Preface

There has been growing interest in biodynamics in recent years. For a long time the organic farming and gardening movement was dismissed as marginal and ‘alternative’, but escalating concerns about the environment, health, food quality, animal welfare and related issues have raised the profile of organics in a way few could have imagined 30 years ago. As a branch of organic agriculture, it is scarcely surprising that biodynamics has emerged more into public consciousness.

Biodynamics was never narrowly focused on agricultural techniques. It was conceived as a new way of thinking about farming, nutrition and the world of nature. Originating from a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by Dr Rudolf Steiner in 1924, it offers a new holistic outlook that frees agriculture and science from the limits of a purely materialist philosophy.

Like others before it, the present book supports practical biodynamic farming and gardening. Those already involved with biodynamics should find among its broad range of topics much to deepen their understanding of the subject. They will also detect the author’s concern to promote innovation and for biodynamics to move with the times. Those new to biodynamics, but perhaps already committed to an organic philosophy, may have little idea of Rudolf Steiner’s immense contribution to knowledge. A major task of this book is therefore to set out the fundamentals on which not only biodynamics but also the wider organic movement depend. To meet this need, the book aims wherever possible to create a bridge between mainstream science and Steiner’s insights and suggestions, and to offer the wider organic and agro-ecological movement a firmer basis for acknowledging biodynamic concepts.

While Steiner’s Agriculture Course remains the cornerstone, those working with biodynamics have found it essential to study his other lectures and books to gain better foothold with the content of the agriculture lectures, and to extend their scope. This is a long, ongoing process. Yet there is an urgency about getting to grips with the current disruptions to climatic, ecological and economic conditions, and this concern has provided the motivation for the present volume.

Considered as a group, the first four chapters lay the foundations. I first place biodynamics in the context of holistic forms of agriculture, outlining the cultural fault-line with conventional agriculture and the kinship of biodynamics with organic traditions and the wider agro-ecological movement. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 explore themes from the Agriculture Course—-the cosmic dimension, the farm organism and the role of the soil. Crucial to the aim of this book is that we adopt a more enlightened view of how the farm or garden manages the interplay of earth and cosmos, and how soil, too often regarded as the most mundane of substances, truly sustains the whole of life.

Having widened our view of nature, the principal biodynamic practices are presented in Chapters 5 and 6. In previous literature these are mostly treated as axiomatic. Here, we engage in discussion and critique rather than straightforward description of procedures. In addition to the established biodynamic preparations, the window is opened on a range of less familiar innovations with biodynamic pedigree. Chapter 6, on the biodynamic calendar, includes much that is familiar to organic gardeners but urges reappraisal of the use of the zodiac and a clearer understanding of the opportunities a calendar may offer. Chapter 7, on seeds, represents a topic of vital importance to organic and biodynamic growers in face of challenges from the biotech world. Chapter 8 enters into the special character of water, the most vital of substances supporting life, and the way in which it is used and treated in biodynamic procedures.

The last four chapters, in their different ways, all connect with the human being. Chapter 9 examines the relationship between outer visible landscapes and our inner mental landscapes, and contends that working with nature in the biodynamic way can offer a mutually healing process for society and the earth. Chapter 10, which tackles the immense subject of food and health, will represent for many people the prime mission of biodynamic agriculture and is justification alone for probing the hidden pathways of nature explored in this book. Through discussion of modern health problems, the chapter confirms the wisdom of a holistic approach to nutrition.

Chapter 11 introduces the social element of agriculture. So far of limited impact, community involvement with agriculture seems set to gain momentum as pressure builds for more local production and consumption networks. In this field we highlight experiences on a number of pioneering biodynamic farms. The final chapter reviews the dramatic nature of current circumstances, highlighting concerns about food cost and security. It discusses issues which confront the organic movement and the challenge for biodynamics to be more flexible if it is to gain impetus. It points to the need for new relationships between society, the land and planet earth, all of which are inspired by spiritual ideals.

As the book’s chapters are written with a progression of ideas in mind there will be some benefit reading it that way. However, they can also be regarded as separate essays, and generous cross-references are provided. It is hoped that in this way, and with the provision of numbered notes, the book will offer useful study material.

Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to my mother, Winifred Smith, who introduced me both to gardening and to the work of Rudolf Steiner.

I offer thanks to those with whom I have been able to work and discuss biodynamics, notably to my former partner Freya Schikorr and to Matthias Guépin. These include colleagues and friends within the Bio-dynamic Association as well as those I have visited in the course of inspection work with Demeter UK. Friends and acquaintances overseas, notably in Sri Lanka, have helped broaden my cultural awareness.

Those who have opened doors or played a part in my work within the biodynamic movement deserve mention. I would especially acknowledge Jimmy Anderson, Pauline Anderson, Joan L. Brinch, Timothy Brink, Alan Brockman, David Clement, Anthony Kaye, Hans-Günther Kern, Manfred Klett, Walter Rudert, Patricia Thompson and Olive Whicher.

I am grateful to Dr Margaret Colquhoun and Bernard Jarman for contributing Chapters 9 and 11 respectively, while Mark Moodie and Simon Charter provided assistance with Chapter 8. Others have offered valuable comments, including Alan Brockman, Peter Brinch, Wendy Cook, Bernard Jarman, Hans-Günther Kern, Dr Nicholas Kollerstrom, Paul and Anny König, Dr William Smith and Hans Steenbergen. Finally, various suggestions for improvement have arisen during the editorial process.