Bio-dynamic farming

https://www.biodynamic.org.uk/ 

Where in organic farming the goal is mainly to grow food without poison, as well as growing in an environmentally sustainable way, Bio-dynamic farming may do many of the same things, but there is a farther reaching philosophy behind it.

The philosophy of Bio-dynamic agriculture, as I see it:

We i.e. Mankind, were created for a specific purpose: we were given the freedom of will. It is the hope of God and the Spirit world from which we are created, that we will choose to do what is good, from our own free will. We have had to go deep in to matter, and lose touch with the spirit world, so that we can be truly free. From this point in our history we can choose to either work towards bringing something back to that spirit world, or to just go there as fast as we can, with no attention or care for others (Lucifer's path) or to just stay stuck in matter and materialism (Ahriman's path).

When we were first created, we were only heat, energy. In the lengthy process that made us evolve into the people we are now, some of the ‘energy souls’ that could have become Man (m/f) have sacrificed themselves, by staying behind in their development, and (under the guidance of the Spirit world) have become something else: the earth, the plants, the animals. This was essential, we need the Earth, the plants and the animals for our existence, and we need this place to learn to become all of our potential. This is our practice-ground.

Bio-dynamic agriculture is a way of farming where we understand, at least at some level, that this is so. And as Man (m/f) we can make a choice to help these potential people that stayed behind, to develop in to something new.

So, right now we try to: to enliven the soil, to bring it to life; to help the plants to develop feelings and animals to develop individual souls and for all of them to continue their development and eventually return to the Spirit world.

This leads, for example, to the way we care for the soil: groundwork is kept as light as possible, and we use compost and manure, preferably from animals living on the farm, to feed the soil.

We choose plant varieties that are more resistant to diseases, that grow sturdier plants, and we give them time to grow, so we don’t put too much manure down for them.

Animals get the space to live and wander around, in the stable and in the field. There is much more space per animal than in conventional agriculture, both inside and outside.

Farms are often mixed, so that the different elements can work together as a whole.

We farm sustainably and respectfully out of appreciation for our ‘kin’.

In the Gardens of Love, we can take this philosophy and the care for soil, plants and animals further to an even greater level.

From Growing Gardens of Love, by Noor Bunnik