The Biodynamic Education Centre is conducting a "Introduction to Biodynamics" course at Purple Pear Organics in early November 2011.
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In this issue we have a report on Veronika Gudenus’s talk given on Friday 26th March at Tocal.
And a report from the Field day at Margie Bruvel’s on 17th April
Nutrition and Health
Talk by Veronika Gudenus
Report by Susan Schmiedte
Veronika introduced us to the idea of the threefoldness of the human being, related it to the human organism and its nutrition.
Nutrition feeds the body, soul and spirit, not only with food but also through sleep, sense perceptions, (e.g. colours, music), relationships, community support etc.
We will look at nutrition and health in relation to food and absorption of food. One can draw comparisons between the archetypal plant form and the human body. One starts with the spherical form of the root ball the other with the round form of the head in the embryo. Plants take up the minerals through the roots and by eating those, the mineral forces find their task in the head working down into the digestive system. In the plant the stem brings minerals up into the fruit and flower.
The head is cool, a little cooler than the rest of the body as the root ball is in the plant. The head is still, even when the body is active, it carries the thinking realm. As we take food into the digestive system chaos needs to be created and all substance is broken down, destroyed, so that the life forces are released and can be used by the individual. Out of chaos something new can grow. (Remember the vortex when we stir 500?) Cooking will enhance some foods and help the first step of digestion.
Health and disease are, as the rhythms of nature, always changing, bringing challenges in life, challenges we are to act upon. Disease is the absence of ease.
We need to eat food with vitality; food that is grown bio-dynamically. Then our digestion will have the forces needed to nourish us in all aspects.
To conclude Margaret Bruvel commented on the saying: We are what we eat. If we eat what does NOT support our individual wellbeing that would be correct.
Horn Filling Field Day
Margie & John Bruvel’s 17th April 2010
Report by Loo Boothroyd
About 25 cheerful, willing members gathered to help with the horn filling and to hear David Williams talk about his experience with biodynamics.
Horn Filling
Fresh cow manure from lactating cows was supplied by Fosterton Farm and Danny Woodland. Simon talked about feeding the cows hay in addition to the rich green pasture to make a better consistency for the horn filling. Danny said he took care to skim off the top of the cow pats.
Some of the points we discussed about filling cow horns with cow manure were:
We buried about 800 horns. Margie asked David Williams to thank his sister, Diana, for organising the cow horns to be kept for us. She arranges with her local abattoir to keep the horns separately. She then buries them for 2-3 weeks to keep the flies away and allow time for the bone core to shrink and be removed.
David Williams … Biodynamic farmer, miller, biodynamic assessor and lifetime biodynamic practitioner.
The Preps Shed
David talked initially about the Preps Shed his father built in 1948 in Roseville, Sydney, to make all the biodynamic preparations. David’s father, Bob Williams joined the Anthroposophical Society in 1935 and from this he developed his interest in biodynamics.
He grew all the herbs and followed Steiner’s indications about making the preps, Bob also grew herbs for medicinal purposes, David’s mother came from a farming background in the Gunnedah district, which was to later become the area where David farmed for 40 years, 10 years for other farmers and 30 years on his own property.
BD History in Australia
Bob Williams was one of the key figures in establishing biodynamic agriculture in Australia. Later on in 1950 Alex Podolinsky migrated to Australia and started to develop his knowledge of biodynamics. He worked with Bob Williams for 3-5 years, staying with the Williams family on and off over that period developing his understanding of the BD preps. Podolinsky went on to establish Demeter Australia in Victoria and works with farmers all over Australia and abroad. Another important figure in the early days was Ruby Macpherson who donated a significant amount of money to assist getting biodynamic agriculture more established. In the late 60’s early 70’s Terry Forman studied under Bob Williams as part of his university agricultural course. He studied the soils on David’s farm in Gunnedah,doing chemical analyses looking for soil bacteria and the chemical make-up of soils under biodynamic agriculture.
