I took a class in college taught by a history of science teacher called “Scientific Thoughts and Thinkers.” One of my business major friends from Detroit who was super skeptical on many topics took it at the same time. He added a bit of comedy to the class. The teacher was super serious and objective with an in depth knowledge of science. The whole idea of this class was to cover the often taboo subjects at the time like the origin of life, quantum physics, ufo’s, spirituality, psychic powers, as well as the leading individual scientific theories and their formation over time. This included the failures which you often do not hear about. I remember doing a report on ball lightening. It was fascinating. At some point, it was suggested that a medium be brought in to gain first hand experience in tapping into an altered state of consciousness. I don’t think it was his idea but the thought was we could objectively verify this in some way and have a conversation around this confusing topic. He found a medium but the department was not happy to pay the fee she required which if I remember was 60 dollars at the time. (mid 1970’s) It was standing room only when she came. Evidently we rented a popular medium. It was intense and nerve wracking. The class quickly dispersed after a few questions. In the following class the teacher apologized for allowing this to take place. It was kind of an embarrasment for him. It seemed like over acting combined with theatrics. At first the real crime was we did not learn anything from this other than don’t rent a medium for under $60 dollars. As time went on I think we all learned a great deal from this experience. Subjective experience may lead you astray in many ways, but it is a starting point to find answers.

This is all of agriculture. It starts with subjective experience that anyone can do. It doesn’t require much in terms of technology, special skills or even climate. Then you share your experience with others. One of my horticultural student friends moved to the Artic circle in far northern Alaska. He discovered that only radishes grew in this location. But it was a crop and it attracted quite a bit of attention from the community he was living in. It might of been the first crop ever at that location. Over the years I met people who talked to snails. I met people who used radio waves to harmonize the environment. I met people who worked in agricultural applications of using algae and microbiomes of the forest. I met people who worked in secret on crop plants before 10,000 BC only. I met people who found new species of plants never seen by anyone before or since. No one believed them. I believe them all. I have to. Why would that be any different than my N-P_K fertilizer training in my agricultural classes? It does not require belief to work. It could be an emerging technology that we are witnessing much like the early scientific thinkers tapping into the unknown world of the invisible forces at the time.

Once at a horticultural show in northern Michigan, I met a woman who described to me a form of dispersal of true seed of potatoes in her planting that she had been doing for many years. She would harvest her potatoes as normal, dig the soil to extract the tubers but then rake out the soil and leave the berries that were consistently produced by the vines over the years. The berries would then overwinter outside and break down allowing it to self seed. Each potato berry carries with it genes from the past which can often appear to ‘manifest’ from many generations long before its arrival in North America. The plants physiology adjusts to its new home and continues to adapt over time using both its former life and new life as a means for adjustment to its climate and ecological conditions surrounding it. At first, I did not understand her experience and was a bit confused because like everyone else I thought….well this lady probably left chunks of potato in the soil and that is probably what is sprouting and making her patch. But as I continued to listen, I finally connected the dots of her cultivation and experience. Finally she said, “You are the first person to believe me.” No one believed her only because that experience is not what people believe to be true. Gardening circles on social media suggest removing and throwing out the berries because God knows what problems that could cause!!! She did the opposite over a period of time to create a self seeding potato. That may not seem like much but it does hint at the deep connection of her and the land she cultivates as a form of biological enrichment. As a side note to scientific breeding, this is exactly how the russet potato started and was created by Luther Burbank.

I noticed that many researchers I meet in my farming life are hard core scientists. Many do have a deeply personal and spiritual connection to nature in some way. On the phone in private they would share with me some stories if we got off topic. Some were more open and others had a veneer of frozen titanium created from their training they recieved in school. And at some point, all of us who work in farming, horticulture and related sciences find these connections in often random ways. It is just normal because we work in this medium called ‘nature’ within a soup of natural laws. Sooner or later we are going to experience things we can’t explain. We just may not talk about it. My thought is how can this made less random and a common experience to all on a daily basis? It does not have to be a type of over sharing and theatrics. It would be a genuine intuitive experience that would lead us to deeper connections and discoveries of nature far greater than the previous five thousand years. We can be the new scientific thinkers where no subject is taboo.

Enjoy. Kenneth Asmus

David Adams Pear copyright

At the basis of all farmerless fields is natural law. At the basis of all life is natural law. At the basis of all human beings is natural law.