This Outside Life

Whether it's Christmas, Valentines Day, Mother's Day or birthdays, sometimes we need a brilliant last minute gift idea.

The sea is full of free, nutritious food. And you don't have to go scuba diving to get it. I interview Tanya Stiller who leads foraging classes with forageSF based out of San Francisco. We learned about the types of seaweed, how to harvest it, local laws, and the health benefits. Be sure to visit the website to see photos of all the seaweed and demonstrations, plus pictures of books and links to buy them. www.ThisOutsideLife.com/seaweed.

If you want to get a personalized tour of the best places to go hiking, visit distilleries and visit a few Outlander (or Braveheart/Game of Thrones) locations, then Calum Macnee of Stills & Hills is your man!

For this podcast we travel to Inverness, Scotland to talk to a man in a kilt. (Who doesn’t love a kilt?!!) Calum Macnee owns and operates a walking and whiskey tour company in Scotland called, “Stills & Hills...

The police have been in the news lately and it’s brought up all sorts of things. What is their training? What kind of person becomes a police officer? And a myriad of other issues are coming under the microscope. And it’s obvious, that being in the line of duty is a high-pressure job where things can go south quickly...

Just how fresh is the produce in your local store? Why is it all the same shape and size? Is farmers market food really fresher and better? And what if you have a prolific apple tree and you'd like to sell them, or you want to start up a farmers market in your area? Erin Tormey, founder of the Coastside Farmers Market in Half Mooon Bay shares all the dirt.

Scott Cook is well known in Silicon Valley and financial circles, but not many people know how important his annual backpacking trip is. We talk with Scott about why he makes a point to carve out time in his busy schedule every year to take this trip with old friends from high school.

What does it take to garden a major, historic estate? We talk with Filoli's head gardener, Jim Salyards about where he sources his bulbs, what his favorite books are and what gardens he likes to visit.

I visit Wisconsin's Heartland Farm Animal Rescue. We meet famous pigs, emus, goats and more and learn how traumatized animals and kids can help each other heal.

We find out about all things lavender. How to grow it, how to distill it, what the differences are between essential oils and fragrance oils and what this outside life is all about.

We discover why alpaca is a more sustainable and oftentimes softer choice than the cashmere sweater. Why alpacas are easy grazing animals, and a smarter choice than cows, horses or goats. Where to buy alpaca garments and yarn. And why alpaca is superlative to knit with.