With AI 11:45 AI for Human Connection 17:39 Leadership Cannot Be Delegated 21:52 Scorecards and Metrics 26:19 Regenerative AI Concerns 33:03 Balancing Innovation and Nature 40:22 Policy and Data Centers 49:10 How to Work With Andrea 54:06 Closing Thoughts Follow Andrea: https://www.instagram.com/andreapalacio Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Andrea: Andrea Palacio is co-founder of Crewless, an AI implementation consultancy helping home service businesses solve operational problems with AI. She and her husband also co-own a Florida lawn care company, where she first built the systems that became Crewless. Before going into business, she spent four years living on a sailboat and sailing the Caribbean. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, we sit down with Brittney Herrera, CEO of Thunder Egg and GeoTune. With 25 years in interior architecture for Fortune 500 tech companies, Brittney has spent her career designing spaces where people want to be. Over time, she found the layer beneath the built environment that most designers never look at: the energetic condition of the land itself. We discuss geopathic stress, how it shows up in dead trees, struggling businesses, flooding basements, broken equipment, and what ancient practices like copper-rod tuning can do about it. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Start 00:33 Meet Brittany Herrera 01:15 Magnetic Workspaces 01:56 What Is GeoTune 03:09 Origin Story and Proof 05:58 Hotel Case Study 08:35 Tuning Worldwide 10:28 On Site Process 12:07 Flooding Success Story 14:01 Skepticism and ROI 17:10 Trees and Relationship 25:35 Farms and Biodiversity 26:59 Tensor Ring Demo 28:14 How to Work Together 28:59 Closing Thoughts Follow Brittney: Website: https://www.brittneyherrera.com/ Geotune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geotune_energy Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark sit down with Angelique Robb, founder of SYNKD, a media platform and event series connecting landscape architects, contractors, designers, and horticulturists. They dig into the communication failures that cost design-build-maintain projects their best outcomes, two materials most US practitioners haven't encountered, and why stormwater management belongs to anyone who calls themselves a landscape professional. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet Angelique Robb 01:34 From Petroleum to Landscapes 09:41 Communication Makes Projects 15:20 SYNKD Connecting the Industry 18:10 Living Retaining Wall Innovation 26:33 Stormwater Is Landscaping 31:09 Permeable Paving Options 36:56 SYNKD Events and Community 39:36 Collaboration and Taking Action 43:56 Language Shapes the Land 48:48 Closing Thoughts Follow Angelique: Website: https://www.synkd.io/about-us SYNKD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/synkd_landscpae Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

Jonathan Clay built The Kalos Project to close Houston's local food gap using permaculture design. The same principles guide how he leads his team. In this episode of Land Language, hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark sit down with Jonathan and explore how permaculture's closed-loop principles translate to team leadership, what it takes to create a safe container for conflict on a job site, and the platform Jonathan is building to transform Houston's local food economy. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet Jonathan Clay 04:05 Handling Conflict On Teams 07:37 Boundaries And Timing 10:19 Making Space For Quiet Voices 16:50 Permaculture As Leadership 21:05 Team Goals And KPIs 25:59 Right Fit For The Role 28:14 Ground Zero Resources 29:06 Profitability Not Woo Woo 31:44 Why Kalos Project 33:02 Volunteer Powered Food Hubs 35:16 How To Follow Kalos 35:57 Closing Thoughts References: - The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz - The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer Follow Jonathan: Website: https://kalosproject.earth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalosproject.earth Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

$14 trillion in small business assets will change hands in the next decade. If you own a trades business, this conversation is for you. David Hori has spent his career where people and business overlap. From HR to startup operations to building and exiting pro.com (acquired by Opendoor), he now coaches business owners on how to build, prepare, and thoughtfully pass on what they've created. Brit and Bethany talk with David about what it actually means to build a healthy business, whether you're planning to sell or not. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:34 Meet David 02:48 Why He Buys 06:02 Retention Playbook 11:12 Building To Sell 13:22 Red Flags Green Flags 14:29 First Buyer Call 16:32 What Makes Buyable 18:29 Sustainable Growth 22:29 Local Legacy Mission 24:08 Coaching Owners 26:13 Culture Needs Weeding 26:58 Loyalty Versus Fit 28:22 KPIs With Compassion 32:11 Incentives Beyond Pay 35:01 Stewardship Over Recklessness 38:04 Coaching That Drives Change 41:52 AI Agents For Leads 44:28 Using AI To Free Time 46:36 Closing Thoughts Brit and Bethany help bring in the regenerative lens. A business with 90% of its revenue in one customer is like a landscape with 90% of one species. One bad season and it's gone. This conversation goes where most business podcasts don't: into what it means to care for what you've built, and leave it better than you found it. Follow David: Web: toplineops.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamdavidhori Instagram: @thedavidhori Follow Land Language: Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

