Forest Educator with Ricardo Sierra | A Podcast for Revolutionary Conversations about Nature-Based Education · Ricardo Sierra

Deep Earth Initiations and Nature-Based Parenthood with Trista Haggerty

·59 min·3 clips

Storm Agnes hit the Barra Peninsula exactly as Trista brought her group into the 'call of the Kaliak.'

Ricardo Sierra sits down with Trista Haggerty, his wife of 27 years, maybe a little more. He introduces her as someone who has carried nature through her life for as long as he has known her. She grew up in Cooperstown. Out there, country life meant firewood, hunting, berry picking, a big garden, and a family rhythm that stayed close to the land without making a speech about it. Boston changed the frame. She remembers brick buildings, paved sidewalks, and a city that felt small and very quaint compared with the country life she knew before. The contrast matters because it shows how place can shape a person, even before they know how to name it. The conversation keeps returning to that kind of knowing. It moves through school, early work with children, and the way nature workshops were already part of the path when Ricardo first met her and they were starting a school. There is also a lot of family history here. They talk about being together for a very long time, and about how long partnership makes certain stories feel lived-in before they are ever told out loud. A stretch of the exchange turns toward people who lead others into unfamiliar and sometimes sacred places. Caves, temples, late-night travel, mud-season roads, and the uneasy act of trusting someone else's map all gather into that memory. The mountain road into Vermont is vivid. So is the doorway, with flower pots, a stack of wood, plants hanging from the ceiling, and statues from all over the world. That scene carries the feeling of stepping into a world that is both welcoming and disorienting. The talk does not pretend that growth is always comfortable. It keeps circling trust, ego, uncertainty, and the way ADHD can make discernment feel even more jagged. By the end, the episode feels like a long, honest walk through memory, partnership, and the kind of learning that leaves dirt on your hands.

As heard by us

A slow, intimate conversation about how land, learning, and family shape one another.

Ricardo Sierra and Trista Haggerty present nature as something lived, not merely discussed: country childhood, firewood, hunting, berry picking, gardens, and the shock of college in Boston all keep that idea anchored in detail.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a grounded story about nature, family life, trust, and learning over decades.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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