Important note that I really appreciate the comments on this video as they pertain to Steiner the man, and I'm reading a lot that I did not know. I guess I personally have always thought of Steiner as an eccentric philosopher, somewhat caught up in the esoteric lecturing/writing popular at the time, but who had some thoughtful ideas about agriculture. What I was not aware of were his more troubling, racist comments. Obviously, I do not endorse that. I think, like many ideas (or tools or methods, etc) from an earlier time, biodynamics has a complicated history. But that context is important. I don't blame anyone for passing on this approach for those reasons. Thank you as always for the insight, y'all. You are great.
If it was ONLY the racist and EUGENIC approach of Steiner from a long time... From my searches now i'm more looking for "what is not sectary bullshit in this practices that could be interesting to keep.." (that is not already somewhere else without the bullshit, i mean..) If you want to know and stop to promote this cult thing that desserve the no-till serious workers etc... The french channel (with translation) from ACult Official, Meta de Choc, @ShadowOmbre, and many others... I have been a believer myself for years, and it is normal that we get surprised in front of that: Steiner himself told that his teachers have to not tell too much about the occultist stuff otherwise nobody would take them serious... And now they have money, to promote the cult, even in governement, like in the Macron gov today
I've only googled Steiner for about 10 minutes, but it seems silly to pass on a method of agriculture because the guy who made it famous had some not-so-great ideas. I feel like the context around the evolution of biodynamics is not as important as just judging it simply based on its merits.
@@mattjohnson9727 Organic /conservation agriculture is based on science results. Biodynamics is based on beliefs, when verified based on well made comparison there is no better result, but more work and petrol used at the end. So what merit ? Its a bit like practicing scientology that would grow organic PLUS bullshit practices like the cow horn full of cowdung burried, following the moon or other planets to harvest or not harvest, dancing eurythmics dances and singing religious songs without the parents to know what really happends in the school, etc...... Would it be silly to reestimate each stuffs you have follow by believes (some are so obvious, common !!) because a scientologic church would ALSO grow organic, even since the start, with its own intrication ?
@@AutoNomades I think we agree. When I said it should be judged based on its merits. By "merits", I meant the results (or as you put it, "scientific results") that it produces. I could have been more specific in that
Words can’t quite do this justice but in my opinion this, by a great margin, the most valuable, absurdly important information someone could provide on this platform. Thank you Jesse and everyone involved! Beautiful work.
Nate, So glad to see you here! You and Jesse are my absolute favorites to follow and watch! You both bring an abundance of food knowledge to the table 🍽. I'm "chompin' @ the bit" for the two of you to experience my new farm! 💖
Ey Nate! Nice to see you here. Biodynamic is also something that I am really trying to go in to. In the Netherlands there is even a public school for it where I go at the moment. You should definitely read Rudolf Steiners agricultural course. I think you can also listen it on youtube on the channel of the Steiner Archive. Let me know what you think of it, the way Rudolf Steiner tells things is quite at an other level, but keep in mind he gave the lecture to people that already knew his work. I was fortunate to stumble across a reading group with also some experienced bio dynamic gardeners, farmers and researchers in it.
I'm glad you commented because I hadn't run into your fabulous channel yet. You have a new subscriber. I can't wait to start digging in....after I reap the benefits on this fabulous channel, of course. (Sorry, REALLY bad growing puns there!)
I took a biodynamic gardening class a little over a decade ago. I love that this is making a comeback! I attended UT Extension New Farmer Academy and was looked at like I had 3 heads when I requested biodynamic farming information.
I'd be interested to hear a discussion between yourself and Jeff about the virtues of no-till vs min-till (know-till in his parlance). No-till is being trialed in conjunction with biodynamics here in the UK, but there is a lot of resistance. It's great to open the conversation up and get a synthesis of the best agricultural methods being used going forward.
min-till can allow for increase in clay-calcium-humus complex, so an improvement of the soil. But the other main qualities of a good soil, you can only get them from no-till : rich microbial life in the first 2" of soil, large worm population that improves porosity and provides large amount of N with their mucus ; And finally, large amount of glomaline from fungal activity, which consolidates improvements in soil structure and makes it water proof (which also stops erosion, the most important ecological benefit you can hope for). So this makes no-till vastly superior. But if your cover crops don't produce around 5 tons / Ha / year and if your soil structure is not already good enough when you stop all tilling and/or plowing, then no-till will fail and you would have been better going on with min-till.
Jeff Poppen (the Barefoot Farmer) is amazing as a grower and human being.. Jeff's farm in Red Boiling Springs is a testament to Biodyamics and trust in the relationships of all beings!
@@BobGrubel to speak about the testament of Biodynamics I hope we could consider the fact that the guy is growing a couple of rows peppers and other crops. I hope that we don’t blindly trust that this type of system will actually be profitable to folks. I find it very hard to believe that this farmer is actually making a living off of his plot plan. I hope that Jeff is not like most “organic” farmers here on the west coast that farm with the backing of a trust fund, so it doesn’t really matter if they are profitable or not.
EXCELLENT video! More, please! Jeff's simple explanations of the basis of how biodynamic agriculture works WITH nature will be a God send for me to help teach others on my new farm - coming soon! ThanQ Jesse!
Biodynamic farming is like Ayurveda Medicine. 90% complete nonsense, 10% practical truth. But that 10% is extremly useful. The fact is that the Biodynamic farmers I know and have work and lived with, just follow all the basic tenets of gardening to an immaculate degree. And then add in a bit of extra stuff which doesn’t seem to hurt. I’m pretty sure Biodynamic practice attracts highly skilled growers who then attribute their own skill to this mystic practice
Hmmm, I think I hear you… I get that you are pretty sure about how “it is”/how you see it. Are you open to others’ perspectives and opinions on the matter? Can you elaborate on what the useful 10% is? FWIW, In 1992/3, I attended an organic growers conference in North Carolina. A well-off fellow gave a talk on bio-dynamic agriculture. He owned a commercial plant nursery. He claimed he was making compost for his nursery and that he’d tried several approaches to making compost and that time and time again the plants which received biodynamic compost/treatments did better, were healthier and more robust that the other plants that got the other compost/treatment. I remember the guy was wearing a yachting crew shirt complete with semaphore flags for his initials, real wealthy guy, a blueblood, born with a silver spoon in his mouth kind of guy… he said he was as perplexed as anyone as to why it worked, he said he didn’t understand or even subscribe to the spiritual or energetic side of BD, but in his experience it worked. It made an impression on me.
I think there's more to it than that. It instills in you a different perspective on farming. Like he said in the video, it's about guidelines leading you in the right direction. The cowhorns and such seem to me like rituals. It certainly doesn't hurt, but rituals aren't just nonsense, I think they can make a difference. And I don't mean that in a mystical sense. It's well known that rituals can have great effects, both on individuals and groups. Our lives are full of rituals, some of them nonsensical when you think about it, but they serve a purpose.
I got to see Jeff in person at the biodynamic conference in November 2023. Good to hear him talk on biodynamics Steiner and so on. He was walking around the hotel in coveralls and barefoot, gotta love it, that conference was eye opening and life changing. Look forward to his part on the preparations.
We have been farming using biodynamics for 25 years, would not farm any other way my neighbours have thought us crazy burying cow horns and working with the moon. I was lucky and had Peter Proctor and Hugh Lovel as mentors, it’s not for everyone can seem a bit far out there but if you want to eat your own food you want it to be not only nutrient dense but full of life force as well. Jeff, Hugh Lovel, Hugh Courtney, and Harvey Lisel have made BD so much easier to understand in language we speak today and I am internally great full to them for the dedication and inspiration that they have given so freely, thanks Jesse for what you do as well, you are awesome ❤
There is no "life force" outside of your imagination. You could just farm well, save on the timewasting and get the exact same results - lots of people do.
