“Matter as we know it is always a precipitate out of what was formerly dynamic energy. As dew condenses from the atmosphere and wood grows up out of the earth, there are two streams of materialization, whether this becomes a substance formed from the cosmos (e.g., oils or sugars), or heavier coalescences (e.g., coral or bones). In each case, what appears as substance is, relatively speaking, dead compared to the unimaginably long journey it took before becoming materialized.”  

- Stewart Lundy, Biodynamic Farmer and Managing Director of the Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics   

 

GreenFingers Farm describes itself as a regenerative farm using biodynamic practices.  In terms of regenerative farming, we have adopted principles of healthy soil management that include such practices as keeping the soil covered, maintaining a living root, integrating animals, both domestic and wild, maximizing diversity, and disturbing the soil as little as possible. But why biodynamics? And what is biodynamics? 

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Biodynamic agriculture heralds from the early 20th century when in 1924 Austrian philosopher and clairvoyant, Rudolf Steiner, gave a series of lectures to area farmers who had begun to see a deterioration of vitality on their farms. Through this series of lectures, what we know as biodynamic agriculture was initiated. Steiner’s approach to agriculture was scientifically based but with a novel twist. Instead of studying agriculture in a purely materially scientific way, he proposed a spiritual approach to the science of agriculture. In his lectures, he encourages farmers to seek and respond to the spirit that flows through the substantial – within the soil, the plant, the animal, and the farmer herself. In other words, Steiner directed farmers to see that the materiality of the farm is, in fact, imbued with forces of spirit and that the work of the farmer is to spiritually enhance that which is material. He encouraged farmers to work with both the forces within the soil itself and that which flows from the cosmos.  

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What does this mean in practice? First, the implementation of “star wisdom” plays a role. “Star wisdom” acknowledges that we not only live on, interact with, and respond to the immediate earthly environment around us but to the celestial universe above us- that the ecology of the farm includes the influence of the planets and stars. This astronomical approach is crucial to the biodynamic practice. Use of a calendar based upon the astronomical zodiac designating best times for planting, cultivation, pest management and harvesting is implemented.  Secondly, the preparation and use of spiritualized substances from the plant, animal, and mineral kingdoms are applied to the compost, the soil, and the growing plants. Known as the biodynamic preparations, these “homeopathic” or highly potentized applications are used to enhance the flow between spiritual forces and that which is material. The farmer is a guide in this process, kin to a midwife. In this way, the farmer acknowledges and cooperates with the spiritual forces available to her to enhance the life and vigor of her farm. The biodynamic farmer understands the components of the farm as subject to an interactive unifying flow between that which is spiritual and that which is substantial. Thirdly, Steiner encourages the farmer to view the farm itself as a living self-sustaining entity. The farm is made up of many different “organs” and systems, similar to the human body. When these organs and systems work with each other, they support the entity as a whole eliminating the need to bring materials from the outside onto the farm.  

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Biodynamic farming is, in a sense, a spiritual practice itself that acknowledges we live in a world that is blessed with spiritual forces, and that we are to work in cooperation with that understanding and spiritual sensibility.  The biodynamic practice asks of the farmer study, discipline, reverence, observation, and an ever-growing sensibility of how spiritual forces are working to enhance the health of the farm as a unified and vital living entity.  Through its agricultural practices, GreenFingers Farm humbly embraces this journey into a more profound study, understanding, and sensibility of how spirit lives in nature and how this understanding can be applied to the farm.  

 

*Regenerative and organic approaches to farming do not conflict with biodynamic practices.