What Is Biodynamics?: Five Lectures

Taking the soil as the foundation for the vitality and diversity of a farm or garden, biodynamic methods use special herbal "preparations" to increase the energetic quality of the soil, stimulating plant growth and health. Biodynamic methods go beyond organic practices to actually heal the earth herself. Typical of the biodynamic approach are companion planting, crop rotation, cover crops, green manures, liquid manures, compost, the integration of crops and livestock, and planting and harvesting in harmony with the lunar and planetary cycles.

This introduction to biodynamic methods contains five lectures by Rudolf Steiner and an extensive introduction by Hugh Courtney of the Josephine Porter Institute, who unravels not only the practice of biodynamics, but also its spiritual and esoteric background.

Created from indications by Rudolf Steiner around 1924, and based on a deep understanding of the life forces at work in nature, farming and gardening with biodynamic methods are spiritual, artistic, and sophisticated forms of organic horticulture that nurture and enhance the earth. It emphasizes the interdependence and unity of all the elements of an ecosystem or landscape-including soil, plants, animals, and weather.

Taking the soil as the foundation for the vitality and diversity of a farm or garden, biodynamic methods use special herbal "preparations" to increase the energetic quality of the soil, stimulating plant growth and health. Biodynamic methods go beyond organic practices to actually heal the earth herself. Typical of the biodynamic approach are companion planting, crop rotation, cover crops, green manures, liquid manures, compost, the integration of crops and livestock, and planting and harvesting in harmony with the lunar and planetary cycles.

This introduction to biodynamic methods contains five lectures by Rudolf Steiner and an extensive introduction by Hugh Courtney of the Josephine Porter Institute, who unravels not only the practice of biodynamics, but also its spiritual and esoteric background.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. His multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, philosophy, religion, education (Waldorf schools), special education (the Camphill movement), economics, agriculture (biodynamics), science, architecture, and the arts (drama, speech and eurythmy). In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which has branches throughout the world.

Hugh Courtney, a veteran and librarian, discovered Steiner's agriculture course in 1975 at a health food store in College Park, Maryland. This led him to Josephine Porter, who was making biodynamic preparations according to Steiner's indications. He apprenticed under Josephine and, when she died in 1984, took up her work. He created the Josephine Porter Institute in Woolwine, VA, where he has been making and selling preparations (six compost preparations and 3 others), editing the newsletter Applied Biodynamics, and consulting on all aspects of the biodynamic approach.