Star and furrow 108

JOURNAL OF THE BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION ■ ISSUE NO: 108 ■ WINTER 2007 ■ ISSN NO: 1472-4634 ■ £4.50

MILK QUALITY AND HUMAN HEALTH INTERVIEW WITH LYNETTE WEST ELYSIA GARDEN AT RYTON

Apprentice Training A two year practical apprentice training course is offered in biodynamic agriculture and horticulture.Apprentices work in exchange for board and lodging on established The Association exists in order to supbiodynamic farms and gardens and receive port, promote and develop the biodynamic tutorial guidance and instruction from exapproach to farming, gardening and forestry. perienced practitioners. Practical training is This unique form of organic husbandry is supported with regular theoretical sessions inspired by the research of Rudolf Steiner either on the farm or in coordination with (1861-1925) and is founded on a holistic and other local centres.Two week-long block spiritual understanding of nature and the courses are offered to all UK apprentices human being. each year. Graduating apprentices receive a certificate from the BDAA. The Association tries to keep abreast of developments in science, nutrition, education, Funding health and social reform. It is linked to the The Association is a small organisation Agricultural Department of the School of wholly dependent on subscriptions, donaSpiritual Science (Switzerland) and affiliated tions and grants.There is a healthy and as a group of the Anthroposophical Society growing interest in biodynamics and to meet in Great Britain. It is also a full member of this welcome development additional funds Demeter International, SUSTAIN, IFOAM are being sought to supplement the limited and the Five Year Freeze. resources available. Becoming a member and encouraging others to join is an important Membership is open to everyone interested way of supporting the work. Donations over in working with, developing or learning about and above the recommended membership biodynamics. Current rates are £30 (£15.00 subscription are also extremely helpful. Even concessions). Members receive a quarterly the smallest contribution can make a real difnewsletter, Star and Furrow twice a year, ference. For those considering making a Will regular information on events and access to and possibly leaving something to support a member’s library. Many local groups exist biodynamic development, a legacy leaflet is for further study and the exchange of practi- now available. Please contact the office for cal experiences. a copy.

STAR & FURROW Journal of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association Published twice yearly Issue Number 108 - Winter 2007 ISSN 1472-4634

The BDAA stocks more than a hundred For information on all aspects of the books on biodynamic agriculture and related Association’s work contact: subjects.These are available from the office by mail order.

Biodynamic Agricultural Association, Painswick Inn Project, Seed development project Gloucester Street, Stroud, The Association is working to develop a sus- Glos, GL5 1QG tainable on farm plant breeding programme, Tel. 0044 (0)1453 759501 increase the availability of high quality seed varieties suited to organic growing condiEmail: office@biodynamic.org.uk tions and encourage the establishment of a cooperative network of biodynamic seed Website: www.biodynamic.org.uk producers.The breeding and development of appropriate site adapted varieties is of vital interest to biodynamic farmers and offers the only long term alternative to biotechnology. It also requires an ongoing research commitment that is entirely dependant on gifts and donations.

Final dates for contributions are 1st April for the summer issue and 1st October for the winter issue. Copy should either, be typed/printed in black on A4 paper, on disk in a format accessible to Microsoft Word or sent by e-mail. Please send articles to the editor at the BDAA Office.

Demeter Certification The Association owns and administers the Demeter Certification Mark that is used by biodynamic producers in the UK to guarantee to consumers that internationally recognised biodynamic production standards are being followed.These standards cover both production and processing and apply in more than forty countries.They are equivalent to or higher than basic organic standards.The Demeter scheme is recognised in the UK as Front cover picture: © Richard Swann Organic Certification UK6.

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STAR & FURROW is the membership magazine of The Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA). It is issued free to members.

Non members can also purchase Star and Furrow. For two copies per annum the rates are: UK £9.50 including postage Europe (airmail) £10.50 Rest of the World (airmail) £12.00 Editor: Richard Swann, Contact via the BDAA Office or E-mail: rswann@biodynamic.org.uk Design & layout: Dave Thorp of ‘The Workshop’ Printed on 100% recycled paper

by Severnprint, Gloucester Published by the Biodynamic Agricultural Association © B.D.A.A. 2007 Charity No: 269036 The function of Star and Furrow is to encourage the free exchange of ideas and experience among those who work with, or are interested in biodynamic farming, gardening and related subjects. Contributors subscribe to no dogma and are bound by no rules.Their contributions are personal documents, not official utterances by the Association.

BDAA COUNCIL Chairman: Nick Raeside Treasurer: Ian Bailey Other Council Members: Brian Cavendish, Liz Ellis, Richard Gantlet, Robert Lord,Tony Mathews, Sebastian Parsons, Richard Thornton-Smith and Chris Stockdale BDAA Executive Director: Bernard Jarman Email: bjarman@biodynamic.org.uk Association Secretary: Jessica Standing Email: office@biodynamic.org.uk DEMETER STANDARDS COMMITTEE Chairman: Huw Shepherd Tel: 0131 229 7803 Scheme Co-ordinator and Secretary: Hilary Campbell Email: demeter@biodynamic.org.uk Demeter Manager: Timothy Brink Tel: 0131 478 1201 Email: timbrink@biodynamic.org.uk STAR AND FURROW EDITORIAL GROUP Richard Swann, Bernard Jarman, Jessica Standing, Anna Irwin and Jane Cobbald, © Richard Swann

THE BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION (BDAA)

JOURNAL OF THE BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION ■ ISSUE NO: 108 ■ WINTER 2007 ■ ISSN NO: 1472-4634 ■ £4.50

Editorial Hardly a day goes by without a new report on the state of the planet being published. We live in a time of increased consciousness of our valuable resources; land, water, fossil fuels and of course food.

This year saw the first Biodynamic Food Fortnight where the aim was to bring about public awareness of the existence of Demeter foods and thence the growing of food in a more sustainable way. The public is now fairly well educated when it comes to organic but there is now an increasing interest in both growing our own as well as supporting local producers. The Cow Pat Pit as described in this issue is well suited for the use of the small grower and lends itself to community involvement.

Awareness of our dwindling resources not only brings concerns about their future availability but also their importance within the earth. The forthcoming IBIG conference will address this through a workshop type of event at the end of February. The article in this issue aims to stimulate interest in the fascinating subject of the inner nature of the elements that comprise protein (and humus).

Each year the Agricultural Section based in Dornach suggests themes for the year. This year’s theme was concerned with Land and Spirit. In the UK a number of events were arranged to address this. A report of one of the events is reported here along with an essay by a leading environmentalist on land ownership.

The coming year’s theme is about the Agricultural Course itself and we hope to do justice to that via this magazine.

Finally, biodynamics is featuring more prominently in the public domain. On what was one of the wettest days this year, the newly designed bio dynamic show garden was opened at Garden Organic in Ryton, Warwickshire. This interesting concept will surely attract the attention of many visitors and hopefully more interest in biodynamic growing in this country.

CONTENTS page The functions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur - Wilhelm Pelikan Milk Quality and Human Health - Ton Baars Milk Quality - horned and dehorned cows - Jenifer Wohlers A Load of Old Beetroots - Richard Swann Heritage Prime Elysia Garden, Ryton - Jane Cobbald Interview with Lynette West Cow Pat Pit - Peter proctor Biodynamic Food Fortnight - Richard Swann The Spirit of Land Sea and Soil - Christine Walton and Val Collett The Real Price of Property - Alastair McIntosh The Winter Onion Festivals of Catalonia - Wendy Cook Potato Days - Jane Cobbald Obituary: Pauline Anderson - Lana Chanarin Product Review - Jessica Standing Book Reviews: In tune with the moon - Bernard Jarman Maria Thun Books - Richard Swann Demeter Market Place

© Richard Swann

Richard Swann EDITOR

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Principal protein constituents as elements serving the incarnation of the higher aspects of being

By Wilhelm Pelikan

© Richard Swann

FOR MANY PEOPLE Lecture 3 of the Agriculture Course is one of the more difficult lectures to understand.With this in mind an IBIG conference has been arranged for the end of February 2008 (see box) to explore the nature of the substances.

This extract from the book ‘Healing Plants’ is reproduced here as an inspiration and a lead up to the conference.

Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and of course sulphur, the basic elements found in protein, are usually considered as they present in the inorganic sphere. The properties they show individually, in their naked state, so to speak, are studied, and an attempt is then made to decide on the result of putting them together, the idea being that they ultimately add up to protein. This is atomistic thinking, proceeding from the parts obtained on analysis, the elements, to the whole. But does reversal of analysis ever lead to synthesis, or reversal of fragmentation to the original whole?

In life, it is always the other way round; starting from the whole, it organizes itself in parts. The whole is never made up from its parts. Foreign matter is only useful to the organism insofar as it is willing to give up its specific qualities, letting itself be taken hold of and transformed. The specific properties that make a substance something in its own right are of no significance to the organism as a whole.

It only values the non - properties that enable an alien whole to take hold of a substance and change it to suit its own needs. It is not what carbon, nitrogen, etc., are that enables life to take hold of these elements and incorporate them, but what they are not. Thus non - being in the inorganic sphere can achieve being in the organic world. Through it, wholes existing as entities are able to take form in the material world.

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The question arises as to how life, soul and spirit are actually able to gain a foothold in a world of carbon, oxygen, and so on. There must be something inherent in them that makes it possible. It must be part of their nature to be open to such intervention.

It was Rudolf Steiner who first showed the “archetypal phenomena” to be found in carbon, hydrogen, etc., which explain why life, soul and spirit incarnate through these elements. Below, we print the description he gave in a series of lectures to farmersi and another to physiciansii.

These archetypal phenomena hold the true secret of the protein constituents.

Carbon is “the bearer of all structuring processes in nature, ... the great sculptor ... when fully in movement it holds everywhere within it the structuring cosmic images, the great imagery of the universe, out of which every structure in the natural world arises.” The spiritual element in the universe that gives structure is able to come in and act on organic carbon as it takes shape and then again dissolves.

Carbon has this faculty because of its marvellously plastic quality, a quality representing on the one hand the highest degree of being determined from outside, and on the other, an immense latent power to give structure. Carbon chemistry holds far richer potential than that of other elements, clear proof of the ability of this element to be open to outside influences, “responsive” to all, letting polar opposites take effect, bearing within itself utterly inconceivable multiformity and therefore able to open up, in infinitely many different ways, to the rich and varied outside world. When other elements have long since ceased to be able to combine in yet further ways, carbon offers itself in inexhaustible eagerness for ever new and different combinations. It is present as carbon dioxide in water and air; carbonates form

Sweet Pea. Leguminous plants have a strong connection to nitrogen through the fixation nodules. © Richard Swann

whole mountain ranges; it is soft and metal - like as graphite (black lead); its densest form, however, is diamond, the hardest material known on earth. Most amenable to being shaped, carbon is also capable of producing the highest form itself; it does however almost completely refrain from doing so, making it very much the exception, so that diamonds are rare and precious. What other substance has better “knowledge” of the mystery of spirit in form: to be formable and at the same time also highest form? A branch, a flower, an animal tissue, may be reduced to charcoal, but the shape and form of every cell, the skeleton of the whole object, is retained by carbon when all other protein constituents have long since taken their leave and cast off such form. Plants in particular “stiffen” carbon in producing carbohydrates, the supporting substance in their bodies, a tendency shown in most varied and perfect form by the palms; animals and humans dissolve the solidified carbon structures again and again; they do not stiffen up like plants, or palms. The living realms of nature thus react to the carbon dioxide process in opposite ways.

With this, we immediately come to oxygen, the second protein constituent. The carbon element in living organisms needs to be filled with an etheric principle, to be taken hold of by an ether body. “This etheric principle would be ... something that, being etheric, might have no basis for existence in our physical world ... slipping through everywhere, a mere nothing, one might say, unable to get a grip on the things it ought to get a grip on ... if it did not have a physical element as its carrier.” The form of matter that enables the etheric to incarnate is oxygen (supported by sulphur), which explains why it is essential to life. The more life, the greater the oxygen consumption. Young, vital tissues breathe more actively than older ones. Oxygen has the prop-

erties that make it the most suitable form of matter to be taken hold of by the etheric principle, to carry and transmit it. We owe the existence of water to its activities, water, the primal substance from which all living things are created, the “womb” always ready to receive cosmic etheric impulses, totally responsive. The whole of our chemistry is based on the actions and reactions of oxygen; combustion gives rise to water, acids, bases and salts. If oxygen were removed from the world, all matter would be dead and indifferent, frozen in rigidity, as each retains is specificity. In the physical world, only one substance makes it possible for “one to live and act within the other”, a substance open to other influences 4 Copy of Steiner’s original blackboard picture which schematically shows carbon (green), oxygen (blue) and nitrogen (orange) (From the Agriculture Course)

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Sulphur burning (Wikipedia Commons)

without reserve, always the circumference and never the centre. This major aspect of the nature of oxygen is beautifully demonstrated in the unique phenomenon of ozone formation. Any other substance condenses, becomes “polymerized”, saturating its internal polarities not from the outside but within itself, and in the process hardens, closing up on itself and growing inactive. Oxygen, 02, on the other hand, grows more active and aggressive as it condenses to ozone, 03. It contracts only to combine more strongly with the outside world, with other matter. As the “point - centred” specificity and separateness of earthly matter is got rid of, the “peripheral element” of etheric, life - generating forces is able to flow into earthly matter, on the waves of oxygen activity, and central forces may be replaced by universal forces.

Rudolf Steiner described nitrogen as the element mediating between the structuring forces that use carbon as their physical vehicle and the oxygen - borne life forces. Nitrogen is the element through which the astral sphere incarnates, the “vehicle for a mysterious sensitivity which is poured out over the whole of earth life, ... is the sensitive mediator ... of a principle coming from the stars which is alwative in the life of plants and of the earth ... in the human nerves and senses as the principle that confers sensibility”. To trace nitrogen within the sphere of life is to be on the trail of astral activity.

Plants with an obvious relation to nitrogen processes, such as the leguminous plants, the Rubiaceae and alkaloid plants, will always be found to be strongly permeated with astral principles.

Nitrogen has the exact properties needed to be the bearer of the astral. In the inorganic sphere, it is not to be found in the soil, in minerals or rocks; nor does it belong to the fluid sphere. Its domain is in the airy element; here it makes up four fifths of the whole, unwilling to combine with anything else, with anything that is dead. It is however, present in all living matter. Forced resistingly into compounds, with a considerable expenditure of energy, it will often make these highly explosive as they strive with all their might to release the nitrogen into the air again (the particular connection between the airy element and the astral has been described in the introductory chapters). The principal powers of soul (the astral) are antipathy and sympathy.

Nitrogen reflects these in the sphere of matter. It is able to remain closed up in itself, in “matter antipathy”, but also to be extremely mobile, combining with many other things in “matter sympathy”. The chemistry of nitrogen swings to and fro between these two extremes.

Hydrogen is the element “related as closely as is possible to the physical world, and again also to the spiritual.” It is the physical entity least subject to properties of mass, least given up to the forces of gravity on earth, and

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most given to the buoyancy that belongs to the cosmos.

Thanks to its peculiar properties it has a very particular function in life. In the life process, it is necessary not only for spiritual principles to become matter, for the cosmic to be incorporated, but also for matter to become spiritual, to dissolve again into the cosmic sphere. A complete cycle is required, moving not only from the cosmic to the earthly sphere, but also back again from earth to cosmos. The hydrogen process dissolves plant life into the cosmic element again, either making matter volatile (e.g. in volatile oils), or pushing it into the chaos of seed development, where protein is again wholly open to cosmic spheres of being, so that life may unfold anew. Create and uncreate - both are part of life, creative activities, and in this respect carbon and hydrogen are primary polarities, one supporting the structuring, the other the unstructuring principle; one being the most formed - out, hardest form of matter, the other the least formed, closest to temperature aspects in the sphere of matter.

If the elements found in protein are thus regarded as vehicles of particular forces, a way may be found to really follow the constant change and transformation characteristic of this protean primary substance of life. It can then mean something to us if we find that such conversion of matter goes more in the direction of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen principles.

Finally there is sulphur, an element to which Rudolf Steiner ascribed the particularly important function of being a mediator between the structuring ability of the spiritual on one hand, and the physical sphere on the other.

The spirit takes the route of sulphur to act on the physical in nature. This is why the ancients called it sul-phur, bearer of sun - like forces of light. The spiritual principle which in the plant works mainly on the production of form, makes use of sulphur the way a sculptor or potter might use water, wetting his finger to shape the clay, as a mediator between the material and the one who is shaping it. Sulphur also has exactly the properties needed to fulfil its task. It is able to condense, become plastic, and to grow volatile. It is extraordinarily versatile in the way it forms compounds, and is also able to isolate itself. Mineral - forming, and indeed rock forming, present in all natural waters and in the air, sulphur is found everywhere, protean as it constantly changes with the processes of nature. Thus it fits itself perfectly to the properties of its “material”, be it carbon, nitrogen, oxygen or hydrogen. It may react as oxygen does, or become volatile and escape with hydrogen; like nitrogen, it may isolate itself in “matter antipathy”, or accompany that element in its activities in “matter sympathy”. It enters into combustion, dies in it - to rise again from the fiery sphere of volcanic processes. Real access to its nature - one might see it as light and warmth become matter - can be gained only if we also take into consideration what the science of the spirit reveals on the genesis of matter, and particularly protein genesis.

