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Current
Courses: 2007-2008 One-Year, Part-Time Training in
Biodynamics,
a Scientific and Spiritual Approach to Farming and Gardening
 (We) can
calculate in approximately how many decades (agricultural) products will
have degenerated to such an extent that they can no longer serve as human
nourishment. It will certainly be within this(20th) century....We can see
how necessary it is to derive forces from the spirit, forces that are as yet
quite unknown. This is necessary not only for the sake of somehow improving
agriculture, but so that human life on earth can continue at all, since as
physical beings we depend on what the Earth provides.
RUDOLF STEINER,
Agriculture, p. 3
As our knowledge of the
physical world has extended to the tiniest details, we have sought to
master nature with science and technology. Yet it appears that every
advance we have made in the application of our knowledge has brought with
it destructive and unforeseen consequences. We are confronting the
limitations of a materialistic approach to nature’s physical components.
In fact, physical substances — nitrogen, potassium, silica, lime...all of
them — are the end products of living processes that demand our attention,
our participation, if we intend to build and
maintain our agricultural health.
Held in 1924, Rudolf
Steiner’s agriculture lectures were titled, appropriately, “The Spiritual
Foundations for the Thriving of Agriculture”. His insights provided
practical bases for the kind of “sustainable” agriculture that our current
practices aspire to. Here are tools with which we can heal our ailing
soils, plants and animals. A spiritual understanding of nature and its
life forms will awaken greater potential for our stewardship of the earth.
Biodynamics has drawn on
the principles found in Steiner’s lectures to yield exceptional results
around the world for the last 80 years. The course described in this
brochure is offered in the conviction that biodynamics is the best way
to ensure a thriving agriculture, good nutrition…and a future for our
fragile planet. The course consists of eight monthly Saturday workshops
(with Friday workshops added in April and May) beginning in September,
2007, and ends with a three-day weekend intensive in June, 2008.
Workshop days are 9am to 5 pm..
| SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 15 Evolution, Environment & Ecology |
A brief sketch of the
evolution of the earth from a spiritual scientific standpoint. What are
our tasks at this time in relation to the environment and why do farming
and gardening play such a vital role in ecological, economic and social
issues? Presented by
Gunther Hauk. |
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13
Biodynamic Preparations |
At the
heart of the biodynamic method are the preparations used to treat the
soil, compost and crops. Mac Mead and
Steffen Schneider (of the
certified biodynamic Hawthorne Valley Farm in Columbia County, NY) will
lead us in making most of these preparations, as we discuss their
healing effects on the earth and its produce. |
| SATURDAY,
NOVEMBER 3 Soil Building
& Composting |
Healthy soils bring forth
healthy plants. We will explore basic concepts concerning soil building
and composting methods. In the practical part at our compost site, we
will not only discover composts of different materials and stages of
maturity, we will also get our hands good and dirty doing so. |
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1
Farm Animal Husbandry /
Seeing Nature Whole
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Steffen Schneider (see
October 13) will share a wealth of knowledge and experience with us.
Craig Holdrege, author of
“Genetics and the Manipulation of Life,” will explore how we can better
understand the world, and our place in it, by working with the living
dynamic qualities of plants and animals; and will discuss the
implications of this understanding for sustainability. |
| SATURDAY,
FEBRUARY 23 Pruning Fruit Trees /
Seed Saving & Rejuvenation |
Pruning fruit trees is both
a science and an art. The seed question is of vital importance for the
future of our food supply.
Hugh Williams, one of the
best orchardists in the East and a biodynamic farmer (Threshold Farm)
with a large CSA, will be the main presenter.
A few hours of hands-on pruning will be included. |
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SATURDAY, MARCH 15
Cosmic Forces in Relation
to Nutritional Qualities |
We all
know how the moon pulls the tides. What influences does it — or do the
other planets — have on plant life? By learning how to strengthen and
harmonize these influences, we can enhance the nutritional value of our
food. We will also take a close look at the profound mystery that is
human nutrition. Presented by Gunther
Hauk. |
| FRIDAY, APRIL
11 Preparation #501
/ Teas |
Making the horn-silica
preparation involves grinding quartz crystals down to .2 microns. The
day’s other focus will be the making and applying herbal and compost
teas. Artistic activity and research project presentations follow. |
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SATURDAY, APRIL 12
Water: H2O or Much More? |
Water
quality is fast becoming one of the world’s most pressing environmental
issues. Do we really know what water is, what tasks it has in life
processes, or how it carries them out?
Jennifer Greene, director of
the Water Research Institute in Maine, will take us far beyond what we
commonly know, or suppose we know, of this element. |
| FRIDAY, MAY
9
Barrel Compost / D8 Preparation |
Half the day will be devoted
to making the barrel compost preparation and a potentization for pest
control. The other half will be spent on an artistic activity and
presentations of research projects. |
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SATURDAY, MAY 10
Bees / Life Rhythms
& Garden Tasks |
Given the
drastic reduction of honeybee colonies in the last 20 years, we have to
dig deep for the causes, and deeper still to discover the necessary
means for reversing this trend. In the second half of the workshop, we
will look at the rhythms of sun and moon, and learn to work with nature,
not against it. This enables us to compensate for extreme weather,
making our task easier and improving the quality of our crops Presented
by Gunther Hauk. |
| FRIDAY -
SUNDAY, JUNE 20-22 The Final Weekend |
Making nettle and yarrow
preparations; taking out old preps; various compost activities;
presentation of research projects. Theoretical topics could include
demonstrating planetary influences on plants; plants and their
correspondences to the human psyche, compost analysis, and others. |
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