1. Spring has Sprung

·47 min·4 clips

Discover how epazote, a Mexican herb, can eliminate flatulence when added to beans.

Host Leah Levise guides listeners through the Festival Beach Food Forest, a public edible garden in Austin, Texas, with permaculture expert Robert Liel. This episode is a recorded tour of the spring garden, detailing the plants and principles of a food forest ecosystem. Robert Liel explains the polyculture system uses layered planting, from canopy trees to ground covers, to create supportive microclimates and abundance for both people and wildlife. He identifies specific plants like epazote, used in Mexican cuisine to reduce gas from beans, and perennial artichokes that produce purple flowers for bees. The tour covers a berm planted with sunflowers, tomatoes, wild lettuce, and fruit trees like pomegranate, plum, and peach, which stabilize the soil. Robert describes the "chop and drop" method using fast-growing leguminous trees like mesquite and locust to naturally fertilize the soil with nitrogen. Plants like mullein, referred to as "cowboy toilet paper," are highlighted for respiratory health and as a tobacco alternative. The guide points out a vitex tree, whose peppercorns are used for hormonal balance, and mugwort, used for sleep, lucid dreaming, and as an energetic cleanser. He explains comfrey's deep taproot mines nutrients, making it a potent fertilizer and wound healer, while yarrow is used first on infections before comfrey. The tour notes edible leaves from grape, fig, mulberry, and peach trees, with peach leaf tea recommended for cooling the body in summer. Robert details using plants like chives and onions for pest control to protect leafy greens from aphids and white flies. He describes the design strategy of planting dense, evergreen buffers to protect against harsh north winds in Austin's climate. The guide also shares traditional uses, like fig tree sap as a natural thickener for making mozzarella and nopal cactus pads added to planting holes for moisture retention. The tone is educational and conversational, mimicking a relaxed, informative group walk through a garden. The style is immersive and sensory, encouraging listeners to imagine touching soil and smelling plants like rosemary and lavender. This episode is perfect for gardeners, permaculture enthusiasts, or anyone interested in urban agriculture, foraging, and practical plant uses. Listeners seeking a highly produced, fast-paced narrative or debate on agricultural policy might find the leisurely, plant-by-plant tour too slow.

As heard by us

A calm field guide to a food forest that treats gardening as ecology.

Food Forest Walk tours Festival Beach Food Forest in Austin and treats permaculture as a living system rather than a slogan. It moves through polyculture, layers, and the way plants support one another, with Robert Liel presenting the garden as a place meant to feed people,…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a plant-by-plant walk through a real food forest on public land.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Food Forest Walk