visit to the Biodynamic Agriculture College

Hi everyone,

I haven't checked the blog in a while and I was suprised to see so few new coments!

I always enjoy reading what other people put up and what they are up to, but never write anything myself so here it is.

I just came back from a short visit to Emerson, where I joined in with a few lessons the 2nd years had on Arable with Jurgen, Fruit production with Auke and the BD-preps with guest teacher Ferdinad Vondruska (an Austrian farmer living and farming in Canada and producing high cuantyties of high quality preps).

The atmosphere at the Rachel Carson Centre was amazing. The building has been painted so now all the classrooms have a colour (light blueish/green- Horticulture year 1; golden yellow- Agriculture year 1; light purple- BD year 2) and the entrance is a huge display of flowers, animals, fields, minerals and stars! One has to see it for him/her self.

The garden has also come to life and is highly productive. Three indian runner ducks bring some astrality (and a lot of character) to the place and Rob runs back and forth between this garden and the Tablehurst polytunnels, working working working, followed by a gorgouse happy girl called Flow.

I didn't have much contact with the first years, but they seem like a colourfull bunch that have made the course come out of the dark a bit. Like every year there's a wide range of cultures and ages mixed in one, evenyone with it's own reason to be there.

It was also great to see a few of my old classmates again and catch up a bit.

And what about me? well, I'm back in Holland and I started in September with a physiotherapy study, but it did not work out as I thought and I decided to stop a few weeks ago. I'm finding it very difficult to live in the city and I really miss the Emerson life. I'm working hard at the moment and in the mean time looking for new things I can do/want to do/ should do with my life. Any ideas?

I would love to hear about everyone and keep in touch better, also I would like more people to join this blog and keep it thriving.

All the best to you all and keep spreading the bd-love!

ps. pictures of my visit are still to come!

Welcome students!

Hello first year students!!
I hope you all recovered from the goodbey party and from the 6 months at Emerson... And I hope you're all happily working on your farms. Please use this blog to be in contact with your colleagues and with me as well, to let us know how you are doing and what you've been wrecking so far ;)

Here things are pretty smooth - Nina has been working very hard and the flower garden looks gorgeous. Today I picked the first bunch of sweet peas from the greenhouse. We have been having two weeks without rain - I know, now you all wished you'd staid in good old Blighty! Probably pouring with rain in Italy now, and thunderstorms in the US! Ha! But we have been lucky to get on with planting - the spuds are in, and lots of our flower crops too.

The college has been taken over by the Emerson Village guys - and tehy have agreed to donate the BDbuilding and the farm land to St Anthony's Trust, so that is wonderfully good news. Everything looks smooth for September.

OK need to get cracking again - do stay in touch and write something nice!

Cheers - Arjen

8.8 - Another earthquake, another disaster, another chance

“I came here to count the bells,
live upon the surface of the sea,
that sound over the sea,
within the sea.

So, here I live.”

- Pablo Neruda (Chilean poet - Poem written overlooking the pacific from the coastline of Chile)

The Earth speaks, and we don’t listen. The Earth belts and we think we may have heard a faint noise. It happens again and again and few things change, very little is done to dialogue with the Earth. Last night, an 8.8 earthquake hit Chile, a country that i just came home from three weeks ago. Yes, the event is a disaster, it is a shocking societal event that has changed many lives from one moment to the next. And, like Haiti, it represents something besides the obvious, it represents something more than just the disastrous reality upon these places.
An earthquake is a physical manifestation of “the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.” But, as we are coming to understand and investigate, not everything can simply be measured and dealt with through the sometimes limiting ‘eye’ of materialistic facts and realities. And yes, “Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults”, but again, this is only physical. So if the Earth does quake, and humanity is threatened, if societies are displaced, and infrastructures destroyed, what are other lessons to be learned besides the simple - ‘preparing better for the next one!’?
The Earth is more than ignored, it is more than forgotten, it is misused and abused. It is intentionally exploited and destroyed. And then this happens, another disaster, and we scramble to rescue our brothers and sisters, and rightly so, we fret over rebuilding the infrastructures that make it all seemingly smooth running, and we try to get back to the ‘norm’ again, with a little more caution of our own vulnerability. Of course, we have a duty to tend to the present moments of crisis, to give ourselves fully to harnessing the wildness of a disaster, but then, what is next? What comes after the dramatic storms of natural disasters have settled?
Maybe, a real change is needed. Maybe, things aren’t just Ok. Maybe we need to raise New questions and give attention to New possibilities, New callings. ‘Gaia’ is loudly trying to dialogue with us. Mother Earth is bellowing out for our tending, for our attention and care. How is the language of ‘Gaia’ meant to be understood? What is the meaning of these ambiguous events of our time? Chief Seattle said: “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” And similarly, “Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was a part of the collective unconscious of all humans”. Maybe the web is the collective unconscious. Maybe ‘Gaia’ is an integral manifestation of our collective unconscious. I would suggest that there is a part of us deep inside that is trying to make us aware of what lies outside, but also more deeply at the center of, the mass of constructs of civilization, the manifest Mind. By neglecting our interface with the Earth, we are actually neglecting a deep and authentic part of ourselves that needs to be recognized - and more so, begun ‘acting’ from.
The Earth has an intention. We can have an intention. We can dialogue with the Earth to create shared intentions. We can continue our patterns of aggressiveness, of living somewhat ignorantly and disconnected, and of constantly facing despair, or we can take an active role in rebuilding and becoming the ‘healthy’ inhabitants of an Earth that doesn’t lie. Biodynamic Agriculture is an example of a practice - a discipline in living - that co-intends and co-creates a new Earth and Humanity out of the experience of Gaia’s Community. The Biodynamic preparations are medicinal remedies for Mother Earth (and all her years through indignity) that not only strengthen and sharpen her true maternal forces but also clarify and activate our Human Will to Create. Biodynamic agriculture is just one example of a practice that is engaging with Gaia in a new way, but there are many ways, simple and complex. A daily prayer of gratitude for the Earth - or a walk into nature, where we can again meet our spiritual resourcefulness, the source of creation, is all it takes in our beginning to authentically co-exist and Unify. And so I end with a poem of rilke.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

Illusions

"In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself."

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

http://www.fmotl.com/
http://lawfulrebellion.org/
http://www.tpuc.org/
http://worldfreemansociety.org/
http://www.freedom-school.com/mary_elizabeth_croft.pdf

Recreating Heaven on Earth

By Marina Findlay

To understand a properly functioning society, one must know a bit about metaphysics and a bit about spiritual re-evolution. The kundalini channel which goes up through your spine and head is supposed to direct more soul energy than is presently typical in the average person. When your kundalini is used to its maximum potential and your personal astrological energy and Natures energy is flowing through you, you become more creative and have increased awareness and are therefore able to perceive more dimensions of Natural and psychic reality.

Everyone has an individual creative centre – something which you are good at and that is fulfilling because it contributes to society. To spiritually evolve to find your creative centre, you must complete internal alchemy. This involves dealing with any karma or trauma you may have from this or a past life, working on your personality and having a free, satisfactory life. When you have completed internal alchemy, you will function through your heart chakra which makes you compassionate and altruistic, your personal energy is unblocked so your natural psychic abilities are activated. This is everybody’s birthright, to use all our senses and abilities and internal alchemy should be taught at school.

The next stage of re-evolution is reconnection with Nature. Natures energy is supposed to be flowing through your kundalini giving you yet further increased perceptory awareness, sensitivity, health, morality and vitality. It is not until you have connected with Nature that you can perceive real beauty. All you have to do is appreciate and love Nature directly, forming a relationship with her. Humans are supposed to be able to communicate with Dryads (tree spirits) and Genii Loci (spirits of places) – this you redevelop the ability to do. Once you can communicate with Nature you can ask her permission before effecting her, and, if you took Natures advice, society would be different with more forests, more wildlife and people living in forest gardens. Equal rights for all spirits ('equal rights' obviously imply the right to exist), Nature spirits included. If an animal is eaten, it must have lived in the wild and come from a stable population, if the population has given humans permission to take out the weak to keep them well evolved.

The reason we exist is to appreciate and contribute to creation. We should never have taken over from the more connected spirits we once consulted about important decisions. Equal rights to all spirits obviously implies their right to exist. All our relations who should be sharing the planet with us must be reintroduced to the wild. Natural habitats recreated, aiming ultimately for maximum manifestation of soul. Natures creations are alive and work together in very delicate and sophisticated ways. Nature is always evolving so there are always new discoveries to learn from.

So, maximum manifestation of soul through our kundalini and through Nature. A society in which there is no disease or crime. Everyone is fulfilled and glad to be alive. We just need to recognise the spiritual needs of humans and respect that different spirits have valid existences too – you will have this opinion once you have reconnected with Nature since all the psychic pollution which stagnated in your subconscious leaves as it is pushed out by Natures energy, and as each disease leaves, it teaches you about an injustice. These injustices include unethical treatment of the Earth and her spirits.

