Futuresteading - Diego Bonetto on the rules of foraging and plant consciousness

Diego Bonetto on the rules of foraging and plant consciousness

11/15/20 • 56 min

Diego Bonetto, aka. The Weedy One, grew up on a dairy farm in northern Italy where it was still common practice to collect the wild bounty of the land.

After moving to Australia in the 90s, Diego found that his practical foraging knowledge and weedy know-how was actually pretty rare. He lamented our modern approach to "weeds" -- a battle waged with poisons rather than a loving relationship that respects the valuable, nutrition and wisdom of the plants all around us.

So he became a weed advocate and educator, harking back to the dandelions, nettles, mulberries and edible mushrooms of his childhood and sharing their stories with those longing to return to their roots.

Diego's enthusiasm will inspire and move you, as it has done for the thousands of people who have attended his public and private workshops, events and weed walks. This conversation about belonging, sustainability, agency and food is just a glimpse of Diego's immense knowledge, and we encourage you to connect with him online or better still, in person!

SHOW NOTES

Collecting wild plants, fungi, grains and berries as a child to supply seasonal produce to his family larder.
Empowering people to recall childhood memories ; mulberries as lipstick, daisy chains to overcome fear and find confidence.
Foraging does more than just give us free food; it’s our chance to experience gratitude, connect to ecology, anchor us all to the now. It cuts away our entitlement to resources and encourages us to engage in the gifts of the natural world.
How to create steps to build foraging confidence, even in urban spaces.
Basic rules of foraging.
Foraging is not survival, it's establishing relationships of care-taking.
Ocean foraging.
The vast majority of foraging is handfuls for tasting rather than buckets of food.
Are plants a living, conscious, feeling things?
Why we should be up in arms about factory farming which is enslavement into a system of yield rather than being a wild species which fetches its own minerals and grows of its own accord.
We are part of a system where we eat and can be eaten.
Foraging foundation of being still, staying put and becoming part of a specific cycle so you can build knowledge.
Stepping from observer to stakeholder to caretaker.
Why “weeds” is an arbitrary term.
The importance of acknowledging the services that plants play.
Backyard medicine is the result of coevolution.
Calling on the knowledge of our wisdom holders to maintain self care.
Why mulberries and blackberries are wonderful foraging teacher species and part of our ecological symbiotic contract to eat the species.
Putting humans back in the cycle of life.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

Diego Bonetto on Instagram @theweedyone
Diego Bonetto online

Photo credit -- Aimee Crouch

Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/futuresteading)

Collecting wild plants, fungi, grains and berries as a child to supply seasonal produce to his family larder.
Empowering people to recall childhood memories ; mulberries as lipstick, daisy chains to overcome fear and find confidence.
Foraging does more than just give us free food; it’s our chance to experience gratitude, connect to ecology, anchor us all to the now. It cuts away our entitlement to resources and encourages us to engage in the gifts of the natural world.
How to create steps to build foraging confidence, even in urban spaces.
Basic rules of foraging.
Foraging is not survival, it's establishing relationships of care-taking.
Ocean foraging.
The vast majority of foraging is handfuls for tasting rather than buckets of food.
Are plants a living, conscious, feeling things?
Why we should be up in arms about factory farming which is enslavement into a system of yield rather than being a wild species which fetches its own minerals and grows of its own accord.
We are part of a system where we eat and can be eaten.
Foraging foundation of being still, staying put and becoming part of a specific cycle so you can build knowledge.
Stepping from observer to stakeholder to caretaker.
Why “weeds” is an arbitrary term.
The importance of acknowledging the services that plants play.
Backyard medicine is the result of coevolution.
Calling on the knowledge of our wisdom holders to maintain self care.
Why mulberries and blackberries are wonderful foraging teacher species and part of our ecological symbiotic contract to eat the species.
Putting humans back in the cycle of life.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

Diego Bonetto on Instagram @theweedyone
Diego Bonetto online

Photo credit -- Aimee Crouch

Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/futuresteading)

Previous Episode

E32 Rebecca Scott - role modelling social systems that work for the people in them

Rebecca Scott of STREAT is a socially-responsible and refreshingly quirky role model for our times. A self proclaimed 'hustler’ since childhood, Bec sees the value in everyone and everything. What's more, she knows how to bolt it all together to build an egalitarian vision that contributes to the social betterment of our world.
With 11 social enterprises under the STREAT banner, Bec's quest to provide a sense of belonging and hope to our youth -- catalysed by the simple question “whose problem is that really?” -- will inspire and challenge you in equal measure.
Language warning: one or two f-bombs dropped.

