Sustainable Farming Brings Healthy Food To Your Table

·1 hr·4 clips

Lindsay says she had "$500 in my bank account" when she came back and never left.

1. Nature and Science Podcast centers on sustainable farming and healthy meat production in Cotacachi, Ecuador. 2. Don Murphy hosts Lindsay and Sean from L&S Artisan Meats, and they matter because they run the family farm being discussed. 3. The episode asks how a chicken farm, a permaculture class, and a cash shortage turned into a business built around pigs and rotational grazing. 4. Sean says he visited Ecuador in 2005, returned in late 2008, and came to Cotacachi looking for income and an opportunity to live there. 5. He says the first chicken-farm plan was sold as “turnkey,” but the operation was not turnkey once he started working on it. 6. Sean describes spending about a year on the chicken business, dealing with cash-based transactions, and learning Spanish quickly out of necessity. 7. A permaculture class in the San Miguel Conjuntos pushed him toward using animals to clean land and rotate crops behind them. 8. Lindsay says she came through Workaway, HelpX, and couch surfing after leaving Atlanta, Georgia, and settling her dad in North Dakota. 9. She says her first message from Sean offered “a space for you to sleep” if she did not mind sharing with two kittens. 10. Sean and Lindsay say one kitten later needed syringe feeding after being bitten, and that early period gave them long hours together. 11. Sean says the pig business started with five pigs from Intag and grew because people wanted breakfast sausage, bacon, and other meat he could make. 12. He describes learning butchering from scratch by bringing meat into their house and working from the kitchen counter. 13. Lindsay says she returned from another volunteer job with only $500 in her bank account and chose to come back to Cotacachi. 14. Sean says the lawyer in Santiago told them marriage would make the visa process easier, and they decided to handle the legal requirements. 15. Lindsay says her grandmother Betty insisted on a wedding, and the family later handled tamales and a cold-cut tray for it. 16. Sean says the farm now rotates pigs on open grass, uses electric fencing, and moves animals so manure returns to the soil. 17. They say the land changed from sandy soil to rich dark topsoil after years of rotation, and grass now grows back quickly. 18. The business now uses the Ecuador bus system to ship meat in coolers to places like Quito, Cuenca, Banos, Loja, and Manabi. 19. The tone is practical and conversational, with Sean and Lindsay alternating between farm detail, travel memories, and business logistics. 20. Listeners who like permaculture, small-business logistics, and Ecuador expat stories will get the most from it; people wanting a short sales pitch may skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded look at farming that starts with the soil and stays with the work.

This episode follows Lindsay and Sean as they talk through a family farm in Cotacachi, Ecuador, and keeps the focus on farming as routine work rather than a slogan.

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Why you'd press play

You want a humane-farming story with soil science and real-world tradeoffs.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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