Harnessing Cosmic Energy for Profitable Farming
Biodynamic agriculture, or simply ‘biodynamics,’ is a farming system based on deep ecological principles that arose as a reaction to the spread of specialised agriculture and inorganic fertilisers at the turn of the twentieth-century. In terms of methodological beliefs, biodynamic farming stands apart from other systems with its use of nine distinct preparations, consisting of extracts from various sources (minerals, plants, and animal manure) which are applied in minute proportions to plants, the soil, or compost.
In many ways, biodynamics is similar to traditional organic farming systems, especially in the biological and cultural principles guiding its farming practices. However, it is distinct from other organic farming systems because it incorporates into its farming practices certain spiritual principles that aim to tap into cosmic and non-physical forces believed to exert an enriching influence on the farm and on the living organisms (human and non-human) that inhabit it.
Biodynamics thus combines biological practices, such as established organic farming methods that bolster soil health, and dynamic practices intended to enhance its metaphysical aspects (such as boosting the farm’s life energy) and make the farm’s rhythms coincide with Nature’s (such as scheduling planting in time with the phases of the moon).
In encouraging planting by lunar phases, biodynamics acknowledges that in the same manner that the Earth’s tidal movements and magnetism are influenced by its relative positions to the moon and the sun, so are the phases of plant growth. The idea is that the waxing and waning moon phases exert different influences on plants.
The biodynamics planting calendar recognises