In the evolution of the earth, protein was not composed by putting together carbon, hydrogen, etc., for protein arose prior to those elements, the veritable “water of life”. Just as dead matter derives from living, and not living matter from dead, so certain differentiated processes in the universe have brought it about that dead carbon, oxygen, etc. could be separated out from living protein. The living protein atmo-

sphere of ancient Lemuriaiii, more “sulphurous” than protein as we know it today, has been mentioned in the chapter on the cress family. There we look back to the “embryonic process” of the earth coming into being; every genesis story, of whatever tradition, tells us that in this process the creative spirit of the universe let its creative impulses coagulate into matter. Matter as the primary protein substance arose when spirit became “exteriorized”. Novalis wrote: “Everything external is something internal raised to the mystery level.”

Sulphur, Mercury and Sal are the three states by which the spiritual descended into matter. Sulphurous plants, particularly the cress and lily families, always show plastic vitality; but they also express their nature very strongly in the physical sphere, in intense flowering processes. The lily is the flower of Gabriel, the Archangel of Incarnation.

A true “chemistry of life” will have to be based on the approach outlined above, considering the essential nature of the “elements that are the core of protein”; this will take us to the true “nuclear mysteries” of matter. With such a chemistry of life, it will be possible to follow the metamorphoses of living matter - all arising from protein

- without losing sight of the most important thing - life itself - which the current approach to chemistry tends to do. Rudolf Steiner sometimes called this chemistry of life an “antichemistry”, for here the usual laws of chemistry are clearly cancelled out and made to serve higher functions. ■ Extracted from the book ‘Healing Plants’

by Wilhelm Pelikan (translated by Anna Meuss and published Mercury Press 1997). Reprinted with kind permission of the publishers. i Steiner R.The Agriculture Course (GA 327).Tr. G. Adams,. London: Rudolf Steiner Press 2004 ii Steiner R. Spiritual Science and Medicine (GA 312).Tr. not known. London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1975. iii In early Lemuria we still have to think of what might be called a bio-sphere, a fire-mist, an earth-covering, a sort of atmosphere that contained forces of life.

Through sedimentation the physical elements were eventually precipitated and formed the Earth’s crust. One has the picture almost of the physical elements being formed from the garment of God. In this bio-sphere lived human beings, animals and plant forms but they were not sufficiently physical to leave any trace. Man himself was a creature belonging to the watery element.

(Wilkinson R, Rudolf Steiner - An introduction to his Spiritual World View Anthroposophy)

International Biodynamic Initiative Group Invites you to a conference on Understanding the spiritual nature of substance in relation to nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur Oaklands Park, Newnham, Gloucestershire GL14 1HJ 28th February – 2nd March 2008 Steiner states that today’s chemistry does not come much further than taking snapshots of people you meet in the street: “What we understand about these substances through today’s chemistry is actually no greater than the knowledge we have of people who we have passed in the street, people we have photographed perhaps, and whose external appearance we recall with the help of the photographs”.

Guest speaker: Nikolai Fuchs (Leader of the Agricultural Section, Dornach, Switzerland) For more details visit the website: www.biodynamic.org.uk/IBIG.html Or contact Richard Swann email: rswann@biodynamic.org.uk tel: 01453 765588

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© Richard Swann

Milk Quality & Human Health Report from Prof.Ton Baars in cooperation with Ruth Adriaanse, Machteld Huber of the Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen (NL) and Jenifer Wohlers, co-worker of the Department of BD Agriculture, Kassel.

The report is a translation of an article published in the German biodynamic magazine ‘Lebendige Erde’ No. 6, 2005.

Ton Baars currently holds the chair of biodynamic agriculture at Kassel University, Germany.

ABSTRACT: In Part 1 of the report Professor Baars outlines a need to consider the dynamic balance of the bovine nervous system with regard to influences of feed quality, animal husbandry and breeding management on cow health. Baars elaborates methods of assessing and measuring dynamic balance and explores the effect of human relationship upon animal health.

In Part 2 he discusses on-farm trials and recent research from a comparative study of biodynamic, organic and conventional dairy farms undertaken by the Louis Bolk Institute, Netherlands. Methods of quality research and their respective outcomes are explained and discussed.

DYNAMIC BALANCE AND COW HEALTH Experience tells us that a good relationship between cows and their caretaker has a preventive health effect but do we know why this is so? Baars states that this health effect is regulated by the limbic system in the brain of all mammals.

While the brain’s neocortex controls the cognitive aspect of the animal organism, the limbic system regulates emotional function. In humans the development of the neocortex is predominant. In other mammals the limbic system is more important. The emotional brain or the limbic system controls the physiological balance of breathing, heart-beat rhythm, blood pressure, appetite, sleep, sexual drive, hormonal distribution and even the functioning of the immune system.

In general it is the condition of homoeostasis which, as dynamic balance, forms the basis of life as we know it.

The brain and the heart are connected via the subconscious, autonomic nervous systemi. The heart is continuously sensing what is taking place within the body. Emotional triggers also affect the heart’s response. The heart ‘speaks’

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and influences the entire physiology of the organism. In so doing it uses the sympathetic and para-sympathetic nerve systems. In the rhythm of the heart beat we experience the living or dynamic balance of these two systems. Working in synchronicity, the sympathetic system governs increased heart rate associated with stress and escape while the parasympathetic works to calm and reduce heart rate. The dynamic balance between these two systems is the reason why the pause between two heart beats is never the same. We should really speak of heart rhythm rather than heart beat.

All this becomes very relevant in a practical context for animal health is a matter of dynamic balance. Therefore any prolonged stress will finally result in imbalance or loss of centre. Daily rhythm and the rhythms associated with the week and even with the years have an influence on this pattern of balance and imbalance. Not all imbalances are immediately obvious nor do they necessarily cause irrevocable damage to the animals in our care. Stress among farm animals has a variety of causes. Most are the result of husbandry which is not in conformity with the natural needs of the livestock especially when the nature of the animal is not entirely understood.

In dairy cows stress results from: - incorrect feeding such as insufficient omega-3 essential fatty acids, too many concentrates, poorly structured diet, excess protein content, lack of grazing.

- poor husbandry resulting in stress caused by herd mismanagement, mismanagement in the milking shed, lack of shade, insufficient shelter from wind and storms.

- incorrect herd management such as prematurely separating calves from mothers so that not enough time is allowed for rumen development, not enough suckling allowed for, herds structured without accounting for the age of animals, the herd as an organism, the herd size, or running the bull with the herd.

- wrong relationship of caretaker towards livestock; not enough physical contact (brushing and cleaning),

© Richard Swann

lack of dominance by caretaker over the herd or its opposite; excessive threat, misunderstanding of the main livestock needs.

- wrong breeding approach whereby genotype and environment aren’t synchronised with the result that the animal’s body is out of balance. Examples include forced lactation being dependent on high intake of concentrates.

Such conditions lead to disease in the medium to long term and potentially shorten the life span of the animals.

How can we find out if an animal is out of balance? We can measure the change in frequency of heart-beat over a 24 hour period following an induced stress or we can look at the immune response as measurable in the blood. We can also quantify it by determining the composition of fatty acids in the blood or in the milk.

THE EFFECT OF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS ON MILK QUALITY Throughout recent years various trials have been conducted in Europe regarding milk quality. Of particular interest is the effect upon human health of milk from biodynamic, organic and conventional production systems. Some of the questions that have been researched include human allergenic reactions, homogenization, animal diet and feed quality and the effects of dehorning. Research parameters encompassed the taste of raw milk, copper chloride crystallisation, biophoton-exchange, immune response and fatty acid composition. These parameters were recently researched in a Dutch study of milk quality undertaken by the Louis Bolk Institute; cows kept indoors on 5 organic/bd and 5 neighbouring conventional farms were fed a winter diet and their bulk tank milk samples analysed.

Taste tests conducted by a trained panel found no significant difference in the milk produced under the three systems. Organic milk and the pasteurized biodynamic milk were slightly creamier. In other studies however organic raw milk scored poorly due to oxidation of milk fat.

The content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially Omega-3, was twice as high in the organic/biodynamic milk. The content of the most valuable of the Omega-3 fatty acids, alpha linoleic acid was more than double in the organic/biodynamic milk. Other important fatty acids were also higher. Fatty acids have a major role in growth and function of the nervous system and in the alleviation of stress.

The ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 was better in organic and biodynamic milk. Cows consuming high rations of red clover had the highest amount of Omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid. Cows that were fed diets high in concentrates and maize silage had very low Omega-3 levels.

In Danish studies organic/biodynamic milk was found to have greater antioxidant content. Levels of vitamin E and beta-carotene were respectively 50% and 75% higher than in conventional milk.

Crystallisation images were evaluated by experienced observers in the Dutch study. The density of the crystal needles was determined with the aid of a computer programme. Organic/biodynamic milk showed superior inner structure together with better qualities of coordination, radiation intensity and overall integration of the crystallisation images. In Swiss milk studies pasteurized and homog-

enized milk suggested a marked ageing process that was not evident in raw milk.

The biophoton exchange method measures the speed and intensity of light radiated onto a food product and the emission of photons (light particles) thereafter. The higher the light emission, the better the inner structure and ordering of the milk. With all emission readings the organic and biodynamic milk recorded higher values than conventional milk.

To determine the robustness of cow health the response of immune cells was quantified. In a lymphocyte stimulation test the cell division capability of immune cells was evaluated. The cell count of the organic and biodynamic milk was higher as was the stimulation index. This points to a better reaction response to infections, possibly due to previous stimulation of the immune system.

With regard to the practice of dehorning cows Jenifer Wohlers offers results from her 2003 Masters thesis based on the University research farm, Frankenhausen. According to her research, horns had a positive influence on milk quality. The milk from horned cows appeared to be more beneficial to human health than that from dehorned stock.

In summary, the qualitative methods of research using copper chloride crystallisation and biophoton exchange demonstrated significant differences between bulk-tank milk from conventional and organic/biodynamic production systems.

Milk quality is influenced by methods of storing and processing such as pumping, cooling, heating, homogenization. Milk is of highest quality when fresh from the cow. Milk from older cows shows greater immune response.

Milk from horned cows is probably best suited for human consumption.

The taste of organic/biodynamic milk is not necessarily superior to conventionally-produced milk. Milk taste is correlated with the animals’ diet. It would make good sense to run some older, horned cows in the herd. It is important to store milk only for short periods of time and to ensure that its quality is undiminished by poor cooling and storage techniques.

While these studies offer positive preliminary results regarding milk quality it is necessary that a larger, more comprehensive assessment be made. Such a project is planned at Kassel for 2006-2010. ■ Summarised and translated by Andreas Welte www.

EcoGrape.com and Elisabeth Alington in consultation with Ton Baars.

This and the following article originally appeared in Harvests Magazine (the Biodynamic Journal for New Zealand) and appear with their permission. i The autonomic nervous system is responsible for maintaining the internal environment of the body within carefully defined limits.This internal control function is called homoeostasis or more precisely homoeokinesis.The latter term incorporates many dynamic processes, the equilibrium of which is so highly controlled that it would appear to be static. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve systems conduct impulses away from the central nervous system, the former from the thoracic-lumbar region, the latter from the sacro-cranial.They act as visceral flexors and extensors; both are necessary for the efficiency of the whole system. Ed (Harvests).

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This article is to be read in conjunction with ‘Milk quality and human health’ (see pages 8-9).

© Richard Swann

Milk quality of horned and de-horned cows IN AN EXPLORATIVE PROJECT presented for her Masters thesis at the University of Kassel in 2003, Jenifer Wohlers demonstrated that milk from horned dairy cows is of significantly different quality to that from de-horned stock.The results of her work were summarised in the Swiss biodynamic magazine ‘Beiträge’.

Milk quality can be researched in many ways. The usual method is by way of analysis of primary constituents eg. fat or protein content, cell count. Sometimes research will focus on the relationship between dietary feeds and milk quality. In order to obtain a comprehensive impression however, picture-forming methods are especially valuable.

Wohler’s work explores the hypothesis that milk from horned cows differs significantly from that of de-horned cows. Milk samples were gathered over an extended period of time from the long-standing, partially de-horned Fresian herd on the university research farm Frankenhausen (certified Bioland and Naturland). Bulk milk samples from 25-28 horned and 21-37 de-horned cows were analysed. Age, stage

of lactation, milking performance and milk constituents of both groups were similar.

The Steigbild capillary imaging method according to WALA and the copper chloride crystallisation technique according to Pfeiffer were used to evaluate the samples.

CAPILLARY IMAGES In the capillary images it is clearly recognisable that milk from horned cows (H-milk) has very narrow flags of an even and upright appearance. See Fig.1.

On the other hand, the milk from dehorned cows (Deh-milk) shows wide, irregularly expressed flags which do not rise straight up but tilt sideways. The Deh-milk shows distinct silver reduction spots in the upper flag zone. The first sign of an ochre-brown strip is expressed as a broad band. In the area of the shell zone the H-milk has relatively even, almost deep, colourful slim shells while the Deh-milk differs significantly with deep, uneven shells that seem to dissipate towards the bottom.

Figure 1

Figure 1 illustrates the ageing process in milk sampled on 26/3/03 and diluted 1 part milk: H-milk (horned cows) 6 parts water.

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Deh-milk (de-horned cows)

In addition to the comparative visual evaluation the pictures were assessed by computer for their formative differences upon which statistic variations were subsequently determined. The results were analysed according to standard statistical practice.

QUALITY ASSESSMENT In making an assessment of the pictures we must refer to a control series of dilutions regarding the aging factor of raw milk. On the basis of there being significantly more cavities and uneven shell depth it becomes obvious that milk from dehorned cows appears somewhat aged. Milk from horned cows produces images more similar to the typical raw milk pictures.

In the flag zone it is apparent that the forms widen according to the ageing process; becoming progressively less formed, more ‘runny’ and shorter in length. This is evident in the Deh-milk pictures. It is clear that the pictures from the dehorned samples more closely resemble aged milk than do the pictures from the horned samples.

To assess the difference in vitality a copper-chloride dilution series was established using different sample strengths. It was clear that, at a rate of 350 ml milk to 100 mg CuCl2 the milk dominates and very subtle crystal structures are formed. The Deh-milk was able to develop a more formative picture at this concentration. This is an indication that the Deh-milk has stronger vitality forces than the Hmilk but at the same time it has less ordering capacity.

COMPUTERIZED PICTURE ASSESSMENT A computerized assessment of the pictures led to the same conclusion. After scanning the crystal pictures according to their shades of grey in defined areas significant difference in milk quality could be ascertained.

SUMMARY OF THE COPPER-CHLORIDE CRYSTALLISATION In comparing the present work with results obtained by Balzer-Graf and Gallmann (2000) and by Johannson-Pieschl (1996) it is clear that forms obtained from the H-milk series are of close similarity to those produced by raw-milk images. With its relatively wide spike features the Deh-milk IMAGE FORMATION seems at first sight to be more vital. However these features ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC DAYS In assessing images from the picture-forming methods one are also characteristic of aged milk which is why Deh-milk must take into account the day-specific variations. Pictures can itself be described as aged or older. The ageing series also formed on one day cannot be directly compared with those indicates that Deh-milk declines in quality at a faster rate than H-milk. made on another. The typical milk quality characteristics The results indicate that there are differences in however, are recognisable across all images at any given time. milk quality between horned and dehorned cows. The term quality however, needs more clarification. Further investigaVISUAL IMAGE EVALUATION The entire series of twelve pictures per sample was visually tions are needed to ascertain if it is possible to measure these differences in milk quality on a molecular level and the findevaluated. Differentiation between images is most readily ings will have to be repeated in future research projects. ■ discerned according to the size of the cavities. The H-milk shows consistently larger cavity forms and more ‘felty’ crystal structures than the Deh-milk. The spiking, branch forms Bibliography Balzer-Graf, U.R., Gallmann, P.U. (2000); Hochdruckbehandlung von Milch of the H-milk are more rounded and bow like while those (High pressure treatment of milk), FAM-Information of the Deh-milk lead straight to the periphery or even form Jachens, L. (2002) Kuhmilch als Nahrungsmittel (Cow’s milk as food) Johannson-Pieschl, B. (1996); Zum Einfluss unterschiedlicher Rationen auf die snaking lines and appear to run in a less ‘guided’ way. The Qualität der Milch (The influence of feed ratios on milk quality) width of the rim is another observable criterion. The H-milk Wohlers, J. (2003 Auswirkung der Enthornung von Kühen auf Milchqualität (The influence on milk quality of de-horning cows) jeniferwohlers@web.de has a wider rim than the Deh-milk.

Looking at the whole, it becomes obvious that the pictures generated by the H-milk appear more differentiated, Summarised and translated by Andreas Welte (www.EcoGrape. com) and Elisabeth Alington in consultation with Ton Baars. more harmonious, more evenly formed and more subtle in overall appearance than do the pictures from the Deh-milk, Jenifer Wohlers now works at Kassel University, FBII, Desome of which give a much coarser and heavier impression. partment for Biodynamic Agriculture. wohlers@uni-kassel.de Figure 2

CuCl2 crystallisations of bulk milk samples taken from horned cows (H-milk) and dehorned cows (Deh-milk) on 14/4/ 03.

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by Richard Swann

A load of old Beetroots!

