Rudolph Steiner
Biodynamic Farming is an issue I’ve seldom touched on here at Beginning Farmers. But it is one that interests many of my readers. While many people are bewildered or turned off by some of the more esoteric practices and beliefs embedded in biodynamics, there are other aspects which are based on scientifically sound ecological principles. The following articles present an introduction to biodynamic farming from several different perspectives.
by Sue White
Excerpt: “You’re probably familiar with organics, but what about biodynamics? Sue White considers the benefits and quirks of this holistic agricultural philosophy.”
What Is Biodynamic Farming? (Change.org)
Excerpt: “Biodynamic ag has its roots in Germany, where an Austrian scientist and philosopher named Rudolph Steiner engaged in a series of discussions and lectures in 1924. The ideas embodied in his legendary lectures formed the basis of biodynamics. The concept he developed, as the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association succinctly puts it, is “a unified approach to agriculture that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to that of the entire cosmos.”
by Will Lyons
Excerpt: “I make no claim to understand how biodynamics works. According to the “Oxford Companion to Wine,” non-believers consider biodynamics an “unscientific and disturbingly irrational cult.” A view, I have to confess, for which I once harbored a slight sympathy. It’s not that I now have the fervor of the convert, far from it, and there are still some principles associated with it I find a little odd. It’s just that having tasted numerous wines made using some of the practical aspects of biodynamics I have found they are marked with a purity, silkiness and concentration rarely found in other wines.”
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