News Articles

Dear Friends of Nature’s Neighbor,

We’re thrilled to invite you to join us in growing something truly special — Nature’s Neighbor, where community, connection, and sustainability come together on the airwaves and in our everyday lives.

Hosted by Melanie Blankenship, founder of Nature’s Touch Nursery & Harvest, Nature’s Farm, and partnered with Creston Valley Meats, Nature’s Neighbor is rooted in decades of hands-on experience in regenerative farming, native plant cultivation, and sustainable living. Many of you may also remember Melanie as the voice behind Earth Talk Radio, where she shared stories that inspired thousands to reconnect with the land.

Alongside co-host Josh Carmichael, Melanie brings her lifelong passion for education, community, and the natural world to every conversation — connecting you to local farmers, artisans, and experts who are helping shape a more resilient Central Coast.

Support & Get Involved!
We invite you to become part of the Nature’s Neighbor family:

• Be a guest on the show and share your own experiences, projects, or community efforts.
• Lend your financial support to help us continue producing meaningful content that uplifts local voices and promotes sustainable living.

Melanie and her team are also cultivating The Vintage Club — a gathering place for community members to exchange seeds, recipes, tools, and stories from local gardens and farms. It’s all about celebrating the beauty of what we grow together.

If you’d like to support Nature’s Neighbor, participate in the show, or join The Vintage Club, please visit www.NaturesNeighbor.net or reach out directly to info@naturesneighbor.net.

Let’s nurture the roots of our community — together.

With gratitude and green hearts,
The Nature’s Neighbor Team
Rooted in community. Growing from our roots

Hi I hope this all finds you well and thank you in advance for your input! I am new to gardening and I want to take the permaculture approach. I am in Zone 6b and 7a and I am going to plant Black Eyed Susan’s, Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Milkweed, Autumnale Helenium and Red Cardinals bc they’re all native and I’m gunna try to establish them through the winter so they bloom even better come spring. But I have a lawn of grass that grows pretty well and I was wondering what’s the healthiest and least harmful way to replace this grass? I was thinking of dumping wood chips to suffocate and then I can sow my seeds but I am not too sure. Is this the best route? If so, should I plant my native seeds in the grass first or after the wood chips have suffocated them? Please give me your guys expertise I want to do this the permaculture way but I’m unsure.

Also if any of these plants aren’t supposed to be planted in late fall let me know because my plan is to plant them before first snows and allow them to establish through the winter but if I shouldn’t do that please let me know. Thanks again!

So for my speech and debate team I decided to do a speech about the problems in the agricultural system, and the answer to these problems will be permaculture(obviously) and I I need some reasons for why permaculture is bad so I can rid any concerns that might exist. Also, I’ve heard arguments like it can’t be automated, won’t produce enough food, and it uses invasive species, so new stuff would be appreciated.

Curious how widespread the use of mushrooms are as decomposers/protein harvest in people’s permaculture systems? Photo is of wine caps (Stropharia rugosoannulata) growing in my garden path. I’m continually shocked at how few people choose to use mushrooms in their gardens and permaculture landscapes

https://preview.redd.it/87rsu7y8hpzf1.jpg?width=6960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dea7a886a68ef89c662d65adcba85781a86b686

The most productive areas of my homestead are “messy”. When we have farm tours some marvel at the beds of collards and other leafy greens dispersed throughout- but then question the “messy” parts- even though in comparison- the “messy” areas are far more productive. I have found a lot of people often want rows and structure but that’s not nature- for example: here is a guild of cassava, sugarcane, mango, papaya, longevity spinach, Japanese sunflower and katuk all in a 4’x6’ space thriving- Ducks and chickens meandering on the ground – there is no insect damage- no powdery mildew, no disease… yet we have nutritious leafy greens, fruit, starch and meat all growing with zero effort on our part- we only harvest and eat…. Your thoughts ?