What is the big difference between biodynamic gardening and traditional gardening? This is a question I have been asked a lot over the years.
What is the big difference between biodynamic gardening and traditional gardening? This is a question I have been asked a lot over the years.
This is a question I have been asked a lot over the years. The gardening techniques may seem similar, but what is radically different is the overriding principle. A non-biodynamic gardener wants, on the whole, to make her/his plants look the best with whatever is a quick and convenient way. ‘Weeds’ are controlled with pesticides and the soil is a means to grow flowers/plants, but no particular thought is given to it.
Snails, earthworms and most insects (with the exception of bees) are not welcomed and exterminated. This will give you a nice garden but often to the detriment of wildlife erosion and longer down the line the extinction of species.
The biodynamic approach is more wholesome. It all starts with the soil and great effort is made to keep the soil in good condition. The addition of soil tonics, organic sprays and earthworms play a big part. If a plant grows in the ‘wrong place’, it is not just called a weed and discarded. Instead, it is carefully hoed out and used to make compost (although they need to be rotted down) or used in other ways. Take for example the plant nettle. In the ‘biodynamic world’ a nettle is never seen as a weed, but as a useful byproduct of nature. You may not want to have it grown in your favourite flower bed and will probably hoe it out from there. But what you do is different. Normally you would just throw it away as weeds. But the biodynamic gardener finds a lot of uses for it. For example dried – it makes a great detox tea, used as nettle brew it is the best lawn fertiliser there is and the fresh leaves can even be added to salads as they are full of nutrients. Anything not useful does not go to waste, but gets put back on the compost heap to make wonderful soil to help the next generation of crops grow.
Where does the word ‘Biodynamics’ come from?
The phrase ‘Biodynamics’ was created by Rudolf Steiner and is made out of the Ancient Greek words ‘bio’ (life) and dunamis (power). A biodynamic garden is managed as if it was a single complex organism.
In essence, Steiner described Biodynamics as an ‘ecological and sustainable approach to agriculture/gardening that increased soil fertility without the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides’.
So it follows that bees, earthworms and other insects are not harmed but welcomed and put to good use. However, that does not mean that there is no pest control at all. Of course there is. But it is done in a sustainable/organic way and not as a blanket-extermination-program.
To make it all more effective, people use biodynamic calendars to harness the ‘best natural times’. We made it easy here and have created symbols for the most important gardening tasks. Here are some of the symbols to look out for.
We have grouped them together in the category Happy House in the LWTM lifestyle calendar. Here is a link to the calendar.
Click here to read more about how Biodynamic Gardening works
Traditional versus Biodynamic Farming
In contrast to conventional farming which is largely linear – you put a plant in the earth, grow it, take it out and sell it. Any unwanted plants/insects or other animals that interfere with producing just ‘the one crop’ are destroyed. Then the fields are stripped and made ready for the next crop.
The biodynamic approach, in contrast, is circular. You prepare the earth with soil tonics/compost, mostly made from the unwanted plants from the previous year – now turned into compost. Planting is done with calendars harnessing the life-force and plants that cross-fertilise (grow well next to each other, also known as companion planting) are seeded/planted.
Yield is also important, but so is the state of the soil and the balance of wildlife. Not just one crops is grown, but multiple at the same time. At harvest or even during growing, any unwanted parts, like leaves, roots, etc are used for composting instead of extinguished by pest control. This compost is then added to the soil together with earth tonics at the beginning of the next growing cycle.
Traditional Farming:
-Uses the soil as a commodity
-Is interested in high yields
-Pests are kept away by spraying chemicals
-Rows of the same crop are grown and all other plants are killed with pesticides
-It is all about making as much money from the land as possible
– no connection to natural patterns and life forces
– relies heavily on intervention from chemicals from outside.
versus
Biodynamic Farming:
-Is interested in the land as a whole (preservation of animals, soil condition, recycling) as well as the yield.
-Pests are controlled in natural ways and the emphasis is concentrated on how/when planting is done.
– Much time is spent on producing healthy soil conditions that are able to sustain many future crops to come. Compost is seen a vital part of soil preparation.
– Many crops are grown together, in fact that is encouraged so plants can naturally ‘cross-fertilise’ each other.
-Organic soil tonics, preparation and planting calendars are used to improve yield and keep the plants and soil healthy.
– Biodynamic farms aim to become self-sufficient interlinking animals into the agricultural process (manure as fertiliser, composting, etc) and try to limit most outside interactions.