Very nice of you to recognize your "teachers". I'm not 100% onboard with BD. I'm sceptical on just a few points but otherwise it's "peasant smarts" as my mother used to remind me.
Just a note about solar radiation. My understanding is that hydrogen ions from solar wind bond with oxygen in the atmosphere to make water vapor. Plants use photons in photosynthesis for food. So plants do not directly use hydrogen ions from solar wind as stated in the video. Science rocks! Cheers!
It's fine with me if he believes hydrogen ions in the plant are transported directly from the sun. He does mix in just enough valid science that his other explanations seem plausible to most. Of course it's much easier to explain nature without having to learn modern scientific principles which can be difficult to grasp. I imagine him as a time traveller from centuries ago.
Yeah. He lost me there too. The big CEC kick off is from the flush of H+ ions from root exudates into the weak negative charge of clay/silt soil, before even leaves appear. The stored energy in the seed releases & begins root production when temp & moisture is at the right point. Roots (and their exudates) generally precede leaves, but the growth can appear to be simultaneous since root structures are so very fine.
@ximono His H explanation was fairly detailed...& dead wrong. I'm looking forward to his explanation of manure stuffed in a bull horn and buried in the ground...a standard biodynamic preparation.
Sounds like he's just talking about a redox reaction (the Hydrogen ion is of course a Proton), which is still sound science. Science still finds a way 😁
A biodynamic process can make food and livestock grow bigger, stronger. Use the living water ponds, rotate livestock, use other biodynamic methods to decrease pests.
Good information, however there are ways to help biology besides compost through things that are added to the seeds or sprayed as you are seeding. It's also a miss nomer that legumes provides nitrogen, legumes facilitate workspaces for nitrogen production. Its actually microbacteria that convert atmospheric N to plant food. The microbacteria that setup in legumes are powerhouses, however there are other microbacteria that work with non legumes that fixate around 20 lbs of N a year. You have to make sure you have the right microbacteria paired with the job desired.
Jeff Poppen's (mis)understanding of sunlight and subsequently photosynthesis is kind of hilarious to hear coming from a successful farmer. The sun does not send hydrogen to Earth - it sends light aka photons. Maybe he's confusing the word "photon" with "proton"? A hydrogen atom is composed of a single proton (usually with a single electron). As another commenter noted, the hydrogen that plants need for photosynthesis comes from water. Biodynamics is cool, and it's a great reminder that plants are more complicated than the chemical equation for photosynthesis, but it's important to have the basic science correct as well :)
I dont feel like the question and title of the video has fully been addressed. Apart from a Heavy load of compost, his conservation tillage, and these biodynamic preps. Is that biodynamic agriculture is? Or are those his practices? Are there any biodynamic principles? that would encapsulate some of this? No discussion of the moon phases which I thought was a big thing. Tremendous production quality tho ❤️
I am farming and gardening in terms of biodynamics and the knowlage i inherited from my grandfather and him from his grandather. And the moon cycles is one of the most important thing that i strictly follow. It makes a big difrence aspecialy in meat when we bucheer animals.
Please have also look at the M Bruce, Quick return compost. This is also based on R. Steiner. The biodynamic compost preparation is still produced today.
I leave my set up compost everytime for about one year, without turning I used the extract for some time. Once I found my compost full of compost worms. But I have no real systematic approach for evaluating this adfitive. It would be great to find someone who did, or will.
Been speaking to a big timber farmer where I live and he's still using roundup to get rid of blackberries and other weeds..I explained to him the dangers of glyphosate and his response was how do you handle weeds without the chemicals?
Truly, it was a known secret that some of the best domains in Burgundy (at least when I was in the trade) utlized biodynamic practices even if they never talked about it.
@@notillgrowers False, some study made with blind test didn't show any of that. It works only for non blind test believers, as any cult... Even when I was believer, I found it strange this story of the moon tells that this planet display = eart (or other signs) "meaning" some special agricultural behaviors, without any link.. a bit like "shut up it is quantic"
Compost does not feed the soil microbiology. It is a fully digested material, only plants can use it. It has a somewhat good effect on soil structure in the short term though. Only wood chips and/or agressive use of cover crops that produce a lot of biomass can really improve soil structure substantially and in the long term. Looks like a beautiful farm with interesting practices though.
Compost does feed the biology in the soil due to the humic content it has. Compost also adds biology to the soil. Compost doesn’t contain much of a nutrient content because after it goes through its thermophilic state the nutrients are off gassed. An early compost pile may contain more more nutrients but as it ages that content starts to decrease. This is where we get a booming pile loaded with microbes/biology that help make the nutrients in our soil/what we add (dry amendments etc) available to our plants/gardens.
@@ximono Guys these things have been researched extensively. Yes compost adds microorganisms, which is probably useless, as when there are not enough of these in the soil, their numbers and types replenish themselves very fast and by themselves, once humus levels have gone up, and once the soil is fed regularly. Compost does not feed them, because it is the end product of degradation by microorganisms. These things have been studied not only in labs, but also in fields and in large greenhouses. In fact, we've gone past these qualitative questions a long time ago, and already have quantitatve data about all this, such has : increase in stable humus from wood chips is 50% of the weight of the original wood chips. And increase in humus from compost is 0%. With straw falling in between the 2, at 15% stable humus. It's fine to discuss the results from practices we don't understand how they work, such as some biodynamic practices. But negating solid science, while claiming you have looked into it, is misleading to people looking for information. On a personal note, my cereal fields, melons tomatos and watermelon plots are managed in conservation agriculture (so soil life is fed with raw organic matter, not with their own s..t), And some of my vegetable beds and transplant trays are managed with compost. And the later don't gain any lasting humus, even after several years, and copious amounts of compost. There is a gain in texture, but if I stop bringing in compost, the soil reverts in maybe a year to what it was originally.
@@o00oZu1o00o Ah, so the issue is the use of the word "feed". You're clearly more knowledgeable about this than me, but the way that I understand it, compost creates a habitat for microorganisms to thrive in, especially when reapplied yearly as a mulch. And it does increase soil organic matter over time. It directly feeds the earthworms and other macroorganisms, incorporating it into the soil. But whether all that is "feeding the soil" is open for discussion, I suppose. It sounds right what you're saying about the types of compost. Makes sense, as carbon takes a long time to break down. I use a carbon-rich municipal greenwaste compost as a mulch in my no-dig system, and use plenty of woodchips in my homemade compost (dumped for free by arborists). No two composts are the same, what goes into it and how you make can produce wildlly different results. "increase in stable humus from wood chips is 50% of the weight of the original wood chips. And increase in humus from compost is 0%." What kind of compost would that last one be? Sounds like a very poor one. There was an interesting research paper a while back, finding that (not surprisingly) carbon-rich compost has much less N leaching compared to organic waste compost. I use it for that reason, as well as to stimulate fungal life. It does require applying extra N as needed by certain crops. I'm currently looking into struvite as a slow-release fertilizer.
@@ximono I wasn't aware of the existence of struvite. Maybe it is interesting if your Ca/Mg balance is a bit off, or if you need more phosphorus, which is less often the case than people think. Personnally, I only use dried blood or urea. Urea being less expensive and being usable in the fertiliser compartment of my seeder. It gives very powerful results applied at 600 N units / Ha, on what I would call "immature soil", soil that has not yet been substantially improved by no till, wood chips and cover crops. It delivers both immediate dose of N and sustained dose, over several months, as the bacteria of the soil break it down. Something that could be interesting for you, is to know something that has been discovered here a few years ago : if high carbon mulch is not mixed up with the soil, after a few months new bacteria appear in the carbon mulch layer, bacteria that fix atmospheric N (same as with legumes, but it's not the same bacteria). And they provide all the N that is necessary for the decomposition of the wood chips. This knowledge has opened doors and has been used succesfully on several farms. For instance, I have visited the "Le talus" farm near Marseille where they had very marginal soil at the beginning (it was kind of a place that had been devoted to stockpiling of waste, it was dirty, ugly, and on top of that heavily compacted). And they applied 3 feet and 4 inches of wood chips, if you can imagine that! And now they have some of the most beautiful soil you can find in the region and they grow no till vegetables commercially.