Presently we are moving up the tree of life past Hod and Netzach to tipareth on a planetary level, so what you have just read will come to pass when the forces of good triumph over the forces of evil and our destinies will be fulfilled. We are moving between Hod, the house of the freemasons, and Netzach, the house of the Witches. They are having a battle, and the forces of good are winning. This is possible according to a 3000 year cycle. We move up to the heart chakra – Tipareth. It expresses your creative centre and is altruistic. You want to contribute your talent to society. Society should be built around people’s creative centres. At this time, all joyful workers will have natural psychic abilities and therefore explore and work on and with other dimensions.

Internal alchemy must be taught at school, everyone encouraged to get into their interests, and the Witches, their symbolism. Witches should work with the police when they initiate, because they encounter social disease thus it can be identified and dealt with.

The raison d’etre to appreciate and contribute. Appreciate creation as her self consciousness. We must take responsibility to protect her and she rewards us. All spirits can experience life from infinite perspectives and eternally be joyful and fascinated. There is always more to learn from when connected to Nature. New dimensions connecting, creating new forms and webs.

Animals have chemicals that blot out pain when they are killed by predators. In a whole ecosystem, rebirth of this fashion is quick. It is the weak and the injured that are taken out and the species as a whole benefits because it is strengthened and stays beautiful. In Heaven, spirits are glad for whatever is for the greater good. This comes from inner knowing through connection to the Earth and Heavenly Energy.

Frohe Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!

no one is posting any more...
Too much to do???
would like to here from you again...

best wishes and lots of love
michaela

Are you compost?

Seeing as this blog isn't exactly crowded, some relevant words I post.

Fritz Peters, 'Boyhood with Gurdjieff', Chapter IX

When I went for my lesson the following morning, Gurdjieff looked very tired. He said that he had been working very hard - most of the night - that writing was very hard work. He was still in bed, and he stayed there throughout the lesson.

He began by asking me about the exercise that had been given to all of us to do, and which I referred to previously as "self-observation". He said that it was a very difficult exercise to do and that he wanted me to do it, with my entire concentration, as constantly as possible. He also said that the main difficulty with this exercise, as with most exercises that he did - or would in the future - give to me or any of his students, was that to do them properly it was necessary not to expect results. In this specific exercise, what was important was to see oneself, to observe one's mechanical, reactionary behaviour without comment, and without making any attempt to change that behaviour. "If change," he said, "then will never see reality. Will only see change. When begin to know self, then change will come, or can make change if wish - if such change desirable."

He went on to say that his work was not only very difficult, but could also be very dangerous for some people. "This work not for everyone," he said. "For example, if wish to learn to become millionaire, necessary to devote all early life to this aim and no other. If wish to become priest, philosopher, teacher, or businessman, should not come here. Here only teach possibility how become man such as not known in modern times, particularly not in western world."

He then asked me to look out of the window, and to tell him what I saw. I said that, from that window, all I could see was an oak tree. And what, he asked, was on the oak tree? I told him: acorns.

"How many acorns?"

When I replied, rather uncertainly, that I did not know, he said impatiently: "Not exactly, not ask that. Guess how many!"

I said that I supposed there were several thousand of them.

He agreed and then asked me how many of the acorns would become oak trees. I answered that I supposed only five or six of them would develop into trees, if that many.

He nodded. "Perhaps only one, perhaps not even one. Must learn from Nature. Man is also organism. Nature make many acorns, but possibility to become tree exist for only few acorns. Same with man - many men born, but only few grow. People think this waste, think Nature waste. Not so. Rest become fertilizer, go back into earth and create possibility for more acorns, more men, once in while more tree - more real man. Nature always give - but only give possibility. To become real oak, or real man, must make effort. You understand this, my work, this Institute, not for fertilizer. For real man, only. But must also understand fertilizer necessary to Nature. Possibly for real tree, real man also depend just this fertilizer."

After a rather long silence, he continued: "In west - your world - is belief that man have soul, given by God. Not so. Nothing given by God, only Nature give. And Nature only give possibility for soul, not give soul. Must acquire soul through work. But, unlike tree, man have many possibilities. Ans man now exist he have also possibility grow by accident - grow wrong way. Man can become many things, not just fertilizer, not just real man: can become what you call 'good' or 'evil', not proper things for man. Real man not good or evil - real man only conscious, only wish acquire soul for proper development."

I had listened to him, concentrated and straining, and my only feeling - I was twelve then - was one of confusion, incomprehension. I sensed and felt the importance of what he was saying, but I did not understand it. As if aware of this (as he surely was), he said: "Think of good and evil like right hand and left hand. Man always have two hands - two sides of self - good and evil. One can destroy other. Must have aim to make both hands work together, must acquire third thing: thing that make peace between two hands, between impulse for good and impulse for evil. Man who all 'good' or man who all 'bad' is not whole man, is one-sided. Third thing is conscience, possibility to acquire conscience is already in man when born; this possibility given - free - by Nature. But it is only possibility. Real conscience can only be acquired by work, by learning to understand self first. Even your religion - western religion - have this phrase 'Know thyself'. This phrase most important in all religions. When begin know self already begin have possibility become genuine man. So first thing must learn is know self by this exercise, self-observation. If not do this, then will be like acorn that not become tree - fertiliser. Fertiliser which go back in ground and become possibility for future man."

Foraging

Website/blog of a guy in southern England trying living only on wild food...

Also, how mushrooms can save the world...

Farming with terraces in Austria - very inspiring!

Hello all

Some of you may have become familiar with this guy through a video that Nick was sharing. I have only now got round to watching that video. This is most amazing. Have likewise been reading Fukuoka again. If you have never read 'One Straw Revolution', it is highly recommended. Reason I decided to do the course at Emerson was to learn about traditional European farming techniques. Nonetheless, I was always conscious throughout the course that little attention was given to newer, alternative approaches, which suggests to me that the Biodynamic 'movmenent' is operating in a bit of a limiting paradigm. There is no reason why the understanding of life forces got from BD cannot be combined with the understanding of ecosystems got from natural farming/permaculture. I for one would have liked more on insects in the course (of course no time blah blah). But anyway it's up to us to pioneer this territory. I have met up with some people that will be starting a project growing grains without machinery here in the west of Ireland. The real question is why not?

Anyway these links are much recommended...

Intro

Video 1 (Google Video)

Video 2 (Google Video)

Article by Sepp Holzer

Sepp Holzer's website

The Harmonious Wheatsmith (published by Mark Moodie)

Enjoy, comment, take action...!

Adam

greetings from wheat country

hi everyone.
just a quick note to tell you all i have found my home. i am so loving this place, the farm the community, the weather, the wine and cheese!
for being out in the sticks it is amazingly progressive, there are allot of young people doing innovative things in agriculture and allot of talk about localizing the food economy and organic conversion of the wheat fields.
for me, i have designed and installed a big market garden with every vegg, melon and flower you can imagine. i have endless amounts of the most delicious compost at my beck and call. i milks 100 sheep and goats 2 times per week, and they are a joy.
we are making 9 different cheeses for now, 3 fresh cheeses, 4 soft aged cheeses, 1 hard and 1 pure sheep's cheese as well as gillato ice cream and Popsicles, selling duck and chicken eggs and more.
and the best part is on sat. and sun. i run the cheese and wine tasting room. we are open to the public and people come to learn about what we are doing and why and sample all the goods. this, as you can imagine is so fun. i have my own personal bar and steer the conversation to bio dynamic and sustainable agriculture at every chance. i have perfected my what is bio dynamic spiel and i will be speaking about my training and what i see for my future in this community at the next sustainable blablaba something meeting in June.
yeah for bio dynamics, yeah for education and the confidence it gives one to take on the worlds challenges and yeah for people who actually want to listin and talk about this stuff!
also a big hiphip horrah for all of those who dream big and live it! with all of the challenges that brings, it is thease people who have so much to teach us, and it will be us living our biggest dreams soon.
keep dreaming, bigger and bigger. i know i am, i have 3 bissness plans in my head now i just have to get them on paper.
i am high on this life, so happy for all of the learning and challenges that have brought me to this amazing place in the world, physically, spiritually and emotionally.
sending you all all of my luck and love.

erin

ps, adam....thanks for visiting me in my dreams. i feel like we check in regularly, but drop a line in waking life and let me know where and how you are.
blessings to all,

xoxo

Finaly the first cut is done! finished sillage making for now.... it s waiting for the grass to grow again xD
weather is good and the last few jungstock who are still inside are getting out to pasture today!

Went to Hamburg to the Oper yesterday... five hours of Wagner (Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg)....havy stuff.....

all is going good here..can milk the cows now on my own! still takes a bit longer, what ever... makes fun....

so nearly lunch time!

hope you are well!!!

theire are still too few posts here from all of you!

It's flower time again!!!

