I was contacted by a landscaping magazine to do a Q&A article featuring ecological landscapers, but I never heard back from them, so I figured I would share the Q&A here on the blog.
Other than the U.S., which country’s landscape inspires you the most?
Ecuador! The mountains and rainforest there are stunning, and I love how almost every home has fruit trees and other edible and medicinal plants. Life feels so much more integrated with nature there and the people live so much closer and in connection with the land.
Spending time with the indigenous people from the Waorani tribe deep in the rainforest there was life-changing. I was so inspired by their intimate knowledge and relationship with nature. Their ability to call monkeys, birds, caimans, and other animals blew my mind and inspired me to learn more about nature and to connect with other animals and plants more deeply.
What did you learn there that you’d want to bring back to your own life or work?
A lot of it comes down to how people relate to their land and their food. Seeing households integrate edible and medicinal plants into everyday life made me think differently about food systems and self-sufficiency. It’s a model of abundance that doesn’t depend on a long supply chain.
In Ecuador, I learned that you can design the environment where you live to be more in harmony in nature, create abundant food and medicine, and cultivate a space for thousands of other species to thrive even if you only have a tiny bit of land or just a few containers with soil to work with.
You’re on vacation — lounge on the beach or explore a new city?
I love to explore places that locals go and tourists don’t often get to see. That’s where you actually learn how a place works.
How do you find those local spots?
Mostly by paying attention and asking questions. Talking to people, following their recommendations, and being willing to go a little off the beaten path. The best discoveries I’ve had came from someone who lives there telling you what they recommend.
Best piece of advice?
Listen to understand. The more you understand about the people around you, the more fulfilled and successful you will feel. It’s simple, but it’s not easy, especially when you disagree with someone. Listening to understand rather than to reply changes the whole conversation.
Karaoke song?
“Stayin’ Alive!”
Dream project?
Building a 100% natural building using cob, lime plaster, tadelakt, and a greywater harvesting system that automatically irrigates our garden. It combines the things I care about most: natural materials, systems thinking, and growing your own food. Water, shelter, and food all designed to work together.
What drew you to natural building specifically?
The materials and the philosophy go hand in hand. Cob, lime plaster, and tadelakt are all about working with what’s available and building in a way that’s healthy and durable. And the greywater system ties the whole thing together—the house isn’t separate from the garden; it feeds it.
What’s the hardest part of that system to get right?
Anything can seem hard at first if you don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t have others to help guide you. Luckily with so many books and the internet and brilliant people from all over the world, it’s a lot easier to learn and builds things than it would otherwise be.
Maybe greywater irrigation is the trickiest piece because you have to think carefully about filtration, what goes into the water, and how it reaches the plants without causing problems. It’s a design challenge as much as a plumbing one.
One thing most people don’t know about you?
I’m happiest when I’m learning and doing something hands-on, whether that’s building swales and irrigation ditches or carving wooden spoons with the kids at White Pine Wilderness Academy.
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