The first reference to aerated compost tea I could find comes from Steiner, also John Kempf said they found using sap analysis that a full moon is the best time to apply foliars for good uptake, maybe science is catching up.
@@glassbackdiy3949 The problem with John Kempf is that you have to really work to separate his extremely high quality information from the magical stuff he believes. It's really frustrating, because he delivers some of the best information out there on high level plant nutrition and so on, but in the next breath start talking about paramagnetism and structured water and other obvious nonsense. It really devalues the rest of his work. This is coming from someone who uses AEA products in my commercial garden.
@@5ivearrows I could have made a similar statement 20 yrs ago, but with age, and research, I've learnt to be much more open minded. Have you read Olivier Hussons papers on REDOX? He also advocates paramagnetic rock dust based on his research, I've only been working with it for 18 mths, the effect in compost alone shows me something beneficial is going on, worm activity increased so much in 8mth aged thermophillic compost to the point the whole pile resembles wormcasts, a duplicate pile made in an adjacent bay at the same time with the same ingredients except without rock dust has orders of magnitude less worms and looks completely different, I'm applying 2.5kg per sqM to all my beds just off the back of this result. Dan Kittredge of the Bionutruent food Association uses no compost, no fertilizers, only different rock dusts are applied on his highly productive farm. Structured water also is a thing, research Exclusion Zone water, if you have a darkfield microscope you can see it as a blue hugh around the edge of a drop on the slide, you can see this comparrison after water alone is circulated ~30mins in a vortex brewer, read Elton et al, it's a critical review of EZ water research, they critisize various hypothesis as to what it is, but they recognise it is still actually a thing. Sometimes we don't even know what we don't know, it's called unconcious incompetence in the competency cycle.
In Romania in village where people make agriculture for them and other for sell make this for long time a go....but the people from city buy from market..because the products look better....
30 to 40 tonnes of compost is not vaguely possible for me. You'd need a truck. A big tip truck. Someone please explain how this is done? My farm was biodynamic in the 60s and 70s. I only realised recently why there were piles of horns in the shed.
Mr. Poppen is right that the sun is made of hydrogen, and that hydrogen is super light and the primordial matter of the universe. The sun consumes hydrogen in thermonuclear fusion, which emits the light - sunlight - that radiates onto earth. But that light is photon radiation. That is the energy that plants harvest from the sun, not hydrogen itself. The main source of hydrogen for plants is water, each molecule of which contains two hydrogen atoms.
@ximono "But those hydrogen atoms does come from the Sun, so in that sense he's right, no?" No, the Sun is not ejecting hydrogen into interstellar space. Mostly energetic electrons, protons, alpha particles, and apparently a few heavier elements like carbon and iron. Light is a photo and contain no hydrogen. Steiner said and believed a great many they were just inherently not true, full of mysticism and guesses about how things actually worked. Like all of the biodynamic preparations. Take Biodynamic preparation 501, a cows horn packed with quartz dust buried on a Flower day in Spring and removed in Autumn. Cow horn, not bull because cows can be mothers and mothers grow stuff. Powdered quartz because quartz absorbs light. Light is cosmic energy, the Earth exhails cosmic energy, and we can trap it in the quartz dust. Just because you did something and a positive response occurred doesn't means your actions had anything to do with the result. The whole correlation is causation logic falicy. You get wood hot enough and fire comes out, therefore there is actual fire trapped inside the wood, right? The Four Elements of Nature served humanity well enough for thousands of years, but was complete hogwash.
@@ximono The hydrogen atoms do not go from the sun to the plants on the earth. They undergo a reaction on the sun, then emit light, which is photons (not atoms), and the photons strike the plants on earth. The hydrogen atoms remain on the sun. They never reach any plants on earth.
@@jasonbrougham1178 I know 🙂 I meant that the hydrogen atoms on Earth came from the Sun when Earth was formed. But I was somewhat mistaken, it came from same nebula that formed both the Sun and the Earth.
@@ximono Yes. And some models have earth’s water coming from the outer solar system via comets. So, no, earth’s hydrogen atoms do not come from the sun.
Its roughly a yard or so of compost per 1000sqft. Thats really not that much compost. Anyone who has spread compost or mulch knows that, and realistically should cost a couple grand or less.
Reading the comments made me rewatch this episode, where is all the mystaism "woo woo" mentioned in this video? I feel as ive missed something. I haven't researched Stinner, his questionable beliefs mentioned or more into biodynamics so where is the negativity in the peactices mentioned coming from? Just about to watch the preparation episode now.
I like his farming philosophy, but what he is describing sounds more like regenerative agriculture in general. I still don't really understand what makes it specifically "biodynamic".
That was my takeaway as well. Was not clear how this is any different than deep mulch, biodiverse, organic permaculture practices. Seems a bit dogmatic too. Also seems paradoxical in that the pests and diseases you want to prevent are intrinsically a part of the natural system. Don’t they play a role in the balance of nature too? Overall interesting content, so no complaints here.
@chiltepierce I'm unfamiliar with European beaurocracy and NGOs, aka GOs lol. I have my hands full keeping track domestically. Are you saying the FACCE-JPI actually sells inputs or partners with those that do? I tried to get info from their website after seeing your comment, and as expected, it says a lot of nothing. It looks like typical rhetoric you'd expect from such people, but I dint see links or anything pointing to products for sale
@@Thee-_-Outlier am unfamiliar how things are done in Europe, however, the amount of labor that goes in to making the inputs and making them correctly is usually outsourced to JPI which really is funny when the majority of these biodynamic farms claim to be closed looped ha ha ha ha what a joke.
A bit more woo woo than your typical video. I had to roll my eyes a hit when he mentioned they bring on 25-30 tons of compost per acre per year, thats ~1/2inch deep over an acre. Youre definitely getting a lot of biological activity with that addition every year. No disagreements about soil biology being important, cover crops being useful tools, nor the use of mulches. But theres no need to invoke a deep mysticism alongside it.
It's difficult to embrace because it's not centered in reality but in the phantatical dreams of a person that also stated that blond and blue eyed persons are superior to brown haired brown eyed persons.
@@christian6820 - Agreed. As Peter Staudenmaier says, _"[anthroposophy's] rejection of reason in favor of mystical experience, its subordination of human action to supernatural forces, and its thoroughly hierarchical model of spiritual development all mark anthroposophy as inimical to humanist values."_ That said, the methods still have relevance for growing and restoring fertility, despite and apart from the mysticism of the underpinning philosophy.
@@notillgrowers - I apprenticed under a locally famous biodynamic couple in Northern California and we had anthroposophy lectures and reading that first brought these issues to my attention. I feel strongly however that there's hugely useful -- and scientifically examined -- elements to -the- both Biodynamics and the Waldorf schooling practices not to be _thrown out with the bathwater._
@@ximono the amount of wine that is actually grown with 100 percent biodynamic practices are very rare. Most vineyards apply OMRI fertilizers as their base fertilization along with BD preps. Biodynamics is more of a garnish, than a main meal. Greenwashing is pretty bad when it comes to organic wines here in the states.
@@chiltepierce From my experience in Norway, BD farmers are very serious and dedicated to BD practices. I haven't met or heard of bullshitters. I think that type wouldn't go beyond organic certification, BD is too sectarian and niche.
