What is biodynamic farming?
…..by Melvin D. Saunders ……..The use of pesticides has gone up 10 times since World War II, but damage to crops by insect pests has doubled. Do poisonous pesticides weaken a plant’s resistance to pests and make it less nutritious to insects? Think about it. If a crop is less nutritious, an insect must eat more of it to maintain its same growth rate. Just as a healthy person resists disease better, properly nourished crops resist pests more effectively. ……..Are residual amounts of deadly pesticides on fruits and vegetables harmful for humans to ingest? Since your body responds quite dramatically to only scant amounts of its own bodily chemicals, why can’t trace amounts of poisonous pesticides disrupt the bodily system too, especially in accumulative amounts? Even the absence of one trace element in the bodily system can produce disastrous results. ……..Biodynamic farming was spawned by the late anthroposophist, Rudolf Steiner, and has grown and developed in popularity since
Biodynamics is a wholistic farming approach developed in the 1920s by scientist Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher who created Waldorf education. Our 85-acre ranch achieved Biodynamic certification in 2000, through the Demeter Association, an independent third-party certifier for traditional Biodynamic winemaking practices. While it encompasses many of the principles of organic farming, such as the elimination of all chemicals, Biodynamics goes further, requiring close attention to the varied forces of nature influencing the vine. It also emphasizes a closed, self-sustaining ecosystem. We are as attentive to the 30 acres of gardens, woodland, riparian areas, wetlands, cover crops and wildlife sanctuaries that comprise our 85-acre ranch, as we are the 42 acres planted to winegrapes.
It is a superior holistic farming developed by Rudolph Steiner (also creator of the Waldorf School System), that uses farm inputs that are made on the farm, Native American farming techniques, moon cycles, along with what has been proven to be some of the most advanced agricultural practices of our time – all is done in harmony with life and the energy cycles on a farm. Organic Bouquet fully supports this type of farming and sources flowers that are biodynamically grown whenever possible.
Biodynamic farming is a farming technique similar to organic agriculture, although it integrates more of a spiritual aspect, and has been formally organized far longer than the organic movement has. The main idea behind biodynamic farming is that the Earth is a living, interconnected organism, and that farmers should work with, harness, and encourage it. The roots of biodynamic farming can be found in Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian social philosopher who was widely admired at the turn of the twentieth century. In a series of lectures in the 1920s, Steiner laid out the foundations for biodynamic farming, concerned about the direction that commercial agriculture was taking. Although biodynamics has not been widely embraced, it is practiced at farms of varying size all over the world, and biodynamic farms can be officially certified through chapters of Demeter International, an ecological association. The idea behind biodynamic farming is anthroposophy, the idea that people can reach a state
Biodynamic agriculture is a holistic method of farming which emphasizes sensitivity to subtle processes in Nature, with the goal of producing food that truly nourishes the body and spirit. While the fundamental principles of present day organic farming (the exclusion of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in crop production) are included in biodynamic agriculture, its breadth and depth exceed that of organic farming. A biodynamic farm is understood to be a living, breathing organism, so farming practices strive to balance the overall health of the farm, in order to produce the very highest quality food. Farmers generate fertility from within the farm, in the form of composted manures and cover crops, rather than purchasing inputs from off the farm. A number of special herbal preparations are used in homeopathic doses, some as additions to These preparations have harmonizing influences on soil, plant and animal health on the farm. Ultimately, the food produced in this way has a vitalit
