Blog – Tagged "biodynamic preparations"– Page 2

May 1, 2023

Gifts for the Soil

With biodynamics we are gifting to the soil a concentration of forces and a kind of "sweetness" that naturally wouldn't occur by chance in nature. And that is the secret of alchemy: taking things to their fulfillment when Nature, left to herself, could not do so.

Apr 26, 2023

Devils & Angels

In Steiner's terminology, there are two aspects to what is often described as a single being in conventional Christia...

Apr 26, 2023

Leavening Your Soil

The biodynamic preparations work a bit like specialized "yeasts" in compost and create a better final product. Are the biodynamic preparations absolutely necessary?

Apr 24, 2023

Rudolf Steiner

How do we restore healthy life to the soil? We do this with responsible common sense farming, incorporating the latest scientific research plus biodynamic preparations. We don't have to exclude anything that works.

Apr 24, 2023

What are pest peppers?

The charred dandelion seed can only rot, but the charred seed can only rot in a dandelionish way. This means you're really creating a pathogen vector by rotting these seeds, specifically something that will corrupt the seed-forming process of that specific species.

Apr 21, 2023

Is Biodynamics Pseudosience?

What hypothesis does biodynamics as an intuition advance? That these special biodynamic preparations will measurably improve the quality of compost, hasten the formation of humus and the build-up of organic matter in the soil, and increase the nutritional value of crops. This hypothesis must be tested, but funding for research is a very different question!

Apr 17, 2023

Build Soil Rapidly

“In the early days we ran trials. Depleted soil was deep ripped. We sowed the right species and applied 500 and had the well known results. In six years we raised the organic matter levels from 0.9% in the top 4” to approximately 12% and, varyingly, to 2.4% at 40” depth. Ripping exactly the same way etc, but without 500, the soil biology developed to 20 cm depth, no further. In modern farming the right soil treatment and the Bio-Dynamic preparations must be applied together."

Apr 14, 2023

Common Sense & The Biodynamic Planting Calendar

If we plow when the soil is completely saturated, we will just create a horrible mess even if we make such a mistake on the "ideal" calendar time. Common sense must prevail when it comes to using the planting calendar.

Apr 12, 2023

Spiritual Farming

In biodynamics, we collect what would normally disperse to the universe, particularly the reproductive energy of innocent flowers. We collect this outward moving desire, contain it, and then introduce this energy to the roots of plants. How often do essential oils diffuse down into the soil? Not often!

Apr 10, 2023

Science or Faith?

When Steiner talks about "spiritualizing" the sciences, he means bringing a spiritual gaze to the research performed using the scientific method. He is not proposing the method itself change, but the gaze of intuition must always be brought to bear on the data science produces, or we would make very few connections at all.

Apr 10, 2023

As If

One of the most useful ways to think of something is as if. We don't have to accept that the farm literally is an "o...

Apr 9, 2023

How to Convert a Vineyard to Biodynamics

Transitioning a vineyard to biodynamics can seem like a daunting task, not even considering Demeter certification standards. When plants are habituated to synthetic fertilizers, the soil itself tends to become sickly and needs to be revitalized.