About Biodynamics

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If you belong to Angelic Organics’ Community Supported Agriculture program, you and your family will nourish body and soul with food that is enlivened through our Biodynamic practices. Biodynamics is a system of sustainable agriculture first described in 1924 by Austrian social philosopher Rudolf Steiner.

Steiner’s work is the basis for Anthroposophy, a term which means “wisdom about the human being” or “awareness of our humanity.” Anthroposophy is the basis for many practical initiatives besides Biodynamics, such as Waldorf education, Eurythmy, Anthroposophical medicine, the Camphill movement, design, art, organizational development, and ethical banking. You can find much about these initiatives on the internet; the purpose of this Angelic Organics page is to offer an elaboration on Biodynamics, which we are dedicated to practicing on our farm.

“I don’t Believe It” by Farmer John

“There was something about the way this chunky retired blueberry farmer intoned Rudolf Steiner—I just sort of bathed in the vibration of that name for a few moments. I didn’t even know who Steiner was at the time; I just knew in that moment he was part of my future.

“That’s how I came to Biodynamics.”

For more of this personal story about Farmer John’s path to Biodynamics, read his story, “I don’t Believe It”.

 

“Awakening to the Social Organism of the Farm” by Farmer John

Excerpted in “Stir” Magazine,from Farmer John’s presentation at the Biodynamic Sacred Agriculture Pre-Conference Event held at Angelic Organics Farm, November 11th, 2012.

“The purpose of this gathering today is to foster an enthusiasm for social life on our farms. A further goal is for this enthusiasm to transform into deeds on your farms back home.”

For more about this all day presentation on building social life and social places on the farm, read the “Stir” article.

Forces in Food

Food is more than substance; food also contains forces.

Ehhrenfried Pfeiffer, one of the students of Rudolf Steiner, who distinguished himself in the fields of natural science and agriculture, once asked his teacher:

“How is it that, despite your numerous indications, the spiritual impulse, especially the inner path of development, is so little effective in the isolated person. How is it that, despite theoretical insight and the will to action, the successful undertaking of the spiritual impulses is so weak?”

Rudolf Steiner’s answer was remarkable and surprising: “That is a problem of nutrition. Nutrition today does not give man the strength to manifest the spiritual in the physical. The bridge from thinking to willing and acting cannot be built anymore.” In this statement we have, in shocking clarity, the expression of the importance of nutrition to the modern path of spiritual training.

The Biodynamic farming method results in food that is more imbued with needed forces than food grown conventionally. As Angelic Organics moves more towards a Biodynamic ideal, the food people receive from our farm is increasingly infused with beneficial  forces that will assist in transforming will into action.

You and your family can enjoy this elevated experience of food through our community supported agriculture program.

A Shareholder Writes

Last week I was struck by how alive and lifelike your Angelic Organics vegetables are. Prior to becoming a shareholder, I’d always thought of vegetables as inanimate objects. I now think of them as living things with a spirit and a life. Thanks for enlightening us.

What Angelic Organics has Accomplished in the Biodynamic Sphere

Angelic Organics strives to develop itself as a Biodynamic farm organism. This is a broad task, as it requires a synergistic blending of diverse elements—forest, orchard, flowers, grasses, vegetables, grains, legumes, bees, goats, chickens, ducks, cows, horses, birds, worms, wetlands, etc. In contrast, the economic reality of farming today favors specialization, not diversity. Yet we move continually in the direction of Rudolf Steiner’s indications for agriculture, as outlined in Sherry Wildfeuer’s excellent article “What is Biodynamics?” further below on this page. The results of following Steiner’s indications are healthier crops, healthier people who eat from the farm, a more vibrant, self-contained farm organism, and a more lively earth. We have worked extensively to develop a diverse animal component on our farm, restore our woodland, establish an orchard, seed strategic patches of prairie, reintroduce native species of trees and shrubs for beauty and wildlife habitat, and acquire an adequate land base so fertility can be maintained through fallow management of cover crops. We rotate our crops and spray our fields with Biodynamic preparations. We build and prep our compost piles according to Biodynamic principles. We often host study sessions on Biodynamics (or other branches of Anthroposophy.) The Biodynamic vision offers a compelling opportunity for the renewal of agriculture, from which the renewal of society and of the earth can flow.

We Have More to Accomplish

Angelic Organics still has far to go in becoming a realized Biodynamic farm. For instance, we do not have a large enough animal population to supply our fields with adequate Biodynamic compost. We do not make all of our own Biodynamic preparations (remedies for enhancing the soil and our compost). We save very little of our own seed. We bring in many more off-farm inputs than we would like. We work so hard on production that we do not easily find the time to observe and contemplate the more subtle workings of nature on the farm. However, in spite of the constraints caused by the limitations of capital, labor, and the marketplace, we continually move in the direction of a more self-contained, more Biodynamic farm organism.

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Overheard

Sure, farming is a noble profession, but so was being a gladiator back in ancient Rome.”

The Process of Becoming

Becoming an exemplary Biodynamic farm is a long process. I suspect that, even after many future decades of moving in the Biodynamic direction, Angelic Organics will seem as though it is still in the process of becoming Biodynamic. This is not a hopeless statement; it is the reality of a farm always in the process of becoming better, stronger, more self-sufficient, more spiritualized. I would never want that process to end.

What is Biodynamics? by Sherry Wildfeuer

In seeking an answer to the question “What is Biodynamic Agriculture?” let us pose the further question: “Can the Earth heal itself, or has the waning of the Earth’s vitality gone too far for this?” For more, read Sherry Wildfeuer’s excellent article “What is Biodynamics?”

For more about Biodynamics, visit

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Site

The Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics

Biodynamic Research

In Conclusion

We have offered you here a brief introduction into a path of agriculture which holds great promise for healing the earth and for enlivening humans through the forces that Biodynamic practices impart to our food.  You can experience this nourishment firsthand from Angelic Organics through our community supported agriculture program.