Homesteading on the Moon with Kevin Espiritu

Transcript

Kevin Espiritu (0:00)

Hi, diva. It's Rachel and Jordan. Yeah, hi. Quick question. Why are you not spending your Venmo balance? Yeah, we're concerned you can, like, buy stuff with it.

Chuck (0:07)

Ugh.

Kevin Espiritu (0:07)

You love buying stuff and earn cash back on eligible purchases. Mm. You love purchasing eligible things.

Ad (0:14)

So the money your friend sent you

Kevin Espiritu (0:15)

yesterday, that's today's ramen or rideshare or eye patches. The skincare kind, not the pyro kind. Spend with Venmo and you can earn cash back with Venmo Stash. Venmo Stash bundle terms and Exclusions apply. Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at Venmo Me Terms, Idaho. Verification required to use a Venmo balance.

Strayer University Announcer (0:31)

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Neil deGrasse Tyson (1:00)

You mean I can grow my own food and not have to go to the store?

Gary O'Reilly (1:03)

Yeah.

Chuck (1:03)

Make the best of your backyard.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1:05)

Can I do it in the moon?

Gary O'Reilly (1:06)

I don't believe fresh direct goes there.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1:09)

Coming up, all the things you can do to grow food in your backyard on StarTalk Special Edition. Welcome to StarTalk, your place in the universe where science and pop culture collide. StarTalk begins with right now. This is StarTalk Special Edition, which of course means I got Gary O'Reilly.

Chuck (1:36)

Hi, Neil.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1:36)

Chucky, baby. Hey, man, how you doing?

Gary O'Reilly (1:38)

I'm doing great, Lord Chuck.

StarTalk Radio: "Homesteading on the Moon with Kevin Espiritu"

Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Guest: Kevin Espiritu (Epic Gardening / Epic Homesteading)
Date: May 1, 2026

Episode Overview

This Special Edition of StarTalk delves into the future of sustainable food production—on Earth and beyond. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, comic co-hosts Gary O'Reilly and Chuck, and gardening expert Kevin Espiritu explore home gardening, novel growing techniques, and the challenges (and creativity) required to grow food in extreme environments like the Moon. The episode blends science, pop culture, and comedy to demystify modern homesteading, urban agriculture, and space farming.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rise of Home Gardening & Homesteading

Home food production is undergoing a revival, driven by interest in sustainability, food security, and DIY culture (04:15).
Kevin’s journey: from a tiny north-facing balcony to a third-of-an-acre urban lot in San Diego, now hosting 30 fruit trees, annual crops, chickens, rainwater capture, solar energy, and graywater systems (05:18–07:01).
- “We’re not necessarily growing it like an urban farm might, but there’s enough space to grow hundreds and hundreds of pounds of produce per year.” (Kevin, 05:55)

2. Water, Energy, and Resource Management at Home

Rainwater harvesting: Even a small roof (1,000 sq ft) can collect substantial water (1 inch of rain = ~600 gallons) (08:29).
Graywater use: Repurposing shower/laundry water for irrigation with the right systems and detergents (07:27).
Solar investment: Effective for energy savings but rainwater systems are a sustainability play, not a short-term financial win (10:11).
- “...Putting in a 2,000 gallon cistern, you will not pay that off for a very long time. So it’s more about security or sustainability...” (Kevin, 10:23)

3. Hydroponics, Aeroponics, and Vertical Farming

Hydroponics: Water instead of soil; roots need oxygenation; can speed plant growth, but flavor doesn’t always match traditional soil-grown (15:10–18:51).
Aeroponics: Nutrient-rich mist feeds plant roots suspended in air; even more efficient resource use but less common for home growers (19:05–20:24).
- “You’re not growing it, of course, it’s growing itself. You just have to cultivate that right environment.” (Kevin, 25:28)
Vertical farming: Maximizes yield per square foot by adding the vertical (Z) dimension; essential for urban/indoor agriculture but creates lighting challenges (22:35–23:43).

4. Optimizing Light for Plants

Sunlight is broad-spectrum; early grow lights ("blurple") oversimplified plant needs.
Newer LED grow lights approximate more of the sun’s full spectrum, including far-red and some infrared, which plants do use (29:18–31:21).
- “...Plants are green because they reflect green. And it’s not entirely true... about 80% of green light is absorbed.” (Kevin, 31:21)
Plants evolved adaptations to specific light environments—shade-loving vs. sun-loving species have distinct tolerances (26:09–28:03).

