Biodynamic
From WikiDemocracy
Biodynamic Agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudoscientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.
Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of synthetic (artificial) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include its treatment of animals, crops, and soil as a single system, an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems, its use of traditional and development of new local breeds and varieties. Some methods use an astrological sowing and planting calendar. Biodynamic agriculture uses various herbal and mineral additives for compost additives and field sprays; these are prepared using methods that are more akin to sympathetic magic than agronomy, such as burying ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil".
Biodynamic Farming: Poop in a Ram's Horn
by Renee Fisher 4/6/14 HUFFPOST
LBL, plunk in the middle of her annual warm weather tour of local ice cream emporiums, hadn't been keeping up with the world of anything sprouting from the ground. LBL's friend continued explaining that the bread LBL's Now Husband was eating, as well as all the root vegetables LBL and Now Husband had consumed, grew in soil prepared with a ram's horns filled with poop.
LBL decided to do some hard research. She started with the Internet.
Alan Chadwick in the Budding Grove: Story Summary for a Documentary Film
by Elizabeth Lennard 17/8/18 COUNTERPANCH
In 1971, when I was a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, I would wander through the campus Redwoods to a dense flower-filled garden and an adjoining small log cabin. A suntanned man in his early sixties, dressed only in shorts and armed with a simple spade, would barely look up from his work. When he ceased digging, he spoke in a fine British accent about a variety of subjects ranging from plants to literature to Greek philosophy.
Food Informants: A Week In The Life Of Rudy Marchesi, Biodynamic Wine Maker
Rudy Marchesi assumed ownership of Montinore Estates in 2006, but has had a hand in the estate since 1992 when he lead the fine wine department of the distribution house of Allied Beverage. In 1998, he began consulting on Montinore's vineyard management, winemaking and marketing. He became Vice President of Operations in 2001 and President in 2003. Marchesi obtained the Demeter Biodynamic certificate in 2008, which certifies wines based on the strict principles of biodynamic farming. This process involves an organic approach that treats the soil with fermented manure, minerals and herbs.
Filmmakers Share the Roots of their Seed Documentary
by Independent Lens in Interviews 12/4/17 PBS
With SEED: The Untold Story, filmmakers Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz complete a trilogy of sorts, after The Real Dirt on Farmer John and The New York Times Critic Pick Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us, of films that put a very human face on the intersection of agriculture and ecology. The beautifully shot SEED is “the rare documentary from filmmakers who are not just capable but also in love with their craft,” wrote Daphne Howland in the Village Voice. “The frightening beauty of SEED is the clarity with which it defines the mission of seed-savers — maintaining agricultural diversity for future generations, whatever the world they inherit,” adds Maitland McDonagh of Film Journal International. “It’s bluntly persuasive.”
California's Hidden Organic Wine Region
by Teresa Rodriguez 17/2/11 HUFFPOST
Less than two hours north of San Francisco is a tiny town called Hopland. As its name suggests, decades ago it was a bustling community of beer makers, but those glory days have passed and Hopland disappeared into oblivion. But with the rise of organic wines and biodynamic farming, Hopland once again is on the radar for foodies and wine connoisseurs.
Farm to Fork Across America: Cow Horns & Moonbeams, A Taste of Place
by Julie Ann Fineman 6/9/12 HUFFPOST
Horns, moonlight ceremonies, revered cow manure, timing by the solstice... these were some of the mystical elements of biodynamic farming we were exploring and questioning at the Benziger family winery. Our experience couldn't be further from our expectations. We left with an appreciation for harnessing the tools of nature based on ancient practices.
Down on the Wine Farm=
by Anneli Rufus 23/5/13 HUFFPOST
We don't normally think of them as such. We think of wine as the ultimate in elegance and chemical complexity, not simply to be quaffed but also to be very carefully and consciously and expertly sniffed and analyzed, its flavors and aromas so refined and rarefied, each bottle so unique, that unlike any other beverage wine can be sipped, then spat out unswallowed into jugs -- often the same jugs that are being spat into by many strangers simultaneously. This practice is considered respectful, normal and polite. Imagine doing that with Fresca, say, or milk.
