Dr Manfred Klett talks about the Principles of Biodynamic Agriculture
“The old world rejected the Mother of the World, but the New World begins to perceive Her lustrous veil.” [Agni Yoga, verse 55]:
Dr Manfred Klett is passionate about soil. Sounds a little mundane? Only when you remain the “onlooker to nature” says Dr Klett, 76. Looked at from a biodynamic perspective, we can become aware of the sacredness of this microscopic world and begin to realize why its secrets have kept Dr Klett intrigued and inspired for more than 50 years.
“When I was 20 I went with a group of farmers to Syria to experiment with growing cotton using overhead irrigation in a semi-arid climate. I looked around me at the ancient landscape, now so barren, yet hiding a once thriving ancient civilization. I knew my task was to go back to Germany and experiment with biodynamic principles to help prevent the European landscapes from following the same destiny,” vowed Dr Klett.
What is biodynamic agriculture?
Biodynamic (BD) means bios – Life, and dynamos – energy. This approach to agriculture evolved from the development of anthroposophy by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian Natural Scientist, philosopher, educator, architect, and social thinker who lived between 1861 and 1925. Anthroposophy aims to extend the scientific method to include the concept of the soul spirit.
The principles of biodynamics – sometimes referred to as a supercharged organics – are rooted in earth and cosmos, in the depths of the soil and the heights of the intuitive vision. It is a practical outcome of anthroposophy. Biodynamic’s premise is that the farm is a living organism. Ideally, a self-sufficient entity, a kind of individuality, where the crops and livestock, manure and planets, soil and the farmer are intrinsically and holistically linked.
Begin at the beginning.
Dr Klett returned to Germany in 1955 and started his two-year apprenticeship on a farm in the vicinity of Frankfurt/Main. “I believe you can’t really learn about biodynamic principles from a text book,” says Dr Klett. “It has to be a whole-person experience because biodynamics is based on the connections between macrocosm and microcosm, and on the existence of a spiritual side of life.”
Although organic agriculture provides a stepping-stone to biodynamic methods, it is important to understand the quality of, and integrated relationship between plant, animal and soil to grow plants in this way. The organic fertilizer – animal manure – used on a biodynamic farm is impregnated with¬ six life-activating preparations, and two others are sprayed on the soil and the plants. All plants are grown according to the celestial rhythms and moon phases.
The horned cow is intrinsic to the biodynamic farm because the farmers believe her manure is a unique offering – the end result of an amazing digestive process the cow is carrying out during her particular style of contemplation. When the cow’s manure is returned to the earth the enzymes give the soil an added vitality and type of ‘nous’ that other manures are not able to do. The farmer is like the soul-spirit in the whole process from soil preparation through to harvest – guiding and imbuing the whole farm’s journey with his sense of intuition – to bring all components together into a tightly woven, harmonious dance.
After completing his apprenticeship, Dr Klett graduated from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim with a doctorate in soil science, and then spent the next few years doing research at the Biodynamic Institute in Germany.
In 1968, Dr Klett’s family, along with four other families, leased 400 acres in Frankfurt from the German Government. “We wanted to develop our farm as a universal experiment of cooperative farming and living,” says Dr Klett. “It was hard work with no money, but we were so inspired with the vision of what we could achieve that gradually, it became a reality.”
In 1974 the community, still composed of the original five families, started the Landbauschule Dottenfelderhof, a Farm School for farmers who wanted to learn biodynamic farming methods. The following year they started a bio-dynamic research station with, among other projects, a plant breeding program. This involved growing new, more vital plants from original cultivars that would then be planted and grown on the bio-dynamic farm all over the country counteracting the threat of GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). Biodynamic farmers use old cultivar varieties because these have a stronger life-force than the present hybrid plant strains.
Which is best: biodynamic or organic?
In 1978 at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)1 in Switzerland a research project was started called the Dynamic Organic Conventional (DOK) experiment. It compared plants grown using conventional ( artificial fertilisers), organic ( organic manures) and biodynamic (grown according to biodynamic principles) agricultural methods.
This experiment2 looked at soil quality, plant vitality, food quality and taste in each of the groups. The research, which continues today, showed that bio-dynamically grown products have distinct differences when compared with the conventional and organically grown produce.
Biodynamically grown vegetables were found to have slightly lower yield but longer storage capacity than the other groups which means they were able to maintain their vitamin and mineral content for longer. The biodynamically grown group also had higher protein, vitamin c, and a better taste than the other groups.
An interesting consideration is that when vitamin C 3 is in food it increases the effect of vitamin E, folic acid and iron so there’s a flow-on effect from the increased vitamin C present in biodynamically grown plants. The effect continues because an increase in vitamin E then increases the effect of selenium and vitamin A. Vitamin A further increases the effect of iron, and so on. Nutritionally speaking, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And small differences in nutrient levels can matter a lot.
Along with these tangible benefits, another key difference is the life force in the plants which is imparted to us when we eat the food. Willy Schilthuis discusses in her book Biodynamic Agriculture,4 an experiment done in sandy soils, to compare biodynamic and conventional methods. It showed that the biodynamic plots were darker with higher humus content in both the top and sub soils. The biodynamic soils had more beneficial microbes and enzyme activity which encouraged the plants to grow bigger and stronger roots which helped them to absorb the soil nutrients essential to life and vitality. This research is continuing today at the Institute for bio-dynamic research at Darmstadt/Germany.5
Plant the seeds today for tomorrow.
Dr Klett says it can be challenging for many of us to understand biodynamic principles because it’s difficult to measure effects like life and vitality with conventional testing methods. “We are modern, scientifically educated people with an onlooker consciousness,” says Dr Klett. “We only see the outside of nature and find it hard to understand what’s going on inside. That has enabled us to develop a brutal and exploitative relationship with plants and animals.”
“The research done by Steiner and biodynamic farmers is helping us to open the door a little and look more deeply into the inner, spiritual world of nature,” says Dr Klett. “This new insight can bring a richness to the onlooker whose consciousness begins to expand as he sees more deeply into the secrets held in the natural world.”
Dr Klett left the Farm after 21 years to share his knowledge and experience as a consultant and speaker on biodynamic principles. The Farm which he helped to found has a shop which is a sell-out success with the locals who love the way the produce looks and tastes. Once a year the Dottenfelderhof Farm opens its doors to the public where between 5,000 and 7,000 visitors come for the open day to learn more about living according to biodynamic principles, the way food is grown using biodynamic methods; and of course there’s plenty of high-quality produce to enjoy.
The principles of biodynamics are becoming attractive to those of us who want to make a more conscious choice about what we eat and where and how our food is produced. In the process we are assisted to form a deeper understanding and appreciation of the sacred interconnectedness that exists behind nature’s lustrous veil.
Sources:
1. www.fibl.org the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) Retrieved 29.6.09
2. http://www.michaelfieldsaginst.org/education/comparison.pdf Comparisons of Conventional, Organic, and Biodynamic Methods W. Goldstein (MFAI), W. Barber (MFAI), L. Carpenter Retrieved 29.6.09
3. http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/Arun/V%20Worethington.pdf Nutrition and Biodynamics Retrieved 30.6.09
4. Schilthuis, W. Biodynamic Agriculture, 1994, Edinburgh.
5. König, U.J., Institut für biologisch-dynamische Forschung, Darmstadt/Germany
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }