My guest for this episode is Damien McAnany, a permaculture practitioner and arborist from Sonoma County, California. During our conversation we discuss his background and biography, as always, and then proceed into trees and tree trimming. Along the way we discuss different tree care techniques, such as natural target pruning, as well as tools for your toolbox, before wrapping up by talking about a group he started, the Sonoma County Permaculture Professionals and the business of practicing permaculture as a professional. One of my big takeaways from this is about being a professional.
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We covered some of those core thoughts in this conversation, which were reflections of the interview with Dave Jacke. Three of the important pieces of functioning as a professional were: not knowing what we don't know, forming a professional group, and working with collaborators. That piece about not knowing what we don't know sticks out because of the hurdles I'm encountering as the podcast, and my role in the permaculture community, continues to grow. There are licensing requirement, taxes to be accounted for, insurances to carry, and a host of other pieces of the puzzle that aren't immediately clear when starting this kind of work. Only as I bump up against them do they become clear and require a reactive response rather than a proactive one. Depending on what kind of work you do you've probably encountered those days where something comes up you have to deal with that completely takes the wind out of your progress. That's what this is like. I'm not stumbling into my issues so much as hitting them head on. That's where I find developing your own professional group is important. Even if you form this with fellow students from a PDC, it's likely you'll each reach your different milestones and obstacles at different times and can share those discoveries with your group. You can also share notes on who your accountant, banker, lawyer, or insurance agents are. That's where we need to collaborate with others. We only have so many minutes in each hours, hours in a day, days in a week, and so on. Unless you've found a way to suspend time, or go without any sleep, then there is only so much you can fit into your schedule. Working with others can free you to focus on what it is you do best, and bring in those who can handle the other pieces for you, while also sharing what they know.
If you enjoy this episode, you should also check out:
Edible Forest Gardens and Permaculture with Dave Jacke
Josh Trought and D Acres
Professional Permaculture with Erik Ohlsen
The Permaculture Credit Union with Bill Sommers
Community Development Finance with Bill Sommers
Resource:
Damien McAnany
Abundant Earth Landscaping and Tree Care (Damien's Company)
ISA Certification information Natural Target Pruning (PDF)
Silky Saws (Damien's Prefered Saws)
Bear Saw (Scott's Current Saws)
Air-Spade