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30 Woodbridge Road
Salem, CT 06420
Phone/fax: 860 889 5797
E-mail: woodbridgefarm@sbcglobal.net
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Philosophy
What is Biodynamic agriculture? In seeking an answer
let us pose the further question: Can the Earth heal
itself, or has the waning of the Earths vitality gone too
far for this? No matter where our land is located, if we
are observant we will see sure signs of illness in trees,
in our cultivated plants, in the water, even in the
weather.

Biodynamics is a science of life-forces, a recognition of
the basic principles at work in nature, and an approach
to agriculture which takes these principles into account
to bring about balance and healing. In a very real way,
then, Biodynamics is an ongoing path of knowledge rather
than an assemblage of methods and techniques.

Some of the basic principles of Biodynamics are:

Broaden Our Perspective
Just as we need to look at the magnetic field of the
whole earth to comprehend the compass, to understand
plant life we must expand our view to include all that
affects plant growth. No narrow microscopic view will
suffice. Plants are utterly open to and formed by
influences from the depths of the earth to the heights of
the heavens. Therefore our considerations in agriculture
must range more broadly than is generally assumed to be
relevant.

Reading The Book Of Nature
Everything in nature reveals something of its essential
character in its form and gesture. Careful observations
of nature - in shade and full sun, in wet and dry areas,
on different soils, will yield a more fluid grasp of the
elements. So eventually one learns to read the language
of nature. And then one can be creative, bringing new
emphasis and balance through specific actions.

Practitioners and experimenters over the last seventy
years have added tremendously to the body of knowledge
known as Biodynamics.

Cosmic Rhythms
The light of the sun, moon, planets and stars reaches
the plants in regular rhythms. Each contributes to the
life, growth and form of the plant. By understanding the
gesture and effect of each rhythm, we can time our
ground preparation, sowing, cultivating and harvesting to
the advantage of the crops we are raising.

Plant Life Is Intimately Bound Up With The Life Of
The Soil
Biodynamics recognizes that soil itself can be alive, and
this vitality supports and affects the quality and health
of the plants that grow in it. Therefore, one of
Biodynamics fundamental efforts is to build up stable
humus in our soil through composting.

A New View Of Nutrition
We gain our physical strength from the process of
breaking down the food we eat. The more vital our food,
the more it stimulates our own activity. Thus, Biodynamic
farmers and gardeners aim for quality, and not only
quantity.

Chemical agriculture has developed short-cuts to quantity
by adding soluble minerals to the soil. The plants take
these up via water, thus by-passing their natural ability
to seek from the soil what is needed for health, vitality
and growth. The result is a deadened soil and artificially
stimulated growth.

Biodynamics grows food with a strong connection to a
healthy, living soil.

Medicine For The Earth: Biodynamic Preparations
Naturally occurring plant and animal materials are
combined in specific recipes in certain seasons of the
year and then placed in compost piles. These
preparations bear concentrated forces within them and
are used to organize the chaotic elements within the
compost piles. When the process is complete, the
resulting preparations are medicines for the Earth which
draw new life forces from the cosmos.

Two of the preparations are used directly in the field,
one on the earth before planting, to stimulate soil life,
and one on the leaves of growing plants to enhance their
capacity to receive the light. Effects of the preparations
have been verified scientifically.

The Farm As The Basic Unit Of Agriculture
In his Agriculture course, Rudolf Steiner posed the ideal
of the self-contained farm - that there should be just the
right number of animals to provide manure for fertility,
and these animals should, in turn, be fed from the farm.

We can seek the essential gesture of such a farm also
under other circumstances. It has to do with the
preservation and recycling of the life-forces with which
we are working. Vegetable waste, manure, leaves, food
scraps, all contain precious vitality which can be held
and put to use for building up the soil if they are
handled wisely. Thus, composting is a key activity in
Biodynamic work.

The farm is also a teacher, and provides the educational
opportunity to imitate natures wise self-sufficiency within
a limited area. Some have also successfully created
farms through the association of several parcels of
non-contiguous land.