Some of the biodynamic stuff makes it more like a new-age cult based around pseudoscientific woo woo.. there is definitely something to some of the ideas, but its like how medieval alchemists had a basic understanding of certain elements of chemistry, but were so far off base because of the magical thinking. We have made so many advances in our understanding of soil biology that things like burying a poop horn or stirring water in a specific direction is the equivalent of a modern doctor performing blood-letting. The methods described by the guy being interviewed are mostly legit.. he seems intelligent and scientifically literate, but doesn’t touch on the total BS borderline witchcraft and superstition that can pervade the world of “biodynamic”. I’ve seen some acid deranged hippies unable to grow anything but a goat, but hey at least it was “biodynamic”.. I think we are all better off shedding the labels and rigid frameworks of these named methodologies. Don’t be a permaculture farmer or biodynamic farmer or syntropic farmer… just be an ecologically ethical farmer who works to be scientifically informed.
It is not true that Rudolf Steiner was rasistic or anti-semitic this comes from the misunderstanding of his lectures in anthroposophy. Unfortunately people take no time to understand what he is talking about and misunderstand. He was a seer, he was enlightened, so often he is talking of spiritual levels or level of the soul and not only the fizical and so if you dont no what is what you can misunderstand. You can not judge what he was teaching if you don't no what anthroposophycal turms realy mean. All he did was out of love for humanith of all kinds. And he realy was esoteric christian. Please take the time to understand or ask someone from the anthroposophycal society to help. Hitler said about Rudolf Steiner that Rudolf Steiner is his biggest enemy, he had to escape from germany and he had jews as students and people from anywher who were interested in esoterical christianity this is what he was realy teaching and some of the members of anthroposophy asked him to give lectures on agriculture but in anthroposophycal/esoterical/spiritual way and so was biodynamic born 100 years ago, the same year Rudolf Steiner died. He did a lot for humanity in the worst times, heas life was all about love, self-sacrifice and kindenss for all people. He was a REAL christian!
This is way too vague. Many of this is around the same thing you do. Cover the earth with soil, manage fertility etc. no talk of moons and the underlying ideals of biodynamic teachings.
Try reading Steiner on agriculture, for yourself. He was just plain nuts. 'Testable' theories (hypotheses) that stand in no relation to any testable, evidential reality. The pro-Steiner movement is really just a sort of fashion, like Bieber-haircuts. Should a boy get such a cut in order to attract girls? Any appeal to results of scientific methods, as actual explanation/grounds for boys doing so, would be just ludicrous. A cut, something like Bieber's, in very particular circumstances, with very particular facial types, might actually be advantageous. However - this does not, in any way, count as evidence that Bieber had cracked some fundamental code; let alone that he had done so by combining 'ancient wisdom' with recent advances in scientific understanding.. In relation to the real world, this world, and any substantive gathering together of understandings of this world - Steiner was a nut, a self-satisfied, self-promoting, nut. Period. End of. The only types that promote or 'apply' his agro-ramblings are pseudo-intellects, intellects without compass-readings. They like the 'feel' of it all, but want to be able to claim, and waffle on about, some sort of grand theoretical framework. Pseuds. Nuts..
@@notillgrowers people say that same thing on my channel all the time and I've never deleted anything... I found out YT automatically deletes comments its algorithms think are Bots...
I like that barefoot guy, but Rudolp Steiner is not without controversy (antisemitism and racism), check wikipedia. Also this method seems also to abuse animals, not a fan of it. My small garden is all vegan and its work very well.
I appreciate this comment. Thank you. I personally have always thought of Steiner as an eccentric philosopher, somewhat caught up in the esoteric lecturing/writing popular at the time, but who had some thoughtful ideas about agriculture. What I was not aware of were his more troubling, racist comments. Obviously, I don't support that. Thanks for the insight. Also, indeed, not a very friendly practice to vegans and vegetarians though I have met several at his conferences in the past who have adapted the preps to be plant-centric.
![“อ.เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม” มาตามคำเรียกร้อง แหกศาสตร์ฮวงจุ้ย เตือนสติอย่างมงาย | แฉ 7 พ.ย. 67 [1/3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5fc4S3xBNfc/mqdefault.jpg)
Important note that I really appreciate the comments on this video as they pertain to Steiner the man, and I'm reading a lot that I did not know. I guess I personally have always thought of Steiner as an eccentric philosopher, somewhat caught up in the esoteric lecturing/writing popular at the time, but who had some thoughtful ideas about agriculture. What I was not aware of were his more troubling, racist comments. Obviously, I do not endorse that. I think, like many ideas (or tools or methods, etc) from an earlier time, biodynamics has a complicated history. But that context is important. I don't blame anyone for passing on this approach for those reasons. Thank you as always for the insight, y'all. You are great.
If it was ONLY the racist and EUGENIC approach of Steiner from a long time... From my searches now i'm more looking for "what is not sectary bullshit in this practices that could be interesting to keep.." (that is not already somewhere else without the bullshit, i mean..) If you want to know and stop to promote this cult thing that desserve the no-till serious workers etc... The french channel (with translation) from ACult Official, Meta de Choc, @ShadowOmbre, and many others... I have been a believer myself for years, and it is normal that we get surprised in front of that: Steiner himself told that his teachers have to not tell too much about the occultist stuff otherwise nobody would take them serious... And now they have money, to promote the cult, even in governement, like in the Macron gov today
I've only googled Steiner for about 10 minutes, but it seems silly to pass on a method of agriculture because the guy who made it famous had some not-so-great ideas. I feel like the context around the evolution of biodynamics is not as important as just judging it simply based on its merits.
@@mattjohnson9727 Organic /conservation agriculture is based on science results. Biodynamics is based on beliefs, when verified based on well made comparison there is no better result, but more work and petrol used at the end. So what merit ?
Its a bit like practicing scientology that would grow organic PLUS bullshit practices like the cow horn full of cowdung burried, following the moon or other planets to harvest or not harvest, dancing eurythmics dances and singing religious songs without the parents to know what really happends in the school, etc......
Would it be silly to reestimate each stuffs you have follow by believes (some are so obvious, common !!) because a scientologic church would ALSO grow organic, even since the start, with its own intrication ?
@@mattjohnson9727Very true…but personally sometimes I like a bit of background and context 😊
@@AutoNomades I think we agree. When I said it should be judged based on its merits. By "merits", I meant the results (or as you put it, "scientific results") that it produces. I could have been more specific in that
Have been using biodynamic practices for 30 years. Love it. Useful tool for the box
growing without plastics is what i aspire to
Hard to overcome the obsessive compulsion to garbage the garden. The holy grail is to not even use garbage paper.
Yup, need videos on how to get rid of plastic and how to grow in far less favorable environments (ie: Texas)
Words can’t quite do this justice but in my opinion this, by a great margin, the most valuable, absurdly important information someone could provide on this platform. Thank you Jesse and everyone involved! Beautiful work.
"Know" till. Such a simple change but completely changes the perspective on tilling that I have been hearing the past couple years.
watched the whole thing and couldn't agree more with the philosophy!!... thanks for sharing the wisdom my friends🙏
Nate, So glad to see you here! You and Jesse are my absolute favorites to follow and watch! You both bring an abundance of food knowledge to the table 🍽. I'm "chompin' @ the bit" for the two of you to experience my new farm! 💖
Ey Nate! Nice to see you here. Biodynamic is also something that I am really trying to go in to. In the Netherlands there is even a public school for it where I go at the moment. You should definitely read Rudolf Steiners agricultural course. I think you can also listen it on youtube on the channel of the Steiner Archive. Let me know what you think of it, the way Rudolf Steiner tells things is quite at an other level, but keep in mind he gave the lecture to people that already knew his work. I was fortunate to stumble across a reading group with also some experienced bio dynamic gardeners, farmers and researchers in it.
