Land Song is a 501C3 educational nonprofit. Our values are rooted in kincentric ecology, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and the Commons. We offer experiences designed to grow a culture of reciprocity with land, water, our nonhuman kin, and our communities.
Our Story
Land Song began life as the Permaculture Collaborative in 2003. The Collaborative was a group of ~ 300 members mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The community was organized to build permaculture skills, develop permaculture teachers, and catalyze a permaculture movement in the Upper Midwest. The Collaborative hosted:
Work N Learn Weekends
Farm Hacks
Film Festivals
Workshops
Annual Gatherings
In 2009 the Permaculture Collaborative became a 501C3 nonprofit, the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate or PRI Cold Climate. The nonprofit was organized to grow permaculture in the Twin Cities area, develop a generation of skilled urban farmers trained in permaculture, and catalyze an urban farming movement. PRI Cold Climate operated the following programs:
Backyard Harvest
Urban Farmer Certification Program (9 months)
Apprenticeship Program
Advanced Permaculture Series in Whole Systems Design
Design Competitions
Perennial Product CSA
In 2022 PRI Cold Climate became Land Song. Land Song is organized to grow a regenerative culture rooted in kincentric ecology and repatterning our relationships to land, ourselves, and our communities. Land Song does this through:
Retreats and Learning Journeys
Perennial Corps Skill Camps and Land Projects
Our People
Paula Westmoreland
co-founder, board chair, retreat leader
Paula is a permaculture designer, agroecologist, teacher, and author who is passionate about healing land and water and connecting people back into deeper relationship with the living world. She does this through designing regenerative farms and homesteads, creating products to support people on their land and water journey, and hosting retreats and trainings.
Paula founded Ecological Design in 2000. She and her team have designed and implemented hundreds of regenerative agriculture projects on farms, homesteads, campuses, monasteries, and Tribal land. In 2003, she co-founded the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate, now known as Land Song to grow a community of people with skills in creating healthy and abundant lands. Paula also developed the on Natural Capital plant database, an online tool with plant ecological functions and human uses used by over 5000 members for designing plant polycultures and guilds and co-authored of a book of illustrated essays called, “This Perennial Land: Third Crops, Blue Earth and the Road to a Restorative Agriculture”.
Lindsay Rebhan
Land Song organizer, retreat leader
Lindsay Rebhan is passionate about the health of land, water and people. She is a steward of the natural world and food systems. She loves supporting others with their land, livelihood, learning and nourishment. A specialist in agroecology, land use, land design and land management, Lindsay works with gardeners, farmers, food nonprofits, entrepreneurs and Tribal Nations to increase the ecological, human, animal and economic health of the land. A graduate of Environmental Studies at the University of St. Thomas, Lindsay studied food systems and culture in Bangladesh, Cuba and Guatemala. She joined Ecological Design in 2005 and is co-owner. She is a former Program Director at Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate, and Program Coordinator at Renewing the Countryside. Lindsay co-teaches a Regenerative Farm Design Course at Mastodon Valley Farm. She serves on the Board of BioNutrient Food Association, on the Land Team for Commons Land Trust, the Advisory Council for Savanna Institute and is a speaker & leader on Land Regeneration and Ecological Design.
Ella Grote
Perennial Corps organizer
Guided by a deep love for the natural world, Ella is enthusiastic about supporting organizations that connect people to the land, advocate for regenerative systems, and foster community education. She graduated from the College of Saint Benedict with degrees in Psychology and Hispanic Studies, where she explored systems thinking, decolonial perspectives, storytelling, and language. Her work has spanned many facets of ecological and community engagement — from teaching outdoor education and managing a native seed production farm, to working as a professional gardener and coordinating programs at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Ella also holds certifications in wilderness first aid, prescribed burning, stormwater prevention, permaculture design, and herbal studies. She currently works with the Geography Department at the University of Minnesota, at Farm Sol, a regenerative farm near Duluth, and with Land Song’s Perennial Corps program.
Our board members are Paula Westmoreland, Julie Ristau, Koby Hagen, Monica McDaniel, and Jacque Redlin.
Our Funders and Partners
Land Song is a 501C3 funded through grants, individual donations, and earned income. We are a sister organization with Ecological Design. Commons Land is our current funding partner for Perennial Corps.
Julie Ristau
Land Song organizer, treasurer