Lacto-fermentation as an alternative food processing method

LACTO-FERMENTATION OF BEETROOT Ingredients ■ 7 kg Beetroot ■ 2-3 tbs Mustard Seed LACTO-FERMENTATION is a very old method ■ 1 tbs Caraway Seed of preserving vegetables and is better known in ■ 1/2 kg Onion Central and Eastern Europe for making sauer■ Horseradish kraut. Many people think of it as being the domain ■ 15 g Salt per kg of vegetables of Germany, but an English explorer Captain ■ 1/4 l Whey (if available) Cook exploited the value of sauerkraut to help ■ A little fermented juice and if necessary some cooled, keep scurvy away from his crew on their long boiled water for topping up if necessary. sea voyages.

Because of their higher quality, biodynamically Preparation grown vegetables are perfect for this method; the fermenta- ■ Brush, top and tail beetroots. tion preserves and enhances much of their nutritive value.

■ Peel and chop onions.

Lacto-fermented vegetables are reputed to have high ■ Weigh up salt and spices. nutritional value and can be used as a stimulating addition ■ Grate the beets using a 6-8 mm grater to any meal. best for fermentation).

Many vegetables can be preserved using this ■ Mix the grated beet with the salt and spices. method. Quite a lot of recipes were gathered in biodynamic ■ Pack into jars and press down without making mushy. circles by Annelies Schoneck in Sweden several years ago.

■ Onions are woven in between.

One of these is beetroot the method being as follows: ■ Best to fill container 4/5 full because of strong fermentation.

■ If there is not enough juice then add some cooled boiled water to just cover.

■ Stand jar in a bowl because the strong fermentation may result in overflowing.

■ Allow to ferment at room temperature for 10 days; around 18-20˚C. ■ After that put in a cooler place (or fridge).

■ Roots usually require 6-8 weeks before they are ready.

■ They taste better if they are allowed to sit longer.

Grating the beetroots

Mixing the Beetroot with salt and spices

Specially made fermentation pots

Filling the fermentation pots

Suggestions for use ■ Use instead of pickle or chutney on bread.

■ Mix into a green or root salad with apple, seeds and oil.

■ Make Russian borsch: ■ Make a vegetable soup using seasonal vegetables, lovage and celery.

■ When ready add the soured beetroot which then produces a deep red colour and slightly sour flavour.

■ Season with basil.

■ Add a small amount of sour cream in each bowlful. ■ Further recipes and ideas: 1. Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home: Creative Recipes for Lactic-Fermented Food to Improve Your Health by Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schoneck 2. Wild Fermentation:The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sally Fallon and Sandor Ellix Katz 3. Nourishing Traditions:The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig 4. http://www.wildfermentation.com/ 5. http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/lacto.html

© Bib Young (on a phone camera!)

In full production…

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CARING FOR YOUR FERMENTATION ■ Keep in a warm place, shaded from direct light.

■ If it overflows, leave until the 10 days is up and top up with lightly salted water.

■ If a white coating develops, don’t worry just scoop it off.

■ You can briefly open to check progress after 10 days and it should smell acidic.

■ Don’t open again for at least a month.

■ DO NOT use if it smells bad or is really slimy.

Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

Heritage Prime at Foxholes Farm

A VISITOR MAKING THEIR WAY to Foxholes Farm may be led to believe that he or she has taken the wrong turning.‘....drop down left onto the lane between shelter and church’ I was instructed by Denise Bell.The winding lane past farmsteadings and country houses eventually, with many twists and turns, reached the hidden jewel of Foxholes Farm.This is the home and workplace of Ian and Denise Bell, their numerous dogs and their many, many well loved farm animals, the meat of which has become a firm favourite with some of the country’s top chefs.

Even though the Bells have only been living at Foxholes since November 2006, they have been biodynamic farmers for several years having previously farmed the land at nearby Shedbush Farm. After many years of legal battling with the National Trust they decamped from there and sadly put behind all the work they had done to transform the land with the help of careful land management and the intensive use of the Biodynamic Preparations.

Over the years their work has been highly publicised and commended with a number of articles appearing in the quality papers as well as on the television. Their meat has also been praised by the likes of Nigella Lawson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tom Parker Bowles.

Ian and Denise are warm hearted and idealistic people who arrived at biodynamics after successful top flight careers in London (Ian was a hairdresser and Denise a designer with Laura Ashley). Ian first came across the work of Rudolf Steiner through reading a book on education that his wife Denise had bought him. At the time she was concerned that his son Alexander needed more than a main stream education and also recognised Ian’s passion for animals and livestock.

Now, despite being in their fifties, they are eager to pick up the gauntlet and ‘start again’ at Foxholes Farm.

Luckily the animals which they so lovingly looked after at Shedbush provide the necessary stability and fertility for the ‘new farm’. The foundation of this valuable stock was created twelve years ago with some of the animals being over twenty years old. They sincerely believe that the animals, with the love and care they received at Shedbush, will help with the biodynamic conversion at Foxholes. They have already discovered that intensively using the Biodynamic Preparations, especially the Silica Preparation, has had an immediate effect at Foxholes.

The 33 hectare farm they took on was formerly a large dairy farm with very extensive farm buildings. In a previous time up to 400 cattle were farmed there. Apart from that are the older outbuildings which they want to convert into a cookery school and a quaint gamekeeper’s cottage which will be converted to rent out as holiday accommodation.

The farm itself is set in a quiet valley of its own amidst the protective rolling Dorset chalkland hills roughly mid way between Dorchester and Bridport. Climbing to the top I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Chesil Beach and the sea, but alas that was over yet another hill. On the hills quietly grazed the cattle which eventually provide succulent cuts for their thriving personalised meat trade. They also keep Tamworth pigs and rare Portland sheep which are fed with top quality biodynamic and organic feed.

On the farm are altogether eighteen suckler cows, mostly Aberdeen Angus and Beef Shorthorn and a very fine Aberdeen Angus bull. They also keep forty Portland Ewes (and two lambs) with their resplendent curved horns.

Michel Roux spoke so much about them at the launch of the biodynamic food fortnight in October. These provide a 4

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© Richard Swann

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“Their pork, from a farm near Lyme Regis, is so much better than any pork that you’ve ever tasted or could ever hope to taste. To say it’s organic just tells you what isn’t in it. What they add at Heritage Prime is immense care, good feed and excellent conditions”. Nigella Lawson

meat which I experienced at first hand in a delicious pot roast served to me during my stay. Finally they also have eleven Tamworth breeding sows which in the summer had quite a following of piglets born during the past year. In the barn slept a huge, morose Tamworth boar.

The animals are allowed to mature before being slaughtered in order to develop a fine taste when cooked.

However this means obtaining the necessary permission each time they are taken to the abattoir. The meat attains its flavour, not only through the careful farming, but also through it being hung in the old traditional way after being slaughtered and butchered locally. This can be further enhanced through careful slow cooking. They only sell to individual customers with none going into the supermarket chain. Over the years they have developed a large network of satisfied customers for whom they provide a personal service.

We must also not forget the other animals which provide the wonderful diversity and richness to the farm.

Apart from the dogs and puppies that greet the visitor are the many white ducks, and hanging around the farmyard is a pair of moody turkeys who make menacing noises if you get

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too close. Finally on the hill grazing with the cattle is Bonnie, an elegant white horse, who has become something of an icon for the farm as she is often featured in their promotional pictures.

Ian is proud of the fact that he has never needed to resort to using allopathic veterinary medicines on the animals. He says: ‘Eschewing all pharmaceutical inputs, we here at Heritage Prime have devised a unique understanding of such concerns as internal and external parasite control as well as constitutional measures to build disease resistance in each species. Born of anthroposophic thinking, a powerful biodynamic approach to seasonal feeding and preventative homoeopathics further enhance the animals’ resilience.’

Over the years he has treated many diseases by homoeopathic means such as erysipelas in pigs (which is often intractable and highly infectious) and pneumonia in over-wintering cattle. He also says: “I have seen warts on a heifer’s teats react instantaneously to the administration of a remedy!”

Ian and Denise appreciate food preparation and cooking so much that they plan on starting a cookery school on the farm as part of a larger Educational Centre. Not only

FEASTING JOINT Heritage Prime - The ORIGINAL Slow Roasted Shoulder of Pork from the Farmhouse kitchen © Heritage Prime

■ Whole shoulder 24hrs ■ 1/2 shoulder 10-12 hours Very slowly roasted until you get the most amazing crackling and the great moist chunks of meat just pull off the bone. Quite primeval!

Guaranteed lazy successful feasting just let the quality of the pork do the work.

Ingredients: 1 half shoulder of Heritage Prime pork, skin scored diagonally - those from our fine Tamworth pigs weigh about 9 to 12 kilos, suitable for 8-10 people The whole shoulder, if you’re planning to feed say, 20 people (and your oven is large enough) would be about 18 - 20kgs. This is the famous Heritage Prime 24 hour roast that needs minimal attention. If you choose to go with the half shoulder from the quarter piggy box, then cooking time is about 8 - 10 hours.

It is the very quality of this meat that makes this dish possible and second helpings are unavoidable.

Beware imitations; all pork is definitely not the same and many a household tear has been shed in learning this!

■ 4 tablespoons spoons organic olive oil ■ 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper ■ 1 tablespoon sea salt ■ Wild or garden thyme and the blossom if it is in flower.

■ Half a dozen organic orchard apples

© All photographs - Richard Swann

will farming be taught but also artisan food production and cooking to get the best of out of biodynamic food. They are very keen to reach the younger generation to teach them where food comes from. Over the summer they had six groups of children from Waldorf Schools in Germany who very enthusiastically helped with farm tasks as well as stirring the preparations. They also had a party of 20 students from Emerson College.

Passion and enthusiasm drives Ian and Denise which rubs off onto every visitor who visits the farm. They have also very courageously raised the profile of biodynamic food to such an extent that they have even provided for the Royal table. ■ Contact: Ian and Denise Bell Heritage Prime Foxholes Farm Little Bredy, Dorchester Dorset, DT2 9HJ Tel: 01308 482688 Website: www.heritageprime.co.uk

The meat will take 24 hours to cook (8-10 for the half shoulder) but don’t worry, because for all but a few minutes of that time, it is not only looking after itself, but also it’s creating a true home atmosphere. Indeed, the very word ‘home’ (a word for which the French have no equal!) must have been invented for so wonderful an English dish as this. So, let’s assume that you want to eat this for Sunday lunch; you’ll need to start thinking of switching on your oven at about lunch time Saturday for the whole shoulder and about 5am if a half shoulder.

Pre-heat your oven to the hottest setting. Place the pork with the skin side uppermost in a large roasting vessel, preferably- although not a necessity- of cast iron. We’re getting old-fashioned here but it does bring out the very best of this quality product!

The next bit is relaxing, good fun and brings you into a personal relationship with the meat. First, take a handful of the salt, sprinkle all over the skin. Now, massage this salt well into the skin and into the scored tissue for a good three or four minutes so that the heat from your hand begins to melt the salt. Gently pour the olive oil over the shoulder rubbing in as you do so. Next, add the remaining salt to the black pepper and the thyme in a bowl, mix thoroughly and sprinkle evenly over the pork.

Muster all the strength you can - or call for a hand - lift the dish into the oven and leave for 30 minutes. When the half hour is up, remove it from the oven and lower the temperature to 140 C/Gas mark 1.

Baste with a large spoon for a couple of minutes and put the pork back in the low oven and ignore it for 23 hours. About half an hour before you plan to eat, turn up the oven to 180C (gas mark 5) this will ensure the sublime crackling of a buttery quality that comes with Heritage Prime pork. At this point, pop the apples around the pork, tucking under where possible.

Remove from the oven, slice or simply pull off the crackling, break it into pieces that will fit on your plate, then carve - or perhaps more apt, tear the meat away with a fork. Serve with organic roast potatoes cooked in the pork fat, (of course) and steamed dark green cabbage tossed in butter and seasoned with plenty of black pepper.

Over the years, this recipe has been much enjoyed and adapted by many chefs and food writers - for the alternative recipes inspired from the farmhouse kitchen see The River Café Cookbook, Nigella Bites, by Nigella Lawson, Meat by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall .

Happy Feasting ! Feedback appreciated

“If I were a pig, I’d dream of living on Ian and Denise’s farm. They often eat better food than I do. Not only are their porkers produced in the most sustainable and humane fashion but they also taste better than any pig in the world. They represent a triumph for the bio-dynamic system of farming, showing that real care and attention brings out the finest flavour.” Tom Parker Bowles “I have known Ian and Denise for about 4 years, as they supply meat to my restaurant Locanda Locatelli. The reason why we chose them, apart from supplying us with meat of the highest quality, is that they are serious and genuine in their concern for their stock and that is very important to us. Hopefully more farmers will follow their lead.” Giorgio Locatelli

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

A circular path around the mosaic leads you into the second, central section of the garden. This section is egg-shaped, with the pointy end facing away from you into the garden.

In its first year, this section is planted with strawberries in the nearest side, and herbs on the far side. The eggshape is an archetypal shape, the form in which new life appears on planet Earth, from flower-buds to baby birds.

The path around the mosaic also encircles the egg-shape, forming an interlinking spiral shape on the ground. This path continues into the third and main section of the garden, a large circular area. The centre of this section, around which the path takes you, has stepping-stones of welsh red sandstone, and a central upright stone, about two feet high. One can imagine children playing here. The surrounding raised beds are larger now, and contain a variety of fruit and vegetables.

At the rear of the raised beds are dramatic inward-curving steel frames, like petals enclosing the whole section. This takes us from the horizontal to the vertical plane, and is a garden not a place where the forces of heaven and earth meet and mingle? At the top of each frame a circular glass disc is suspended, each one representing one of the seven major planets of our solar system. The petals are not quite open, as befits a place of potential. The frames serve another purpose, and already sweet peas are growing up them.

At the far end of the garden, at the termination of the raised beds, there are two three-tier flowforms, the swirling water falling into three pools, echoing the movement of the visitors around the paths in the garden.

‘Humans are nourished by the environment as well as the plants,’ said Andy Jones. He enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate the principles behind biodynamics in the layout, so that the visitor steps into a living depiction of the system. However, he was also keen that visitors should find the significance of the garden for themselves. These are archetypal principles here, which will be interpreted differently by each of us.

This garden contains nourishment for people and plants. It will be a brilliant and thought-provoking public face for biodynamics. Congratulations to all who have brought the project to fruition, and to Garden Organic for making it possible. I look forward to visiting it regularly, to see it grow through the years. ■ Jane Cobbald

©

© Richard Swann

RYTON ORGANIC GARDENS near Coventry in Warwickshire is the headquarters of Garden Organic, formerly known as HDRA, the organic gardening organisation.They have a range of show gardens on the site, including a cook’s garden, Geoff Hamilton’s paradise garden, a garden for the disabled, and many more.The biodynamic garden is a dramatic addition to the palette of sights for the visitor.

The project was sponsored by Elysia Natural Skin Care, project managed by Liz Ellis, and designed by Andy Jones, all of whom were involved in the successful biodynamic show garden at Hampton Court Flower Show in 2006. The project also supports a one-year studentship at Ryton Gardens, initially for a three-year period. The first student, Nicole Weber, has been involved in setting up the biodynamic garden. She has worked on the design and the planting scheme, and along with the head and deputy head gardener at Ryton, has had training from Lynette West on the basics of biodynamics and the practicalities of managing the garden biodynamically. This helps to ensure that the garden will continue to be a demonstration of biodynamics in practice.

The garden is a visual representation of biodynamics, as well as a functioning garden. The two strands weave together to form a coherent whole. As a functioning garden, it grows edible crops as well as flowers. Preparation plants are grown and the preparations are used. There is a biodynamic compost heap, just to the side of the garden. There is crop rotation by root, leaf, flowering and fruiting plants. It is cultivated according to the sowing and planting calendar.

It is a demonstration of how biodynamic cultivation can be adapted from farm scale to a small space.

The garden itself is beautiful, and a dramatic contrast to the other gardens on the site. For a start, there is not a straight line in sight. At either side of the entrance to the garden, there are upright curved oak beams, about five feet high, like fingers reaching upwards, making a guard of honour as you step inside. The garden is divided into three sections.

First you walk on to the pebble mosaic set in the ground of the first section. The pebbles are laid out in an anticlockwise vortex, and it is planned that there will be preparation-stirring demonstrations here. Curving around each side of the vortex mosaic there are raised beds, behind a terracottacoloured retaining wall, containing flowering plants. The raised beds continue around the sides of all three sections of the garden.

© Jane Cobbold

© Jane Cobbold

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Interviewed

by Richard Swann

© Richard Swann

Interview with…

FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS Lynette has been giving introductory courses in biodynamics here in the UK.These have proved to be very popular and have taken place in such places as Duchy Home Farm and Ryton Gardens (where she has also been involved with the development of the Elysia Garden). Here Lynette starts off by relating a little about her background and life: My first encounter in farming came at the age of 10 when I dreamed of becoming a farmer. Although I was raised in Auckland, New Zealand, I spent as much time as possible during school holidays on farms and in rural regions.

As soon as I left school I headed south to Matamata to work in the New Zealand racing industry. After two years I realised that I was not getting any closer to my dream of owning my own farm so I returned to Auckland and studied for a Diploma in Computer Science.

After three years in the computer industry I decided to travel to the UK to work as a contractor in the computer industry. Shortly after making the decision to travel to the U.K. a friend offered to accompany me on the trip.

