Biodynamic winery
I have heard the term “biodynamic” and wondered what was involved. Some consider biodynamic gardening or farming as voodoo science and quackery — or simply a scam. Others feel it is holistic, natural way of gardening leveraging mystical forces. The description I like is defines it as organic permaculture with a spiritual twist.
Biodynamic Farming’s Roots
Biodynamic farming is actually the precursor to organic and sustainable farming. It is from Dr. Steiner’s teaching of how to work with the earth and heavens to farm in harmony with nature. “Organic farming” was coined by those describing Dr. Steiner’s farming approach.
Biodynamic gardening was developed in Germany in the early 1920s by philosopher Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Dr. Steiner believed that the soil, plants, animals and everything in the solar system is interconnected.
The backbone of the method is the making of preparations used in minute amounts to enhance production. Biodynamic gardening results in much enhanced soil and veggie nutrition and increased top soil depth.
Many gardeners feel that the approach is too complicated to implement in their gardens. However, you can purchase the preparations to add to your compost. I purchased mine from Malibu Compost.
There is a deep devotion to the soil’s health, animal welfare, and the cycles of the moon and stars. It is important that 10% of farmland is set aside as a biodiversity preserve. As with organic, farms have to be certified to claim their products are “biodynamic” by following the Demeter Processing Standard.
Free range chickens used for pest patrol (control)
As with organic gardening, biodynamic uses only all natural amendments, pest and weed control. As with permaculture, biodynamic gardening is self-contained with no outside inputs brought into the farm.
Cover crops are used routinely. The farm is considered a wholly connected organism. There is also significant emphasis on water conservation and companion planting. Planting and harvesting is done by the phases of the moon and astral conditions like those our grandparents followed using the Farmers Almanac.
The 9 Preparations of Biodynamic Agriculture
There are 9 “preparations” used in biodynamic (BD): BD#500 horn manure, BD#501 horn silica, BD#502 yarrow, BD#503 chamomile, BD#504 stinging nettle, BD#505 oak bark, BD#506 dandelion, BD#507 valerian, and BD#508 horsetail. BD#502-507 are collectively known as the compost preparations.
- BD#500 is a cow horn packed with cow manure and buried in the ground for the winter.
- BD#501 is silica packed in a cow horn buried in the ground for the summer.
- BD#502 is yarrow blossoms sown into a stag bladder that is hung in the summer sun and buried for the winter.
- BD#503 is chamomile blossoms stuffed in a bovine intestine and buried over winter.
- BD#504 is the entire stinging nettle plant ground up and buried in the ground surrounded by peat moss for a full year.
- BD#505 is ground oak bark packed in an empty skull with the membrane intact and buried in swamp like conditions for the winter.
- BD#506 is dandelion blossoms stuffed into bovine mesentery or peritoneum membrane and buried for the winter.
- BD#507 is the juice of valerian blossoms that is fermented for a few weeks.
- BD#508 is a horsetail tea.
Cover crops are important for soil retention, soil nutrition, and soil enhancement
Using Biodynamic Preparations to Build Soil
It is best if the preparations are made on the property that it will be used. Steiner believed burying the preparations in the ground gave cosmic and earth energy to them. If you are going to purchase the preparations, purchase them from a farm in the same region.
Spray applications of 501 and 507 raises the top level depth from shallow to a depth of 14 ubcges over several years, according to biodynamic wineries. Using cover crops and adding compost to the soil is the backbone of organic practices that have been shown to increase topsoil depth. Biodynamic farmers believe the spray applications enhance these practices to another level.
BD#508 spray is used to combat fungal conditions. I sprayed my garden with BD#508 this summer as I had lots of fungal pressure with all the rain we got last June and the rain is even greater this summer. So far, so good.
To try out the benefit of biodynamic in our garden without personally finding the ingredients and making the preparations, I purchased Bu’s Brews by Malibu Compost biodynamic compost tea bags. I add the compost tea bags to my water pail and water my pots and garden plants after aerating the biodynamic compost tea as recommended. I then compost the bags in my compost pile that I add back to the garden.
You can purchase wines and food products that are raised biodynamically. Here is a directory of biodynamic product: Biodynamic food directory
My sister, mom, and me at Beckman Vineyards
A Visit to a Biodynamic Winery
Over the holidays, my sister and mom wanted to know what “adventure” I was up for during my stay in the Los Angeles area. I wanted to visit a biodynamic farm to talk to the farmers to get a better understanding of what biodynamic is all about.
The most well-known biodynamic farms are likely wineries in the U.S.: Frey, Beckmen, Quivira, Bass Vineyards, and Benziger are a few wineries that raise their grapes following biodynamic practices.
Beckman Winery is within driving distance of LA. Beckmen Winery produces excellent wines. You can visit the winery, have a picnic, and try their wines in their tasting room. Beckmen Winery
I am a big fan of organic and working with and supporting nature. Biodynamic farming embodies this approach. The additional layer with biodynamic is the preparations used in small quantities in your compost piles to impart the energies of the earth and sky. Dr. Steiner believed all was connected together as a living organism.
Even though scientific proof of how the energies are imparted is a mystery, studies prove the soil and nutrition of plants in a biodynamic farm is higher than conventional. I think we find out more each year of how interconnected everything is.
Melodie Metje started her blog, Victory Garden on the Golf Course, to help guide her family’s gardening efforts and to keep track of what was happening in her own garden. She named it after the victory gardens grown to help the WWII effort. Melodie thinks we are in a similar situation today: Our country needs our help in battling the war on ill health. Read all of her MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.
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