Oooh how I love my flowers! The sweet peas just keep going, making everybody happy, and now also the sweet William is really starting to take off. All sorts of different colours, and very, very scented... Hmmmm.... Unfortunately the wholesaler just wants the colour 'cerise' which I don't know whta that is, but since my sweet Williams have all sorts of colours I don't think they want them. So, I printed some nice leaflets, had a bath, a shave and a clean pair of underpants, and off I went on tour with two buckets of flowers, to visit 7 different farm and flower shops in the area. Alison, my WWOOFer, came along, and we made so many people happy with our free flower bunches! And now the orders keep streaming in, so much so that I am running out of flowers! It's now just picking picking picking, bunching bunching bunching, and off they go. Really flowers are fantastic! Flowers flowering everywhere - flowers in your hair! Flowers, flowers, flowers!!! Oh what beautiful flowers... Yeehaaaaaa

Bonjour Tous le Monde!

Hello everyone!
I just thought i'd check in with you wild biodynamic love cats! I hope all the BD2 lot are doing well out there and BD1's are learning lots on their placements. I'm working on a little family market garden here in the south of France and i'm really enjoying it! Its only 9 acres but next to a big river at the foothills of the Cevennes mountains, very pretty! Working in polytunnels in severe heat is a killer although I may be able to work off some of the lager that Sparky forced me to drink at college! I'm also starting to spray preps at our place (see website) we're turning it well Biodynamic init!

sending you all love....

Nick x
P.s. Contrats to Arjen with Marriage and baby!

Not even pretending to farm

Its raining, which is good. The grain needs rain. I have planted some lettuce, beans, carrots, sweetcorn and sunflowers in my raised beds after having gone to great expense and ringed the edges with copper tape in an attempt to inhibit slug action. All seems a bit low key compared with what everyone else is up to. The ulterior motive was partly met as someone made an offer on the house, low, but it's a start. The farm we are looking to rent is proving a hard nut to crack and so we might rent a small house for a few months while we look around and await the downward repricing of the next phase of the global economic contraction (this article is especially for Adam).

Just read Animal Pharm by Mark Purdey, extraordinary book, should be on the BD reading list. As Monbiot says, 'If Pudey is right he should get a Nobel prize for medicine'. Great exploration, research and analysis of BSE (globally) and TB. Does leave you feeling disgusted and saddened at central governments (how surprising) but also relieved that there are answers to the questions BSE raised about how we keep our animals. It's in the soil. However, I am now worried about grasssickness in the horses (found where there is low pH, CU & K deficiency and excess Fe, like our buttercup covered, iron clay fields, often triggering Clostridium botulinum of the TB family). Symptons, are severe gut paralysis and sudden death. Not much of a heads up there then. I could spread some lime on the fields and an Fe chelating compound. Or I could not worry about it. Maybe I'll spray some 501. I wonder what Glen would say? I shall go and study my charts.

Make sure you have read this regarding golden rice and its benefits (hhmmm), the proGMOers use it as their standard bearer for saving the world. It is always useful to be able to debunk that line of arguement.

Happy planting, prepping, parsing, picking and packing.

First Job offer!

Got my first Job offer! my farmer asked if I want to stay after the placement, he needs someone xD not bad for me!

I' ve got a good time here milking and carring for the cows.

Mowing will start next week after the rain.... 

Got a few woodcutting etc to do after a huge storm last weekend.

Finally I know allmost all the 25 cows by name ;-)

have a good weekend and post, post, post!

michaela

What's happening at emerson?

Things are thriving here as usual! The may fair has just passed (Arjen, Rob, and others dancing merrily before a very large crowd of people ranging from outsiders to ex-emersonians to scientlogists and even anthroposophists! The courses are well on their way and coming closer to their endings, and someone’s been rotivating up about a quarter of an acre behind carson!??

Well, it seems as though a lot is transpiring here at Emerson, in the garden and in the course. Im sure most of you already know the Neir (spelling?) has joined Arjen in carrying the course. I get the sense that they both have been working extremely hard since all of us began our placements and/or took our leave from Emerson, and I believe that there are a few things in the cooker for the course itself which is very good.

The lunches now include a few things from the garden! Amazing huh? After all that whining we did in october about Emerson not having a garden and now it is no longer only talk or planning but reality. Yes, there is plenty in the ground and it is only getting buisier.

Well, i send my blessings to you all and i hope your biodynamicing is going great!

Fix the Food Chain

Wandered into the fields of Plaw Hatch today to watch Richard and Tony roll out their latest gizzmos. After the (ancient) transplanter had been steamed back into life (with help from a couple of Findhorn groupies plus Claire) the latest watering contraption appeared. Fortunately it was strapped atop a tractor that was unable to exceed 5mph otherwise a little sideways sloshing might have had it aside (rather than astride) the newly planted celariac. Overall the garden looked great and the shop displayed almost an entire wall of farm grown produce.

Friends of the Earth started a campaign 'Fixing the Food Chain' earlier this year, very timely given the Swine Flu, sorry, novel human flu virus H1N1, outbreak. Read their 'Feeding the Beast' article. If you felt so inclined you could even write to your MEP (elections next month) - (European member of parliament - we all have one). And at the same time remind her/him that GM food should probably continue to be restricted until substantive, meaningful test are carried out to verify their safety.

If you haven't read it, find the time to take a look at the best commendation for ending intensive farming yet published. The UN FAOs 'Livestock's Long Shadow'. And, for those long winter nights (huh?, Ed.) the UNCTAD report on how organic agriculture is Africa's best hope. Or the IAASTD report from last year on how the world should look at agriculture, esp. Point 4 which includes the line 'Existing multifunctional systems that minimize these [environmental] problems have not been sufficiently prioritized for research.'

Sadly, Obama's new Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced he will be pushing harder for bio-tech (read GM) than Bush was. Not a surprise but likely means heavy lobbying of Europe/Africa to buy Monsanto/Dow/Pioneer Hi-Bred/Syngenta products. Will there be a serious debate in the US about this? Will anyone point out that yields have not been increased, that the only success story are seeds that are herbicide resistant meaning guess what, yup, more Roundup? Oh, and this is Monsanto funded research saying their crops require a lot of work especially due to over-relience on herbicides and that super pigweed and ragweed is becoming a serious problem.

The US public don't appear to be completely fooled, despite a sharp economic downturn sales of organic food were up 16% in 2008. However, total organic meat sales are a paultry (there's a joke in there somewhere) 0.34% of total. That's $448mm vs $8.5bln on fruit & veg. Odd how people are happy eating non-organic meat but love their organic apples and lettuces. Having said that, I saw lots of very free-range, pasture-fed beef wandering around Arizona, the owners of which wore funny hats and boots, occasionally said 'yeeeha' and thought organics was for uptight, liberal citytypes (at least I think that's what they said).

fire

happy beltane. the goddess has been transformed into the flower maiden and united with the green man, don't you know? if not then wake up like...

Swine Fever

Whaddya know....I finally decide to take a trip out to Arizona to see what all the fuss is about with these horses and find myself sandwiched between a Californian and Mexican biohazard.

Is this a result of the consolidation and concentration of pigs into 10,000 head units (esp. North Carolina)? Factory farming having deadly side effects? I cant believe it. Check out the link.

hello all

i am greatly enjoying time off. my brain has officially shut down and i am in a beautiful place and the sun is shining. I have bought my first home, a 10 ft x 10 ft wall tent and will be moving to the farm in just over one week. i am excited and as good as the break has been i am so ready to get dirty, plant some seeds make some cheese and milk some goats/sheep.
funny story:
yesterday i was hunting for morel mushrooms with some friends in the woods. as i was face to face (literally, crawling) with the soil through the under story of the forest, looking at all the lovely critters and marveling at decomposing leafs, i began to think on fungi. (fitting, because i was looking for fungi) the mystery of it and the beauty of all mushrooms especally the morel! i then started wondering what roll gnomes may play in the mysterious growth habits of mushrooms....... when to my surprise every other crawl on my belly through the forest reveled yet another morel! larger than the last!!! so of course, i thanked the gnomes and continued to be amazed by the beauty and size of the mushrooms i was being gifted by said gnomes.... of course they would be gifting me what i sought out of appreciation for me recognizing their roll in the fungi world!
after 2 hours of crawling in the leaf litter i was called to lunch. i was so excited so show everyone how skilled i was and tell them my secret! (gnome appreciation) and suggest they try it too. my friend Dan was the first to tell me, all the mushrooms i had painfully and tediously gathered were false morels. he dumped them out onto the ground an showed me the difference so i wouldn't be fooled again.
Fooled i was. and you know i could almost hear all of the little gnomes laughing hysterically.
tricky bastards.
all the best of love and luck to all.
watch out for gnomes, bulls and pigs on your placements
erin

Charlie's song

Hi everybody,

Nice to read from all of you... I am currently in Plawhatch and will be till the end of this week - don't know how I'll ever be able to leave, really... But there you go, crash course in milking, looking after the animals, feeding, fencing, counting eggs... Calving ! There were 4 birthes last night, including twins !! Oh how nice to be out there and part of life, it's hard to imagine ever sitting in a classroom again. Moving to Cherry Gardens next Saturday to immerse myself into vegetable life.

