Biodynamic by Nature

André Tranquilini is the estate manager at Waltham Place, a 220 acre organic and biodynamic farm and garden in Berkshire, UK. Originally from Brazil, he has worked extensively as a market gardener and outdoor teacher, and is a founding member of the biodynamic seed company, Living Seeds, in Portugal. André has worked on farms in Brazil, Portugal and the UK, and has travelled widely, teaching workshops and lecturing on biodynamics. He talks to OmVed Gardens’ head gardener, Vicky Chown.

Vicky: Before we get into the details of what biodynamic farming and gardening is all about, we would love to know a bit about your background and your trajectory.

André: I’m from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I originally studied media and communications and was involved in a collective art studio. My motivations to start gardening and farming started there, prompting me to change my career. So I moved to the UK to study biodynamic agriculture at Emerson College. Then I worked as an outdoor teacher for many years in Devon, developing the South Devon Steiner School garden and environmental curriculum, imbuing it with respect for the Earth and teaching land-based skills. I then relocated to Portugal to start Living Seeds, a biodynamic seed company, and now I’m back in the UK as estate manager at Waltham Place Farm.

Vicky: At OmVed, we are very interested in biodynamic gardening because we practice permaculture: can you describe what biodynamic farming is, particularly in comparison to permaculture?

André: Biodynamic farming is the oldest form of organic agriculture - or at least the oldest one that is certified and with standards. It started in 1924 and could be considered the inspiration for other movements that subsequently followed, from organic agriculture to permaculture, which all have a connection to the biodynamic movement in one way or another.

In practical terms, the movement shares with permaculture theåbelief that all the different activities within the farm support each other: the gardens, the livestock production and the ecological infrastructure. What differentiates them is that one of the key aspects of biodynamic farming is the creation of the farm organism: the idea that the human organism is the model and the starting point for the farm organism was suggested by Rudolf Steiner. According to his worldview, which built the foundations of biodynamic agriculture, the human organism has got a physical body, an etheric body and astral body, and a spiritual body. In essence, what we’re trying to do by creating the self-sustaining cycles within the farm, is allowing the farm to become an individual, like a human being, with its own spiritual individuality.

Vicky: One thing that really drew me into exploring biodynamic farming was the cyclical nature of it. In any gardener’s year, we have a cyclical nature too: we can’t get away from the fact that spring is when we sow most of our crops from seed. And then, in the summer, we’re looking at tending them and possibly early harvest, then later on in the summer, you’ve got more harvests. But in biodynamic farming or growing, there seems to be so many cycles within cycles. You’ve got a lunar cycle, the solar cycles, and even day cycles.

André: I suppose one could say that cycles are everywhere in life. Anything living is in in a constant movement of change. A very simple observation that I love doing is to look at a plant to see if it is contracting or expanding. What we’re trying to do in biodynamic farming and gardening is to work with those rhythms in an optimal manner. The more in line we are in the rhythmical nature of our planet, the more vitality our food will have. You go with the seasons, work with the polarities of the day and night and the rhythms of growth, which are, again, linked to the seasons, and you observe a lot.

Vicky: I believe you also work with a special planting calendar that relates to all those rhythms and cycles?

André: In biodynamic gardening and farming, we work with a planting calendar that looks at the moon cycles specifically, as a complement to the sun cycles, which we all follow. For instance, we are looking not only at the stage of the moon in the course of the month, we’re also looking at the apogee and the perigee, which indicates how close or how far the moon is from the Earth. The other lunar cycle that we’re looking at is at the position of the moon in relation to the constellations. All that will determine and, hopefully, support the planning of different activities: harvesting, sowing, planting and even the making of biodynamic preparations.

Vicky: It makes sense that if the moon notably affects the water on our planet in terms of the tides, it also affects other natural phenomena.

André: Absolutely. We can look at tides, we can look at female cycles, there are so many opportunities there to look. It feels almost arrogant that humankind doesn’t work with the moon cycles more than we actually do. Sometimes when you’re talking about lunar cycles people look at you as though you’re a lunatic. But actually, they are part of our daily life.

Vicky: The biodynamic calendar indicates when it is good to plant root vegetables, harvest leaves, and so on. How closely do you follow that?