As she was short of funds we decided to travel to Australia first and spend six months working there which would enable her to save the extra funds required to make the trip to the U.K. I was able to secure as job as soon as I arrived in Sydney and it was during this time that I met and married an Australian man.

Shortly after getting married I moved onto a 2,000 acre property in Southern NSW which I had purchased in conjunction with four other people. I was very unfamiliar with the harshness of the Australian climate and totally unprepared for this experience. The region where we lived was experiencing drought conditions which continued for another 4 years, 7 years in total. Due to limited cash reserves and the extreme conditions we faced, the property was sold after three years and we moved back to the city.

For the past 17 years I have been single and live with my 18 year old daughter Tara (the youngest of my 3 children). I have my own house with a half acre plot attached which I have managed biodynamically for the same period.

Working there has been of great help with developing my courses.

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LYNETTE WEST WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH BIODYNAMICS? I had an interest in Steiner’s work and had enrolled my eldest son in the Canberra Steiner School. Shortly after this I attended a series of workshops with Alex Podolinsky (founder of the Demeter Association in Australia). I later met Terry Foreman the National Field Advisor to Australia and became his regional representative for many years during which time I organised many biodynamic workshops and seminars.

WHAT THEN LEAD YOU TO DEVELOP THE BIODYNAMIC EDUCATION PROGRAM? It was the realisation that it is through education that knowledge and skills for biodynamic practice can be gained.

Education gives the practitioner the confidence to implement biodynamics in their individual situation.

It took me twelve years of study, research and implementation of biodynamic practice to complete the development and writing of the Foundation Coursei. When this was completed it was a wonderful moment when I thought I had achieved what I set out to do.

Upon completion of the Foundation Course I came to the realisation that there was something more needed in order to offer a complete Biodynamic education.

I knew that there was a need for an investigative portion of the course that includes all aspects of biodynamics.

Once one becomes aware of something of which they were previously unaware it is very difficult, if not impossible, to continue as if this information had not been known.

Although I felt the task of writing the Certificate Program was impossible to carry-out, my perspective on my work had changed. I started to see great wisdom in this realisation. The Foundation Course which was developed gives the participant knowledge and understanding of the biodynamic method. What was also required was the development of skills to implement this learning.

After much deliberation on this task I decided I would devote the next two years to writing the Certificate Program as beyond this time I had no reliable income.

The writing of the Certificate Program was to prove to be a very challenging task as this was being developed as an external studies course. Slowly the course unfolded but it had its own time frame which I was unable to alter. After two years the course still had a long way to go. The money

which I was using for funding course development was to run out at the beginning of February 2006. Although I had tried to organise another sources of income I had not been successful. This was a great test of faith and as the deadline approached with no income in sight I prayed for help and assistance and trusted that support would come. Two weeks before I was completely out of money I got a job as the biodynamic consultant to Mulloon Creek Natural Farmsii, a 6,000 acre biodynamic property. This was a great blessing in many ways. It was a one day a week job which gave me just enough money to live on so I was able to continue developing the Certificate Program. But equally important and essential was the experience I was gaining at a practical level which this job gave me. A lot of the assessment tasks for the Certificate Program resulted from this work on the farm.

The Certificate Program, which ended up taking five years to complete, was completed in April this year (2007). There are currently 18 students on the course mainly from the UK and Australia with many enquires being received from people across the globe.

It was through this process of teaching, studying, developing course materials and application of these principles that I came to understand what Steiner meant when he stated that the farmer is a great meditator. When a farmer is engaging with nature, ploughing of the fields and planting crops he reflects on the deeper aspects of nature and gains true knowledge.

It is only though study and implementation of these teachings that one is able to gain true knowledge of Biodynamics. This is why it was so important to develop the Certificate Program.

What results from this process is true knowledge, not just an intellectual concept. The Distance Education Certificate Program is implementation of the information through an activity, through doing. This brings the participant to a true understanding of biodynamics.

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO WORK HERE IN THE UK? It was in my role as the biodynamic consultant to Mulloon Creek Natural Farms that I was able to come to the UK. The owner of the farm, Tony Coote met HRH Prince Charles in Australia during his visit in 2005. This resulted in an invitation to visit Highgrove and the Duchy Home Farm.

I accompanied Tony on a twelve day tour of Biodynamic and Organic farms in Germany and the UK which included visits to both Highgrove and the Duchy Home Farm. I was very impressed with both Highgrove and the Duchy Home Farm; there is a wonderful integrity in the work being done on these sites. I was fortunate to be able to run my first class at the Duchy Home Farm.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST INSPIRATION FOR YOUR LIFE AND WORK? The most important aspect of my life through which I gain my strength and focus is my spiritual journey. I have been a member of the Bahá’í faith for the past fifteen years. In the Bahá’í faith the farmer has the most important role. Work in the realm of agriculture is considered as the highest service to the world. To be able to serve mankind (humanity) in the realm of agriculture is the most wonderful gift to my life.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING THE CHALLENGES FOR AGRICULTURE TODAY? Loss of species diversity, degradation of the soil, low nutritional content of our food and the difficulty in accessing information and educational programs for organic and biodynamic production.

One of the biggest challenges is to raise the status of the farmer, to acknowledge and support the vital role he/she has in providing healthy food for all of mankind as well as being custodians of the environment and all living organisms.

HOW DO YOU THINK BIODYNAMICS CAN GO SOME WAY TOWARDS MEETING THOSE CHALLENGES? Biodynamics is a system which directly addresses current problems in agriculture. Biodynamics restores vitality to food, produces highly nutritious food, is cost effective, rejuvenates degraded soil conditions and once established maintains a healthy soil process.

TELL ME OF A COUPLE OF THE FUNNIER MOMENTS OF THE COURSES. There are too many funny moments to recount; there is always lots of laughter on the course. The activities and role plays are always fun as people relax and enjoy these activities such as mixing cow manure and dressing up during role plays as planets and micro-organisms.

AND THE MOST CHALLENGING? This was when I was teaching in Western New South Wales to a group of fifth and sixth generation farmers.

This was always my biggest fear, to talk to farmers who had spent their lives in farming, about agriculture. As I walked into the room to start the course I realised I was ready to meet this challenge. I had come a long way both in my knowledge of biodynamics and in my spiritual journey.

IT IS INTERESTING HOW POPULAR YOUR COURSES HAVE BECOME IN THIS COUNTRY. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? A lot of people here have a real enthusiasm for biodynamics.

Up until now people have been working it out for themselves though books, workshops and the people they meet.

The Foundation Course meets this need for education in an accessible and comprehensible way. It’s wonderful that the course has received such support as I do very little advertising and promotion of this course. 4

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HOW EASY IS IT TO ADOPT THE COURSES TO CONDITIONS/SITUATIONS HERE? I don’t find this a challenge at all. The Foundation Course which I teach enables the participant to gain a good depth of knowledge of the principles and practices for biodynamics. Once these are understood they can be implemented in all regions of the earth. This is one of the most wonderful aspects of biodynamic agriculture, the adaptability and flexibility of the system to meet changing conditions.

Australia is a continent of extremes, it is one of the most challenging and difficult countries to work in agriculture. Using biodynamic techniques in Australia teaches you to become very observant and conscious of the changing conditions. Now I look back I see this was a great place to have learnt biodynamic practice.

developing a standard for biodynamic education that this standard evolves in conjunction with research which takes place on the farm itself.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE UK? HOW DO YOU LIKE TEACHING HERE? The wonderful people I meet and their enthusiasm for biodynamics. I feel very blessed to be able to support the development of biodynamic agriculture in this country. The beautiful landscape and moderate weather here reminds me very much of New Zealand.

IT’S A LONG WAY TO FLY OVER TWICE A YEAR. DON’T YOU FIND THAT VERY DEMANDING? I don’t find the travel especially demanding. Coming here WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR DEVELOPING to teach is very invigorating and inspiring. There is always a level of excitement associated with teaching here.

THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING WORK? I would like to help establish and support the development And how are your classes here compared to Australia? i.e. of land trusts which are run as productive farms in conjunc- people, enthusiasm, interest.

The interest here for biodynamics is much tion with educational and research programs. greater here than in Australia. This may be partly due to the smaller population of Australia and also that it is such HAVE YOU ANY PLANS a vast continent.

FOR TRAINING TRAINERS? I am very focused on training trainers to teach the biodyWHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR namic courses as well as assessors for the Distance Education Certificate Program. In developing the courses offered FUTURE WORKSHOPS IN THE U.K. I have a range of courses planned for 2008iii. In April I have by the Biodynamic Education Centre I was conscious of training people to gain the depth of understanding required courses planned for the Duchy Home Farm and Vale Head to teach biodynamic practice.

Farm (associated with Glasshouse College). In September I am currently focused on establishing a network I will also be returning to Garden Organic at Ryton in Warof experienced biodynamic practitioners whose role it would wickshire to conduct the Foundation Course and to support be to help in course development for biodynamic practice. the development of the biodynamic garden. ■ The research aspect is particularly important to maintain i For more details on the Foundation and Certificate Programmes see the the standard for biodynamic practice. There will be many Biodynamic Education Centre website: www.biodynamiceducation.com. ii See http://mullooncreeknaturalfarms.com/ questions relating to biodynamics which will result from Times and costs can be found on http://www.biodynamiceducation.com/ the implementation of these practices. It is important when iiicourse-schedule.html or from the BDAA Office (01453 759501)

REGISTRATIONS FOR THE FOUNDATION COURSE FOR BIODYNAMIC PRACTICE ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2008 COURSES.

“For me this course was an absolutely ideal way in which to begin a future in bio-dynamics. Lynette’s grasp of bio-dynamics, borne of years of experience, was complete and very compelling.”

Tom Petherick, South Devon, April 2007 “I now realise everyone is ready for this Foundation Course. If you have an interest in the environment, gardening, farming, and are a caring person or just want more meaning in your life, this course is for you.”

Julie Hasthorpe, July 2004 “I found this course a revelation. It encompasses all aspects of biodynamics – the etheric, the philosophical and the practical. The people on the course were gradually touched by the truth of the knowledge Lynette was sharing with us.”

Liz Ellis, Member U.K. Biodynamic Council, 2006

FOUNDATION COURSE DATES: Duchy Home Farm, Weekday course Level 1: Wed 2nd & Thu 3rd April Level 2: Wed 16th & Thu 17th April LEVEL 3: Wed 23rd & Thu 24th April Vale Head Farm, Weekend course Level 1: Sat 12th & Sun 13th April Level 2: Sat 19th & Sun 20th April LEVEL 3: Sat 26th & Sun 27th April Garden Organic, Friday/Saturday course Level 1: Fri 10th & Sat 11th October Level 2: Fri 24th & Sat 25th October LEVEL 3: Fri 31st October & Sat 1st Nov Course Fee £395.00 (concession £336.00).

Fee includes three comprehensive course manuals.

Please see Biodynamic Education Centre web site for course details: www.biodynamiceducation.com FFI and booking contact BDAA office, Tel 01453 759 501 Email: office@biodynamic.org.uk

THE COW PAT PIT - From notes

by Peter Proctor

HOW TO MAKE A COW PAT PIT Figure 1 The manure is hand checked for straw and grass and then kneaded. In the centre of the picture is Peter Proctor with his partner Rachel Pomeroy on the far right.

THE COW PAT PIT is a very good way to bring strong biodynamic activity into your garden.This is because it contains many plant growth hormones and a wide range of beneficial bacteria and fungi it can be used in many garden activities, such as bringing the influence of the Biodynamic Preparations into the compost heap.

When new, up say to 4 months old, it contains Bacillus subtillus which is an effective anti fungal remedy and can be used as such. 4 Figure 4

Figure 8 The mixed manure is tipped into the pit....

…and Valerian Preparation is then stirred and sprinkled over the top.

Figure 9 The pits should be covered to protect them from extreme weather.

Figure 2 Basalt and ground eggshells are mixed in.

Figure 6 The five biodynamic Preparations (502-506) are added…

Figure 10 Here one can see the prepared manure from last year (left) alongside the new (right).

Figure 3 Peter aerates the bottom of the pit with a fork. Note the brick construction.

Figure 7 …into small holes in the manure…

Figure 11 Rachel shows how much the consistency has changed. © All pictures - Richard Swann

Figure 5 …and levelled down.

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HOW TO MAKE A COW PAT PIT If I had access to plenty of cow dung I would make a Cow Pat Pit or CPP as It is known .It refers to cow manure that has been mixed with crushed egg shell and basalt dust, and put into a 90cm x 60 cm pit 30cm deep pit lined with bricks.

The bottom is bare soil.

Take 60 kilograms [1 barrow full] and mix in 200 grams powdered egg shell and 200 grams of basalt dust.

It should be well mixed in the barrow or on a floor for 15 minutes.

It is fermented using one portion each of the preparations 502/506 which are put into small holes on the surface of the dung and the portion of 507 is mixed in 5 litres of water and sprinkled over the surface of the dung.

The pit is covered with a hessian sack and the dung is allowed to ferment as a type of specialized compost. It should be protected from the hot sun and heavy rain. A tarpaulin as a shady shelter is a good idea.

The process takes up to 4 to 6 months to break down depending on the temperature.

When ready it should be well broken down with a soft fine structure.

USES When mature it is mixed with water at the rate of 2kg per acre, stirred for 10 minutes and it is very useful: ■ As a foliar feed ■ Applied to the barks of trees to stimulate the cambium growth.

■ Sprayed over roses and fruit trees to help heal pruning cuts.

■ Used as a seed bath ■ To soak cuttings to enhance root development, ■ To dip seed potatoes into for 5 minutes before planting to help control late blight.

■ It can be used each month especially as a foliar feed.

■ It can be used once a fortnight to control fungus diseases ■ Stirred with cowhorn dung preparation 500 also to spray on the land to get the influences of the compost preparations 502/507 over the land. Use 25grams of 500 and 100grams CPP in 13 litres of water per acre. Stirred for 1hour as previously described.

Use it along with Biodynamic cow horn dung preparation 500 and Biodynamic cow horn silica preparation 501 as part of the sequential application of the BD sprays.

General rate of use mix 2 kg, which is about two heaped handfuls, in 40 litres of rain water. It should be stirred for 15 minutes in a similar way to preparation 500. Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth and spray it over the plants and on to the soil surrounding the plant.

The idea of fermenting cow dung in such a way came from Maria Thun in Dexbach in northern Germany.

She is well known in Biodynamic circles for her work with the planting calendar. She made the first fermented cow dung with the Biodynamic compost preparations in a barrel and it was known as barrel compost. Since I have been work-

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ing in India where termites would eat the wood of the barrel we use pits lined with brick for the dung and preparations which have proved to be very good Peter Proctor Biodynamic Outreach India and New Zealand RECENT INDIAN RESEARCH ON THE ANTI-MICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF COW PAT PIT MANURE Professors V. Stalin and K. Perumal of the Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, in India recently published a paper ‘Screening and production of subtilin from Bacillus subtilis isolated from nutrients rich organic and biodynamic manures’ This reports on the work they carried out on the chemical and microbial activity of 12 different organic composts. They chose: ■ Worm compost ■ NADEP compost (a composting method developed

by Naryan Devrao Pandri Pandey in India made in a brick tank ■ Cow Pat Pit Manure ■ Biodynamic compost, ■ Cow horn manure (BD 500) ■ Panchakavya (a mixture of the five products of the cow: dung, urine, milk along with ghee and curd) ■ As well as the individual Biodynamic Preparations In the discussion the authors state that: ‘Microorganisms that naturally colonize compost during the curing phase of the manuring process secrete microbial metabolites. These metabolites from bacteria and fungi have antibacterial and antifungal properties. The antibiotics are released by the microbes in the environment during the competition for survival of existence.’

They then went on to report that among the manures, Cow Pat Pit Manure has high amounts of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and organic carbon).

It also scored, along with Cow horn manure, high levels of humic acid and protein.

They found that the Cow Pat Pit contained the highest amount of bacterial load as well as high amounts of subtilin.

For more details on the report and how to obtain basalt for making the Cow Pat Pit and the Barrel Preparation visit the BDAA website: www.biodynamic.org.uk. ■ The pictures on the previous page are from a workshop with Peter Proctor at Rush Farm in Worcestershire in October 2007 which was sponsored by Elysia and arranged as part of the Biodynamic Food Fortnight.

© Richard Swann

Biodynamic Food Fortnight LaunchBorough Market, October 6th 2007

THE BOROUGH MARKET in London was an apt setting to launch the first ever Biodynamic Food Fortnight in the UK. Even though there has been a market in the London Bridge area since the Roman Times, the current one recently celebrated 250 years of trading on the current site.

It is a traditional market with a rich history which not only supports quality food and especially UK grown food.

As one battles through the throngs on a busy Saturday morning you find all manner of foods ranging from the most freshly caught fish to a variety of meats, fruit, vegetables, cheeses, pies, breads, cakes and so on.

Jane Scotter of Fern Verrow Farm has a regular stall there each Saturday. She has been selling biodynamic fruit and vegetables there for several years and has many loyal and dedicated customers.

As well as Jane, four other Demeter producers also had stalls on the day of the Launch. Tablehurst Farm brought along some of their prize winning meats, Plaw Hatch its wonderful selection of golden coloured cheeses, Artisan Bread had an impressive range of nutritious breads (including a specially baked Demeter flower pretzel bread) and Stein from Tablehurst Orchard not only sold apples but also freshly made juice.