Graduates, as promised, here is your song ! Lyrics by Charlie Wannop (where are you by the way, Charlie, it would be good to hear from you !), melody as in the original song, chords G-G-C-G-G-D7-G and more G. Enjoy !

"Last year's students had a farm"

Young Katrina had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on that farm she had a cow - E I E I Oh
With a great diet here and no vet bills there
Here a calf, there a calf, profits everywhere
Young Katrina...

Mid Mac Phil he had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on that farm he had some preps - E I E I Oh
With a 501 to a 507
A bit of Maye Bruce and a shot of 08
Mid Mac Phil...

Banker Bob he had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on that farm he had.. a HORSE ??? - E I E I Oh
With mini dairies here and a garden there
Another job elsewhere and a stress-free life
Banker Bob...

Young Mac Adam had a community farm - E I E I Oh
And on this farm he had some thoughts - E I E I Oh
With a rain gun here and a garden there
Here a house, there a house, people everywhere
Young Mac Adam...

Our Erin had a CSA farm - E I E I Oh
And on that farm she had some veg - E I E I Oh
With courses here and boxes there
Here a yurt, there a yurt, happiness everywhere oh
Our Erin...

Mr Kristoff had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on this farm he had some goats - E I E I Oh
With cheeses here and cheeses there
Here a veggie plot, there a goat - oh hell !
Mr Kristoff...

Old McHall he had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on this farm he had a scheme - E I E I Oh
With boxes here and boxes there
Here a profit, there a loss, everywhere a balance
Old McHall...

Old McJeff he had a plan - E I E I Oh
And with this plan he had some fun - E I E I Oh
Tree crops here and ducklings there
Here a pond, there some duck pooh aaaaarghhhhhhh !
Old McJeff...

Mac Kaela had a farm - E I E I Oh
And on that farm she had some grain - E I E I Oh
With tractors here and tractors there
Here a hen, there a cow, loads of work everywhere
Mac Kaela...

Well all these students got a farm - E I E I Oh
And we all hope they get some fun - E I E I Oh
With hard work here and enough money there
Here a laugh, there a giggle and lots of love everywhere...

...May all these students have a farm ! E I E I Ooooooooooooooooooh.


ANd BLESSINGS on YOUR JOurNeys !!!

Love,

Marie

Be afraid, be very etc.....

War on terror (downgraded to central Asian excursions), war on want (huh?), war on drugs (failed miserably), war on poverty (5/10, could do better). War on food, coming to a field near you, soon.

Tescno go all hippy (even screw tops!)

Tescno (see link) have adopted the famous Maria Thun wine tasting calendar. I think its progress.

My agricultural involvement has extended to equine waste management and ditch digging so far this summer (and a couple of evenings lambing, ah, sweet). I hope at least to plant my newly constructed raised bed. I am also hoping, under the law of sod, that by doing so will accelerate the sale of our house. We looked at a farm house (surrounded by farmland but unconnected, in the modern English countryside way) that was very overpriced but with many facilities that would be useful (like fields, farm machinery and other accommodation units). We made them a cheeky offer and are waiting a reply. Otherwise we will keep hunting, hopeful that more unemployed City types (boo) will be looking to rent out their estates to err, unemployed City types, with BD diploma. Off to Waitrose then.

peat cutters

So folks chapter 1 of my Irish adventure has come suddenly to a close. It seems that I did not take the apocalypse seriously enough, or dig fast enough as part of their 10 hour/7 day a week working schedule (the father/fuhrer there is building a tower for a windmill, which is to serve likewise for defensive purposes), to be an acceptable helper on the Belgian family's survivalist farm that I came here to work on. So.. I have now been relocated to the closest organic enterprise, which is clearly the real reason that I came here for. It was nonetheless most worthwhile to have seen the setup that the first place had: they grow lots of exotic, particularly Andean crops (the idea being that when the collapse happens and the ransackers come, they will not be able to recognise many of the edible crops - they even eat guinea pigs!), lots of perennial crops, 2 polytunnels, cows (4), sheep(30), goats(7), pigs(4), hens(30), ducks(30), geese(15), turkeys(5), pigeons, guinea pigs, ferrets, dogs and honey bees. And building lots of new things. Some work ethic. But somewhat too much an atmosphere of doom and gloom to say the least. They are neo-Darwinists/Dawkinsists to top it all off. I got a bit bored by these things quite fast, which didn't help. Actually not afraid of death, which they clearly are. Anyway I am now working for guess what a Dutchman who is growing organic (but he doesn't certify due to getting crap from bureaucrats) who is a most helpful teacher. So I suspect that I shall remain here for some time. Over/out.

a.

BD on Radio4

Radio4 Food Programme visits Camphill Larchfield Community village, due for broadcast next Sunday 12.30pm.

Congratulations

Hey...congratulations Arjen & Margaretha. Fantastic news, we'll put the date in the diary.

Above is link to piece by Charlie's favourite author Joel Salatin (Everything I do is Illegal, amoungst others). It was writtin in '04 but worth a read and a reminder of why the esoteric perspective and the common sense approach are essential components of agriculture and life.

many congratulations and best wishes you two Arjen! or rather four....!

I m still enjoying my two weeks holidays.back at Rengoldshausen and at the moment in Würzburg.
Hope to hear from all of you soon!!!!

xx

Hi All,

Firstly a big congratulations Arjen to you and Margaretha and wishing you every happiness for the future. I was going to say peace but it will probably be noisy...

As far as placement goes I am being kept very busy and it is varied. The most scary aspect is that I am introduced as the biodynamic expert and they keep asking for advice. On the plus side, after a week I have realised that compared to almost all of them we BD1 ers do have quite an amount of BD knowledge squirreled away. There is a beautiful walled garden, amazing labs, many hectares of land and tea/coffee whenever you want. But hours are long - 9-6pm with half hour for lunch. The farm manager here is very supportive and will include me in various meetings. Next Monday I have a BD spray strategy meeting for the vineyard, then need to do an onsite assessment of trials set up last week in the walled garden. The afternoon will be an induction to the rapid compost method used here (they also have a large more traditional compost area that took me 1 and half hours to temperature probe the numerous windrows last week). I should be doing 2 days a week with the stockmen - that is even longer hours - they start at 7. - lambing hasn't started yet. I think de-thistling a field by hand and helping to transport buffalo and finishing the stags bladder preps are also next weeks agenda.

Hope you are all well - post news when you can. I'll try and take some pictures....in my free time!!

love

Margie

A wedding and a baby...

Hello boppers,

I miss you all terribly but still... life goes on so I marked your market garden projects. Most were pretty good and I will send you an individual email with more details (but not today). I have just come back from Holland to drop off Ramon at his granny's, and I had a look at the biggest Dutch flower auction in Aalsmeer: pretty impressive stuff there. Then a good time in a big big horticulture shop and when I left without money but with my hands full of tools I went to Keukenhof, the biggest spring flower park in the world. They're open for just 2 months per year but the rest of the year they spend planting 7 million bulbs in different themes every year, quite impressive stuff again.

Now the big news: Margaretha and me are getting married! If you are around the 7th August please feel welcome to attend: our priest will be Werner Wecker!

And in November we will have a baby...

Well, if this isn't good news for a first post on the blog this year then I don't know what is. Enjoy your placements and have a look at the pictures that Begoña took during the graduation which you can find if you click on the link on the top right hand of the page.

Love from Arjen

Hollidays

Hi everybody,

Graduates, where have you all gone ?

I'm enjoying much longed for hollidays in the beautiful plain of Lorraine... and never seem to get enough sleep :)

Where is everybody, how are you doing on this first week of placement ?

Lots of love,

Marie

Lambs Galore

Seems I missed most of the action, only about 50 sheep left to lamb, mainly singles. The barn was a delight last night with the central aisle full of leaping, exploring lambs, dashing hurriedly from one end to the other. Two good strong lambs born on my watch but there were four requiring much manual intervention; placing on teat, stomach tubing and the like, at least one of which didn't make it to this evening. Grumpy, sleepy farmers and apprentices abound as we enter the 4th week of lambing. David was so tired he didn't even notice that the tractor had been removed from the workshop and parked in River field in the middle of the night as an April fool's joke!

BD Viticulture Discussion

Not really my cup of tea, so to speak, but here's a BD discussion in which I participated on a California based wine website.

A Tesco organic mixed farm?

Could something like this ever get BD certification?

A Balanced View

A good article on what sustainable agriculture might look like on a large scale.

Declining nutritional value of fruit & veg

US Journal of HortScience publishes University of Texas paper reviewing evidence of declining mineral content and poor taste of US fruit & veg.

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink

Cheery article about the global drought.

scythian

site about scythes. nice.

