A short overview - Biondynamics, Organics & Commercial Farming

Before we update you all with what adventures we have been on and the work that we have been doing, we thought it would be a good idea to write a brief overview of Biodynamics, Organics and Commercial Farming.

It is a good idea to know this sort of thing because all the food and produce we consume, fit into one of these pigeon holes. And if your going to put food into your belly, its a good idea to know some of the following vital information:

• Where it the food coming from?
• How is the food grown?
• What type of care has been taken to ensure your food has all the nutrients it is supposed to have? 

From this, you can make your own mind up on wheather or not your gut can process what has gone into your food.

So we'll break it down just a little, because it's a huge subject and one that we are learning more and more about as we get to know the 'Australian Agricultural System'.

Commercial Farming

Chemicals, chemicals, chemicals.... There is a chemical (man-made in a lab and often tested on animals) that is used for every stage of the plants or animals growth. These chemicals are your herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers, worming drugs  & antibiotics. These chemicals are sprayed heavily onto and into the water supply of helpless produce or animals, and the land that sustains them. So the animal (meat), vegetable, pulse, legume, or fruit, comes to your digestive system with a cocktail of chemicals.

Commercial farming is in high demand all over the world, as we live in an age where 'wealth is taking over our health'. We need to ask ourselves 'can our bodies afford the amount of chemicals that we ladle into them'?

Organic Farming

Organic agriculture defines itself by what it avoids or does not use. So they tend to not use the man-made chemicals that the commercial farmers use. But, when it comes to animals, they still use antibiotics governed by law, and your animals will be fed an 'organic grain' instead of grass (or if their natural food source isn't available).

The term organic is so misplaced and over-used to make a quick $$$ these days. Just as importantly, it's best to research into where in the world the 'organic' produce is coming from. It's important to note that some countries that have certified organic labelling on their produce are growing this same produce in contaminated environments (soil, water, air, etc). So what's the point!

Australia is no exception as it battles it's way through the supermarket isles to make it's mark of wealth with the term 'organic'.

Biodynamic Farming

Until a few weeks ago this word 'Biodynamic' was just a fancy word to us (much like superfood, macrobiotic, etc). Then we started to research into it and found what we think is the 'missing link between earth and human'.

Discovered by Rudolph Steiner in 1924, Biodynamics looks at the 'whole' and starts with the soil. It offers ways of healing the living earth before planting and growing; fruit, vegetables and animals. If you were to look at it in terms of building a house (your body) you must always start with building a strong and stable foundation (the soil).

So before any seeds are planted, the soil is first built with 9 Biodynamic preparations and put into the soil at different times of the year, building it up with nourishment. The following are the preparations (known collectively as the 'Compost Preparation') and a little bit about each one:

BD#500 ~ Horn Manure

Is simply cow manure packed into cow horns and buried in the earth during the winter months (masculine in energy).

BD#501 ~ Horn Silica

At the opposite polarity (feminine in energy) is ground silica stuffed into cow horns and buried in the earth during the summer time.

BD#502 ~ Yarrow

The yarrow preparation is made by taking the blossoms of the yarrow plant and sewing them up into a stag bladder, which is then hung in the summer sun & taken down and buried during the winter time.

BD#503 ~ Chamomile

This preparation involves using a bovine intestine, stuffing it full of chamomile blossoms & buring the sausage in the earth for the winter months.

BD#504 ~ Stinging Nettle

First, one must harvest the entire above ground plant at flowering time & bury it in the ground surrounded by peat & moss through out the winter and summer months.

BD#505 ~ Oak Bark

This uses ground oak bark & the fresh skull of a domestic animal, from which all tissue has been disposed of. The bark is then packed into the empty skull and buried in a nearby swamp environment for the winter season.

BD#506 ~ Dandelion

Take dandelion blossoms and sew them up in a sack or pillow made from bovine mesentery and buried into the earth.

BD#507 ~ Valerian

The juice is extracted from the blossoms of the valerian plant which is fermented for a few weeks before use in the soil.

BD#508 ~ Horsetail

A tea is made out of the herb and placed within the soil.

Some of these preparations may seen strange, but we think man made chemicals used on food is stranger!

It doesn't stop here with these preparations either.

Biodynamics is working in harmony with the whole universe. It's a spiritual process between man, the solar system, the seasons, and all the Eco Environments contained within the living earth. It is about NOT raping and pillaging our beautiful mother earth! It is about putting back into her before expecting to take from her! Biodynamics is usually about 'not for profit' (so as not prostitute mother earth and take from her for the mere $$$).

The preparation's above if used and researched properly will produce nutrient dense produce year after year, and after established continual practise, can make up to 14 inches of top soil!

The saying goes, if you put the good stuff in, you will get good stuff out! Biodynamics is a science and a spirituality!

Is this 'modern world', it is hard to find 'healthy' food and produce at arms reach, but let's do the best we can with the resources available to us and see what happens? We are after all...only human beings.