In a prime spot at the centre of the bustling market a Demeter information stand was set up bedecked with brilliant blue balloons and Demeter parasols, where books were sold along with tea and wine tastings. A steady stream of visitors passed by during the course of the day sampling what was on offer and finding out more about biodynamics.

Amidst all this, later in the afternoon Wendy Cook signed copies of her popular ‘Biodynamic Food and Cookbook’.

The Launch itself took place in the compact space of the Borough Market boardroom. There, about 60 people packed in to hear commendations for biodynamic food from one of London’s top chefs, Michel Roux Jnr. as well as from an impressive range of speakers throughout the afternoon.

Michel’s speech (reproduced right) was followed by a spontaneous and lively acclamation from another of London’s chefs, Cyrus Todiwala MBE who has a successful restaurant (Cafe Spice Namaste) just across the river from the market.

This year’s Biodynamic Food Fortnight was sponsored by Elysium Natural Products, Heritage Prime, Demeter Markforum (Germany), Old Plaw Hatch Farm and Vintage Roots. Another Biodynamic Food Fortnight is being planned for the coming year (4th – 19th October 2008) for which we are seeking sponsorship.

Richard Swann

‘A HAPPY PIG MAKES A BETTER CRACKLING’ An edited extract from Michel Roux’s speech on opening the Biodynamic Food Fortnight.

Michel Roux Jnr, is Chef de cuisine of the well known Michelin 3 star restaurant Le Gavroche in London’s Mayfair.

He took over the very successful restaurant from his father in 1991 after extensive training in both Paris and London.

He is also author of four best selling cookery books.

He has been a long time advocate of biodynamic food and has been a Heritage Prime customer for the past 20 years.

‘It is really a great honour for me to be here to launch this Biodynamic Food Fortnight. People often ask me about biodynamics. They start to understand what organics is but want to know what is so special about biodynamics. So I keep it simple and say that it is organics - but a little better. Well, I’m no expert, I am just a customer and more importantly a consumer, which also makes me an expert. From what I know, biodynamics is about crop rotation, perfect husbandry and the use of natural remedies for the soil and the animals. It is about self sufficiency on the farms and the proper use of the seasons. That is vitally important for me as a chef. And - most importantly – there is the use of the moon and the solar system. People then look at me and say ‘that sounds a bit wacky to me’.

At the end of the day it is what’s on the plate that is most important for me as a chef and a consumer.

I then think back to my late father in law who was a keen farmer with a large garden. He always used to plant his vegetables at a certain times in the year. For me this was totally normal - understanding what goes on in nature and in life.

Strangely though, my late grandfather on my mother’s side was a hairdresser and he used to say that the best time to cut your hair was after the full moon, because the hair would grow back even stronger. Now that is wacky! Whether that is true I don’t know. It certainly didn’t work for me!

In many ways it is also about respect. In fact it is about respect for the land and vitally important about respect for the animals. And as my father would say ‘A happy pig makes a better crackling’.

I was born in England and for seven years as a child I grew up in the countryside in Kent where my father reared rabbits and pigeons for the table. I fondly remember him looking after those animals and cajoling and cuddling them and then - giving them the chop! But they were absolutely happy. They had a wonderful life and boy did they taste good. This goes back to respect and to the love of animals. 4

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Wendy Cook greets the chefs

I am sorry if there are any vegetarians here, but they should know that any animal has a happy life before it ends up on my plate. That is important because any animal that we take the life of should be respected all the way through. Even by the chefs!

Biodynamics is also not cheap; it is certainly a more expensive way at the moment to produce food, whether it be animals or vegetables. I am very fortunate as I also get a wonderful box of vegetables from Denise at Heritage Prime. The rocket it is so peppery, it is phenomenal. I generally feel good after eating it.

At Le Gavroche, for example, when we get half a pig it is used extensively for everything. We make Rillettes a great old classic French recipe, Gratons or Pâtés. We use the whole ham - we slice it, braise it and slow cook it for hours and hours. I use the skin as well lightly poached, shredded up and folded to make a Cassoulet and serve it with lobster.

I also fantasise about the wonderful recipes I can do with the meat. For example I use absolutely everything off the pig - even the bones. I use a bit of cabbage and potato and sell it for maybe twenty quid! At the end of the day it is bones, cabbage, potato and water! So there is a way of making money even if the produce is expensive. Money should not be the object as it is the quality of the produce we should be looking at.

As a chef I am passionate about what I do and we chefs are known for being fiery and exuberant and I hope I brought it forward that I am very passionate and exuberant about the way forward for biodynamics.

I am passionate about food and, as you know, about my restaurants. Ian and Denise are passionate about what they do. They deserve a lot of credit and they deserve my being here today. And with their passion and my passion too we will soon all be embracing biodynamics. Biodynamics will very soon no longer be a wacky term. When we think of organics 10-15 years ago people didn’t know what it was.

For me I definitely think it is the way forward and I most definitely think that we, all the public with your help as well, will all soon be embracing biodynamics.’

‘GIMMI AN A…’ Ingrid Greenfield at Artisan Bread ‘We set off at 4am (too early as it turned out) from the bakery loaded with 150 loaves and 100 Biodynamic Flower Pretzels – ‘tastes a bit like twiglets but much nicer’ was the general comment. The video of the bakers making them may be on our website by the time you read this. Turning into the dark and narrow cobblestoned lanes at Borough Market, we could just make out a fox searching for food in the shadows of the old market buildings.

The list of things we have never done before grew during the day – we set up a stall – decked with bunting in our corporate colours and flower pretzels. We had rehearsed a little song and dance ‘Biodynamic – more than organic’ –gimmi an A – gimmi a B – gimmi an O for ABO was performed loudly, if a bit embarrassed by Mark, Christoph, Leanne and Ingrid. We served up burgers without meat and tomato sauce without tomato and generally had some fun.

We did not sell much but we sampled lots... it’s called PR! The more serious business happened in the boardroom tightly packed with BDAA staff and supporters, producers, retailers, processors, celebrity chefs and a film crew – expertly directed to the top floor by a very smart Jessica from the BDAA office.’ 4

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Michel Roux

Cyrus Todiwala of cafe Spice Nama ste

Ian Bell of Heritage Prime Monty Waldin speaking on wine

Nick Raeside (B DA speaking with De A Chairman), and Sian William s (Ruskin Mill), nise Bell (Herita ge Prime)

Biodynamic Food

Š All pictures - Richard Swann

Information point

of maste

Jane Scotter’s vegetable stall

Artisan Bread

od Fortnight Launch Star & Furrow Issue 108 Winter 2007

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Biodynamic Food Fortnight Launch

one of the twenty eight people who participated in the Farm walk said “it was wonderful to see a truly sustainable form of agriculture being used that is based on respect for the enviSiân Williams - Fundraising & Development ronment, animals, seasonality and even the cosmic forces. I Manager at Ruskin Mill College, Nailsworth was particularly interested in the use of natural preparations for helping improve soil fertility and the use of an astronomTo celebrate Biodynamic Food Fortnight Ruskin Mill ical calendar for planting and harvesting”.

College held two events at its Biodynamic farm to provide Visitors then walked across the paddocks to the an opportunity for members of the public and a group of Horsley School students to learn more about the basic prin- livestock area, stopping on the way to watch Stuart Cregg ciples of biodynamic agriculture. The 40 acre ‘Gables Farm, and student Toby Merrivale ploughing the field with Violet located at Tiltups, Nailsworth has been farming biodynami- and Kate, our two Percheron work horses. Ross, father of an inquisitive two year old told us that the highlight of his day cally for 13 years and grows vegetables, grains and fruit in was “seeing the work horses ploughing the fields, a dying addition to raising livestock and chickens.. “Biodynamic skill that many in my daughter’s generation will be lucky to food has a remarkable vitality and high nutritional content see never mind associate with food on their plate”. The final and this plays an important part in supporting the well stop was the Woodlands management area after which parbeing of our students, particularly as they are involved in the growing, harvesting and cooking of the food” explained ticipants enjoyed a delicious autumnal soup made from farm Berni Courts, Farm Manager. “Many people are now aware grown veggies and freshly baked bread made from a heritage variety of wheat grown on the farm. of the benefits of food grown locally without the use of chemicals and pesticides but we are often asked what the difference is between organic and biodynamic food so we took the opportunity of the Food Fortnight to host a couple HORSLEY SCHOOL STUDENTS VISIT of farm tours.

Only three days before their Apple Festival on 18th October, Biodynamic agriculture was inspired by Rudolf Steiner in the 1920’s and is based on the understanding that Horsley School students visited Gables with a focus very soil, plant, animal and man work together and that the farm much on learning about the nutritional benefits of biodynamic food. After harvesting mangelwurzels for the pigs can be viewed as an organism in its own right. All external and learning about the importance of composting, students, inputs are kept to a minimum and this is one of the main parents and teachers set to work harvesting apples from reasons why Berni and his team make their own compost, grow as much cattle fodder as possible and do the majority the orchard to make freshly squeezed apple juice. Caroline Jamrey, Year 5/6 teacher said “by experiencing some of the of land cultivation using horse power.

The first of the farm tours took place on the morn- processes first hand, the students learned about the link between food and the land. It was obvious to me that some ing of Saturday 13th October and attracted a large group of them were discovering new abilities and pleasures when with ages ranging from two to sixty. Visitors were mainly they chopped apples, then experienced the effort involved in locals but a few came from as far as Cirencester and Bath.

Mattias Emous, who runs the Horticultural area at the Farm pressing them. It was particularly good for them to see how shared effort and perseverance could produce a plentiful and spent time explaining the importance of composting, crop delicious drink”. ■ rotation, seed saving and biodiversity on the Farm. Anita, A BUSY TIME AT GABLES FARM

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The Spirit of Land, Sea & Soil © Helen Kippax

Over the past year the Theme for the year has been ‘Land and Spirit’.

A few events were organised by the Biodynamic Association in recognition of this including a conference in the Scilly Isles and an event at the Eden Project with Alastair McIntosh.There follows a report from the Scilly Isles by two of the participants as well as an article by Alastair on land ownership.

THIS BDAA CONFERENCE was the first of several in different parts of the UK, so that others can experience the local challenges that BD growers face in their work of creating a more living soil.

As Bernard Jarman said, living soil or reconnecting plants with the forces in the earth is not just about food quality. It is also about being of service to the urgent needs of the Earth and its people. A way of understanding this is to see how indigenous cultures relate to the living being of their locality. On the Scilly Islands we observed how the Celtic culture of the past together with the local conditions of sea, air, light, soil and fresh water still both challenge and sustain life on these islands.

We describe here the visit in some detail, both HOW we tried to meet the Spirit of Land, Sea and Soil in the Scilly Isles and WHAT we met. The 30 Conference participants were from Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and western England - all parts of the ‘Celtic wave’ except Brittany. We hope you find this rather lengthy description of value as one example of discovering the nature of the local environment - the spiritual imperative - which will affect the local agriculture.

The journey began for us (the authors) in darkness very early one September morning. In 9 hours we travelled from Devon by car, train, foot and sea to St. Martin’s, Isles of Scilly. First impressions, on landing at a small quay, was that we were entering into a paradise; the sun was brilliant, the sea a shimmering blue and the beaches dazzling white sand, the quality of light astounding. For the few days before the Conference started we wandered over the island, exploring. At every turn we were enveloped by the huge sense of space - we stood on the land and gazed out to the vast

Atlantic seascape from which many islets emerged and larger islands could be glimpsed. A quietness lay over all, the calling of birds a part of that quiet, broken only by the jarring note of helicopters bringing visitors to St. Mary’s airport as we walked on well-used sandy tracks linking all parts of the island. We were amazed by the small boat trip to see granite islets, islands, seaweed forests, birds, dolphins, fish and seals’ After that we were ready for the Conference.

On the Friday afternoon we (now the 30 Conference participants) heard from Jonathon Smith and Jinny Stevens about the nature and the people of their Scillonian homeland. Then we walked on St. Martins Island, connecting with the ancient burial sites, the Atlantic ocean, the amazingly clear air, the small, enclosed fertile fields, the bare rocks, the few animals grazing on the gorse hill tops.

In the evening Jeremy Thres from Dartmoor spoke, filling us with rich inner pictures about how various cultures ‘educate’ their young so that they discover their ‘indigenous root’, the connection between their own discerning self and their locality, their country, the whole planet and the cosmos. When these connect harmoniously, all can thrive.

On Saturday Dafydd Davies-Hughes from North Wales lyrically related several Celtic tales which awoke us to a more imaginative reality of the life of the elements. Half the group then created with pastel colours aspects of their own inner landscape and the joyful discovery of new outer landscape with Karin Jarman, whilst others were guided in a very focussed plant observation with Linda McKeown.

In the afternoon heat, we visited some half-made (mainly seaweed) compost heaps to turn them, add the Preparations and cover them in bracken and dried grass. No animal manure was available; there are very few animals 4

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NOTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER 2007 BDAA CONFERENCE ON THE SCILLY ISLES

by Christine Walton and Val Collett.

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on the Scillies. It seemed a momentous act, to make probably the first BD compost heaps in the history of the Islands.

We stood in a circle around them, reverentially, and sang together quietly.

Walking from there to some high-hedged hilltop plots, we saw beehives, an impressive variety of organically grown vegetables, green manure, the remains of a polytunnel recently carried off in a storm, and huge water storage tanks.

After (another) wonderful meal of local produce and some thoughtful songs from Martin Donnelly, Aonghus Gordon brought us deep insight into the Celtic culture. The Druids (as spiritual leaders of the Celts) understood how the telluric (natural) currents could awaken the human consciousness and give birth to the higher human being and the illumination of thinking. We saw illustrations of the curving and spiralling forms of sea and sky, and how Celtic art and buildings from ancient forts to mighty Cathedrals were informed by the transformed telluric forces. Celtic cultures deeply understood agriculture, true education and the healing arts and the creativity that arose when these met.

On Sunday we arrived on the much smaller island of St. Agnes to visit a dairy farm (Troytown) and an organic vegetable grower (Tamarisk).

At Troytown farmer Tim Hicks made it clear that his campsite on a low cliff facing the Atlantic storms is his first priority, and the farm comes second. It is obvious that although his land is very difficult to manage he has a great love for it. He proudly showed us the ‘smallest milking parlour anywhere’ where he can milk 2 cows at a time. When electricity came to the island 20 years ago he was swift to convert his parlour, thus eliminating the need for hand milking. We saw the bull who was ‘a bit old now and not so willing’ but who had to carry on for now as there is no artificial insemination on the islands.

© Helen Kippax

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As there is a shortage of water on all the islands, sea water is used to flush the toilets on the camp site. Tim has diversified into making ice cream with his surplus milk, which is very popular, and sells his milk and butter locally.

Tim says he will never leave the Scillies, and seemed a happy man, deeply content with his life. His son Sam was encouraged to study on the mainland (agricultural engineering) and has now returned to the Scillies with much needed skills.

At Tamarisk, one field away from the mighty sea, we met Ben Hicks and his measured yet Michaelic enthusiasm for the vegetables, flowers and fruit which he grows on his several acres. There are 4 double polytunnels from which rainwater is collected. We saw tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, red chillies, and outside there were healthy, productive strawberries, apple trees and some not so happy berry bushes. Ben’s land was quite fertile, due to annual gathering of autumn seaweed which is laid on the land a foot deep, and within a few weeks is dug into the ground. All the fields are small and enclosed by tall, mature evergreen hedges of tamarisk, euonymus and pittosporum for wind protection.

Hedge cuttings are fed to the few cattle.

Finally, the visits over, we Conference participants (now a network of friends) met to reflect on our encounter with the Spirit of the Scillonian land, sea and soil. What did we take home from this well-planned, enlivening, humanscale weekend gathering?

The power of the elements: The bounty and the danger of the surrounding sea. Is there enough freshwater?

The purity of the air, and also the over-whelming power of its storms and the sand it distributes. The immense light and the year-round warmth/heat (no frosts). The granite rocks, the sandy and fast-draining soil - what vegetation thrives, what doesn’t - and the central, crucial part that SEAWEED plays in Island life.

The people whose past and future karma takes place on the Isles: Their human warmth, their co-dependency. Their deep love of the place and respect for the elements. The age-old yet respectful tension between the people who uphold the traditional ways and those looking to the present and the future. Some Michaelic young men, whose family connections have made land available to them and who have university-level training in horticulture, bring a determination to supply local, mainly organic food to the local people and enable Island life to be sustainable in the future.

What place might Biodynamic practices have here?

There are growers of Organic status vegetables and salad crops, even some honey and fruit. The struggle with the elements and with the traditionalists seems to be the main focus of their attention at present, but nothing succeeds like good examples and heart-felt respect amongst the people of the islands. Animals are more problematic as they have to be slaughtered on the mainland, thus there is almost no animal manure. However there is an endless supply of seaweed and all the Preparation crops can grow on the Islands.

It would be good to hear from BD advisors how the climatic and social situation which we found in the Scilly Islands could be enhanced by BD practices. ■

The real price of property Housebuying, that sacred cow of capitalism, can cost more than a mortgage.

Alastair McIntosh looks to Scotland for a more communitarian vision of home.

MY FIRST IMMERSION in the politics of property happened in the summer of 1975, when I was working as a “ghillie”, rowing boats for salmon fishers on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, my childhood home.