I'm glad you commented because I hadn't run into your fabulous channel yet. You have a new subscriber. I can't wait to start digging in....after I reap the benefits on this fabulous channel, of course. (Sorry, REALLY bad growing puns there!)
I took a biodynamic gardening class a little over a decade ago. I love that this is making a comeback! I attended UT Extension New Farmer Academy and was looked at like I had 3 heads when I requested biodynamic farming information.
I'd be interested to hear a discussion between yourself and Jeff about the virtues of no-till vs min-till (know-till in his parlance). No-till is being trialed in conjunction with biodynamics here in the UK, but there is a lot of resistance. It's great to open the conversation up and get a synthesis of the best agricultural methods being used going forward.
min-till can allow for increase in clay-calcium-humus complex, so an improvement of the soil.
But the other main qualities of a good soil, you can only get them from no-till : rich microbial life in the first 2" of soil, large worm population that improves porosity and provides large amount of N with their mucus ;
And finally, large amount of glomaline from fungal activity, which consolidates improvements in soil structure and makes it water proof (which also stops erosion, the most important ecological benefit you can hope for).
So this makes no-till vastly superior. But if your cover crops don't produce around 5 tons / Ha / year and if your soil structure is not already good enough when you stop all tilling and/or plowing, then no-till will fail and you would have been better going on with min-till.
Jeff Poppen (the Barefoot Farmer) is amazing as a grower and human being.. Jeff's farm in Red Boiling Springs is a testament to Biodyamics and trust in the relationships of all beings!
@@BobGrubel to speak about the testament of Biodynamics I hope we could consider the fact that the guy is growing a couple of rows peppers and other crops. I hope that we don’t blindly trust that this type of system will actually be profitable to folks. I find it very hard to believe that this farmer is actually making a living off of his plot plan. I hope that Jeff is not like most “organic” farmers here on the west coast that farm with the backing of a trust fund, so it doesn’t really matter if they are profitable or not.
I found a preying mantis in my garden yesterday. Cool!
EXCELLENT video! More, please! Jeff's simple explanations of the basis of how biodynamic agriculture works WITH nature will be a God send for me to help teach others on my new farm - coming soon! ThanQ Jesse!
Biodynamic farming is like Ayurveda Medicine. 90% complete nonsense, 10% practical truth. But that 10% is extremly useful. The fact is that the Biodynamic farmers I know and have work and lived with, just follow all the basic tenets of gardening to an immaculate degree. And then add in a bit of extra stuff which doesn’t seem to hurt. I’m pretty sure Biodynamic practice attracts highly skilled growers who then attribute their own skill to this mystic practice
wish I could add a dozen more thumbs up to this comment.
Hmmm, I think I hear you… I get that you are pretty sure about how “it is”/how you see it.
Are you open to others’ perspectives and opinions on the matter?
Can you elaborate on what the useful 10% is?
FWIW, In 1992/3, I attended an organic growers conference in North Carolina. A well-off fellow gave a talk on bio-dynamic agriculture. He owned a commercial plant nursery. He claimed he was making compost for his nursery and that he’d tried several approaches to making compost and that time and time again the plants which received biodynamic compost/treatments did better, were healthier and more robust that the other plants that got the other compost/treatment. I remember the guy was wearing a yachting crew shirt complete with semaphore flags for his initials, real wealthy guy, a blueblood, born with a silver spoon in his mouth kind of guy… he said he was as perplexed as anyone as to why it worked, he said he didn’t understand or even subscribe to the spiritual or energetic side of BD, but in his experience it worked. It made an impression on me.
Who decides which part is nonsense and which part is useful?
Are cow horns antennas for cosmic energy or not? I need to know!
@@christian6820 just listen to the plants, they’ll tell you
I think there's more to it than that. It instills in you a different perspective on farming. Like he said in the video, it's about guidelines leading you in the right direction. The cowhorns and such seem to me like rituals. It certainly doesn't hurt, but rituals aren't just nonsense, I think they can make a difference. And I don't mean that in a mystical sense. It's well known that rituals can have great effects, both on individuals and groups. Our lives are full of rituals, some of them nonsensical when you think about it, but they serve a purpose.
I've watched Jeff Poppen's videos on Living Web Farms TH-cam channel. I highly recommend watching them.
$10 on Amazon right now for Jeffs book right now, couldn't pass on it. Thanks for another great drop!
Got coffee... and here is Jesse
👋 ☕️
@@notillgrowers cooffee
same here !
Me too
Heck yea! Christian crank baby
I didnt even know that I was doing this. I grow food in the presence of the entire local species pool.. This is great, thank you for this video.
I got to see Jeff in person at the biodynamic conference in November 2023.
Good to hear him talk on biodynamics Steiner and so on.
He was walking around the hotel in coveralls and barefoot, gotta love it, that conference was eye opening and life changing.
Look forward to his part on the preparations.
This is one of your best videos, Jesse. I learned something new.
We have been farming using biodynamics for 25 years, would not farm any other way my neighbours have thought us crazy burying cow horns and working with the moon. I was lucky and had Peter Proctor and Hugh Lovel as mentors, it’s not for everyone can seem a bit far out there but if you want to eat your own food you want it to be not only nutrient dense but full of life force as well. Jeff, Hugh Lovel, Hugh Courtney, and Harvey Lisel have made BD so much easier to understand in language we speak today and I am internally great full to them for the dedication and inspiration that they have given so freely, thanks Jesse for what you do as well, you are awesome ❤
It's still total bs
There is no "life force" outside of your imagination.
You could just farm well, save on the timewasting and get the exact same results - lots of people do.
@@aenorist2431 I feel deeply sad for you. "no life force"
Very nice of you to recognize your "teachers".
I'm not 100% onboard with BD. I'm sceptical on just a few points but otherwise it's "peasant smarts" as my mother used to remind me.
Thank you for sharing 😊😊
glad to find this, I'm in the middle of his book.
Absolutely, positively appreciated this!
This was great, Jesse💯 Very accurate and informative like your content
Just a note about solar radiation. My understanding is that hydrogen ions from solar wind bond with oxygen in the atmosphere to make water vapor. Plants use photons in photosynthesis for food. So plants do not directly use hydrogen ions from solar wind as stated in the video. Science rocks! Cheers!
It's fine with me if he believes hydrogen ions in the plant are transported directly from the sun. He does mix in just enough valid science that his other explanations seem plausible to most. Of course it's much easier to explain nature without having to learn modern scientific principles which can be difficult to grasp. I imagine him as a time traveller from centuries ago.
Yeah. He lost me there too.
The big CEC kick off is from the flush of H+ ions from root exudates into the weak negative charge of clay/silt soil, before even leaves appear. The stored energy in the seed releases & begins root production when temp & moisture is at the right point. Roots (and their exudates) generally precede leaves, but the growth can appear to be simultaneous since root structures are so very fine.
Maybe he meant that the hydrogen on Earth comes from stars like our Sun?
@ximono His H explanation was fairly detailed...& dead wrong.
I'm looking forward to his explanation of manure stuffed in a bull horn and buried in the ground...a standard biodynamic preparation.
Sounds like he's just talking about a redox reaction (the Hydrogen ion is of course a Proton), which is still sound science. Science still finds a way 😁
A biodynamic process can make food and livestock grow bigger, stronger. Use the living water ponds, rotate livestock, use other biodynamic methods to decrease pests.
And what a beautiful farm , wisdom, and knowledge !
Thank you!
love the term "soil beings"
That was great! Thank you!
Good information, however there are ways to help biology besides compost through things that are added to the seeds or sprayed as you are seeding. It's also a miss nomer that legumes provides nitrogen, legumes facilitate workspaces for nitrogen production. Its actually microbacteria that convert atmospheric N to plant food. The microbacteria that setup in legumes are powerhouses, however there are other microbacteria that work with non legumes that fixate around 20 lbs of N a year. You have to make sure you have the right microbacteria paired with the job desired.
