During my many years as a backyard biodynamic and organic gardener I have often been asked, “Is it possible to practice biodynamics without the use of animal products?”

I think that the question that should be asked is it possible that agriculture could be practiced at all without the use of animals, most notably the cow, the bee and the earthworm. The plethora of creatures great and small; insects, nematodes, Ciliate, flagellates, amoeba, mites, ants, aphids, birds, moles, voles, rabbits and woodchucks contribute their excretions and bodies to the living soil organism and are as important as the flora with which they coexist.

Also agriculture is totally bound up with culture and if you have studied anthropology you would know that there has never been a “vegan” culture. Even India where there are a goodly number of vegetarians would be totally bankrupt if it were not for the “Holy Cow” that provides milk, fuel and fertilizer.

In the western world we have removed the cow from the farm and placed them in stock yards in mounds of their own manure and that is an aberration that has bankrupted our agriculture.

Is it possible to concoct homeopathic remedies that do not directly rely on animal products to heal the earth? I am certain that it can be done and would be a great area of research for one who is so inclined. One would have to study the preparations and their planetary attributes as well as the micro-life they foster.

I have met many biodynamic farmers who do not ingest meat or practice the slaughter of animals. I am sure there are “vegan” participants in the world who have taken inspiration from the “Agriculture” lectures and have molded their own practices of the science to conform to the personal choices that they have made. I’m sure there have been some that have met with varying degrees of success.

I know that Alan Chadwick, the master gardener did not use the preparations exactly as Rudolf Steiner indicated. He was a big fan of herbal teas as well as using plants that were not mentioned in the original recommendations. His success was phenomenal.

It is up to each of us to use reason, observation and experience to create the farm organism that reflects our being. Being totalitarian about any system cannot be beneficial, After all it is a world of all possible worlds and there is certainly infinite variety in the human condition.

Tags: alan chadwick, biodynamic, biodynamic farmers, goodly number, homeopathic remedies, manure, master gardener, organic gardener, rudolf steiner, stock yards, vegan

Related posts

• No related posts.

Technorati Tags: alan chadwick, biodynamic, biodynamic farmers, goodly number, homeopathic remedies, manure, master gardener, organic gardener, rudolf steiner, stock yards, vegan

 |  Email This Post  |  Print It  |  Subscribe to It!
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 4:55 am and is filed under Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.