As with the famous “President Kennedy question”, I can recall the exact spot where it took place. I had been out on Loch Valtos and was returning by car along the shores of Loch Holabhat with a gentleman from “down south” at the wheel. You can guess the type: Etonian accent, tweed plus fours, Barbour jacket and the green wellies that, in those days, signified a class distinction from our common black ones.

Well, this old boy was on his high horse. He was steamed up and, for want of a better audience, had chosen to deliver unto my teenage brain a sermon upon the sacred rights of property. “It’s just so wrong!” he was saying. “If they approve this new law in the Lords, heaven forbid, it will mean that the crofters will be able to get their land off us!

Damn it, this country’s getting more and more like Russia every day! What do you think of that? What? What?”

The crofters – traditionally native tenant farmers who rented from landowners who were often absentee – had been campaigning for years for the right to buy the land they farmed, but in the opinion of this particular gentleman the coming reforms would only show up their shortcomings.

“They’re already incapable of managing the land properly,” he blustered. “Look at all the old cars lying about everywhere! Don’t you think it’s wrong that a man’s property can be taken off him just because a tenant decides to have it? Greed I call it. Nothing but envy for what the other chap’s got.”

For those of us who had grown up on Lewis, this seemed a strange way of looking at the world. In my community, for example, an old car out in a field served as a children’s play piece, or a valuable repository of spare parts ... a memento of somebody’s life story, a store for animal feed, a henhouse, or the place where the dog has puppies.

But, mindful that discretionary tips made up fully one third of the wages, I probably just went along with him. In later years, however, that discussion prompted me to think more carefully and critically about his view of property.

A TAINTED HISTORY In those days we were seldom taught anything of our own history in school. Only slowly did I, and many like me, start to find out for ourselves the real story of our place. The short version of that story went something like this: Britain as a political entity did not become fully established until the 18th century. The Union of the Parliaments in 1707 cemented the process, but considerable resistance continued in the Highlands through until the 4

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1745 Uprising. This was brutally repressed at Culloden in 1746 – the last battle to take place on mainland British soil.

The traditional pattern of land tenure in Celtic Scotland had been a tribal one. At its best, and in theory, land was held by tribal chiefs in common for the whole “clan” – the word meaning “family”. However, since the late 16th century the Scottish, and, later, the British state had sought to commodify land as private property. Onetime principles of stewardship were gradually replaced with legal constructs of outright ownership. Stewardship became a mere figleaf legitimising private dominion. No longer was land valued mainly for the number of people it could support. The yardstick now was profit.

During the 19th century, landlords (as they were now) realised that new breeds of sheep, and wool demand created by the Napoleonic Wars, meant that previously uneconomic land had considerable profitable potential. In the process known as the Highland Clearances, people were forced out of their ancestral place and either into the cities or onto emigrant ships bound for the New World, Australasia or southern Africa.

Those left behind were eventually, after much agitation, given secure tenancy status under the 1886 Crofting Act. This still left a situation where, today, a mere 1,000 owners control nearly two-thirds of Scotland’s private land, but at least an indigenous way of life had been partly safeguarded. What was happening in my youth, just one long lifetime on from this, was that new legislation was being introduced in what became the Crofting Reform Act (1976).

This was to allow crofters the right to buy out the freehold of their land at 15 times the annual rental. For a few hundred pounds, crofters could acquire typically 12 acres, and it was this seeming reversal of history which so offended the Barbour-jacketed gent.

insists in Leviticus 25 that we can never own the land in perpetuity because we are only sojourners on the Earth who borrow it.

So, to attempt to privatise land under the 1976 Act – into a system of individual croft ownership - was seen by many as removing land from the crofting community. A better way to address the problem of landlordism would be to facilitate community land ownership. This is something that has now been legislated for under the more recent Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The new Act allows whole communities to follow the pioneering examples which have been set relatively recently by such places as Eigg and Assynt in acquiring the land and holding it in a democratically accountable community trust. It comprises flagship legislation for the new Scottish Parliament, which has the advantage of having only one chamber and so not requiring endorsement by the House of Lords (which would probably never have permitted such a shake-up of landed power).

The 2003 Act has three main provisions. First, it allows communities in designated crofting areas to buy out their land at government valuation at any time, irrespective of whether the private landowner wishes to sell or not.

Second, it allows rights of pre-emptive purchase in noncrofting areas if, but only if, the land is being placed on the market and a majority of the surrounding community have registered their interest in a community buyout. And third, it enshrines in statute the long-held view that in Scotland there exists a responsible right to roam over any land.

PANIC POLITICS My interlocutor back in the Seventies would hardly have been able to contain his G & T had he known what the new millennium would bring in. The right wing press was to say it all for him. The Daily Telegraph creaked on about DE-PRIVATISING LIFE “Stalinism” visited upon the Highlands and the Daily Mail The interesting thing is that very few indigenous crofters ran a full front page picture of Robert Mugabe to mark the availed themselves of the ’76 legislation once it was passed. Act’s passing - omitting to note that Highland landowners One explanation is that losing tenancy status as crofters would be compensated in a manner that Kenya’s White meant a loss of access to crofting grants. But I think there Settlers are not. was another much more interesting factor at play.

But what was happening under the 2003 Act In crofting communities one of the ways that the psycholog- was not communism in the sense of state ownership. ical dominance of landlordism has been mitigated has been Neither was it peasant capitalism such as the 1976 Act had through the cultural elevation of tenancy status towards aimed to induce. Rather, a third way was now being experihaving a spiritual meaning. The landlord’s claim of absolute mented with in Scotland – one with the full backing of proprietorship is seen as being idolatrous. God, after all, most of the mainline churches; one that might be called

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“communitarianism”.

The principle here is that God does not make land any more. Land should be held in sacred trust for the community as a whole. It is then up to the community democratically to decide what private use might be made of it.

So far, the evidence is that this stimulates the entrepreneurial spirit. Where community buyouts have taken place, innovative new businesses have started up.

Previously, with bad landowners, this could not so easily happen. Countless examples are on record of where secure leases were refused, or owners would insist on a share of any profits made. For example, one crofter I know wanted to be able to sell wine with meals in his restaurant that serviced tourists. The police and local authority were happy to grant the table license, but the “laird” or landowner insisted on £3,000 for the signature granting his consent. Unable to afford this, his premises to this day remains unlicensed and visitors doubtless scratch their heads at such ostensible lack of entrepreneurial spirit.

WIDER HORIZONS Parochial as such examples may seem to those living in big cities, they in fact have a profound and iconic message far beyond these remote corners of the British Isles. For if land is to be viewed as neither a State asset nor a private one, but as being under the control of the resident community, what might this say to the rest of the world?

Modernity has pushed us all down the “Enclosures” road of land being ousted from the Commons, and our places turned into a commodity to be privately bought and sold. The need for that commodity to return a profit has driven the ripping up of Britain’s beautiful landscape and a corresponding loss of both ecology and regional identities.

Thomas Hardy puts it like this in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: These families, who had formed the backbone of the village life in the past, who were the depositaries of the village traditions, had to seek refuge in the large centres; the process humorously designated by statisticians as ‘the tendency for the rural population towards the large towns,’ being really the tendency of water to flow uphill when forced by machinery. [1] Property ownership is not originally a Christian idea. Jesus himself was born in a manger, moved from house to house, and described having no place to call his own or lay his head. Rather, property rights as we know them developed out of the Graeco-Roman construct of dominium.

The early monasteries needed to find some legal vehicle to hold property that did not entail private possession by an abbot vowed to poverty. The idea therefore developed that a “fictitious legal person” could be the owner – in this case, the religious order, which might endure in perpetuity. So it was that the concept of the corporation emerged. However, whereas monastic ownership was consecrated to God, the capitalist equivalents, such as the early-17th century East India Company, was consecrated more to Mammon.

Property rights, then, are a learned notion; one that many so-called primitive peoples don’t share, and one that we can rethink and rework in ways that suit the kind of society we might like to become. For example, under community land ownership there is no reason why owning a house and owning the land on which it is situated could not be considered as separate transactions. The house is yours. The land is the community’s and only leased to you. This could allow the community a voice in who you sell your house to, thereby enabling it to address the commonplace shortage of houses for people coming from within or coming in to serve a useful function within the community.

NARROWER LANES? But what of the downsides of community? In his book advancing the “knowledge economy”, Living on Thin Air, one of Tony Blair’s gurus, Charles Leadbeater, opines: Strong communities can be pockets of intolerance and prejudice. Settled, stable communities are the enemies of innovation, talent, creativity, diversity and experimentation. They are often hostile to outsiders, dissenters, young upstarts and immigrants. Community can too quickly become a rallying cry for nostalgia; that kind of community is the enemy of knowledge creation, which is the wellspring of economic growth. [2] Leadbeater urges globalisation as the way forward. He sees it as expressing internationalism. But there is more than one path to internationalism. Globalisation is a competitive way. At its core is the oligarchy and plutocracy (government by the few and the rich) of one-share-one-vote.

The communitarianism I am talking about has at its heart One World internationalism. This is based on a democracy of equality; an ethic of co-operation and respect for what is already found in a place. This latter point is crucial. Some incomers come to give and share. Others come only to take, including taking liberties. It is not acceptable to use 4

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economic power to muscle in on a community simply because property is cheaper than elsewhere, and to do so in a manner that lacks a profound respect and indeed permission from that community. The point is that place is not just physical. It is also psychospiritual. An incomer must be aware that in entering a community they are entering not just a property, but also a shared mindset.

There is nothing new about this from a Biblical perspective. In the gospels we’re always being told about place and place names. The Holy Land becomes a literal spiritual cartography – a place of places replete with layers of meaning. Painted by story, sense of place develops as a set of complexes in the collective psyche, each pregnant with archetypal significance. Truly, we are creatures not just of time, but also of space – both history and geography. Place matters because it carries meaning mapped out onto the landscape. Like Einstein saw, but in ways far beyond what his mathematics alone could tell, we humans are creatures of a space-time continuum. Like beasts with a sense of where they belong out on the hill, we have the capacity to become “hefted” to place. Our co-ordinates in space and time are benchmarks of identity. And having an identity is central to becoming fully human.

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FOSTERING THE STRANGER But equally, we must be careful not to assert our identity in ways that destroy that which is most wonderfully human.

We have to be wary of exclusive and “blood” identities. In Celtic tradition, the very real danger of xenophobia is faced in an interesting way. Hospitality and beyond it, fostership (or adoption), are considered to be “sacred” duties. Hospitality is for the short term. Fostership comes in to play for the long haul, where mutual respect has been established.

And fostership counts for more than the mere happenstance of blood lineage. Various Gaelic proverbs attest to this. “Blood to the twentieth; fostership to the hundredth degree” says one. “The bonds of milk are stronger than the bonds of blood” goes another (i.e. nurture is stronger than nature).

I think that we can see this as having profoundly Christian roots. It is Christ who goes in the stranger’s guise.

And Jesus was clear that his true family were not necessarily his blood relatives.

He himself owed his position and ability to fulfill prophecy to membership of the Royal House of David. This was made possible only by Joseph’s adoption of him. We have on our wall at home an icon of Joseph about to sacrifice the two doves at Jesus’s naming ceremony. I see it as signifying the sanctity of fostership: of belonging in membership one of another to God’s community.

RIGHT RELATIONS We live in a world where settled, traditional people are becoming a minority and perhaps the majority have been uprooted and wander to and fro upon the face of the Earth.

The model of hospitality perhaps leading on to fostership suggests how these two ways of being might be reconciled.

The “insider” to a community carries tradition and, often, an implicit understanding of “how things are done” in a particular place. The “outsider”, on the other hand, can bring wider experience and the sometimes-useful gift of new ways. Reconciling these will never be easy, but it is of vital importance.

How can this be done? Well, in Quakerism we try to approach difficult issues by seeking to lay aside our own ego concerns and discern the deeper movement of the Spirit of God. Similarly, I think it is true that in communities of place, there is such a thing as the Spirit of Place – divine wisdom that can be discerned through learning to listen to the place itself. The acerbic Edmund Spenser put it rather well when he went to Ireland to advise Elizabeth I on how best to colonise that country. A formidable obstacle, as he saw it, was the tendency of earlier generations of English settlers to go native and become more Irish than the Irish themselves! “Lord,” he proclaimed, “how quickly doth that country alter one’s nature”. I think that we might surmise that a person belongs inasmuch as they are willing to cherish, and be cherished, by a place and its peoples.

This implies a duty on the incomer to listen and learn, and so to set their seeds without trampling on what is already growing there. And a duty that the indigenous community recognises that whilst a tree must have roots, it must also remain open in the branches.

MAGNIFIED JUSTICE Ultimately, all property is, theologically speaking, God’s gift of Providence. Right property relations are those of justice within the community, ensuring that the needs of all are met by advancing sufficiency before surplus. The true community can never become an elite plutocracy, because the duty of fostership protects against bloodline oligarchy.

In a world where many lack a home, this has profound implications for how we shape our communities and whom we might count as in-group and out-group. It resonates with Christianity, in the words of Luke’s Magnificat of Mary, as a religion that “magnifies” a God who “hath put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly”; the religion of a God who, “has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty.”

Challenging stuff, I say. What do you think of that?

What? What? ■ Alastair McIntosh is a Fellow of Edinburgh’s Centre for Human Ecology and a founder of the land trust that brought the Isle of Eigg into community ownership in 1997. He has also helped lead the campaign that has so far stopped a “superquarry” on the Isle of Harris in a National Scenic Area. He lectures at venues around the world, including annually at Britain’s foremost military staff college (on nonviolence!). He is best known as the author of Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power (Aurum Press, £12.99) described by the Bishop of Liverpool in Jesus and the Earth as “life changing ... a map for my journey”.

Many of his articles are online at www.AlastairMcIntosh.com .

[1] Thomas Hardy,Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Wordsworth Classics edition, Ware, Herts, 1993 p.395 [2] See Guardian website for longer extract: books.guardian.co.uk/leadbeater/ story/0,6550,131261,00.html This article was originally published in The Third Way Jan/Feb 2004,Vol. 27, No. 1, 22 – 25, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author.

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The Winter Onion Festivals by Wendy Cook

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SEVERAL YEARS AGO, Jordi Pigem a young philosophy teacher at Schumacher College where I was living at the time, told me about ‘The Calçotada’. It was, he explained, a festival that was localised in Catalonia (the area around Barcelona) and featured a special variety of onion, Calçots, which look something like a cross between a leek and a spring onion. He described it in such a way that I knew that one day I must experience it for myself. Eight years on an excuse arose in an invitation to celebrate the 87th birthday of a friend who lived in the mountains outside Barcelona.We were to join Jordi’s mother-in-law, a food writer who was going to write about the festival in the town of Valls which has become the festival centre for this Calçots-growing region.

It is always set on the last Sunday of January, this year it was the 28th and we had driven about one hundred kilometres south west of Barcelona through the wine growing regions of Penedès to Valls. Valls takes its name from the valleys formed by the mountains and streams of the centre of the Alt Camp.

The Calçot was produced by a mysterious and solitary farmer with the amazing name of Xat de Benaiges who experimented and then produced the first Calçots, ‘twice-planted’ onions , which as the shoots grow they are banked up with soil to blanch them, which is where their name comes from, the ‘calçons,’ which are these protective ‘stockings ‘ of earth.

In 1898 and in 1995 the Generalitat de Catalunya established the denomination of quality ‘Calçots de Valls limiting the production to several regions and in September 2001 an IGP (Indicación Geográfica Protegida) protected the authentic Calçot and defined its characteristics. It must be 6-10 inches long with a diam-

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of Catalonia eter of 1 inch. This along with the correct consistency and taste must be presented in bunches of 25-50 Calçots tied with the designated blue ribbon.

Arriving at this 16th Century town we parked and followed the crowds, who were following the sound of drums. A procession was assembling behind its emblem, a giant green and white model of the Calçot. There were children in renaissance costumes horse-drawn carts and carriages, jugglers and very enthusiastic drummers!

Fires had been lit in strategic squares Plaça del Blat (the square of the Wheat) and the Plaça de l’Oli (Olive Oil).

Everything to do with this festival has become a ritual. The fires only made with the dried prunings of the vines are kept going by walnut skinned old boys in traditional dress wearing a cockscomb red hat at a jaunty angle. The Calçots are cleaned and trimmed, but never washed, and laid in thick rows over the embers on a metal grill. They are charred black and then served steaming on heated semi-cylindrical ceramic roof-tiles and served with a very special sauce, the ‘salbitaxada’, grilled lamb, sausages (butifarra) and washed down with the local Tempranillo (Ull de Llebre) a young red wine.

The perfume of the cooking sweet onions mingled with the wood smoke of the burning vine prunings was tantalizing. Long trestle tables displayed the ingredients for this renowned sauce, their proportions usually kept somewhat secret as different families innovate their own special versions. But everyone knows that the following ingredients are generally used: Blanched almonds, roasted hazelnuts, roasted tomatoes, olive oil, roasted garlic, a little wine vinegar, salt and pepper, sweet paprika, parsley. These are all pounded together in a great pestle and mortar

a oil. There was no need for the meat, instead a dish of white beans with parsley were the accompaniment.

Everybody was having such fun and getting messy, despite the bibs, a nearby table of children were delighting in the experience. I tried to imagine English people approaching a humble vegetable such as an onion with such delight... it was all part of the festival , the ritual, the real celebration.