André: The planting calendar is not dogma, you still need to observe and adapt, but it’s amazing because some years it just works. However, I learned the hard way to be a bit more free with the use of the calendar. One year I had thousands of lettuce seedlings all set to go. The soil was ready but it wasn’t the right day [according to the calendar], so I didn’t transplant them. And then, of course, it started raining and it rained for a week. I ended up with plants that were not looking that good anymore.

Vicky: I started on my biodynamic journey a few years ago and then completely left it because I run two gardens and work for about two days a week on each one, so it’s impossible to stick to the calendar.

André: Well, as i said, it shouldn’t be read as dogma, but instead, as a great tool to aid planning. If it works, brilliant! And if it doesn’t, at least what it does is to make us aware of movements that are bigger than us. I believe there is real wisdom in that. Also, gardening and farming are such practical activities, real feet on the ground, but to have an awareness of what’s going on above is also quite lovely, quite relevant and, in a way, complementary.

Vicky: Indeed. I think most gardeners realise that we have lost our connection to natural cycles nowadays. For instance, I’m a medical herbalist, and we were always taught to pick herbs early in the morning, because supposedly that is when they’re at their most heightened, medicinally and chemically.

André: Absolutely. A person only needs to do a simple exercise at home to realise this. For example, when harvesting leaves for a salad, harvest some in the morning and harvest some at the end of the day and see which one stores better.

Vicky: Lettuce, if you harvest it after the afternoon, it literally just wilts.

André: Exactly, and one can really test those things at home and that’s also very crucial in the whole ethos of biodynamics. Just try it, it’s actually quite empowering. Also, in the UK, for instance, there are 23m gardens, so we have such an opportunity to reconnect people to nature.

Vicky: That’s one of our missions at OmVed Gardens, to help people feel more connected with the environment, from the soil to the cosmos.

André: I think that a lot of the journey we’ve been through since the Industrial Revolution has led us to become very separate entities. We need to change that, in order to face the crisis that we’re dealing with because we are part of nature, and our gardens can remind us of that.

Vicky: There are various preparations in biodynamic farming, and there’s something alchemical about these preparations that you make. I love science, but I love the tradition too. Could you just give us a quick run through of what they are and what you do with them?

André: We have field spray preparations and compost preparations. They don’t happen naturally, they are man-made creations, although using natural materials. It’s alchemical, you’re transforming things, but you still need that human consciousness. In spray preparations, we work mostly with two: the horn manure and the horn silica.

Vicky: The horn manure is one that people find really interesting.

André: Yes, the horn manure, in a way, is the easiest for people to get, it’s very accessible. For me it’s one of the preparations that every time I use, I can actually point out an effect very, very clearly.

We make it around Michaelmas Day, the September harvest festival. In the farm, we bring everyone together and we celebrate the harvest with a big lunch during which we talk about the challenges and the joys of the season. Then, we finish the day making the whole manure preparation, which involves filling a cow horn with cow manure, which is then buried in an area of the garden with good drainage and fertile soil.

The horn is buried over autumn and winter to be used in spring and summer. If we were to compare the cycles of the season or their rhythms with our own breathing system, the images that we would use would be that spring and summer are an out-breath, and winter is an in-breath.

Vicky: It’s a nice metaphor.

André: In essence, by doing this we are exposing the manure that is inside the horn to this in-breath of the Earth, and that’s then stored inside the manure and there’s a fermentation process that takes place, and bacterial growth. So this is a preparation that then, in the spring, we’re going to harvest and we’re going to stir in water.

Vicky: I remember this from our visit to Waltham Place. We saw this amazing vortex stirrer you have on the farm. So you stir the harvested horn manure there for one hour, right?

André: Yes. The idea, again, is to permeate the water with that information that has been stored, and that is then applied in the fields. And we use that when there’s any soil cultivation, when we’re adding fertility, when we’re adding compost to the soil, and when we are transplanting. It’s all about root development, about microorganisms. It is a prebiotic and probiotic for the soil.

Vicky: And how does it work? Because only a tiny amount of manure can fit in the horn, but I understand that you can spread that over huge amounts of land?

André: One horn would be sufficient to do one hectare for the year.