Definitely some interesting concepts. Always something interesting to learn and enjoy each Sunday Morning, Thank You!
Thank you, Farmer Jesse.
More, please.
Jeff Poppen's (mis)understanding of sunlight and subsequently photosynthesis is kind of hilarious to hear coming from a successful farmer.
The sun does not send hydrogen to Earth - it sends light aka photons. Maybe he's confusing the word "photon" with "proton"? A hydrogen atom is composed of a single proton (usually with a single electron). As another commenter noted, the hydrogen that plants need for photosynthesis comes from water.
Biodynamics is cool, and it's a great reminder that plants are more complicated than the chemical equation for photosynthesis, but it's important to have the basic science correct as well :)
My only plausible explanation is that he's referring to hydrogen on Earth coming from stars like our Sun.
That was thoroughly fascinating!!
This is so informative.
Thank you all!
FASINATINg j just love this! Completely new info
What a amazing wealth of knowledge from a OG
Fantastic work, thank you for this jewel 💎! Greetings from the desert of Dubai. Martin
No way you got Jeff Poppen on here! I’ve been following his videos on volunteer gardener TH-cam channel for years.
Thank you for that.😊
How weird that I just spent my Saturday researching this very topic. I mean... let's talk about "vibes." This is so good.
Did you mention that interest in the presence of your smart phone?
Great video! You crash your drone at 8:30?! Haha
GREAT video - thanks!
This is great! Thanks
I dont feel like the question and title of the video has fully been addressed. Apart from a Heavy load of compost, his conservation tillage, and these biodynamic preps. Is that biodynamic agriculture is? Or are those his practices? Are there any biodynamic principles? that would encapsulate some of this? No discussion of the moon phases which I thought was a big thing. Tremendous production quality tho ❤️
Definitely check out the Stewart Lundy & the Josephine Porter Institute along with Lloyd Nelson in Colorado
I am farming and gardening in terms of biodynamics and the knowlage i inherited from my grandfather and him from his grandather. And the moon cycles is one of the most important thing that i strictly follow.
It makes a big difrence aspecialy in meat when we bucheer animals.
Lots of gems in here! From building soil Humus so there is no job for pests, to know till. Thanks for sharing!
Lol Bugtussle, Alabama. I used to live 5 minutes from there.
Loved that info, TY!
Please have also look at the M Bruce, Quick return compost. This is also based on R. Steiner. The biodynamic compost preparation is still produced today.
Wow this is fascinating, I am going to experiment with doing this to my compost. have you tried it yourself, and if so, to what effect.
I leave my set up compost everytime for about one year, without turning
I used the extract for some time. Once I found my compost full of compost worms. But I have no real systematic approach for evaluating this adfitive. It would be great to find someone who did, or will.
I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!
Steiner was right about a lot.
Thanks for this video.
Jeff's are so smart!
Awesome!
wow what a video!! love it.
Been speaking to a big timber farmer where I live and he's still using roundup to get rid of blackberries and other weeds..I explained to him the dangers of glyphosate and his response was how do you handle weeds without the chemicals?
Blackberries are tough, especially large scale. Goats maybe.
@@alexkunnen I suggested that, they eat the bark off the trees apparently
I hope you are OK with hurricane Helene today!
But seriously, how good are biodynamic wines!? Even those that are more "biodynamic-light" without the rituals are stunning.
Truly, it was a known secret that some of the best domains in Burgundy (at least when I was in the trade) utlized biodynamic practices even if they never talked about it.
@@notillgrowers False, some study made with blind test didn't show any of that. It works only for non blind test believers, as any cult... Even when I was believer, I found it strange this story of the moon tells that this planet display = eart (or other signs) "meaning" some special agricultural behaviors, without any link.. a bit like "shut up it is quantic"
Compost does not feed the soil microbiology. It is a fully digested material, only plants can use it. It has a somewhat good effect on soil structure in the short term though.
Only wood chips and/or agressive use of cover crops that produce a lot of biomass can really improve soil structure substantially and in the long term.
Looks like a beautiful farm with interesting practices though.
Compost does feed the biology in the soil due to the humic content it has. Compost also adds biology to the soil. Compost doesn’t contain much of a nutrient content because after it goes through its thermophilic state the nutrients are off gassed. An early compost pile may contain more more nutrients but as it ages that content starts to decrease. This is where we get a booming pile loaded with microbes/biology that help make the nutrients in our soil/what we add (dry amendments etc) available to our plants/gardens.
I think you need to do a bit of reading on soil science, it does feed the soil microbiology 🙂 There are some good videos with Elaine Ingham.
@@ximono Guys these things have been researched extensively.
Yes compost adds microorganisms, which is probably useless, as when there are not enough of these in the soil, their numbers and types replenish themselves very fast and by themselves, once humus levels have gone up, and once the soil is fed regularly.
Compost does not feed them, because it is the end product of degradation by microorganisms.
These things have been studied not only in labs, but also in fields and in large greenhouses.
In fact, we've gone past these qualitative questions a long time ago, and already have quantitatve data about all this, such has :
increase in stable humus from wood chips is 50% of the weight of the original wood chips. And increase in humus from compost is 0%. With straw falling in between the 2, at 15% stable humus.
It's fine to discuss the results from practices we don't understand how they work, such as some biodynamic practices. But negating solid science, while claiming you have looked into it, is misleading to people looking for information.
On a personal note, my cereal fields, melons tomatos and watermelon plots are managed in conservation agriculture (so soil life is fed with raw organic matter, not with their own s..t),
And some of my vegetable beds and transplant trays are managed with compost. And the later don't gain any lasting humus, even after several years, and copious amounts of compost. There is a gain in texture, but if I stop bringing in compost, the soil reverts in maybe a year to what it was originally.
@@o00oZu1o00o Ah, so the issue is the use of the word "feed".
You're clearly more knowledgeable about this than me, but the way that I understand it, compost creates a habitat for microorganisms to thrive in, especially when reapplied yearly as a mulch. And it does increase soil organic matter over time. It directly feeds the earthworms and other macroorganisms, incorporating it into the soil. But whether all that is "feeding the soil" is open for discussion, I suppose.
It sounds right what you're saying about the types of compost. Makes sense, as carbon takes a long time to break down. I use a carbon-rich municipal greenwaste compost as a mulch in my no-dig system, and use plenty of woodchips in my homemade compost (dumped for free by arborists). No two composts are the same, what goes into it and how you make can produce wildlly different results.
"increase in stable humus from wood chips is 50% of the weight of the original wood chips. And increase in humus from compost is 0%."
What kind of compost would that last one be? Sounds like a very poor one.
There was an interesting research paper a while back, finding that (not surprisingly) carbon-rich compost has much less N leaching compared to organic waste compost. I use it for that reason, as well as to stimulate fungal life. It does require applying extra N as needed by certain crops. I'm currently looking into struvite as a slow-release fertilizer.
@@ximono I wasn't aware of the existence of struvite. Maybe it is interesting if your Ca/Mg balance is a bit off, or if you need more phosphorus, which is less often the case than people think.
Personnally, I only use dried blood or urea. Urea being less expensive and being usable in the fertiliser compartment of my seeder. It gives very powerful results applied at 600 N units / Ha, on what I would call "immature soil", soil that has not yet been substantially improved by no till, wood chips and cover crops. It delivers both immediate dose of N and sustained dose, over several months, as the bacteria of the soil break it down.
Something that could be interesting for you, is to know something that has been discovered here a few years ago : if high carbon mulch is not mixed up with the soil, after a few months new bacteria appear in the carbon mulch layer, bacteria that fix atmospheric N (same as with legumes, but it's not the same bacteria). And they provide all the N that is necessary for the decomposition of the wood chips.