Sonic bloom etc

Link to discussion on BD Now! Yahoo group about Sonic bloom and similar techniques. Very interesting. Not sure if you can read this without being signed up to the list, but if not then you should be on the list! See also the website linked in the title of this post and likewise the relevant chapter in Secrets of the Soil...

a.

#Edit: I have now posted the text onto my blog, since it is not accessible without a Yahoo account. I intend to document my research project on this blog...

HALLO ;-)
Hope you all had good christmas!
wish you all the best for 2009!
I will see two farm in the next week for placement...

x

Biochar - BD509?

Biochar was apparently a hot topic at the Soil Association get together last month. Have a look at their website - very interesting.

Also, here's a fellow agricultural blogger worth the occasional look.

Car Parks to Veg Plots - The Demise of Detroit

Rob Hopkins talked about peak oil making car parks redundant and suggested digging them up to grow food. The collapse in debt financing may bring it about much quicker, in the US proximity to urban farms are even being muted to help raise the value of your house.

The tradgedy of food aid and subsidy dependent farming

More GM Propoganda

"Last year celebrity pig farmer Jimmy Doherty kept 1000 organically reared pigs, while this year apparently he's raised barely 200. But if Jimmy's farm is on the skids, the same cannot be said of his career as a media celeb. Watch him give the softlense, pin-up-sort-of-educated 'balanced' GM hype on BBC Horizons.

At the end of last month, a glittering star-studded ceremony in London saw Jimmy crowned "National Farmers' Union (NFU) Farming Champion", thanks to his recent TV series: Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes. The same series also got cited a couple of weeks later when the star of Jimmy's Farm, picked up an Honorary Doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University.

If, at times, the series seemed to resemble a paid advertisement for the National Farmers Union, there was good reason. Farmers Weekly quoted an NFU spokesperson as saying "mainstream TV ads cost millions of pounds and there is no way we are going to do that," but, "One approach the union has been taking is to work with TV and radio researchers and producers to feed into the production process. An example where this worked well is Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes."

The vested interests are trying to 'run' the debate.

$ Addiction

Adam - this one's especially for you. Not BD specific but the ongoing collapse of the global monetary system is unlikely to leave any of us unaffected.

epigenetics and beezzzzz

Environment becomes heredity

bees

Petition to ensure encouragement of renewable energy

In the current economic crisis, the government is considering massive funding to protect jobs, our industry and economy. This is a golden opportunity to support technologies, and activity, that will help save our planet – particularly around energy use – moving towards a “zero carbon Britain”. It is vital that funding is targeted on areas which will actually help the quality of our lives – and to sustain our global environment – rather than just trying to keep up consumption.

Germany shows what could be achieved - having created 250,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector. In the UK, we have created a mere 2 to 3 thousand – even though we are pioneering research in some of the technologies – e.g. wave power, and we have industrial skills that could be readily applied (e.g. aerospace to wind power)

This is a golden opportunity to make Britain a world leader in renewable technologies, ensuring our future prosperity, as well as the future of our planet.

If you would like to support the petition, click on the link above!
Arjen

bangmfood.org

The world according to Monsanto.

spaced

inspired by my reading of the remote viewer (us psychic spying programme) ingo swann's book Penetration: The Question Of Extraterrestrial And Human Telepathy, (review/pdf download), and in preparation for the astronomy course, i have been furthering my knowledge of lunar and other space anomalies; thought that some of you might be interested:

if you don't read anything else of these links, read this one. anecdotal, but supporting evidence may be found, especially in the above publication:

The NASA Moon Photos


addresses 'fake moon landing' claims

does the moon have atmosphere?

crater chains

square craters


moon images (from the site of john lear - son of bill lear, inventor of the lear jet, who was also doing research in the field of antigravity - a lot of interesting things there)


*
as a bonus,

life on mars


-adam

thinking for oneself

here are some links>

psychobotany

plant sounds

anomalies

'global warming'

'global warming 2'

Horn Silica to the Rescue

Open letter to US presidential candidates in this weeks NY Times magazine about food (link above). I liked this quote in particular:

"There are many moving parts to the new food agenda I’m urging you to adopt, but the core idea could not be simpler: we need to wean the American food system off its heavy 20th-century diet of fossil fuel and put it back on a diet of contemporary sunshine."

Michaelmas 2008

New pictures have been added to the web album - click on the link at the right for the latest pictures of Michaelmas at the college.

soaking grains / antinutrients

Whole Grains
This information on Traditional Whole Grains comes, with permission, from “Nourishing Traditions”, by Sally Fallon, Revised Second Edition, New Trends Publishing, 2001, p 452-454.

“The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.”

The well-meaning advice of many nutritionist to consume whole grains as ancestors did and not refined flours and polished rice, is misleading and often harmful in its consequences, for while our ancestors ate whole grains, they did not consume them as presented in our modern cookbooks in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors, and virtually all pre-industrialized peoples soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles. A quick review of grain recipes from around the world will prove our point. In India rice and lentils are fermented for at least two days before they are prepared as idli and dosas. In Africa the natives soak coarsely ground corn overnight before adding it to soups and stews, and they ferment corn or millet for several days to produce a porridge called ogi. A similar dish made from oats was traditional among the Welsh. In some Oriental and Latin American countries rice receives a long fermentation before it is prepared. Ethiopians make their distinctive injera bread by fermenting a grain called teff for several days. Mexican corn cakes, called pozol, are fermented for several days and for as long as two weeks in banana leaves. Before the introduction of commercial brewers yeast, Europeans made slow-rise breads from fermented starters; in America the pioneers were known for their sourdough breads, pancakes and biscuits, and throughout Europe grains were soaked overnight, and for a long as several days, in water or soured milk before they were cooked and serve as porridge or gruel. (Many of our senior citizens may remember that in earlier times the instructions on the oatmeal box called for an overnight soaking).

This is not the place to speculate on that mysterious instructive spirit that taught our ancestors to soak and ferment their grains before eating them, the important thing to realize is that these practices accord very well with what modern science has discovered about grains. All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzyme, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.

Soaking in warm water also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds, and encourages the production of numerous beneficial enzymes. The action of these enzymes also increases the amounts of many vitamins, especially B vitamins.

“A diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss.”

Scientists have learned that the proteins in grains, especially gluten, are very difficult to digest. A diet high in unfermented whole grains, particularly high-gluten grains like wheat, puts an enormous strain on the whole digestive mechanism. When this mechanism breaks down with age or overuse, the results take the form of allergies, celiac disease, mental illness, chronic indigestion and candida albicans overgrowth. Recent research links gluten intolerance with multiple sclerosis. During the process of soaking and fermenting, gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption.

. . . . . . . .

Grains fall into two general categories. Those containing gluten, such as oats, rye, barley and especially wheat, should not be consumed unless they have been soaked or fermented; buckwheat, rice and millet do not contain gluten and are, on the whole, more easily digested. Whole rice and whole millet contain lower amounts of phytates than other grains so it is not absolutely necessary to soak them. However, they should be gently steamed for at least two hours in a high-mineral gelatinous broth. This will neutralize some of the phytates they do contain and provide additional minerals to compensate for those that are still bound; while the gelatin in the broth will greatly facilitate digestion. We do not recommend the pressure cooker for grains because it cooks them too quickly.

. . . . . . . .

Our readers will notice that our recipes for breakfast cereals are all porridges that have been soaked overnight before they are cooked. If you buy grains that have been rolled or cracked, they should be in packages and not taken form bins, where they have a tendency to go rancid. Even better, buy organic or biodynamic whole grains and roll or crack them yourself using a roller or a grain grinder (See sources.) You may also add a little ground flax seed to start your day with a ration of omega 3 fatty acids. (Flax seed is low in phytic acid and does not require soaking if it is eaten in small amounts.) These porridges marry very well with butter or cream, whose fat-soluble activators provide the necessary catalyst for mineral absorption. Those with milk allergies can usually tolerate a little cream on their breakfast cereal or can eat them with butter –a delicious combination. We do not recommend soy milk, which contains many antinutrients.

Nor we do recommend granola, a popular “health” food made from grains subjected only to dry heat and, therefore, extremely indigestible. Granola, like all processed breakfast cereals, should have no place on our cupboards shelves. Boxed breakfast cereals are made by the extrusion process, in which little flakes and shapes are formed at high temperatures and pressures. Extrusion processing destroys many nutrients in grains, causes fragile oils to become rancid and renders certain proteins toxic. For a new generation of hardy children, we must return to the breakfast cereals of our ancestors –soaked gruels and porridges.

Another link: Weston A. Price Foundation

minimal tillage research review

follow the link for a review of minimal tillage... (as html, download document from here)

eco dyn website for those that speak french or german

Rudolf Steiner mp3s!

Send yourself to sleep to the sounds of the Agriculture course! The bees lecture is there too...

also Celtic Legends here.

Horse weekend is happening!!!

