From Barren Dirt Lot to 40-Tree Food Forest One Family's Living Model
Not Your Average Garden Club PodcastShow Notes
Big change rarely starts with a plan. More often, it starts with one tree pulled out of the ground, and the willingness to see what grows in its place.
In this episode, Evan Marks, founder of The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, walks through how a forgotten dirt lot and an old farmhouse became a 28-acre regenerative hub that now welcomes 150,000 visitors a year. He shares how he read the land before he ever planted it, why he pulled out hundreds of fruit trees that weren't thriving, and what it took to keep building something that's still evolving, season after season.
This is a conversation about working with nature instead of against it, at whatever scale you have. Evan grows 40 fruit trees on a lot that's just 5,000 square feet. So if you've ever wondered what your backyard, your community, or your own life could become, this episode is a good place to start listening.
Key Timestamps: [00:00:00] Introduction [01:04:00] Meeting at Punta Mona [03:14:00] The Ecology Center Today [05:15:00] The Grateful Dead and Farming. [08:00:00] From Farmhouse to Regenerative Hub [12:30:00] Designing with Nature [18:45:00] Growing 40 Fruit Trees [24:10:00] Starting Over After 200 Apple Trees [28:30:00] Building Regenerative Communities [35:20:00] Grow, Eat, Make, Peace [42:15:00] When Plans Need to Change [48:00:00] Change Your Own World [52:30:00] Steven's Costa Rica Food Forest
Memorable Quotes: "We're modeling creative solutions for thriving on planet earth. It's all of the elements of a healthy settlement, a healthy community, a healthy culture." [00:09:18] – Evan Marks "We can't change the world. We can change our world. How big is your world? It starts with you and what you show up with every day." [00:52:18] – Evan Marks
If you're ready to take the next step, join the free Garden Club Summit to learn from world-leading experts in gardening, herbalism, growing food, and regeneration. Claim your free pass at: https://www.ecoversity.org/garden-club-summit?utm_source=spotify_for_creators&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=nyagc_podcast&utm_content=ep006_fruit
Connect with Evan Marks: Website: https://theecologycenter.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theecologycenter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theecologycenter
Connect with us: Website: https://www.ecoversity.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecoversity Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EcoversityOrg/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ecoversityorg
Produced by Evolved Podcasting: www.evolvedpodcasting.com
More from Not Your Average Garden Club Podcast
What if the best thing you could do for your garden is stop trying so hard? Charles Dowding has spent over four decades proving soil doesn't want to be dug; it wants to be left alone. Raised on a dairy farm in Somerset, he started questioning conventional gardening in 1982 and never dug his beds again. Since then, he's written 16 books and built Homeacres into the global home base for the no-dig method.
You nailed the growing part. The counter's covered in more tomatoes, peppers, and blueberries than you know what to do with, and the clock is ticking.
When Dr. Lyla June Johnston, an Indigenous musician, author, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (tsay-TSAY-heh-STAH-hess) (Cheyenne), and European lineages, tells people she keeps sheep, they ask what the sheep do for her. Her answer stops the conversation cold: they're her relatives. They're her people.
Cancer isn't just a disease to fight. What if it's the body trying to tell us something? After 17 years studying tumors in the lab, Zach Bush began seeing the same patterns in human health unfolding across ecosystems around the world. In this episode, Zach, a physician specializing in internal medicine, endocrinology, and hospice care, shares how his work on the microbiome, human health, and regenerative food systems has reshaped the way he sees healing.
Zach Galifianakis doesn't live in Hollywood. He works there, and he believes there's an important difference.