Garden Route Therapy

The October session of the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening program was hosted at Whole Circle Farm, in Acton, on a glorious fall day. In the warm farmhouse living room, Cory Eichman, our instructor, introduced us to the biodynamic preparations and their role within the farm. There are eight herbal and animal preparations based on indications introduced by Rudolf Steiner around 1924 to a group of farmers and later in his fifth agricultural lecture. The preparations are used to restore health to the soil and to maintain healthy soil. They are different however from typical fertilizers or usual compost starters and only extremely small quantities, similar to dilutions in homeopathy, are used. It is believed that the preparations are like medicine in that they should not be bought or sold. The preparations are made of common substances that have been potentized. Some are field sprays and others are added to compost. Most of the preparations are buried in the ground over winter.

In Culture & Horticulture: A Philosophy of Gardening by Wolf D. Strol the preparations are described as “creat[ing] conditions under which plants and soil become sufficiently sensitive to react to and absorb the incoming stream of life from the cosmos” (345). Strol goes on to say that “the preparations are the dynamic part of bio-dynamics” (345). Cory focused on how “the preparations work with the farm as a whole, creating the individuality of the farm”. An important component of farm individuality comes from being self contained, especially in regards to fertility. The different areas of land on the farm make up the different aspects of the farm’s individuality (this includes natural areas such as a woodland or wetland). In contrast to an ecosystem, for the farm to be healthy, the different aspects need to be organized by a person, the farmer. The use of the preparations works towards establishing and maintaining a healthy functioning farm organism. To fully understand the preparations one needs to grasp the whole picture, which I find challenging without a more complete understanding of Steiner’s conception of the world.

The opportunity we were given to go outside and actually make some of the preparations as a group gave me a better feel for the ideas presented and a connection with the intent. We made the following preparations: horn-dung, chamomile blossoms (flowers are stuffed into cattle intestine), oak bark (crumbled bark is stuffed into the skull of a farm animal) & dandelion blossoms (flowers are sown up in Bovine mesentary). *Other preparations include: the horn-quartz preparation, yarrow blossoms preparation, stinging nettle preparation & valerian preparation.

At the end of the day, Johann Kleinsasser, the farmer at Whole Circle Farm, gave us a tour of his organic and biodynamic farm. It was a great joy to see the cows up close roaming in the field, especially the milking calf. The school bus converted into a chicken coop was also an attraction. One could sense the thought, creativity and love that has been invested by Johann and Maggie in establishing their farm.

*Click on any of the pictures in this post to see more pictures of the day at the farm.