Vicky: I think it is like the microbiome in the stomach. If a probiotic supplement can have 20bn microbes to benefit your stomach, I guess really concentrated bacterial fungal growth that has been osmotically drawn in throughout the winter, when spread about, it can have a big impact. After all, these things are in their billions in a teaspoon. Also introducing them in healthy garden soil, they will multiply. Do you put the horn manure in the compost as well?

André: No, we have compost preparations that are different. We have yarrow, chamomile, nettle, dandelion, oak bark and valerian preparations that are used in the compost to aid that decomposition process. The horn silica is a spray for plants, and it works to support and mediate the qualities of light. It helps a lot in the UK climate, and it also has a positive influence in controlling fungal diseases.

Vicky: So the horn silica is used as a leaf spray and it helps with fungal diseases?

André: It can help with fungal diseases, but we also use horsetail to support that. One of the key aspects of using the horn silica preparation is the antioxidant levels. It benefits the storage ability, the quality and the aroma of food, and that’s really quite important.

Vicky: I feel you just need a bit more time to do these preparations, which takes me back to what I was thinking when I was trying to farm biodynamically. I felt that I couldn’t fit everything in a day, and that made me take this approach of watching the garden which made me feel like I had a better connection with it. Taking that time to think about what it needed at that point in time made me feel better, and I feel it really helped my garden grow better.

André: That’s one of the key gifts that gardens can give. Observation is a muscle, in a way, that we all need to work with. The more we observe the garden, the more a part of it we are. So a lot of the time my decision making process is just to go for a walk.

Vicky: Yes, I get all the trainees here at OmVed in the morning before we start work, and what I say to them is to first walk around and observe. This way, you’ll be able to see what’s going on, and the more you observe, the more it reveals itself.

André: Yes, absolutely. By saying observation is like a muscle I want to imply that if you practice, you’re going to build that memory in yourself, you’re going to develop that muscle to use it more. There are corners in the garden that I really like and I go there all the time. I sit and observe and I just try to watch and allow things to express themselves. The ideas are being shared by the garden, by the beings of the garden.

One should approach anything with a fully open mind, and to allow the nature of what is being observed to reveal itself. And with that, I’m not criticising science, but the general approach of sciences is to focus on one hypothesis and to maintain that focus throughout. What I’m suggesting here is a step back, to watch and to allow whatever you’re observing to express its true nature. And one can do that by observing clouds every day. One can do that by going out in the garden, keeping a little weather diary or a wildlife diary. I think that’s so important for a holistic consciousness.

Vicky: This brings me to my next question, which is what can people do at home, in their home garden, to work in a more biodynamic way? Does this approach also apply to flowers? Or is it just vegetables?

André: Everything. These techniques can be used absolutely anywhere. Even a rewilding area. I suppose the first thing is to observe and really start to develop that relationship to their gardens. Then, composting - it is key to feed the soil and not the plant. If the soil is healthy and with enough resilience, then it can sustain anything. So what materials are there and what materials are available is important. And it doesn’t matter how small your garden is. Perhaps your garden has something that your neighbour’s garden doesn’t, and you can join forces and compost together. It is often overlooked, but is how the cycles of fertility work and how the garden nourishes itself.

It is important to ask ourselves, what do I have in my garden and also, what else can I bring to my garden? What can I increase in terms of biodiversity? For instance, in the winter months a lot of people are very busy tidying up the gardens. My take is to forget about that, and learn to live with a less tidy approach in order to support wildlife.

For the preparations, if you have a small garden, the Biodynamic Association in the UK can really cater for you: they have a web shop where one can buy preparations in small quantities for small gardens. They also have a gardening club for sharing knowledge and skills and run biodynamic courses all over the country, which we also offer at Waltham Place.

But really the core is how to bring that balance, reconnecting people to nature and working with the cycles and the rhythms that are happening, independently of us, and how to tap into those currents and use them to our benefit. Why are we becoming so removed [from nature]? A lot of the problems that we’re facing now are resource issues - bad use or overuse. And our diet is also making us removed. That’s the bit I think is very crucial that we address for the change that needs to happen. We need to work with those subtle currents that are available, in order to optimise health and nutrition for us, for the planet, for the gardens and for the soil.