How To Balance Biodynamic Soils: a Comprehensive Guide

“Life is a universal omnipresent principle, and nothing is without life. In some forms life acts slowly—for instance, in stones; in others (organized beings) it acts quickly. Each element has its own peculiar living existences, belonging to it exclusively.”1

In my experience, more than a few biodynamic practitioners almost completely ignore the mineral realm. Perhaps this is because they want to take care to “remain within the realms of life”2 as Steiner urges us. But if we are not conscious about balancing the mineral levels of the soil, we are often missing key elements that need to be present for life to thrive properly. What Steiner means is that we must keep our attention on the unfolding potential dynamics latent within everything. There is potential in compost and all organic matter, but there is also living potential in mineral amendments we might add to our soil.

Steiner says, “Nowadays we are wont to attach the greatest importance to the physical and chemical constituents. To-day, however, we will not take our start from these; we will take our start from something which lies behind the physical and chemical constituents…”3 While the macrocosmic view looks at the dynamics at work behind the veil of appearances. A hermetic maxim Steiner would refer to is: Spirit is never without matter. Matter is never without Spirit.

Even in the elements of the periodic table, we have the workings of the spiritual world. Each element has its own character, affinities, and behaviors. And if some of those qualities are missing in the soil, all life growing out of the soil suffers. We should keep in mind that we are not fertilizing with vast amounts of minerals. An acre of a few inches of topsoil weighs over 2,000,000 pounds — not counting the massive amount of soil below! Applying a few hundred pounds of minerals and a ton of dolomite does almost nothing to change the soil's parent material but rather informs the soil with new dynamics. As Steiner suggested, all nourishment is really homeopathic: we only absorb a minuscule fraction of what we eat. Likewise, when we apply lime to a field, plants only assimilate a tiny portion of what we spread. When we restore mineral balance to the soil, we are replenishing the dynamics of life.

If you were to suggest that the important part of a piano is its music, of course, you’d be completely correct. But if you were to remove the metal, merely because it’s a “dead” element, or the ivory keys because they appear immobile, or the wood, because it’s not a living tree anymore, you would soon have no piano or music at all. Biodynamics is the music we play on the instrument of the soil. A soil test is no more the “real” soil than sheet music is the “real” music. The reality of Hamlet is in its performance on stage. The reality of the archetypal plant is in its instantiation as this particular plant right here. The garden is all one beautiful performance.

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