Post pandemic zero input gardening and a vision of a biointegrated human future, with Shane Simonsen

Published: March 3, 2023, 8:48 a.m.

b"I\\u2019ve got a treat for you all today. After almost 3 years, I\\u2019ve got Shane Simonsen back on the show. For those of you who are not familiar with Shane, I\\u2019ll give a quick intro and then point you to the links to the two previous shows I recorded with him because they\\u2019re really worth while.\\xa0\\n\\n\\n\\nShane is a biologist who has a fascinating project on 40 acres in Queensland, AU centered around the concept of zero input farming, which also happens to be the name of the popular blog he\\u2019s written about it, which is one of the most original approaches to large scale food production that I\\u2019ve come across in a long time and asks the simple question of \\u201chow might we still be able to produce enough food for ourselves and our communities if we no longer had access to all of the inputs and fossil fuels of our modern times.\\u201d\\n\\n\\n\\nDespite sounding like a post apocalyptic exercise in primitive living, Shane\\u2019s writing is surprisingly optimistic and pragmatic. In a small excerpt from his very first post from September 2019 he writes: In the resource constrained future ahead of us these input dependent approaches to growing food will become impractical or impossible. Instead new systems that rely on locally adapted crops and livestock, integrated into systems that are truly compatible with the local geology and climate will be required. I have taken on the challenge of developing these systems in our particular region in the remaining two decades of vigor I have left in me. This blog is an account of this journey. Hopefully I can inspire some of you to follow in my direction and develop your own locally adapted systems.\\n\\n\\n\\n, but that\\u2019s just an excerpt from the original interview I did with Shane from before the Pandemic. Today I\\u2019m speaking with him about how his zero input strategy helped during the Australian response to the pandemic. We go over what he learned and observed from the resilience and weak points of his farm, as well as how it has caused adaptations for the next steps ahead.\\xa0\\n\\n\\n\\nOn top of all the farm and ecology talk, we dig into the new series of a unique brand of science fiction novels that he\\u2019s just about to publish. Though it\\u2019s much better to hear him explain it, I can say that I\\u2019ve never yet found literature on a possible future for a reintegrated future human society whose world is built around biological technology in contrast to the industrial and mechanical technology that dominates our modern world as well as every other sci fi premise I\\u2019ve so far come in contact with. That alone has my imagination and curiosity piqued and I hope it's something we can explore a lot more in future sessions.\\n\\n\\n\\nJoin the discord discussion channel to answer the weekly questions and learn new skills with the whole community\\n\\n\\n\\nLinks:\\n\\n\\n\\nhttps://haldanebdoyle.com/\\n\\n\\n\\nhttps://zeroinputagriculture.substack.com/\\n\\n\\n\\nhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf4r7XRgHoe4Ac0v2YVeQkg"