SHOW NOTES

STREAT has fed over 3 million people since opening in 2010
Why her school teachers aren't surprised that she's become a ‘social entrepreneur’
Harnessing collaborative energy, social capital, political capital
A working class kid with a talent for “hustling” - not bossy but capable
An intrinsic sense of egalitarianism - everyone in a community can add value
Using creativity to solve problems and affect change
The joy of co-founding a social enterprise with her 10 year old son
What is a social enterprise?
Using the margins to stimulate the creative process - in line with other random collaborators
Taking years to connect dots of systems thinking using creativity and visual prompts
Her aversion to creating projects on her own - co creation makes sparks fly and reality happen
For every one idea that happens, 100 don’t come to fruition. That’s ok.
The queen of side projects
Following the path of the energy flow
Moving on if a project comes up against inertia
Managing her phenomenal restlessness
Inhabiting 2050 in her mind
Why she looks like a “messy innovator”
Connecting all her projects without being linear
Spotting patterns through the noise
Valuing latent potential
Needing pace and slowness simultaneously
Being the equal master of the small and fast, the quiet and loud
Don’t give up your day job and still make a difference
Have you assessed your environmental footprint?
Why we must stop externalising slavery
Why corporate companies are just an extension of our individual buying habits
The power of arming yourself with knowledge and building a likeminded tribe
Seeking humans who inspire through gentle humility
Belonging and social inclusion is the secret sauce for homeless youth
Whose problem are the homeless?
The beauty of a new bud
Everything worthwhile starts with a simple conversation

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

Support the show

Next Episode

E34 Anthia Koullouros : Apothecarian, slow living maven

For all the fad diets, juice fasts and dogma out there, few health advocates keep it as real as Anthia Koullouros.
Anthia is one of Sydney's original nose-to-tail, soil-to-plate, no-BS Naturopaths who was questioning supplements and sipping bone broth before it was cool. She's an author, speaker, educator and Apothecarius (listen in to see what that brilliant term entails) who weaves science, spirituality, feminism and self care like an absolute master -- yet never takes herself too seriously.
This chat with Anthia was particularly timely, catching her right on the cusp of big business and life changes which she was gracious enough to share with us.
You'll leave this convo feeling like you've received a big, warm bear hug from a wise woman who just gets it.
SHOW NOTES

Her instinctive herbalism spurred by Cypriot ancestors
Her apothecary origins where women could be healers
Her attraction to the humble weed and the essence of healing wholly
Breaking into naturopathy when it was a ‘fringe alternative’
Why we should be applying our food seasonality sensibility to herbs and opting for the real deal rather than pharmaceuticals
Her concerns that holistic medicine is becoming more like western medicine in how it is used and expected to perform
The growth in holistic health since covid
The role ritual plays in recentering and reconnecting with yourself and community
Why she shuts the door at work between 4 and 4.30
Taking care of herself as the ‘bow and arrow’ foundation of self
Creating a symbiotic relationship with the natural world
The value of reconnecting with the nervous system before making decisions
The spontaneous desire to autocorrect
The difference between head and heart decisions
Tools to get out of ourselves so we can get into ourselves
Why the natural world has a place in everyone's healing path
Craving simplicity and reducing over-complication
Normalising ritual - especially for women
Having the discipline to NOT get on your screen to fill in the gaps
Actively doing things differently in business
Why she is here to be of service - to bring clarity, to unscramble the confusion, at human scale
Why success is in the sublimely simple; connecting, longevity, belonging, the beauty of truth
Avoiding groundhog day
Moving into new chapters without feeling overwhelmed
Cooking weed pie