This knowledge has opened doors and has been used succesfully on several farms.
For instance, I have visited the "Le talus" farm near Marseille where they had very marginal soil at the beginning (it was kind of a place that had been devoted to stockpiling of waste, it was dirty, ugly, and on top of that heavily compacted). And they applied 3 feet and 4 inches of wood chips, if you can imagine that! And now they have some of the most beautiful soil you can find in the region and they grow no till vegetables commercially.
The first reference to aerated compost tea I could find comes from Steiner, also John Kempf said they found using sap analysis that a full moon is the best time to apply foliars for good uptake, maybe science is catching up.
Science is always catching up. That's not meant as a snide remark, it's just what science does.
@@glassbackdiy3949 The problem with John Kempf is that you have to really work to separate his extremely high quality information from the magical stuff he believes. It's really frustrating, because he delivers some of the best information out there on high level plant nutrition and so on, but in the next breath start talking about paramagnetism and structured water and other obvious nonsense. It really devalues the rest of his work. This is coming from someone who uses AEA products in my commercial garden.
@@5ivearrows I could have made a similar statement 20 yrs ago, but with age, and research, I've learnt to be much more open minded. Have you read Olivier Hussons papers on REDOX? He also advocates paramagnetic rock dust based on his research, I've only been working with it for 18 mths, the effect in compost alone shows me something beneficial is going on, worm activity increased so much in 8mth aged thermophillic compost to the point the whole pile resembles wormcasts, a duplicate pile made in an adjacent bay at the same time with the same ingredients except without rock dust has orders of magnitude less worms and looks completely different, I'm applying 2.5kg per sqM to all my beds just off the back of this result. Dan Kittredge of the Bionutruent food Association uses no compost, no fertilizers, only different rock dusts are applied on his highly productive farm. Structured water also is a thing, research Exclusion Zone water, if you have a darkfield microscope you can see it as a blue hugh around the edge of a drop on the slide, you can see this comparrison after water alone is circulated ~30mins in a vortex brewer, read Elton et al, it's a critical review of EZ water research, they critisize various hypothesis as to what it is, but they recognise it is still actually a thing. Sometimes we don't even know what we don't know, it's called unconcious incompetence in the competency cycle.
Bio fantastic
Greenwashing of a cult. Steiner himself told to not speak of lot of stuff so peoples would not take him for a gourou. And it worked.
Thank you
Loved hearing him talk! So calm with loads of knowledge. His book was an instant purchase. Thanks for introducing him to us, Jesse!
Almost didn’t click! Glad I did! Cool guy! Thanks Jesse 👊
In Romania in village where people make agriculture for them and other for sell make this for long time a go....but the people from city buy from market..because the products look better....
Excellent video! Look forward to hearing more.
My future concern is climate crisis with elevated and potential heat extremes. As global temps rise, how will this approach adapt?
No mention of manipulation ?
30 to 40 tonnes of compost is not vaguely possible for me. You'd need a truck. A big tip truck. Someone please explain how this is done? My farm was biodynamic in the 60s and 70s. I only realised recently why there were piles of horns in the shed.
I never thought I’d be excited about a political ad, but this is amazing
Valuable horticultural wisdom from a pioneer, couldn't ask for more
Thank you, very informative, Jeff is a great teacher!
Mr. Poppen is right that the sun is made of hydrogen, and that hydrogen is super light and the primordial matter of the universe. The sun consumes hydrogen in thermonuclear fusion, which emits the light - sunlight - that radiates onto earth. But that light is photon radiation. That is the energy that plants harvest from the sun, not hydrogen itself. The main source of hydrogen for plants is water, each molecule of which contains two hydrogen atoms.
But those hydrogen atoms does come from the Sun, so in that sense he's right, no?
@ximono
"But those hydrogen atoms does come from the Sun, so in that sense he's right, no?"
No, the Sun is not ejecting hydrogen into interstellar space. Mostly energetic electrons, protons, alpha particles, and apparently a few heavier elements like carbon and iron. Light is a photo and contain no hydrogen.
Steiner said and believed a great many they were just inherently not true, full of mysticism and guesses about how things actually worked. Like all of the biodynamic preparations. Take Biodynamic preparation 501, a cows horn packed with quartz dust buried on a Flower day in Spring and removed in Autumn. Cow horn, not bull because cows can be mothers and mothers grow stuff. Powdered quartz because quartz absorbs light. Light is cosmic energy, the Earth exhails cosmic energy, and we can trap it in the quartz dust.
Just because you did something and a positive response occurred doesn't means your actions had anything to do with the result. The whole correlation is causation logic falicy.
You get wood hot enough and fire comes out, therefore there is actual fire trapped inside the wood, right?
The Four Elements of Nature served humanity well enough for thousands of years, but was complete hogwash.
@@ximono The hydrogen atoms do not go from the sun to the plants on the earth. They undergo a reaction on the sun, then emit light, which is photons (not atoms), and the photons strike the plants on earth. The hydrogen atoms remain on the sun. They never reach any plants on earth.
@@jasonbrougham1178 I know 🙂 I meant that the hydrogen atoms on Earth came from the Sun when Earth was formed. But I was somewhat mistaken, it came from same nebula that formed both the Sun and the Earth.
@@ximono Yes. And some models have earth’s water coming from the outer solar system via comets. So, no, earth’s hydrogen atoms do not come from the sun.
30-40 tons of compost per acre per year? That's a LOT of money. Almost makes me want to revisit my thoughts of opening a compost business
@jf3457 I know, that's why the idea has stayed on the shelf for the last 10 years
@@jf3457"cultish customers"?
Lol. Compost is mainstream. Even "Big Ag" universities promote it.
Axe grind elsewhere.
Thanks
Not really that much: its one 10 wheeler for a third acre
@@jf3457 "cultish customers"?
Its roughly a yard or so of compost per 1000sqft. Thats really not that much compost. Anyone who has spread compost or mulch knows that, and realistically should cost a couple grand or less.
👍
If you don't understand basic photosynthesis there's not much hope. I for one won't be buying his book. Love the channel Jesse
New York City!!?? That splains a lot! Thankfully, you escaped! Great video! Jeff has a very friable way with words. Thanks!
Yes! I think story time with Jesse about life and wine in NYC would be a great video topic for me.
but where do you get that much compost to put on each acre? that's a lot.
40 heads of cattle, apparently.
I enjoyed that explanation. Thanks
this is now my favorite episode
Amazing, thank you!
born in Donji Kraljevec, today Croatia, altough in that time part of Austrian-Hungarian -Croatian Empire - Habsburgs empire so called
What's the plant shown at 2:10?
🌶🫑
Jeff seems to take the hokus pokus out of biodynamic farming
Greenwashing of a cult that is already cleaned (superficially) to the public so peoples continue to feed the gourous
you can tell how well it works by the quality of his weed 😂 1.5x playback speed coming in clutch
Reading the comments made me rewatch this episode, where is all the mystaism "woo woo" mentioned in this video? I feel as ive missed something. I haven't researched Stinner, his questionable beliefs mentioned or more into biodynamics so where is the negativity in the peactices mentioned coming from? Just about to watch the preparation episode now.
Anyone from anywhere should eat from a farm.
I like his farming philosophy, but what he is describing sounds more like regenerative agriculture in general. I still don't really understand what makes it specifically "biodynamic".
Idk man, biodynamic farming seems like just organic permaculture farming with a lot of bullshit sprinkled in. Pun intended
That was my takeaway as well. Was not clear how this is any different than deep mulch, biodiverse, organic permaculture practices. Seems a bit dogmatic too. Also seems paradoxical in that the pests and diseases you want to prevent are intrinsically a part of the natural system. Don’t they play a role in the balance of nature too? Overall interesting content, so no complaints here.