To honour the humble allium is right and proper, particularly at this time of year, after Christmas and before Lent. The purifying and diuretic qualities of this member of the liliacae family have been well -known for millennia. The Egyptians were particularly fond of them and their sister plant, garlic. Certainly my mother would always make me a bowl of onions cooked in milk whenever a had a cold or bronchitis as a child.

The action of this particular plant food is mainly directed to the metabolic sphere following paths taken by the Sulphur process in the organism. Digestion is stimulated as light and air are brought into any pathological congestion in the fluid organization, eliminating excess fluid particularly in head, neck and chest region.

I felt so privileged to have been able to participate in this special festival, the fires in the dark of the winter, heralding the lengthening of days. Perhaps we can create something of this nature . the end of January and beginning of February can be burdensome times . I bought a packet of seeds, anybody want to have a try?

(I have included local names, because they are so redolent of the mood and spirit of place’ I hope that you, too enjoy them.) ■

© All pictures - Wendy Cook

by ladies of the town dressed in their traditional costumes and crocheted hats with long tails in competition with each other. Hungry crowds were queuing up to taste the sauce on snippets of bread. It was Absolutely Delectable and since returning home I think that I’ve successfully managed to reproduce a good version, though without the Calçots and the vine embers it lacks of course. !

Here too we saw other tables displaying the best examples of the Calçots in bunches and in clumps still embedded in a goodly ball of earth. Such a freshness in their green and white. Prizewinners all!

Over in another square young men competed to see how many of these tender morsels dipped in sauce they can consume in an allotted time. It’s fun but also a serious matter. In 2002 the contest was won by a newcomer from Barcelona who swallowed 198 Calçots in 45 minutes. (approx 3 kilos!)

It is undoubtedly a Rabelaisian mid-winter frolic, and though we were guests of the organizers who would eat until 3 in the afternoon our hunger got the better of us and we chose one of the restaurants famous for its ‘Calçotadas’ and by then we needed to sit down. This is helpful as one needs both hands. We were provided with a bib and plastic gloves. The hot roof tile appears stacked up with these charred onions and a generous bowl each of the delicate pink sauce which must coat the onion. Once it has been divested of the blackened outer leaves it is dunked in the sauce, held aloft and then lowered into the mouth. Exquisite, served with ‘pan b’oli’ slices of bread rubbed with garlic and tomato, coarse sea salt and drizzled with the best quality olive

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POTATO DAYS

© Pictures - Jane Cobbald

by Jane Cobbald

PICTURE THE SCENE.A line of us standing in a field in north Warwickshire on a dark, wet, windswept February morning.The focus of our attention is a white marquee, outside which we are patiently waiting.A flap is lifted and we are allowed in.And the reason we have got out of bed so early to queue in this bleak spot is… POTATOES. If you looked at the marquee from above you would see three concentric circles. The inner circle contains sacks of potatoes and some happy people, wearing hats and gloves and sensible clothes to keep themselves warm on this cold morning. The next circle, surrounding them, is of tables holding trays of brown tubers. Everything from Arran Pilot to Wilja and a hundred varieties in between. Earlies, lates, maincrop, organic and non-organic. I had come to join the outer circle because I had started a vegetable garden and wanted to grow something that I couldn’t find in the shops.

Unwittingly, I had joined the Potato Phenomenon.

The phenomenon started in the early nineties.

HDRA already operated a seed library, collecting and exchanging seeds that were no longer commercially available.

Seed potatoes cannot be treated in the same way, because the tubers do not last for more than a year. HDRA decided to have a Potato Day, to offer unusual varieties of seed potatoes to buy. They allocated a shed for the purpose. It had an en-

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trance door, then a display of about twenty varieties of seed potato, and a cash register by the exit door. One innovation right from the start was that people could buy individual tubers. Previously, seed potatoes had only been available in nets, which is fine for farmers, but not much use to someone like me with a small back garden.

So many people tried to get into the shed that first day that it almost lifted off its foundations. The cash register had to be moved outside, to relieve the pressure. HDRA had stumbled on to a trend that was waiting for an outlet.

The next ingredient in the story was the potato enthusiasts. One of these, Alan Romans, heard about the popularity of that first HDRA potato day. He had grown up in the potato-growing area of north-east Scotland, and he had a strong sense of its importance and value from watching the farmers and talking to them and the roguers (technical term: it means the people who sort the potatoes for sale. They look out for rogue potatoes that do not meet the standard, hence the name). He can tell you the history of the western world from the perspective of the potato. It is highly nutritious and is fairly straightforward to grow. It can be grown in a variety of situations, from the semi-desert of southern Australia to the peat soils of Iceland. It freed the farmers to the extent that they did not have to spend all of their waking hours working the land in order to grow

enough to keep them alive. According to Alan, the outcome of the French Revolution might have been very different if the potato had not been brought to Europe over a century previously. Alan realised that most of the varieties that the local farmers in Aberdeenshire had been cultivating for a century or more were unknown or unavailable in England.

Perhaps because of this, he felt that in England the potato did not receive the recognition or respect it deserved. He offered to supply HDRA with more potatoes next time, and they happily agreed.

Over the next few years, the Potato Day at Ryton Gardens moved into the largest available building on the site, and when that became too small, into the hired marquee that I visited. It increased from one day to two, and now has around a thousand visitors each day. I have met people who have travelled from the Irish Republic to be there, to collect a particular variety of seed potato. Not only that, in 2007 there were twenty other potato days around the country, many as well attended as the event at Ryton.

Most of these events are run by volunteers from local organic gardening groups. There are tales of their dedication, of Eric the volunteer at Ryton who slept in the marquee overnight to monitor the temperature when there was a risk of frost, to make sure that the potatoes did not get damaged by the cold, and many others around the country who gave up their weekends to put on these events. Now you can taste the different varieties, baked and chipped for the visitors at the East Anglia Potato Day. The West Yorkshire event is held in the magnificent Victorian hall of Shipley College at Saltaire. You can meet the Potato King and Queen at the Hampshire event, which like Ryton has now extended to two days because of the high attendance.

And you can read Alan Romans’ book explaining the merits of Edzell Blue, British Queen, Belle de Fontenay and all the other varieties available.

All of this phenomenon has been driven by demand. The next ingredient was when Alan Wilson, the buyer at Waitrose, became involved. It is hard to remember now, but a decade ago we could buy only whites, reds, baking potatoes and new potatoes in the shops. That was it.

Waitrose supported the Potato Days at Ryton, and started to stock varieties by name, and greengrocers and supermarkets up and down the country followed suit. Now, my local greengrocer lists Picasso, Kestrel, Cara and other varieties for sale.

An event that has been almost entirely customerdriven has had an effect beyond the numbers attending, I think. It is in tune with the growing interest to take responsibility for what we nourish ourselves with. Growing one’s own is the logical conclusion if one attempts to reduce food miles. Potato Days allow us to tailor our requirements in a way that was out of the question a decade ago. ■

OBIT UA RY Pauline Anderson 29th September 1928 - 15th June 2007

PAULINE AND JIMMY ANDERSON appeared on the periphery of my consciousness long before I met them.They were near-mythical figures whose names I often heard and who were occasionally sighted at a meeting or lecture which we might attend in common.Those first ‘sightings’ were when they were already in a mature phase of life, yet there was always an aura about them of beauty, dynamism and dignity – two distinguished, silvery haired individuals full of charisma and intelligence, who seemed to be more than fully engaged in life at a time when many are beginning to retire. I did not imagine then that we were destined to become closely connected over the coming years!

Pauline was born on the 29th of September 1928 – Michaelmas Day – she died on the 15th June 2007, ten days before St John’s Day, and her funeral ceremony took place on the day of the summer solstice, June 21st. It was the one bright, sunny day between many days of wild rain, wind and storms. All of these facts reveal something of the essence of Pauline. She had a truly Michaelic consciousness which shone through all she did – a sharp intelligence which was warmed through by the forces of her heart. She was a woman whose conscience guided her actions and her continual search for truth and beauty in life. She became deeply connected to Anthroposophy which inspired her thoughts, feelings and deeds, but she also connected to something more ancient and pagan in her soul, especially the old fire festivals.

Pauline was 78 years old when she passed away peacefully in the beautiful home that she and Jimmy created in their last years together. Jimmy, as ever, was by her side – it was nine days before their 55th wedding anniversary.

Pauline was born in London, the only child of an illmatched couple who seemed to understand little of the needs of their sensitive and highly intelligent child. They lived above the jewellery shop which her father ran and Pauline’s happiest memories of childhood seem to have focused on her wartime experience as an evacuee in Cornwall, where she first discovered her deep love of nature and her holidays in Scotland with friends of her mother. She developed a lasting connection to Scotland, particularly the west coast and the islands. Her parents’ marriage dissolved when she was still at school and her relationships with both of them remained strained throughout their lives.

She studied occupational therapy in London and went to a hospital near Edinburgh for her first job where she met and fell in love with Jimmy. He was studying medicine at the time but soon changed to agriculture (possibly connected with Pauline’s wish to be married to a farmer!). 4

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Picture kindly supplied by Fergus Anderson

Pauline and Jimmy had a very creative and productive relationship which benefited many people over the years.

They created community wherever they went, produced five gifted children on the way (Fiona, Shuna, Kirsty, Corran and Fergus) and continued to pioneer and initiate new ventures well into their 70s. Sometimes the strain and demands of these different activities took their toll on Jimmy and Pauline and those closest to them.

The first connections with Anthroposophy came about while searching for an appropriate education for their children. They heard about the Edinburgh Steiner School and through that about Bio-dynamic farming and Emerson College in Forest Row. Pauline had already become aware of issues surrounding nutrition and organic farming and had been introducing health foods to her family’s diet despite occasional objections! Her ever active conscience was also constantly struggling with the iniquity of famine in many parts of the world and this awareness influenced her own life choices and her efforts to fundraise for people less fortunate than herself. She was never one to think without acting – she allowed her ideals to influence every action in her daily life.

In keeping with their tendency to live out their ideals Pauline and Jimmy set off for Forest Row with their young family. They both did the foundation year at Emerson College while the children went to Michael Hall School. There followed many years at Busses Farm near East Grinstead, during which Pauline helped to establish ‘The Seasons’ organic café and craft shop in Forest Row. Their ongoing love of folk music continued to flourish in this environment, as did Pauline’s passion for celebrating festivals with plays, songs and dances many of which she wrote or adapted herself.

Unfortunately, after about ten years they had to relinquish Busses Farm due to economic pressures and they moved back to Scotland. They were both fairly exhausted from their years of pioneering and childrearing but they soon threw themselves into new initiatives. They became involved

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with establishing and running Helios Fountain in Edinburgh, which at that time was a vegetarian restaurant and gift shop. Pauline then did the Art Therapy training at Tobias School of Art, followed by a training in Haushka Massage in Germany. Jimmy began to work for the BDAA as an inspector and fieldsman and they set up a consultancy called ‘Farm Future’.

In 1998 Pauline and Jimmy finally drew closer to the world in which I was living. They bought Netherfield, which lies a mile or so from Loch Arthur, on the road to Dumfries. At the time it was a rather run down steading on 35 acres of land. Pauline and Jimmy (with the help of others – particularly Shuna) transformed it into an island of healing where many have gone to holiday, relax, collapse, be pampered, cared for, regain energy and generally appreciate the beautiful environment which they created over these past years.

For those of us living nearby it has been nothing short of a miracle to watch these two people in their 70s working with such energy, devotion, discipline and application to provide a place where others could be healed and restored, surrounded by such beauty and the loving care of two very special people.

Pauline and Jimmy became actively involved in the life of Loch Arthur as soon as they arrived. They joined our Class Lesson and Study Groups, participated in our cultural life, took an active interest in the farm and garden and Pauline was soon doing massage with people and joined our small group of therapists. These years as neighbours to Pauline and Jimmy have been very fruitful.

Our relationship with them has brought much joy and many blessings to us all.

Pauline was a woman with a radiant spirit and like many people who shine out in this life she could also struggle with herself and those around her. Where others experienced her achievements she could easily experience her own failures – she was striving for the highest and I’m sure this often put pressure on her and those closest to her. It is also possible to feel that you live in the shadow of a bright and shining star, but it was striking to me how humble Pauline was despite all that she had achieved in life. She cared deeply about the world and about other people and she spent her life in the service of those concerns.

It was moving to experience Pauline in the last weeks of her life. This powerful woman who had been so actively engaged in all aspects of life for seven decades was finally being stilled by her illness. It was a great privilege to visit her in those last days (which I did often) and to find her sitting quietly gazing at her beloved garden, looking more beautiful and radiant and serene with each passing day. As I sit at my desk and write, the sun has just appeared over the hill and touched the dew-covered grass with its golden rays – everything is shining and bright and I know that Pauline is still with us and will guide us into the future – the place she was always aiming towards. ■ Lana Chanarin (With the help of anecdotes and biographical facts from family and friends) 24th July 2007

BIODYNAMIC PRODUCT REVIEW MARTINA GEBHARDT SKINCARE Tested by: Jessica Standing Products used: Rose cream and facial lotion (For dry & sensitive skin) Ginseng Cream (For demanding skin – especially recommended for skin over 30) Shea Butter cream & facial lotion (For hyper-sensitive skin) Happy Aging Cream (Vitamin rich for mature skin over 40) Seven Herbs Cream (Once a week treat for stressed or fatigued skin) Website: www.trueaffinity.co.uk I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH to be able to try out this fantastic biodynamic skin care range on the morning of the Biodynamic Food Fortnight Launch in London (where samples were available to the public in the heart of Borough Market).

Having had flu for the previous two weeks and feeling a bit run down & dehydrated my skin was in desperate need of something special so I plumped for the “Happy Aging” cream after reading in the catalogue that it was “ a vitamin rich cream that protects skin against damaging environmental effects and restores its natural equilibrium”.

I applied it early in the morning when I woke up and again whilst sitting at Bexley Train Station waiting to be transported to Borough Market. Being in London, I knew that my skin would certainly need some “environmental protection”.

The cream felt and smelt wonderful and as I alighted at London Bridge station I found my pasty dry pallor had been transformed into velvety soft, perfectly moisturized skin which glowed with a gentle & healthy sheen.

I was very aware that my skin really did feel well balanced; something that I have found a problem with other brands of skin care which, when applied either gave me a “drying” effect or an “oil slick” effect where my skin would be so greasy it would warrant a hazard warning. I learnt that the ability of Martina Gebhardt creams to deliver this “natural balance” lies in the fact that they have a moisture ratio of about 50% (ie. herbal extracts in pure spring water) to 50% oily substances. This corresponds to the composition of the “hydro –lipid” layer of young healthy skin – the layer that needs nourishing & protecting if we want good skin.

With continued use of the moisturizers ( I really enjoyed trying all of them listed above) my skin just looks and feels better and better, so much so, that I have even stopped using face powder; I just don’t want to cover up the healthy sheen that I seem to get! As I would define my skin type “Sensitive - Dry” (and as I am over 30 years old) I found that all the products listed above suited me perfectly and it was nice to be able to have a range to choose from to meet my skins fluctuations not to mention my sanguine nature. Martina Gebhardt offer skin cares for all types and it is worth studying the “Summary Table” either in their catalogue or online to choose the right product for your skin.

Each range also handily come in two forms: “Facial Lotion” a lighter cream and “Face Cream” which is thicker and much heavier - perfect for these Winter months. The lotion and the cream can even be mixed together to reach the perfect consistency if desired.

The Seven Herbs Cream was a sheer delight and is now my weekly treat on Sunday’s - whereby I apply it in the morning and then go back to bed and relax with tea and a good book while it works it magic (looking 10 years younger according to my better half).

One friend of mine who has suffered hyper-allergenic skin most of her life was so impressed with the Shea Butter range that she swore she would use nothing else from now on.

Martina Gebhardt products appeal to me as: more than 95% of the raw materials used are from certified organic or Demeter cultivation, they offer 17 fully Demeter certified products including Skin & Massage Oils, Wellness & Spa Bath Pearls and Body Butters, Pregnancy Care, & Child and Baby care – (wow!), they prepare their own spagyric essences & they do not test on animals.

Knowing that 60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed by the body I am keen to keep it as biodynamic/ organic as possible and this great and extensive skin care range certainly gives lets me do just that.

For full details of Martina Gebhardt skin & body care products please go to www.trueaffinity.co.uk ■

SPECIAL OFFER! 10 % Discount - please quote the following code when ordering: STARSAVE10.

It can be used by typing it into the Promotional Code field in the shopping basket at the online shop at: www.trueaffinity.co.uk It is valid from 20 January until 20 February 2008, and can be used as many times as readers like.

Star & Furrow Issue 108 Winter 2007

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In Tune with the Moon 2008 Living and growing with the lunar cycle Reviewed by Bernard Jarman

THIS NEW CALENDAR published by Findhorn Press joins the growing number of works available today on this fascinating subject. First published in French and now available in several European languages, it is a comprehensive attempt to bring together everything concerning the influence of the moon on our lives.

