Demeter is the ancient Greek goddess of agriculture, who we moderns like to call Mother Nature. When gardeners and farmers use Mother Nature's own methods to grow plants and raise animals, she showers the entire system-soil, plants, animals, and people-with glowing good health. That's why interest in Biodynamic farming and gardening is growing quickly here and around the world. Biodynamic growers integrate the organic approach to gardening and farming with all the rest of nature's terrestrial and celestial energies, seeing the garden or farm as a self-contained, self-sustaining, living being.
Please join us at Demeter's Biodynamic Garden & Lounge, at the 4th Annual National Heirloom Exposition, where you can see our demonstration gardens, take classes from Biodynamic practitioners, relax in our lounge. Learn how working with nature can enhance your garden and farm, resulting in food, drink, and fiber, of the utmost quality.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Tuesday September 9 |
| 11:15 - 12:00 | Biodynamics Demystified |
Delmar McComb | Blossom's Farm
www.blossomsfarm.com This beginning class in Biodynamic farming and gardening covers the principles and
practices of this highest form of sustainable agriculture. Biodynamic practices
include working in cooperation with natural rhythms using organic, holistic, and
cosmic tenets to help attain the ideal of a self-sufficient farm organism while
producing the most vital food possible. Learn what sets Biodynamic farming and
gardening apart from other sustainable gardening methods and how to integrate
its practices into your own garden. Also included will be a brief description of the
philosophy and cosmological worldview that underlies Biodynamics. |
|
| 12:15 - 1:00 | Biodynamic Fibers & Dyes |
Craig Wilkinson | Quantum Culture
www.quantumculture.com Enjoy an interesting discussion about the past, present & future of Biodynamic
fibers and dye crops. Learn what Rudolf Steiner had to say about fibers, textiles,
and color. Imagine a world with regional fibersheds using sustainable agricultural
methods to produce and process locally grown & sewn textiles. See, touch & feel
examples of Biodynamic fibers & textiles. Contribute to this important segment of
agriculture with your ideas for collaboration. |
|
| 1:15 - 2:00 | Honeybees: Agents
of Life |
Michael Thiele | Gaia Bees
www.gaiabees.com This class will be an introduction into Biodynamic apiculture and a paradigm which
perceives the honeybee nest as "One Bee-ing". This perspective deepens our
understanding of its function and allows us to perceive the nest, made up of
thousands of "individuals," similar to somatic cells that compose one integrated
whole. A life form unto itself. The Biodynamic understanding of its "oneness" can
enrich our observations, inquiries, and interactions, becoming the foundation of a
bee-centered approach and a resource for hive design and management. |
|
| 2:15 - 3:00 | How to Make a
Living from your
Biodynamic
Homestead |
Cynthia Sandberg | Love Apple Farm
www.growbetterveggies.com You don't need acreage to produce "farm-type" income to either supplement or
supplant that old desk job. If you are following your calling, filling a job gap, or
desiring to live closer to the earth and share the bounty of your land, this
workshop is for you. We will discuss how you can earn a living from your small
homestead. |
|
| 3:15 - 5 | Workshop: Humus
and Humans- Living
Soils |
Grover Stock and Erik Ohlsen of
Permaculture Artisans with
Special Guests
www.permacultureartisans.com Join us for an interactive conversation about the soil universe! What does it mean to
grow Biodynamic soils and plants? Who are the players in living soils? What are the
transformative stages that our soils go through to amend, regenerate and nourish
plant life and our life? How do we influence or accelerate these stages? How do we animate beneficial microbial life and participate in the evolving dynamic cycles of living
soils that are the plasma nutrient rich reservoirs for plants? The nutrient cycles of
organic matter and microorganisms create a habitat for plants to thrive and, by
Biodynamically feeding our soils rather than our plants, we cultivate long lasting
subsoil ecologies that are hearty, rhythmic and resilient -- able to express the unique
flavors and fertility of the land. And, how do these cycles affect our nutrition, our
health and our spirit? |
|
| 5:15 - 6:00 | The Emerging
Biodynamic
Marketplace |
Elizabeth Candelario |
Demeter USA
www.demeter-usa.org Amy's Kitchen, The Republic of Tea, Lundberg, and many other organic food
companies are developing Biodynamic products for store shelves. Wonder what
all the Biodynamic buzz is about? Please join us to learn about the origins of
organic and Biodynamic agriculture (hint: it's not two separate stories) and explore
why Biodynamic farming and the development of Biodynamic products represents
the most exciting trend in organic food and fiber. If you are interested in the
highest quality and most healthful GMO-FREE products, produced in a way that is
ecologically sound and environmentally progressive, you won't want to miss this
discussion. |
| |
Wednesday September 10 |
| 11:15 - 12:00 | Biodynamic Basics
for Farm and
Garden |
Cynthia Sandberg | Love Apple Farm
www.growbetterveggies.com The practice of Biodynamic farming requires adhering to a list of organic, holistic,
and cosmic tenets. Learn the differences between organic and Biodynamic growing
and how to integrate those principles into your own garden. |
|
| 12:15 - 1:00 | Understanding
Cosmic Rhythms