Just a few days, then we'll all start again. The Working Horse Weekend is happening, - if we find enough cars to get us there! Here is the program:

The Working Horse
At Gables Farm 3rd – 5th October

Program

Friday 3rd Oct :
 1pm lunch in Forest Shelter with Ruskin Mill students and tutors, meeting Stuart Cragg and Kai Lange
 2pm – 3.30pm working with a team of horses with S or K
 3.30 – 4.00pm break
 4.00 – 5.oopm power point presentation: ‘Horse Work in
Ruskin Mill’ and ‘Horse Machinery’
in the Forest Shelter by Stuart
 5.00 - ‘Camp preparation’

Saturday 4th Oct :
 9am- 1pm introduction into harness and single horse work in two
groups with S & K
 11am break
 1 pm lunch
 2 – 4pm work with tem of horses with Stuart
 4 pm break
 4.30 – 5pm horse machinery in RM

Sunday 5th Oct:
 9.30am ‘history of breeds and horse work; feeding; housing;
benefit and future of horses; ‘its’ place in the biodynamic
organism’
 11am break
 11.30 – 1pm more horse work !? with S & K
 1pm lunch and review
 2pm leaving

See you later this week!!

Arjen

oats and barly

Harvested all of the grains today with the help of some neighbors and their equipment. a 1940's crank start tractor and a 1930's cutter and bailer (i forget what its called). beautiful machines. really nice guys, they also have a steam engine thresher! i will be gone for the threshing in September but hope to go over and take some pictures of it before i go. after loading it all (4 acrs) into a big buggy we broke for lunch the clouds rolled in and thunder boomed over head. we all through down our lunches and ran back out to the field and got all of the grain into barns before the rains hit. wheew. something magic about grain. especally seeing it in the golden sun, then the growing dark black and purple clouds of the thunder storms green light. so magic. fun day.
i also went to a permaculture work shop on orcas island this weekend. it was so inspiring. beautiful land, solar energy ran the whole farm. amazing philosophy permaculture, the only things missing is livestock. i guess thats why im biodynamic. love that milking cow.
hope everyone is well.
erin

Working horses weekend

Hi everyone,

I am trying hard to organise a weekend at Ruskin Mill to learn and experience working with horses. It has to be a weekend (they can't do weekdays), and the sooner after we come back, the better. So please pencil in 3-5 Oct in your diary as the preliminary date for working with horses! No guarantee, but I'm doing my best.

Arjen

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

;-D Got my driving licence (class T) for the Tractor today!!!!!!!!

and tomorrow I'm off for one week holiday....
have a nice time working everyone.

We had the combiners on the farm some eeks ago and started to harvest potatoes for storrage Yesterday.

two days ago it was raining 43ml in 24h more than ever bevore this somer and today they say it should be 50ml!
...so, nothing with harvesting...

michaela

Katharina can milk

I went on one of my student-on-placement inspections last week, up in Scotland to see if Katharina is still in Loch Arthur and to see what she learned... And yes! Katharina was busy milking when we were there, all on her own without any farmer in sight: that is a Distinction!!! She was also harvesting broccoli and generally having a good time. The Johan van Wallenburg who was on your timetable pulled out last minute and I have been out there recruiting guest teachers all the way up in the Scottish highlands. I found some guys wanting to teach bagpiping and haggis-cooking but after a long search and a battle with the Loch Ness monster I found a biodynamic farmer deep down where it rains one-and-a-half metres a year who was willing to come to the South to teach animal husbandry: Charlie Wannop. He will be accompanied in spring by another Scotsman Timothy Brink who will also teach dairy farming. Timothy is currently the director of the Demeter Certification. Ramon and me climbed mount Screel and after that we got so soaked that we drove back to England fast and quick.

Bonkers

EU fishing quotas. Watch this (short) film. Who seriously votes for a policy that allows this sort of nonsense? Your MEP probably.

I'm back from holiday (a week's walking in the wet Yorkshire dales) and looking forward to some harvesting. Combines were out all over the country. Although it has been pouring with rain here most of the day, I am currently staring at a beautiful waxing gibbous moon.

Tablehurst should also have had their new minimum tillage machine thing whatsit delivered whilst I was lazing in the North England sunshine (huh?). Should be fun. Lots of head scratching, spanners, emails to suppliers etc initially, no doubt, but hopefully improved soil structure, less compaction and lower fuel bills to follow.

And finally, here's a little something for those who need an antiGM update.

and you thought you were a farmer huh?

Ha! now i know what it means to farm. to live, walk and dream your daily routine, your future plans and fantasy's, and your worst living nightmares.
sorry its been so long, i think of you all often and wish i could tell you all of the things that have happened, good and bad in my life on this farm in the last month.
short of it:
workshop- 40 people for 3 days on the farm. feeding 40 people (plus all the livestock) and keeping everyone watered during the hottest weekend of the year, learning, lectures, great conversation, networking with bio-community of the northwest....... exciting until......
mad cow- 2yr old bitch of a heifer gored the woman i work for twice then trampled her, not 3 feet from my horrified and helpless eyes. and the workshop must go on, people arrive not even an hour latter. the bad cow at this point in isolation in an upper Field, she proceeds to jump 4 fences and walk very near to innocent workshops twice, and scare the shit out of me completely.
slaughter- killing some of my animals i had come to be good friends with
haying- crazy fun, then the allergy's hit and my head felt like a football for a week, and im still blowing massive amounts of snot out my nose 3 weeks latter.
Farm sitting- last week my bosses had to leave for 5 days. leaving the farm in my care and responsibility. the very morning they left i woke to cows screaming all over the property and knew something was wrong. our 2000lb bull had literally squished a brood cow and in his exhaustion and her injured state the yearling males proceeded to jump her, trample her and injure her badly. i couldn't get one of them off of her at one point, had to run and get help. i fenced her off to no avail, the yearling males would run straight through electric fencing, must be all those hormones in the air. then had to move the whole herd to another pasture. this past week i have learned how to keep a down cow alive. homemade bloat cures, hip shifting massaging and stretching her legs. hauling five gallon buckets of watter and lettuce to her twice a day.
i haven't thought of anything other than keeping that cow alive for days. the boss man has returned and i can let go a little. trying to stay sane amid the insanities of the natural world. the brutality and rawness of it all is a little too much for me in my exhausted state.
oh, i also got chased by hungry big pigs, smart animals. they knew where i was running to and even going through a building to escape out the other side to go and get help they were waiting for me at the other dore. i was trapped. thank god for telephones.
extensive rambling. sorry.
hope some of it makes since. im so tired i feel like i could just die. but happy.
i am proud that i have risen to the challenges physically and mentally of the highest standards i have ever encountered, set upon me by my boss. and as tired as i may be i still sit down at sunset (if im lucky)knowing i worked as hard as i could. knowing that i did the best job that i could. and think how great my life is and how lucky i am to be learning more than i ever thought possible in one of the most beautiful places i have ever lived.
love you all and hope to have time this weekend to work on the assessment and read all of the posted blogs i have missed.
peace and farming, its what makes the world go round.
keep fighting the good fight.
erin

Ode to the strimmer

I love strimmers aka brushcutters. I bought my first strimmer when I had my market garden in Germany - a demo model Husqvarna: until then I had always associated the brand Husqvarna with sewing machines but the dealer convinced me that it was one of the best brands and this one was special with anti vibration handle so you wouldn't get the numb fingers syndrome which in the end leads to loss of sense of temperature. I loved it, I strimmed many an acre on my market garden in Germany and used it as a weeding machine, harvester and composter all-in-one. My Husqvarna lasted 3 years: until I had some volunteers working on the farm who didn't know that a strimmer has a 2-stroke engine and needs a petrol-oil mixture. So they filled it with straight petrol and the engine seized up: end of my lovely Husqvarna. That was in Holland and I went off to the mechanics (Ramon came along) and we had a choice between a cheap yellow one and a more expensive red one. Ramon wanted the yellow one but I decided on the red one because that was a Honda 4-stroke machine which meant there couldn't ever be a mistake any more in not mixing the oil in because it uses straight petrol. Sadly I sold the business soon afterwards and the Honda strimmer with it. At Emerson I bought a Husqvarna second hand: stupid. Never ever buy a second hand strimmer! If a strimmer is good the owner will use it until it dies, if a strimmer is bad or starts to have problems you sell it on eBay. The Husqvarna had some service on and off but has been composting for the last couple of years in the lorry body. In Brasil we bought a second hand Stihl - and of course Cabaclo got the mixture wrong and off I went in our Volkswagen beatle (lovely but hugely inpractical without a boot - strimmer peeping out through the window while I was making my way to the nearest Stihl repair shop) to get a new cylinder. Back in the UK I thought I had a clever idea and I bought the cheapest strimmer they had in the Homebase and took out the 3 year extended warrenty: I thought that would give as a sort of monthly subscription on new strimmers whenever the thing would die. And so it went: that year we went three times to Homebase for a new strimmer, but unfortunately we were obviously not the only ones whose strimmer died whenever we tried to use it for more than 5 minutes so they were out of stock most of the time. We still have the last specimen lying composting in the lorrybody next to the Husqvarna...
So - but now... I bought a Stihl.... The Rolls Royce among the strimmers. Expensive, made in Germany by real underground blacksmithing dwarfs, put together by Swiss elves with the knowhow of ancient watch makers - a shining example of excellence. So today I took delivery of my new coveted toy and went on strimming all those annoying nettles around my transplants - harbouring the worst mistake God ever created. The strimmer is my new weapon against people's enemy number one: these slimy, grey-black horrible disgusting little buggers, these all-devouring snotty intestines, these rampant jellyfish bogeys: SLUGS
Sometimes I have dreams of strimming my way through a whole avenue of slugs, their entrails splashing and slushing all about and me as the iron-clad hero saving humanity from this worst plague of all eternity...hmmm I like that vision

Anyway - bottom line: buy a strimmer, and if you do: buy a Stihl.