5. Space Farming & Growing on the Moon

Lunar soil ("regolith") lacks organics and microbes: “Dirt is soil; soil is dirt plus the life that you talked about, microbes, fungi, bacteria.” (Kevin, 36:24)
Viable lunar/Martian agriculture will require hydroponics/aeroponics in controlled, pressurized habitats with supplemental lighting (36:55–37:32).
Aquaponics: Integrating fish as living fertilizer closes the nutrient loop—viable in closed systems on the Moon (38:59).
- “Fish become the fertilizer...you can eat the plants and the fish.” (Kevin, 39:34)

6. Nutrition and Self-Sufficiency: Kevin’s 30-Day Challenge

Kevin’s experiment: A month living only on what he could grow/fish/forage, with just a 15 x 30 foot plot plus a terrace (42:32–46:57).
- Emphasis: Potatoes and beans for calories, grunion fish for fat/protein.
- Result: Lost 13 lbs (mostly muscle)—“Being fully self-sufficient on your own property is sort of a fool’s errand...It’s much better to have a community.” (Kevin, 46:57)

7. The Sustainability Trade-Off: Big Ag vs. Regenerative Practices

Industrial agriculture ("Big Ag") feeds billions but depletes topsoil and creates ecological side effects (50:22–51:01).
Topsoil is vital: “Everything happens for the plant in the top three or four inches,” because that’s the biologically active layer processing organic matter (51:05–52:15).
Downstream effects: monoculture farming and synthetic input use necessitate managed pollinator industries and create chemical runoff, driving ever more technological interventions (53:45–56:38).
- “If you try to solve every problem... you end up basically just recreating what nature already was doing.” (Kevin, 56:23)

8. Regenerative & Urban Agriculture: Returning to Nature with Innovation

Cover crops, crop rotation, animal integration (e.g. chickens for fertilizer) are seeing a resurgence among small/urban farmers (60:41–61:44).
These practices mimic natural ecosystems for resilience and sustainability.

9. Can Everyone Growing Food Make a Difference?

During WWII, US Victory Gardens generated 15–20% of national produce—but that took a World War to motivate (64:02).
Collective home growing wouldn’t overhaul Big Ag immediately, but could cause a cultural “sea change” toward sustainability (64:42).
- “What you’d see the biggest impact is… the entire culture’s attitude toward sustainability and food systems would change for the better in a meaningful way.” (Kevin, 64:42)

10. Frontiers: Science, Flavor, and Synthetic Food

Kevin’s most-wished-for scientific breakthrough: Understanding the deep drivers of flavor in crops—can we optimize tomato acidity at home like wine terroir? (65:38)
- “What can I do as a home gardener to impact the acidity of that tomato...?” (Kevin, 65:56)
Neil: Chemistry and AI may yield “designer flavors” for both plants and lab-grown meats—flavor as a programmable condiment (66:24–68:42).
- “Flavor is just chemistry. It’s just what is the flavor molecule intersecting with your taste buds.” (Neil, 67:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Hydroponics’ Surprises:
- “The roots actually need oxygen. Otherwise they’ll simply drown in the water.” (Kevin, 17:19)
On Plant Intelligence and Adaptation:
- “Plants are just doing the best they can do with what they got.” (Neil, 33:07)
On Food Self-Reliance:
- “A huge part of my meals that month were what I called grunion potato pancakes... I ended up losing 13 pounds.” (Kevin, 46:15)
On Resilience of Nature vs. Technology:
- “You end up basically just recreating what nature already was doing.” (Kevin, 56:26)
On Cultural Change Through Gardening:
- “The entire culture’s attitude toward sustainability and food systems would change for the better...” (Kevin, 64:42)
On Flavor Chemistry:
- “If you make the mirror image molecule of mint, you get the flavor of caraway.” (Neil, 68:14)
On Community:
- “It’s much better to have a community anyway—I grow this, you grow that...” (Kevin, 46:57)

Important Timestamps

Home garden scope & resources: 05:18–07:01
Rainwater & graywater systems: 07:27–10:50
Soil vs. hydroponics & nutrient cycles: 15:10–18:51
Light, spectrum, and plant needs: 26:09–31:21
Growing food on the Moon: 36:18–39:54
30-day eat-what-you-grow challenge: 42:32–46:57
Discussion of Big Ag and sustainability: 50:22–56:38
Regenerative agriculture practices: 60:41–61:44
Potential of home gardening to drive cultural change: 64:02–65:08
Frontiers in flavor science and lab-grown meat: 65:36–68:42

Final Thoughts

The episode champions both technological innovation and a return to natural wisdom in food production. Whether you’re homesteading on Earth or (someday) on the Moon, understanding ecology, biology, and community is as crucial as engineering mastery. The show’s blend of humor, science, and real-world advice makes the future of food—anywhere in the universe—feel within reach for everyone.

Find Kevin Espiritu online:

“As always, Neil deGrasse Tyson, bidding you to keep looking up.” (72:04)

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