David’s farming background
In 1960 David studied Agricultural Science in Sydney and on completion of his course he worked for a farmer in the Northern Tablelands area and in the Breeza area. They were conventional farms and he learnt a lot about good farming practice and started to consider the areas where he would like to change and develop biodynamic farming practices. After this David moved to Gunnedah and managed his uncle’s farm for 5 years before eventually buying his own farm at Breeza, nearby, with his young family. David spent a long time looking for the right property, in particular, land that had its own catchment area, so that any water that moved across his property would not be spoiled by the chemical fertilizers and pesticides being used by neighbouring farmers. Furthermore he needed a good source of water. The property that fulfilled all his requirements was the farm that became Demeter Farm which he purchased in 1970. There were several dams on the property and a good supply of bore water that was clean and not chemically polluted. He bought the farm from an old farmer who had lived and farmed very simply for over 50 years. Prior to this period there was no such thing as chemical farming, so he knew it was a safe property to buy. He recommends anyone buying a farm should get soil analyses done to ensure the land isn’t polluted.Initially they farmed sheep and grew crops such as wheat, rye and lucerne, then later moved into cattle. They used lucerne as a break crop every 5-6 years as part of the rotation of the paddocks and the sheep and cattle would also graze on it.Demeter Farm’s biodynamic wheat quickly developed a reputation for being an excellent quality product. David supplied wheat to Demeter Bakery in Glebe and Irwin Birney exported wheat grain to Europe until the local demand grew. David’s wheat was very high in protein something which was very difficult to get in Northern Europe and ideal for making bread. In 1982 he supplied some excess wheat to the Wheat Board and it was tested to have 18.8% protein the highest level of protein they had ever seen. BD Farming Practices
David concentrates his BD spraying on the cropping paddocks. He uses a stirring machine which fits on to the back of his tractor and he sprays directly on to the crops. After harvesting he sows green manure which is later ploughed in, ensuring the weeds are ploughed in before they seed. He uses a one way disc plough. Winter weeds can especially be a problem before harvesting, so it’s important to turn them in early. His paddocks are rotated growing a diversity of crops, including snail medic green manure which is fine for the cattle as it doesn’t cause bloat. The primary spray David uses is BD 500 with the addition of valerian BD 570 which he stirs in for the last 20 minutes. He only sprays BD 500 when the soil surface is moist as with broadacre farming moisture is most important when you are putting out teaming billions of bacteria with the BD 500. He has found that in his area BD 501 is not as important as the other preps.He has never had fungal problems. He says it’s necessary to get the soils right and then uses the Brix Test to test the sugar content and the dissolved minerals in the sap of the plants and once the level is right there are no insect problems.
Biodynamic Agriculture Australia
In 1985 David was one of the foundation members of the Biological Farmers of Australia. This association was established along with 7 farming families and they met to share and develop their knowledge of biodynamic farming.
They developed a certification program and David was one of the people involved in writing the first Organic/Biodynamic Standards for Australia.
Other points that arose:
Carol Rose asked whether there is any connection between the decline in the quality of wheat and the increase in gluten allergies.
David talked about the selective breeding of modern varieties of wheat. Many are hybrids which mean you cannot keep your own seed. There have also been changes in the protein in the wheat, developed so they can make bread in 2 hours as the new protein changes the strength of the dough, thus becoming harder to digest. The gluten is the protein in the wheat and it is the type of gluten that is important. The older varieties do not have these problems and it is the new varieties that people with wheat intolerance cannot take.
What about spelt?
It has been grown for 6000 years in Central Europe. David has also grown it, but it can be more difficult as it is necessary for the husk to be left on for germination to take place. A lot of the spelt used in Australia comes from Canada and it is already milled and the measurements of protein are low.
Cadmium doesn’t get taken up in soils with high levels of organic matter.
Radioactivity in soils is not being tested, despite the fact that it is blowing all over the world
Root vegetables pick up far more chemicals from the soil, also oils in seeds such as soy and sunflower
Certification of farms used to be carried out by inspectors who were practical farmers. Now certification is carried out by professional auditors who don’t have the practical knowledge.
We thanked David for coming to our Field Day, for making a 7 hour return journey to share with us some of his knowledge and experience. We also wished him well as he is leaving NSW and moving to WA following the compulsory purchase of his farm for mining. He will be greatly missed.
COMING EVENTS FIELD DAY
Saturday 26th June
Tony and Deidre Honson’s
2 Bridge Street Fassifern
Grafting, Budding, Tree Pasting and Pruning
A chance to look at this very productive urban garden,
Gain some very valuable information, and catch up with some great people.