Dawn Again with Doniga Markegard

Today we talk with author, rancher, and wildlife tracker Doniga Markegard ...about her new book, Dawn Again - Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild. Listen to Doniga's talk about her journey from her early days in wilderness immersion school to tracking wolves to running a ranch.

 

Attention! The Dawn Again Book Launch Party is Coming Up!

On the show, Doniga mentions her book launch party, coming up on October 29th.

Hurry and get your tickets, here: dawnagainbooklaunch.bpt.me

Come celebrate the launch of Dawn Again with Doniga and us, get your book signed, and have an amazing lunch and party at the Markegard Ranch!

 

Dawn Again with Doniga Markegard

We are excited to have a very special guest today. We met her last year in November, when we visited the Markegard ranch in Northern California. We were really struck by the beauty and harmony of the environment there. Rolling green hills met ocean and sky and it felt like we were taken thousands of years back to a time when people and nature lived in harmony.

We got to experience the deep nourishing quality of the local food and learn a little about how humans and land can have a hopeful future together. We wanted to know more and knew our listeners would love that, too. When we heard today’s guest, Doniga Markegard had written a book, we reached out to get her on the show.

We’ve just finished reading her book, Dawn Again – Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild, and we love it, and can’t wait for you to hear all about it.

Topics Discussed

1. Please tell us a bit about your day. What does it look like living on a ranch? Is that much different than the life of say, your great- grandparents who had their homestead? What do you do in a day and how do you balance all the care for the ranch, the customers, motherhood, homeschool? What's a day in the life of Doniga?

2. Can you explain to our listeners what permaculture  is and how the way we have tried to “cheat” nature is really leading to destruction of our land? How did we go so far off what is natural into what is now agriculture?

3. What is "grass farming ,"and how does movement of animals support the ecosystem? What is the place of humans and raising animals in the natural cycle? Is it possible that we can take and put back in?

4. We hear some arguments by different groups and lobbies that we don’t have enough land to feed everyone in a sustainable way? How do you feel about that?

5. Can you talk a bit about the difference between grassfed meat and commercial meat? What is the difference for the animal, for the planet and how does it affect us personally, healthwise?

6. Since eating food that is organic, farmed and sustainably raised can become very costly, what is some advice you have for people on a budget who still might want access to better food?

7. Say our listeners really want to develop a relationship with a farmer. What kind of questions can they ask the farmer to find out how they raise their animals?

8. How do we teach city kids about farming and animals and the connection between farming and nature? I grew up so close to all of this, yet my city raised step kids have no concept of land and animals. Where do we start? How has it been for your kids to grow up on a ranch?

9. Let’s tell our listeners about your book. I was so excited to read it and to be able to share it with others! Tell us what the book! And of course, when and where can they buy it?

10. With fall coming up, what is on your calendar and do you have any events or news you want us to tell people about? Book signings? Appearances?

11. Where can people find the ranch and more about you?

 

About Doniga Markegard

Doniga Markegard has a background in wildlife tracking, holistic management and permaculture. Along with her husband Erik and four children, Doniga lives on a coastal ranch in San Gregorio, CA.

Doniga is passionate about finding ways to regenerate lands and community through practices that build soil, sequester carbon, capture and purify water and enhance habitat.

Doniga has an immense passion for the natural world and helping others live a life of balance with the earth and all living things, leading a life of example where her own actions are deliberated into the health of the future generations.

Dawn Again Book Links and Resources

Dawn Again is currently available for pre-sale with a special, free bonus offer at donigamarkegard.com

Get "Tracking for Beginners" free when you pre-order directly through the publisher through September!

Pre-order your copy  of Dawn Again through the publisher's site and get access to Tracking for Beginners, a special stand-alone 30-minute audio in which Doniga offers advice and tips to help you become more attuned to the nature around you, and the secrets and stories it holds.

Dawn Again - Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild

Earth care comes alive in this deeply moving personal story. With prose good enough to be called poetry, Doniga captures and explains the heart and soul of creation stewardship, bringing us on a profound journey of awakening and awareness.

– Joel Salatin

With chapters on food, permaculture, and more, Dawn Again dives into Doniga’s real-life experiences while equipping readers with practical knowledge.

When Doniga tracks mountain lions with Erik, a rancher, she finds herself falling in love with more than just nature. She settles down on a cattle ranch on the California coast to start a family, and has to learn how to apply the deep, unshakeable lessons of the wild to her everyday life.

Dawn Again takes readers along on Doniga’s journey: the wilderness immersion school where Indigenous elders and wildlife trackers were among her teachers, hitchhiking across the pacific northwest, the moment she first connected with a deer using owl eyes and fox walking techniques, and to Alaska where she fell in love with tracking white wolves and the rigor of wilderness survival.

Through the Pacific Northwest forests and along the rugged coastal shores of California, Dawn Again: Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild is a memoir of exploration and survival.

To learn more about Doniga and her wonderful book, visit donigamarkegard.com

Love the show? - Subscribe and Review the EatMoveLive52 Podcast

Reviews help spread the word, big time! It only takes a minute to leave a quick one.

And subscribing brings each show to you and your phone automatically!

Subscribe or review on Apple/iTunes

Subscribe or review on Podbean

Subscribe or review on Stitcher

Subscribe or review on Google Play

Use the rss feed in your favorite podcast app

Our podcast theme music is "Protofunk" by Kevin MacLeod  of incompetech.com. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

Talk soon,

Roland & Galina