The landscape industry is still building its catalog of case studies for regenerative work. Every project that gets built is an example. Every conversation that shifts a client's understanding is a seed. We're all relearning methods of cultivation that were once just daily life, and we're doing it together. In this episode: Why the first question in any deck project isn't about materials, it's about purposeExtruded aluminum framing + juniper decking as the most ecologically sound Pacific Northwest deck choiceThe lifetime cost of cheap composite vs. the permanence of a well-built deckHow to bring a client from lawn loyalty to meadow conviction: root depth, carbon, wildlife, morning routinesA real 2025 Portland front yard: native garden, willow play structure, brass auto-shutoff faucet, reflecting bowl, wildlife habitat directoryDesigning for children from toddlers to teenagers: splash zones, nooks, and getaways This is the season wrap. Season 2 is coming soon. Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark talk with Marc Boucher-Colbert, longtime garden educator and urban farming advocate, about how outdoor spaces can nurture curiosity, resilience, and ecological literacy in children. Marc shares his decades of experience developing school gardens and edible landscapes—from composting and crop rotations to integrated pest management (IPM) and soil health. Together, they explore how to turn kids from consumers into producers, how to adapt regenerative design principles for schools, and how simple gestures like container gardening can spark lifelong relationships with the living world. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:33 Meet Mark Boucher 02:10 From Compost to Farming 04:05 Urban Bounty Origins 04:34 School Garden Career 07:08 Montessori Outdoors 08:46 Cooking and Harvesting 10:50 Roaming and Curiosity 13:27 Science by Age Group 15:03 Experimenting with Soil 17:30 Loose Materials Play 19:23 Designing Kid Spaces 19:53 Tree Fort Favorites 23:13 Forts and Privacy 25:29 Lawns and Maintenance 28:30 Design for Your Child 31:10 Boulders and Water 32:27 Nature for Adults Too 35:54 Public School Challenges 38:15 School Reform Barriers 38:51 Healing Gardens Proof 40:00 Edible Schoolyard Model 40:59 Afterschool Garden Freedom 43:33 Food Equity Reality Check 44:57 Home vs School Cooking 47:38 Micro Community Leadership 49:46 Slow Down With Nature 52:12 Family Food Memories 54:17 IPM Basics Explained 01:05:47 Soil Health Over Inputs 01:07:47 Start Small Grow Something 01:10:27 Books Club And Resources 01:11:59 Design Your Eden Cards 01:17:51 Closing Thoughts - Follow Marc: Website: https://www.designyoureden.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designyoureden Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Marc: Marc Boucher-Colbert is a garden educator, urban farmer, and sustainability advocate with over two decades of experience teaching children to connect with the land. He helped establish Zenger Farm in Portland, founded the rooftop garden at Noble Rot, and currently serves as the gardening specialist at the Franciscan Montessori Earth School, where he integrates science, ecology, and food systems into daily learning. His work blends hands-on experimentation with a deep belief in regenerative, community-driven landscapes. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

Soil health is the backbone of regenerative landscape design. In this episode, hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark talk with Nick Tomasini, soil consultant, microbiology specialist, and founder of Humankind Oregon, about the real science behind soil structure, compaction, microbial activity, and soil amendments that actually work. Nick explains soil chemistry vs. biology, how to choose the right soil test, what mineral balancing actually means, and why compost extract often outperforms compost tea. He also shares cautionary insight on biochar, how to properly inoculate with mycorrhizae, and why fungal networks are essential for long-term plant health. Listen if you:• Work with compacted soils or post-construction landscapes • Want a clear approach to soil testing & diagnostics • Are trying to reduce herbicide use • Want practical, regenerative solutions backed by soil science Chapters: 00:00 Start 01:26 Nick’s Origin Story 02:58 Two Decades of Change 07:00 Clients and Soil Awareness 11:41 Compaction and No Till 13:46 Soil Chemistry Testing 17:18 Carbon and Haney Test 19:38 Microbiology Test Options 24:06 Disturbance and Diversity 26:18 Raised Bed Soil Blends 29:33 Testing Compost Inputs 30:32 Remediation and Biochar 33:28 Charging Biochar Basics 34:39 Surface Area Hype Check 35:42 Micronized Biochar Cautionary Tale 36:20 Trials and Less Is More 37:02 Wood Chips for Remediation 38:44 Heavy Metals Remobilization Risk 42:05 Residential Soil Health Priorities 44:56 Mycorrhizae Endo vs Ecto 46:28 Compost Tea Reality Check 48:53 Compost Extract How To 54:36 Root Dips and Contractor Buy In 58:04 Weed Control Without Herbicides 01:02:05 Pelletized Wool Wild Card 01:04:00 Phytoremediation Rabbit Hole 01:04:45 Closing Thoughts Follow Nick: Website: https://www.humankindoregon.com/ Humankind Oregon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humankindoregon/ Follow Land Language: Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/ Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/ Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together. About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.