I'm off to Dartmoor for a few days (strimmer in my rucksack) and I wish you all a happy weekend!

Arjen

Locaturkeyvore

If it's not chickens, it seems, it's turkeys. The lovely little bundles of tweeting feathers have, till now, been housed just inside the sheep barn next to the farm dining room. They showed a disappointing tendency to attempt to experience reincarnation in the early stages of their journey to Christmas dinner. It was discovered by Raf & Stein that the special (and therefore expensive), turkey starter food we were buying in was too big. The turkeys obviously hadn't read the bag. So each morning we milled turkey food pellets into turkey food powder.

Today was turkey field day. So, scissors in hand, Raf and I set to cutting wings and putting turkeys in crates ready for transportation. New crates. Apparently turkeys can catch some fairly nasty things from chickens so we bought shiny new boxes for the single journey. I guess its not so important when they make the return trip, although I'm sure we'll at least power wash the crates.

Very hot day, but turkeys seemed to like their new home, immediately fnding the (deliberate) hole in the hurriedly constructed holding pen. They stay in the turkey field but penned up in up netting until they are big enough to have outgrown crow food.

Plucking good time to be had by all.

chlorine gas

thanks for your email robin... problem with chlorine is that one takes in most breathing it in whilst bathing since it vapourises so easily. it's actually very simple to get rid of chlorine since it vapourises if left to stand in an open container overnight. i'm no expert on plumbing so i have no idea how difficult it might be to do something with a water tank to allow this to occur. below i include an exchange of emails between me, matt and gregg re water. i will write to nik from water research to ask about how to do filtering/dechlorination on a whole house scale. if anyone is willing to offer advice or otherwise get involved in lobbying for this etc . then do let me know, i suppose the more people are on it the more likely it is to happen. equally from experience it can take half an eternity just to get someone to do a simple information gathering exercise, as i learned with steering group so sometimes better to do this oneself.. i suppose this was my main source of frustration.

2008/7/21 Gregg Davis :

Dear Adam;
Through the vision process the commitment was taken to address the food issue primarily through development of the integrated college garden, fundraising soon to begin and adverts for garderners out in the world. This is obviously more a middle term - longer term solution though i think a good one. Short term there hasnt been a specific call for all organic nor do we have funds for this at present. STudent reaction was pretty mixed on willingness to pay more for it. So with regret that will have to wait.
This is first time i am hearing this level of detail on water projects. I certainly dont have any problem with filters going in. Do you have a cost estimate for all houses and what kind of filters - i am pretty conversant with these issues from health point of view.
Longer term i think there is obviusly a great deal that we can and should be doing with a water research center right on our property!

Gregg Davis

2008/7/21 Gregg Davis :

Adam, additionally, the college is becoming more and more subject to UK legislation around Health and safety issues, or lets say the enforcement level is picking up so we'll want to ensure that any remedies we develop are harmonizing with those regs. I dont see an issue there but is something the college ignores at its peril.

----- Original Message -----
From: A Ortaa
To: gdavis@###ne.org
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 3:32 PM
Subject: Water and food

Greetings Gregg,

I have posed to Matt the question of whether anything had moved on with the questions of water and food quality, which I feel are of great importance and should not be neglected any further, the water in particular. This article outlines the effects of chlorine in one's water fairly succinctly:

http://www.netstarter.com.au/Content_Common/pg-chlorine-effects-in-water.seo

Below is our conversation, I have not heard anything more since:

[quote message:]

2008/6/17 A Ortaa :
All hail Matt,

A bit confused about the water question since Nick said that there was enough money in the student initiatives fund for a water filter for the kitchen and tearoom and John Wilkes said that he would be prepared to design a flowform for the tearoom. I told all this to Dave from Foundation who was going to find out more about which filter and talk more with the water folks etc, then get back to Steering Group. I take it this hasn't happened? The chlorine in the water is damn horrible, and this should not be put off any more, since it was clear to me in March that getting one filter was feasible. The short term action should be to put in at least one filter ASAP, I thought we had agreed on that, long term is installing proper filters in the houses, for which of course fundraising will be required.

About the food well no surprise, what you don't know doesn't hurt you say some, but did nothing become of the questionnaire q. asking if people would be prepared to pay more for all organic food? I want to know about this because I need to let the college know if I'm going to take meals next year. Not really sure if I want to continue with SG, since I intend to engage in various extra curricular things. Anyway thanks for replying to my message, perhaps now you wish you hadn't... but it seems crazy to me that people can go on drinking that bad water. Seems people will cease to notice even quite extreme things once they become accustomed to them. It's really not hard, the money is (or at least was) on the table! Speak to Nick again to confirm this, and if you would let me know how things progress.

Best,

A.

2008/6/15 Matt :
Hi Adam,
Sorry for the no reply, we've made some slow progress on the water front - the idea is currently that we will do the fundraising ourselves rather than relying on the college to pay for it, so a small group has been working on checking out the options and we will start a long-term fundraising campaign next year.. As for the food, not much has been done in Steering Group, but there is a VSG plan to bring back the garden in a big way and through that, supply the kitchen with BD veggies etc. Also it's hoped that a BD Nutrition course will be starting in the next couple of years, so that will no doubt be coupled with a greater consciousness of the nutritional value of the food we get in the college.. We'll mention both of these issues to the Management group when we meet them in the next week or two..
Just so you're aware, we've been talking about some changes to the format of SG and we're planning on meeting in the orientation week before term starts to discuss and formalize some of those ideas and plan for the term ahead, so it would be good if you can make it for that..
hope you're well, looking forward to seeing you in September,
take care,
Matt

[/end quote message]


Since the Steering Group was apparently unable to do anything more with this matter in my absence I ask whether you have any plans for improving the situation.

Warm Regards,

Adam

*********

have not yet read that article, but is it not the case that in praising what speculators do for markets necessitates remaining in the paradigm that a globalised market is a good thing?

if you ever find yourself with 90min to spare (yeah right... fortunately it's divided into 10 min sections here's a lecture on codex alimentarius.

Risk and Reward

Attached is a recent article from the Economist that gives a short and not totally convincing argument in favour of market speculators. However, it does give some key points regarding their activities. It discusses oil but the ideas are appilicable to soft commodities. Primarily, their involvement and effect is usually over exaggerated and they make a convenient scapegoat (especially where there is policy failure). Secondly, the benefits they provide, namely market liquidity, are usually ignored. The risks taken by speculators ensures price transparency and depth of market for those with something to sell. Without them, markets would tend to be fragmented and illiquid with prices guarded by the dominant buyers and sellers (in our case large landowners or farmers and supermarkets). This would increase profitability for those that can really manipulate markets: governments and cartels.

codex alimentarius and other insignificant musings

hello to those reading (arjen, kristof, robin?)

my health is unfortunately rather poor at present, i am seriously considering whether spending another 6 months imbibing and bathing in forest row's heavily chlorinated water is the best thing for me.

nice to hear about your plant communications kristof, this had been my intention in persuing bd, however at the moment constant tiredness largely limits my attention to the required movements for the job i am being asked to perform, whilst in better periods i am able to becomeconscious of these movements and likewise remember breathing. this i think is the foundation of conscious work with plant energies. but it is perhaps the unconscious/passive element, which needs to be combined with conscious 'research', i.e. posing a question, or attuning oneself to a certain frequency. this is something that standard education has given us no tuition in; for we are trained to be passive absorbers of information. likewise nice to hear that you are doing something of that calls upon the use of inspiration. i fear that i cannot say the same about packing vegetables. quite often i feel like i'm working in a factory here; it takes great effort to prevent robotism. i suppose most people don't have this struggle so i should be grateful for the opportunity (gurdjieffian approach). or masochism?

remembering to do energetic diagnoses of plant energies with hands has also been forgotten in the rush of farm life (who'd have thought), though i did manage to do this over the prep barrel, however we have only sprayed about 4 times, apparently too busy to do more (i am quite disillusioned about this supposedly being a biodynamic farm - it seems that the demeter stamp is a requirement of the rent agreement. one worker was even complaining about being made to stir preps.) the times that i did stir i entered into an altered state through the process. regular energetic exercises seem necessary to be able to start to trust one's hands, in my case qi gong/chi gung. sadly my vision is not so great for whatever reason, and visual reading of plant forms is likewise quite important in communicating with them i would say. would be interested to know how you enter into communication kristof... don't be afraid to tell us will you now?

anyway, here some links to keep one going:

Sonic bloom

Flower clock

on the gm resistance front, if you are not familiar with the codex alimentarius, it is perhaps advisable to become so. linked to in the title of this post is an interview with a man named ian crane discussing this agenda, as well as some relevant videos and links. in the light of such things a btec seems rather frivolrous... methinks ensnaring us in a theoretical frame of mind, when it is action that is called for.

one more article about a leaked world bank report on gm and biofuels.

robin i believe you never replied to my request for elucidation of speculation in food after i posted the last batch of articles on this topic.

blessings,

a.