The movement of the moon at first sight appears simple and straightforward and yet it has many different rhythms and celestial relationships. It relates to the sun through its waxing and waning cycle, to the stars through its monthly movement past the twelve zodiac constellations, to the other planets and their changing relationships with one another, to the earth through its monthly journey away from it and back again, and with itself as it rises rhythmically above and below its allotted path. Within and associated with these basic rhythms are others such as the nodal cycle which takes over 18 years to complete. The more one learns about the moon, the more one realises that it is far, far more than simply a piece of rock orbiting the earth at high speed. The moon like the earth is alive and these are the living rhythms that daily affect every form of life. ‘In Tune with the Moon’ begins by giving very clear and simple explanations of these various moon rhythms. They are presented in a style, which is accessible to everyone.

The biodynamic sowing and planting calendar is an astronomical calendar based on years of careful research undertaken by Maria Thun for over fifty years. The main focus of her calendar is the moon’s monthly journey through each constellation of the zodiac and how it ascends and descends on its path. She has also increasingly recognised the importance of planetary aspects and trine positions and times of opposition have particularly beneficial influences.

The other moon rhythms are also included in the calendar.

Each year further discoveries are made as she continues virtually non-stop with her planting trials.

‘In Tune with the Moon’ describes these influences of the sidereal moon but includes a lot of additional information including a fascinating chapter on tides. Tides are the direct result of the moon’s gravitational pull as it passes overhead. This mighty force affects not only the earth’s great oceans but also the water present in even the smallest of living things. “During the time the moon takes to reach its highest point, or meridian (on average 6 hours and 12 minutes) the tide rises (incoming tide) before beginning to recede (ebb tide) until the moon sets. The tide then rises again to reach the opposite meridian (+180°) before receding once more.” It is then recommended that the rising tide is chosen for grafting, cultivating heavy soil and spreading compost while a receding tide is best for pricking out, cultivating light soil and cutting wood. Of course the tidal influence must be considered alongside the ascending and descending rhythm, the moon’s waxing and waning and its position in the zodiac. For the planting of flowering and

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

fruit bearing bushes: “Plant when the moon is descending, if possible when it is also waxing and when the tide is receding.

If the moon is waning, choose a time that corresponds with a rising tide.” The gardener can thus consider a number of additional factors.

The second part of the book is dedicated to specific topics: Horticulture, trees and shrubs, harvesting, compost, fungicides and insecticides, agriculture, cereal crops, animal husbandry, bee keeping, wine growing, cider making, beer making. In the section on compost there is an at-a-glance table with all the favourable times for making or turning compost through the year. Different days are given depending on whether the compost generates a lot of internal heat, is cooler and slower acting or whether sheet composting. Although it can be taken as a recipe it is not entirely clear why the days are recommended. The only thing that is stated directly is that good compost will be produced when certain moon/pluto aspects are observed.

Concerning animal husbandry: The best time for serving cattle and horses “is between the first quarter and full moon in fire and earth signs and if possible, with the moon in descendent. For ewes, the period between the first quarter and the full moon during earth and air signs is best with an ascendant moon if possible. Avoid the perigee and lunar nodes”. If female chicks are wanted eggs should be collected around the first quarter.

In the third section the focus is on living with the moon and includes such topics as when to cut hair go on a fast, treat warts, extract teeth etc. There are also a very sensible couple of pages with advice on wise eating. For those with difficulties digesting a list of particular foods, recommended moon constellations are given. 4

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The calendar itself laid out in full colour with a double page spread for each month is very comprehensive.

It is in fact so filled with information that a casual reader might find it hard to access. Many calendars (apart from the Biodynamic Sowing and Planting calendar) that are available today are based on an astrological perception of the zodiac and draw on the wealth of wisdom and information gathered over thousands of years and the inner experiences related to it. ‘In Tune with the Moon’ has risen to the challenge and incorporated both the astronomical and astrological calendars. Throughout the flowing diagrams that rise and fall with the ascending and descending rhythm the two systems are represented beside one another. The astrological signs are represented by the traditional symbols while the constellations use another symbol form. The astronomical constellations are displaced from the astrological ones by almost a month. Nonetheless there is a short period of time each month when the two coincide. These moments are seen as especially favourable and are highlighted in the calendar.

Also incorporated in the calendar are the Chinese seasons with a full explanation in a dedicated chapter.

Following the calendar there is a month-by-month chart with all the data presented in list form including tides, moon rise/set and key dates for various tasks. The authors

of the calendar have given times in BST throughout. This is a little puzzling for while a change would be confusing; it would seem far more appropriate to take GMT. This is after all real time for the UK and is the baseline for the rest of the world.

It is somewhat concerning that nowhere in the book is there any reference. Research has been carried out and it is a shame that this has not been alluded to. It is very clear that information has been brought together from a large number of sources and it would have been good to state this somewhere. There is of course also the chapter about Para magnetism, which has been erroneously entitled ‘biodynamics’. This was a genuine translation error, which has been acknowledged by both the authors and publisher.

Although unfortunate such mistakes can happen and it is to be hoped that readers will not be confused by it.

The book is a fascinating read and highlights the need for all of us to be more in tune with our environment and to work sensitively with natural cycles rather than trying to overcome them. It should serve to stimulate new thinking about our connection with the moon. In Tune with the Moon is published by Findhorn Press and can be ordered from www.findhornpress.com for special price of £7.99 (RRP£9.99). ■

I can imagine that it is an ideal present for newcomers to biodynamics or for those who would like an easy overview of the main practices relating to biodynamic vegetable and grain growing. It is well presented as a sturdy hardback with lots of good pictures.

The Biodynamic Year The Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar is 100 Helpful tips for the gardener or smallholder now in its 46th year. The format is as we are used to it with

by Maria Thun day by day indications of the moon’s position in the sky and Temple Lodge Press, 2007; £15.99 suggestions for appropriate sowing and planting advice.

There is also a summary of what to watch out for each Reviews by Richard Swann month.

Both books available from the BDAA For the first time this year there is a handy pull BOTH THESE BOOKS came out in the autumn. out wall chart which will be very useful for hanging in the garden shed.

One is the ubiquitous and much loved planting As usual research trials are reported on in the new calendar which has now been translated into most major languages of the world. It is filled with calendar with a special focus this time on plant communities, wisdom and indications acquired from a lifetime’s the cultivation of carrots and horn silica trials with lettuce and celery. study of the interrelationship between the earth There was just one small error in the calendar - the and the heavenly bodies.

The other, coming from the same author, is quite sign for the full moon is being used for both the new and full moons throughout, which is confusing. An errata slip is different. It covers a huge breadth of biodynamic practise included with orders via the BDAA. but is more aphoristic. At first it looks as if new gems of If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, then do so wisdom are being imparted by Maria Thun, however it is a fairly sketchy look at the year through the window of biody- soon by contacting the Biodynamic Association Office. namics.

To be fair there is a lot of practical information in The Biodynamic Year: using the preparations, making a cow pat pit and crop rotation. However just as you start reading a section it suddenly comes to an end and only touches the surface of what has been extensively treated elsewhere.

The book then uses the four seasons as a framework for the ‘100 helpful tips’. For example in spring we can learn when to sow carrots and how to plant a ‘living fence’. In autumn suggestions are given for storing and preserving fruits and vegetables either as preserves or as they are.

The Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar

by Maria and Matthias Thun Floris Books, 2007; £6.99

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

market place The following is a list of some of the places in the UK where you can buy Demeter produce. It is the result of a survey sent out to all producers in 2005. It is intended that this will be a regular feature in Star and Furrow and on the BDAA website. If any of the details on the list below have changed since the survey or if you would like to be included in the listing in the next issue, then please contact the BDAA Office (details at front of magazine).

Farm Name Watch Oak Farm Larchfield Market Garden Clanabogan Lakeland Herbs Wylde Herbs Lower Velwell Foxholes Farm

Telephone 01454 418954 01642 593688 028 82256111 01229 885070 01364 631233 01364 644010 01308 482688

Clara Skarabalova Richard Cunningham Susannah Aykroyd Arjen Huese Dorothea Leber Gloucestershire Ricardo Pineda Henk Reyneke Herefordshire Elaine Povey Jane Scotter Lincolnshire Malcolm Robinson Norfolk David Barker David Wrenn North Yorks Bogdan Bucur Ben Davies Peter van Vliet Pembrokeshire Andre Kleinjans Perthshire Anneke Kraakman Ross & Cromarty Duncan Ross Rutland Paul Chenery Sussex Linda Beaney

Loch Arthur Horticulture Craig Farm East Coast Organics Emerson Garden Michael Hall School Oaklands Park Garden Oaklands Park Farm The Buzzards Fern Verrow Aura Soma Products Ltd Barkers Organics Orchard End Falcon Farm Botton Farm Botton Walled Garden Plas Dwbl Corbenic Camphill Community Poyntzfield Herb Nursery Town Park Farm Holly Park Farm

01387 760544 01644 420636 01875 340227 0778 7792929 01342 825604 01594 516550 01594 516285 01568 708941 01981 510288 01507 533581 01263 768966 01508 558646 01287 661284 01287 661211 01287 661301 01994 419352 01350 724270 01381 610352 01572 757440 01424 812229

West Lothian West Sussex

Garvald School Plawhatch Seeds

01968 682211 01342 810652

The Beeches Elms Farm Tree House Farm

01985 840820 01905 381420 01886 880681

County Bristol Cleveland Co. Tyrone Cumbria Devon Dorset

Contact Name Paul Pieterse Donald Ash Martin Sturm Judy Stalker Pat Fleming Derek Lapworth Ian and Denise Bell

Dumfries & Galloway East Lothian East Sussex

The Gardener Peter Brinch

Eamonn & Oriana Wilmott Worcestershire Charbel Akiki George Glide

Produce available for consumers Fruit, vegetables or Meat Vegetables, Top Fruit, Herbs Vegetables, Meat, bakery products Herbal Tinctures Vegetables, Herbs Vegetables Meat

How can consumers buy produce Occasional sales Farm shop By appointment Mail order Direct Box scheme (full) heritageprime@aol.com or phone Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs Farm Shop Meat From Farm Vegetables Box, Farm shop, market Vegetables, Fruit, Eggs Local shops Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs Local shops Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Lamb Box Scheme and wholesalers Vegetables, Meat Box Scheme and shop Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Meat, Eggs Farm Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Meat Order only Grain Direct Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs Box and market Vegetables, Herbs (organic) Box and market Meat Farm shop and box Meat, Milk Farm Shop Vegetables, Soft Fruit, Herbs, plants Box Vegetables Fruit, Herbs, baked goods Box Herbs, Plants & Seeds Mail order Herbal Medicine Mail Order Eggs, Kid meat, Cheese, Yoghurt, Lewes Farmers markets, Milk. All raw goats milk products mail order Vegetables, Herbs Private Seeds Mail order Stormy Hall available only though Stormy Hall Seeds

Wiltshire

Lamb (organic) Eggs Beef, hay (organic)

Mail order Box , Farmers markets

Also check the Market Place webpage on www.biodynamic.org.uk and then click the appropriate link

Star & Furrow Issue 108 Winter 2007

43

Supplier of Bio-Dynamically Grown Vegetable, Herb and Flower Seeds

Catalogue available on request Stormy Hall Farm, Danby, Whitby. North Yorkshire YO21 2NJ Tel 01287 661368 Fax 01287 661369 E-mail : stormy.hall.botton@camphill.org.uk

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

COPPER GARDEN TOOLS ■ hand crafted ■ in Austria ■ hardwearing ■ garden-friendly Implementations P.O. Box 2568 Nuneaton CV10 9YR Tel/fax 0845 330 3148 www.implementations.co.uk

“Their pork, from a farm near Lyme Regis, is so much better than any pork that you’ve ever tasted or could ever hope to taste.To say it’s organic just tells you what isn’t in it.What they add at Heritage Prime is immense care, good feed and excellent conditions”.

Nigella Lawson

www.heritageprime.co.uk Tel: 01308 482 688 Email: HeritagePrime@aol.com

2008 Northern Hemisphere Astro Calendar

by Brian Keats and Stefan Mager • biodynamic gardening information and planting times • naked eye astronomy • solar, lunar, and planetary events • cross-cultural New Year times • Rudolf Steiner’s Soul Calendar …connect to the celestial bodies and unfolding cosmic rhythms For further information or to place an order, visit our website at www.northernstarcalendar.com

Bart Delicatessen Biodynamic Pepper and Tea are available from independent fine food retailers and online at bartspices.com

Bart Spices Ltd, York Road, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 4AD Tel: 0117 9773474

Star & Furrow Issue 108 Winter 2007

45

The Biodynamic Agricultural Association The following items can be ordered from the BDAA Office in Stroud Becoming a Biodynamic Farmer or Gardener: A Handbook for Prospective Trainees – Gardner and Gardner, 95 pp, £10.99

Biodynamic Preparations For the Health of Farm and Garden The Biodynamic Preparations form a unique and integral part of the biodynamic approach to farming and gardening.

Their use helps to increase soil vitality, regulate imbalances, improve plant health and bring the garden or farm into harmony with its surroundings.

The Preparations can be purchased readymade as well as the materials you need to make your own from the BDAA Office, Painswick Inn Project, Gloucester Street, Stroud, Glos GL5 1QG Tel: 01453 759501

We stock: New Title now Available from BDAA. Useful book for prospective students, trainers, mentors etc . ■ Horn Manure ( 500) & Horn Silica (501) ■ Compost Preps ( 502-507) Published by USA BD Association.

■ Equisetum ( 508) ■ Mausdorf Compost Starter What is Biodynamic Farming by Wendy Cook ■ Barrel Preparation 16pp full colour A5 booklet. Price: 0.50p ■ Three Kings Preparation An extract from her popular ‘Biodynamic Food and Cook- ■ Plus: materials for preparation making.

For a current info & price sheet please contact the book’, this booklet explains biodynamics in a clear and accessible style without missing anything out. Ideal for people BD Office or download it from our website at www.biodynamic.org.uk. new to biodynamics.

The link is at the bottom of the home page.

Would you like this leaflet for your farm shop, info stand or market stall? We are offering it at cost price for producers etc. Contact BDAA office for details.

Biodynamic Growing

Introduction to Biodynamics - A5 full colour, includes full book list, membership joining form and “What is Biodynamics” article Price: 20p per leaflet

Biodynamic Gardening—DL size full colour, Explains the biodynamic approach to gardening, Price 8p per leaflet.

Food with Integrity - Handy book mark size - Full colour.

Aimed at consumers to give then information on Biodynamics in a concise way.

Price 8p per leaflet. Also available in Welsh.

Demeter Carrier bags Strong carrier bags with gusset. 300 x 100 x 425 mm; printed on both sides.

5p per bag plus p&p NB all prices are plus P&P. Costs reduce if leaflets are purchased in bulk

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007

Australian Professional Biodynamic agriculture for farmers, smallholders and gardeners Biodynamic development in Australia has been uniquely successful, with over 2 million acres farmed Biodynamically.

The Australian BD method is now also practised by hundreds of farmers throughout Europe. Biodynamic Growing magazine is all about practical Biodynamics, real stories from successful BD farmers and gardeners.

Published in June and December each year, topics covered since its launch in 2003 include: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

History of Biodynamics Application of BD preparations BD Compost Environmental healing Salinity redemption Orcharding – citrus, apples, cherries, stone fruit, olives Market gardening Grazing, cattle, sheep Dairy farming, cheese Grain production, rice Viticulture, wines, juices BD Gardening BD bakers, butchers Australian BD in Europe

Visit our website:

www.bdgrowing.com

Read sample articles, subscribe online, order back copies, BD books and DVDs. Downloadable magazines (6mb) – only £2

Just over a year ago the OBSERVER MAGAZINE started an allotment in north London where they are including some biodynamic principles.Alan Jenkins (Editor of the magazine) started an online blog to report on their joys, pains and learning. It is worthwhile checking in on as it is full of useful tips, advice and pictures.You are also invited to register and add your own comments.Visit: blogs.guardian.co.uk/allotment

ADVERTISE IN THE STAR AND FURROW! Star and Furrow reaches not only the membership of over 1000 people. It is also read by a wider audience in the organic movement and in educational institutions around the country and abroad.

Cheques and money orders should be made out to the Biodynamic Agricultural Association or BDAA. Foreign advertisers are The advertising rates are as follows: requested to pay by The charge for small advertisement is 12p per word for members of international money order. the Biodynamic Agricultural Association and 25p per word for nonThe closing dates are: members.

1st April for the summer issue and 1st October for The charges for display advertisements are: the winter issue.

Outside back cover £300 Advertisements not Inside back cover £200 received and paid for by Full page £200 these dates may not 1/2 page £100 be accepted.

1/4 page £50 1/8 page £25 Please send advertisements INSERTS £65 per thousand to the BDAA Office, (all prices inclusive of VAT) address on inside front cover.

Discounts are available on request

Star & Furrow Issue 108 Winter 2007

47

W

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; E STAND face to face with a great change, even in the inner being of Nature.

What has come down to us from ancient times - whatever it may be that we have handed down: natural talents, knowledge derived from Nature, and the like, even the traditional medicaments we still possess - all this is losing its value.

We must gain new knowledge in order to enter again into the whole Nature - relationship of these things. Mankind has no other choice.

Either we must learn once more, in all domains of life learn - from the whole nexus of Nature and the Universe - or else we must see Nature and withal the life of Man himself degenerate and die. As in ancient times it was necessary for men to have knowledge entering into the inwardness of Nature, so do we now stand in need of such knowledge once again.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Rudolf Steiner 1924 Agriculture Course (Lecture 2)

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Star & Furrow Issue 108 Wnter 2007