200: Josh Trought on Community-Scale Permaculture Farming.
Appreciating the wonders of a community farm with a resilient lifestyle.
Born to two service-oriented medical professionals, he spent most of his upbringing in the fields and forests of North Carolina which at the time was transitioning from a rural agricultural economy into a service based economy. The sprawl and destruction of the traditional culture lost in the transition process left him with an undeniable distrust of growth and consumerism.
So, he graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Environmental Conservation, and after college he spent the summer as an intern for the Solar Energy International’s renewable energy and construction school. He’s spent time abroad in Spain during college, and traveled through South America. And in 1997, he moved full time to what is now known as D Acres where he has specialized in forestry, construction, and farming.
Currently he is a member of the Artistic Roots Co-op in Plymouth and serves as Treasurer of the Pemi-Baker Solid Waste District. He also participates in local government as the Dorchester Town Moderator overseeing elections and facilitating the annual Town Meeting. The fate of humanity preoccupies his thoughts.
In This Podcast:
Greg talks with Josh, a member of a permaculture farm community near Plymouth, NH and learns about living a resilient lifestyle from someone who is living a truly community-oriented and sustainable farming lifestyle.
Listen in and learn about:
- Growing up in North Carolina as a child of two doctors
- Crabbing as a young kid and noticing that the crabs ran out
- Why he carries the fate of humanity in his daily thoughts
- Why he feels we have such a responsibility to take care of the planet for the benefit of our society
- How roots are important with knowledge and connection to the land
- Planning farms out 500 years
- Analyzing the current system of land-ownership
- Providing for future generations in multiple aspects
- His book and what he was focusing on
- The project which brings several farmers together to make a community-scale permaculture farm
- How the farm interacts with the town of Plymouth near-by
- The story of how the DAcres farm has transitioned over time into the co-op community
- What the benefits are of having pigs on the property
As well as:
- His failure – trying to make a shift away from a preconceived patriarchal structure and feeling the weight of the responsibility
- His success – being able to get up every day and starting over
- His drive – being able to recognize the luxury of nature in his life
- His advice – Just try, don’t be afraid to do
Books written by Josh:
Josh’s Book recommendations:
The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing’s Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living
A Language Older Than Words
How to reach Josh:
Website: www.dacres.org
UrbanFarm.org/DAcres
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Hi there, great to see this shared. D Acres and Josh are a great resource, but the Plymouth you refer to is in NH! He lives/works in Dorchester,NH which is near Plymouth NH, not MA 🙂
Thanks for the correction! We will fix the pages now.