@@fs60600 agree, I was sure I was gonna be flamed by hippies who believe in crystal magic lol. Thanks for to reply!
That is exactly what it is. Folks that claim to be closed loop yet they import 90 percent of their inputs from JPI.
@chiltepierce I'm unfamiliar with European beaurocracy and NGOs, aka GOs lol. I have my hands full keeping track domestically. Are you saying the FACCE-JPI actually sells inputs or partners with those that do? I tried to get info from their website after seeing your comment, and as expected, it says a lot of nothing. It looks like typical rhetoric you'd expect from such people, but I dint see links or anything pointing to products for sale
@@Thee-_-Outlier am unfamiliar how things are done in Europe, however, the amount of labor that goes in to making the inputs and making them correctly is usually outsourced to JPI which really is funny when the majority of these biodynamic farms claim to be closed looped ha ha ha ha what a joke.
A bit more woo woo than your typical video. I had to roll my eyes a hit when he mentioned they bring on 25-30 tons of compost per acre per year, thats ~1/2inch deep over an acre. Youre definitely getting a lot of biological activity with that addition every year.
No disagreements about soil biology being important, cover crops being useful tools, nor the use of mulches. But theres no need to invoke a deep mysticism alongside it.
1/2" sounds about right, that's a typical amount for no dig.
#TXTM
You can’t get green sand anymore 😢
Biodynamic is awesome, though theosophy and anthroposophy are fantastical and difficult to embrace.
It's difficult to embrace because it's not centered in reality but in the phantatical dreams of a person that also stated that blond and blue eyed persons are superior to brown haired brown eyed persons.
@@christian6820 - Agreed. As Peter Staudenmaier says, _"[anthroposophy's] rejection of reason in favor of mystical experience, its subordination of human action to supernatural forces, and its thoroughly hierarchical model of spiritual development all mark anthroposophy as inimical to humanist values."_
That said, the methods still have relevance for growing and restoring fertility, despite and apart from the mysticism of the underpinning philosophy.
Fantastical and difficult to embrace sounds about right lol
I was definitely not aware of his more racist, anti-Semitic commentary and I appreciate you all adding that context. Thank you
@@notillgrowers - I apprenticed under a locally famous biodynamic couple in Northern California and we had anthroposophy lectures and reading that first brought these issues to my attention.
I feel strongly however that there's hugely useful -- and scientifically examined -- elements to -the- both Biodynamics and the Waldorf schooling practices not to be _thrown out with the bathwater._
Permaculture... hello!! Far superior to bio dynamics.
"Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant." No thanks, Jesse.
Too bad, you're missing out on the greatest wines and vegetables. Judge it for its results, not its originator.
@@ximono the amount of wine that is actually grown with 100 percent biodynamic practices are very rare. Most vineyards apply OMRI fertilizers as their base fertilization along with BD preps. Biodynamics is more of a garnish, than a main meal. Greenwashing is pretty bad when it comes to organic wines here in the states.
@@chiltepierce I'm sure there's both authentic and disingenuous producers. Maybe it's better here in Europe?
@@ximono I’m not familiar with how most BD farms are in Europe, but here in the US it’s a joke.
@@chiltepierce From my experience in Norway, BD farmers are very serious and dedicated to BD practices. I haven't met or heard of bullshitters. I think that type wouldn't go beyond organic certification, BD is too sectarian and niche.
Some of the biodynamic stuff makes it more like a new-age cult based around pseudoscientific woo woo.. there is definitely something to some of the ideas, but its like how medieval alchemists had a basic understanding of certain elements of chemistry, but were so far off base because of the magical thinking. We have made so many advances in our understanding of soil biology that things like burying a poop horn or stirring water in a specific direction is the equivalent of a modern doctor performing blood-letting. The methods described by the guy being interviewed are mostly legit.. he seems intelligent and scientifically literate, but doesn’t touch on the total BS borderline witchcraft and superstition that can pervade the world of “biodynamic”. I’ve seen some acid deranged hippies unable to grow anything but a goat, but hey at least it was “biodynamic”.. I think we are all better off shedding the labels and rigid frameworks of these named methodologies. Don’t be a permaculture farmer or biodynamic farmer or syntropic farmer… just be an ecologically ethical farmer who works to be scientifically informed.
It is not true that Rudolf Steiner was rasistic or anti-semitic this comes from the misunderstanding of his lectures in anthroposophy. Unfortunately people take no time to understand what he is talking about and misunderstand.
He was a seer, he was enlightened, so often he is talking of spiritual levels or level of the soul and not only the fizical and so if you dont no what is what you can misunderstand. You can not judge what he was teaching if you don't no what anthroposophycal turms realy mean. All he did was out of love for humanith of all kinds. And he realy was esoteric christian. Please take the time to understand or ask someone from the anthroposophycal society to help. Hitler said about Rudolf Steiner that Rudolf Steiner is his biggest enemy, he had to escape from germany and he had jews as students and people from anywher who were interested in esoterical christianity this is what he was realy teaching and some of the members of anthroposophy asked him to give lectures on agriculture but in anthroposophycal/esoterical/spiritual way and so was biodynamic born 100 years ago, the same year Rudolf Steiner died. He did a lot for humanity in the worst times, heas life was all about love, self-sacrifice and kindenss for all people. He was a REAL christian!
This is way too vague. Many of this is around the same thing you do. Cover the earth with soil, manage fertility etc. no talk of moons and the underlying ideals of biodynamic teachings.
Try reading Steiner on agriculture, for yourself. He was just plain nuts.
'Testable' theories (hypotheses) that stand in no relation to any testable, evidential reality.
The pro-Steiner movement is really just a sort of fashion, like Bieber-haircuts.
Should a boy get such a cut in order to attract girls?
Any appeal to results of scientific methods, as actual explanation/grounds for boys doing so, would be just ludicrous.
A cut, something like Bieber's, in very particular circumstances, with very particular facial types, might actually be advantageous.
However - this does not, in any way, count as evidence that Bieber had cracked some fundamental code; let alone that he had done so by combining 'ancient wisdom' with recent advances in scientific understanding..
In relation to the real world, this world, and any substantive gathering together of understandings of this world - Steiner was a nut, a self-satisfied, self-promoting, nut. Period. End of.
The only types that promote or 'apply' his agro-ramblings are pseudo-intellects, intellects without compass-readings.
They like the 'feel' of it all, but want to be able to claim, and waffle on about, some sort of grand theoretical framework.
Pseuds.
Nuts..
Had to unsubscribe.....too many comment deletions.
??? Haven’t deleted any comments, friend.
@@notillgrowers people say that same thing on my channel all the time and I've never deleted anything... I found out YT automatically deletes comments its algorithms think are Bots...
It has gotten quite bad were my fingers travel.
@@notillgrowers I think youtube is fiddling with your comment section. I notice the same comments appearing 3-4 times as I scrolled down.
TH-cam does that.
Lies researched after learned better from my source my stash
I like that barefoot guy, but Rudolp Steiner is not without controversy (antisemitism and racism), check wikipedia. Also this method seems also to abuse animals, not a fan of it. My small garden is all vegan and its work very well.
Lol
There are virtually no youtube channels on vegan gardening/homesteading. I would follow. I'm vegetarian.
I appreciate this comment. Thank you. I personally have always thought of Steiner as an eccentric philosopher, somewhat caught up in the esoteric lecturing/writing popular at the time, but who had some thoughtful ideas about agriculture. What I was not aware of were his more troubling, racist comments. Obviously, I don't support that. Thanks for the insight. Also, indeed, not a very friendly practice to vegans and vegetarians though I have met several at his conferences in the past who have adapted the preps to be plant-centric.
30-40t per acre is 300-400kg of compost every squaremeter.. how are you supposed to do that without building a mountain? ⛷️😆
Awesome!