Biodynamic Agriculture: Bridging Spirit Into Matter

Supporting organic agriculture is merely a baseline and actually the bare minimum when it comes to cultivating a thriving body and planet, but if you want to go a step further in your nutrient repletion and earth/spirit connection, I recommend exploring biodynamic agriculture which honours harmony with the earth, the cosmos, creatures and human beings. The land and soil is regenerated and grown in ways that are inspired by various esoteric concepts drawn from the ideas of philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner, combining careful scientific observations with a poetic vision and recognition of the spirit in nature. These meticulous observational skills are highly valued by biodynamic farmers, allowing for greater insight into challenges and possible solutions, dynamically working to harmonise these elements to support the health of the whole, along with the no-toxic input methods. 

Even the emotional nature of the farmer is taken into consideration, crucial to the overall harmony and sense of balance on the farm and how it is maintained. Challenges are unavoidable, but the farmer must face them with a certain level of conscious moral, ethical, and social awareness. Steiner noted that the level of human consciousness is a factor in the evolution of the Earth and its inhabitants. 

Biodynamic agriculture takes a holistic, ethical, ecological approach that was initially developed in 1924, and the produce is simply top quality. It’s so special that you could feel it in the vegetables. Biodynamic carrots and potatoes, for example, are hands down the best tasting I’ve ever had. The growing demand for fresh, Demeter-certified, sun-raised biodynamic-quality vegetables is important for both local networks (farm shops, markets, etc.) and larger-scale national retail and cooperatives. When it comes to diversification, growing vegetables in open fields as part of a larger farm is one possible avenue. There is also a trend among younger farmers towards more specialised forms of veggie growing, such as in cold frames or polytunnels. 

Biodynamic is regenerative, but not all regenerative farms are biodynamic. Some biodynamic principles go beyond what some regenerative agriculture farms implement. Biodynamic principles can even extend into the personal garden and within you. It is a way of seeing and navigating the world, adaptable to any scale or skillset, and if you’re into sustainability, regenerative practices, health and recovery at all, I highly recommend exploring the works of Rudolf Steiner. Look for the Demeter certification, or enter the keywords “biodynamic farmers’ market/CSA/produce” + “your location” into your favourite search engine to find food sources near you. It’s also possible to grow your produce on a smaller scale informed by some biodynamic principles (such as a home garden/food forest) and not have to be Demeter certified. 

As a very brief overview, several principles characterise biodynamic agriculture, drawing from a deep pool of wisdom from over the ages. Farms and other agricultural living organisms are integrated not only into their physical environment (terroir) but also their cosmic environment, cultivating health, balance and sustainability in inexplicable ways. Although I don’t currently take astrology very seriously, I see it as one of the most fascinating and impactful forms of regenerative agriculture that I know of. I feel it could require some serious neurogenesis to really grasp the principles and explore, which is why I’m so adamant about nutrition.

Biodynamic agriculture is based on three main underlying principles:

• Cosmic/spiritual forces in the universe influence life on Earth

• Each farm/living organism attempts to function with a sense of wholeness, that is; it is self-contained;

• The role and even emotions of the farmer is central in achieving the equilibrium needed on the farm (source: earthhavenlearning.ca) 

In biodynamics, some ways that this integration occurs should happen through:

• Sustainability of resources including plants, animals, and soil

• Respecting the natural habits of animals

• Application of horn manure (500 or 500P), horn silica (501… yes, they have code names), and the use of the six to nine biodynamic preparations often with rainwater tea stirred and dynamised to carry the forces through the preparations, mirroring the cosmos above

• Following the rhythms of nature and the cosmos (with the loose help of annual biodynamic calendars, sowing done at favourable times based on the movement of the Moon and planets) 

• Aiming for a sustainable level of productivity which doesn’t affect the balance and health of the land 

• Aiming for the greatest diversity of plants and animals as possible (therefore productivity and thriving)

• Formation of living soil (I’m talking constant and obsessive levels of dedication to maintaining and forming soil health)

• Proper management of organic matter and compost

• Working the soil when conditions are right, using appropriate tools; cosmic influences are at work each time the soil is worked so unfavourable times, especially days with nodes in the calendar, should be avoided

• Long term and diversified crop rotation

• Using seeds and plants adapted to local conditions and the local environment, ideally heirloom and local seeds which are vital in the era of globalisation where introduction of GMO plants is driven by corporate financial interests

• Ensuring the soil is never bare

• Proper management of cover crops and pasturing

  Biodynamic agriculture can only create a new relation between earth and cosmos through the plants and good agricultural practices like those above. There is also a social dimension to the living organism that is a biodynamic farm and practice. It is not appropriate to work out of a sense of competition or materialism, rather it is better to facilitate a kind of economic community to be developed, whether through free association and active decentralized participation in local meeting and work groups to address production and consumer issues, or through encouraging a continual seeking for a deeper knowledge of life processes, empathy with the living world around us and the forces that act on it. All in the name of producing quality nutrition whilst respecting nature’s kingdoms and the creatures that live in it, practising the science of adaptation and customising methods and processes to deal with novel challenges.

  In his Agriculture Course, Rudolf Steiner said that in agriculture, we must sometimes loot the earth, but that we must compensate in forces for what we remove in substance. 

  Overall, the underlying theme in biodynamics is interconnectedness: between the cosmos and earth, plant and soil, sky and plant, human beings and their surroundings.