Using the Planting
Calendar |
Harald Hoven | Rudolf Steiner College
www.steinercollege.edu Life is rhythm. The plant is embedded in cosmic rhythms of days and seasons,
guided by sun, moon, and planets. Learn how to use the astronomical calendar to
guide your decision making about planting, cultivating, and harvesting your crops. |
|
| 1:15 - 2:00 | Honeybees: The
Subtle Alchemy of
Our Relationship
with Bees |
Michael Thiele |
Gaia Bees
www.gaiabees.com When we step into the world of Apis Mellifera, we are entering a multidimensional
landscape of bee-ing. How can our interaction with bees become a catalyst for
renewal and growth in a time of global crisis? How can this alchemical relationship
be a resource in our pursuit of finding inner certainty and clarity? How can it be an
inspiration for a greater intimacy with life? |
|
| 2:15 - 3:00 | Biodynamic
Composting: An
Introduction |
Colum Riley | Malibu Compost
www.malibucompost.com This class presents the basic principles and practices in successful composting by
exploring the physical, biological, chemical, structural, microbiological, and
biodynamic processes at work. Special emphasis will be placed on home
composting: methods, materials and uses for incorporating biodynamics &
compost into your own gardens. |
|
| 3:15 - 5:00 | Workshop:
Respecting and
Enhancing Water
and its Role in the
Biodynamic Farm
and Watershed |
Patrick Miller of Bohemian Stoneworks, Dan Kent of Salmon Safe, and Glenn McGourty of University of California with Special Guests
www.bohemianstoneworks.com
This workshop will cover the many roles water has in Biodynamic agriculture. There will be a big emphasis on conservation methods as they relate to irrigation, rainwater
harvesting, crop selection, wastewater treatment and use, and evaporation
controls. Water health will be discussed in relation to water quality, food safety, and
the use of Flowforms to improve water's vitality. We will also talk about how
Biodynamic agriculture can exist in harmony with and even improve watersheds and
the fish and wildlife therein. |
|
| 5:15 - 6:00 | What Does
Compost Have to
Tell Us About
Transforming
Money? |
John Bloom |
RSF Social Finance
www.rsfsocialfinance.org Compost is about transformation and renewal, two terms not usually associated
with money. But if we are to rethink and transform how we work with money,
finance and how we stand in economic life, there important lessons to learn from
the compost pile and from understanding the threefold nature of money and social
life. |
| |
Thursday September 11 |
| 11:15 - 12:00 | Seed Saving: It's for
All of Us |
Harald Hoven |
Rudolf Steiner College
www.steinercollege.edu The ideal Biodynamic farm would fulfill as many of its own needs as possible from
within itself. That certainly would include seed growing, where
possible. Ultimately, the best seed for your farm or garden organism would come
from your own land, being highly individualized for your particular needs. Learn
how to get started with seed saving and how to breed plants that best serve your
growing practice. You may even help others if you can grow seeds for the market,
for the need is endless. |
|
| 12:15 - 1:00 | Building a
Biodynamic
Salmon-Safe
Farmscape |
Dan Kent of Salmon-Safe with Dan Imhoff of Wild Farm Alliance |
www.salmonsafe.org Learn how rapidly expanding West Coast eco-label Salmon-Safe is joining forces
with Demeter to strengthen water quality protection and habitat conservation and
bring new market opportunities to environmentally innovative growers across
Cascadia and beyond. This innovative partnership is in the vanguard of the
"Farming with the Wild" movement that first emerged in northern California and is
connecting farming systems with ecosystems well beyond the range of wild Pacific
salmon. |
|
| 1:15 - 3:00 | Workshop: Farming
with the Demeter
Biodynamic
Standard |
Jim Fullmer of Demeter USA, Dan Imhoff of Wild Farm Alliance, and
Lance Benson of Lundberg |
Family Farms with other Special Guests
www.demeter-usa.org The Demeter Farm Standard, which provides the marketplace definition for
Biodynamic agriculture, comprehensively outlines the core requirements for a
farm to be certified Biodynamic. Based on the concept of the farm as a living
organism, there are seven principles- biodiversity, on-farm fertility and pest
control, water conservation, Biodynamic preparations, livestock integration and
product processing- that must be followed to be a Demeter certified farm. This workshop is appropriate for farmers, gardeners, and anyone who seeks a
comprehensive explanation of this ecological farming system. |
|
| 3:15 - 5:00 | Workshop:
Understanding and
Working With the Biodynamic
Preparations |
Harald Hoven of Rudolf Steiner |
College with Philippe Coderey
www.steinercollege.edu While the use of the Preparations is one of the key differences between organic
and Biodynamic farming, their usage and benefits are not widely
understood. Made from fermented herbs and manures, the Preparations are utilized in homeopathic quantities to rebuild and enliven the soil, aid in plant
nutrition and pest management, and facilitate photosynthesis. This workshop will
cover how healthy soil functions, how conventional farming and pollution destroy
soil quality, and how the use of the Preparations can bring it back to life.
Anecdotal evidence and the strong growth of Biodynamic farms worldwide speak
to the benefit of the Preparations. Join us to learn more about the practical use of
the Biodynamic Preparations in your garden, farm, or vineyard. |
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