Oak bark buried in a sheep’s skull in a damp place over winter. Yarrow flowers matured in a stag’s bladder hung up in a tree over summer. A solution of valerian flowers sprayed over a compost heap. Stinging nettle buried for a year.
If you’re starting to wonder if I’ve turned into a raving hippie, you’d be half right. I’ve been a closet hippie (don’t tell Mum and Dad) for years. What the descriptions listed in the previous paragraph refer to though are some of the many preparations used in the biodynamic approach to organic gardening and farming.
Now before you write the whole notion off as being more than a bit cranky, as the English would say, let me offer some history by way of explanation. Biodynamics (or BD) is based on a series of lectures given in 1924 by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner to a group of farmers concerned about the dwindling fertility of their farms and the declining health of their livestock.
The lectures were published in English as Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture. Steiner took as his premise the concept of interconnectedness – the idea that the farm (or garden, indeed all of life) was an organism where everything is connected. Only a holistic approach, he suggested, is the appropriate means of working the land.
This is all fair enough to most gardeners and farmers. But Steiner also proposed methods that were practical, cosmic and spiritual. On the practical level are the various biodynamic preparations, some of which are listed above, all of which are given various formulas like “500″, most of which are designed to improve the health of the soil. Conventional organic techniques like composting are part and parcel of biodynamics, while others are a step further along the ecological road.
Then there’s the cosmic level. Steiner argued that the rhythm of the moon and the planets have an effect on life on earth. This is harder for modern, reason-based thinkers to accept, but if you are prepared to believe that the moon affects the oceanic tides, it follows that the moon also affects the sap flow in plants and the movement of micro-organisms in the soil. Older generations seem to have less issue with this concept, as many grew up on farms where planting by the moon was standard practice.
The third, spiritual aspect of biodynamic philosophy is the one most people struggle with. Steiner was the founder and figurehead of a movement called Anthroposophy. He was dedicated to bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual, believed that rigorous self discipline could help one know “higher worlds”, and was adamant that Christ would begin appearing to “conscious” people from 1933 onwards.
In other words, some of Steiner’s spiritual beliefs were highly unorthodox, or right out there, depending on your view. My beliefs are pretty conventional, so I’m not at all prepared to buy into the spiritual aspects of biodynamics, but neither do I believe that all three aspects of biodynamic theory must be strictly followed in order for it to work.
To a large extent, the proof is in the pudding. Every single biodynamic practitioner I’ve spoken to is convinced that Steiner’s methods work, and those people range from conservative Christian farmers to practical, everyday gardeners. Most dodge Steiner’s spiritual theories, yet all argue that their soils are constantly improving, and that the plants those soils support produce better quality crops.
Some of the preparations do sound like complete nonsense. But nonsense is a relative term. Is the notion of stuffing a cow’s horn with manure and burying it over winter any less ridiculous than drenching a paddock in poison with the accuracy of an airplane? Is it crazier than dressing in a protective chemical suit so that a field can be sprayed with methyl bromide in order to “cleanse” it?
To me the most appealing part of biodynamics is its integration with natural rhythms. I’m convinced that the waxing and waning of the moon, the seasons, are the inescapable timings by which humanity has been made to live on planet earth. Combine these rhythms with the biodynamic focus on healthy soils, ditch Steiner’s spiritual mumbo-jumbo, and you may well have a genuine contender for a truly sustainable approach to gardening and farming. Now, I’ve got the yarrow, where can I get hold of a stag’s bladder?
First published in The Toowoomba Chronicle 11th July 2009. Photo by Randi Hausken via flickr.