Cherry Grower

ORGANIC GARDENER WANTED

Cherry Orchards Camphill Community, a residential therapeutic community in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, is looking for an Organic Gardener.

The vegetable garden at Cherry Orchards is part of a small farm, including livestock. The one acre garden provides nearly all of our own vegetables and fruit, grown to Soil Association organic standards. This feeds a community of around twenty adults year round.

We are seeking an Organic Gardener to help us in this work. An understanding of organic horticulture is necessary, along with enthusiasm and a willingness to carry on learning. This may suit an individual seeking to build on their existing knowledge and experience in such work, and offers the potential for future development of the position here.

The position is full time; 37.5 hours per week; starting salary £15,600 per annum.

For an informal chat and further information please contact Adam on 0781 7173233

For written details please write to: Adam Hesketh, Cherry Orchards Camphill Community, Canford Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS9 3PE , or e-mail: cherryorchards@camphill.org.uk

Closing date for applications 31st August 2008; interviews September 2008.

Angelic Organics

Arjen and I both had a similar meeting today. Arjen has floweritis and is obviously affected so forgot to relive this encounter with you all. However, I know that Arjen had a guest weeder in his flower garden today. I know 'cos the guest weeder wandered down to the farm and helped me fix the topper and chase some sheep. Who was the mystery farm hand? Farmer John! THE farmer John, of real dirt fame. So we chewed the cud for a few hours as we yielded wrenches and hammers, discussing BD, IFOAM, anthroposophy, mintill, S&P500, toplinks etc. A most entertaining afternoon.

Course over

Soooo that was the week course - 11 folks from the UK, US, Argentina and Canada for a week course on etheric forces... Always nice but it takes me away from the flowers and I don't think I'll do it again next year. I like the flowers!! Flowers rule!! Give me more flowers!! A flower in the morning, a flower in the evening, all over this world - yeeeheeee

Jardineiro full on! (click here for Bernie Krause)

Dear Classmates,

As Planet influences are clearly experienced on the personal life, the educational garden is finally being planted after a lot of preparational soil work and planning.
At the moment I am planting hedges around, beds with kitchen herbs in hexagonical shapes (John Wilks would be proude!), Solonaceaes, Rootvegetables and medicinal herbs.
I will leave some beds to plant with the children of course!

I am reading a book ¨the magic of Findhorn¨for the second time and it gives me a very good view on working with elemental and natural kingdoms. I am more talking to plants then to people at the moment.

Besides that I would like to show you the work of this man Bernie Krause, who works with sound recordings and measurement on health of the natural habitat or ecosystem.
I will invest in a quality portable sound recorder and hope to do my own experiments soon.
I would especially recommend the article from 96 in the magazine, the wild duck!

And besides Robin E. isn´t there anyone doing someting interesting worth sharing???

Big Hug
Kristof

General Motors

I do have something else to do, honest....I heard this earlier:

Genetic engineering. Not really engineering is it? The engineering equivalent of what geneticists do would be to throw lumps of concrete and steel into a river and if someone manages to walk across, call it a bridge.

Time for bed.

Test Card

Topping and test match. Bliss.

All day in the tractor with wonderful views of rolling Sussex countryside creating beautiful patterns whilst listening to England play magnificently at Lords (rare) against the dear South Africans (of which we have a few on the farm). A proper summers day (rain included).

Manure or Monsanto

Yesterday was all about compost and preparations (in the pouring rain). Today was all about cow sh*t. Remember the 500 we made last September and dug up in March, and how wet it was? It is still wet, so today we took it out of the jar and put it on a board in the sheep barn to dry out (it still smells). We also cut nettles and buried them.

First thing after breakfast we took 2 wheel barrows all the way to the top of the farm, where the cows needed to be moved from, and collected as much cow sh*t as we could. This was then taken back down to (Blue) Peter's garden and deposited in a brick lined pit (here's one I made earlier). This was prepped with compost preps and Hey pre(p)sto, cow pat pit preparation. We covered with wood and will revisit every month or so to stir and add preps.

David instigated this as we do not have enough compost for all the fields. Which seems odd as the farm feels intensive from a livestock perspective so one would expect there to be enough compost. We don't produce all our own feed (buying in field beans [23t last May] and chicken feed). So a few imbalances to the farm organism .

Attached article from FT (click on title) is one of the better written giving the proGM argument. It is still blatantly corporate hype and all the sources are industry sponsored bodies. It gives no conclusive arguments and again, much of it is jam tomorrow (8-10yrs for GM wheat, thank goodness).

And what of herbicides? Check this out from The Observer for a great organic PR exercise by Dow Chemicals.

Another day, another chicken

Rain, cool, needed. Chickens, hmmmm.

We have too many chickens. How does that work? Surely there is a well thought out and designed system. Huge investment went into the field, houses and processing unit. Chicken is the in meat; four legs bad, two legs good (to completely misquote Orwell); red meat is 'bad' for you, white meat is 'good' for you; free range chicken is all over the press from J. Oliver to H. Fearnly -Whittingwhatever. And we have too many.

Well, we did. Since Max took over the chickens from Neil and we have recovered from the Feb break-in, the survival rate has shot up and so from 150ish we now have 200ish per week (as we should from a fortnightly 425 day olds delivery). However, Richard is out of here from friday (off to Devon with Melanie to work for a farm selling its meat online), Barry is on holiday until Monday and we just aren't getting the customer numbers in the shop (we still sell out of Sirloin and Fillet pretty quickly though).

Plaw Hatch is not really selling any meat at the moment, certainly none of Tablehursts, due to the lack of a shop manager (Alex has gone and a replacement has yet to be found).

So we had too many chickens. Fortunately, a call to a London butcher saw us lose 30 a week at the right price and, whilst rehanging their sign with the JCB, 12 were sold to The Chequers. Still, with the right marketing and a little more focus we should ideally be able to sell everything through the shop. Work in progress. Also of note, The Foresters now sells only organic food, including Tablehurst sausages. Trebles all round.

Tomoko

Dear students in BD agriculture training,



I am considering applying to Emerson Collage Biodynamic Agriculture Program for September 2008 and would very much like to hear current students’ voice on the program and a life in Emerson Collage. I understand that you are busy with your practicum now. If you can spare time with me talking over the phone, via email, or in person, it would be a great help for me in making this big (and expensive) decision. I am now in England and would like to visit Emerson Collage and a few other training centers in the third week of July between July 14th and 18th. If you are happy to provide me your honest feedback of the program, would you send me your contact information and best time to reach you if you do not mind me calling or visiting you?



My email address is:

tomokoku@hawaii.edu



Many thanks and enjoy your practicum,



Tomoko Kurokawa

Wheat from the chaff

Head of large agribusiness company, Syngenta, talks honestly about GM reality and prospects and it gets reported! That qualifies as a miracle in the current climate where US Agriculture secretary talks nonsense, UK Agriculture minister talks nonsense and most newspapers/media are reporting GM as a solution rather than giving a balanced analysis (click on title).

There are a few exceptions - the BBC science editor on Newsnight reported recently that Europe relaxing GM regulations will not infact help lower animal feedstock costs. In the year to May 08 the fastest rising price of animal feedstock was Argentine GM soya, +100%, which has full approval for import to EU.

Also, the Daily Mail (of all organs) published a more balanced view recently.

etc.

We have been bailing nonGM grass into silage. Good year for silage, not too much rain, dried quickly in bright sunshine and light breeze, bailed and wrapped in a couple of days. 800 bails so far. Barn dance friday so also unwrapping large round straw bails and making small bails (200) as the rats have chewed through the string of all the small bails made last year.

Barley is ok in some fields but well mown by rabbits, deer and geese in others. Preps are getting sprayed, fields are getting topped, animals have been vaccinated (Plaw Hatch chose not to interestingly). Generally going well. Had to worm the spring lambs and ewes saturday as 2 died from a worm picked up from deer. Clean grazing is tough when carrying the amount of animals we are at the moment and raises a question of intensity. More fencing is part of the solution.

A good spring and early summer so far, bit of rain would be nice especially for Stein's recently planted pear trees, they desperately need water.