Learning Biodynamics from the Pros: Biodynamic Conference in August

Three volunteer bean plants originally
planted from Biodynamic seeds provide
enough beans for two of us. This is the third
generation of this particular seed line.

On August 14-16 will be a Biodynamic Conference at the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA, Medicine for Earth and Man: The Earthworm, the Cow, and the Bee. There really is no better way to begin to get into Biodynamic gardening or farming than going to one of these conferences, meeting people who are just beginning and others have done it for years, and simply jumping in!  Donald and I hired an expert to work with us for a year, but this is a far less expensive way to go.

This year I plan on taking the workshop with Harald Hoven, founder of the Rafaela Garden at the College, on seed saving (more on this in future posts.) The changes in the earth have brought the necessity of approaching the earth in very different ways. This is particularly true with seeds. No longer can we be naive, planting anything that comes our way. GMO’s and the residues of herbicides used to grow GMO plants kill microorganisms in our intestines and  have punctuated how important it is to be conscious of everything that goes into the development of a seed.

Biodynamic agriculture began one hundred years ago when German/Austrian farmers noticed that seed was not as viable due to the use of chemical fertilizers even then.  Rudolf Steiner’s lectures, published as Agriculture Course, was his work to heal this problem. So this seed saving feels full circle!

If you are interested in Biodynamics, this will be an exciting conference to attend. The speakers are dynamic and submerged in study, research, and are passionate about healing Earth and Man.