When Erick Haakenson, “Farmer Erick” to many, approaches the fenced-off patch of field on Jubilee Farm, located in Carnation, Wa. with a whistle, his 17 cows start vibrating in anticipation and shifting in their excitement to one corner of the fence where it opens. They know these cues mean they’re about to move on to a fresh patch of grass to munch on.
Haakenson hadn’t planned on having cows when he and his wife Wendy bought the farm in 1989. They mostly just wanted to grow organic produce. But starting about a year ago, Farmer Erick committed to converting to biodynamic farming, the core tenet of which is that farms be completely, independently sustainable. That means the farm must produce everything—from the food his cows eat to the fertilizer the crops utilize. Cows (or any cud-chewing animal) are necessary to make fertilizer. “If you’re bringing in outside inputs, you’re cheating,” says Haakenson, whose eventual goal is to have 50 or 60 cows to produce enough manure for 30 acres of crop land.
Haakenson isn’t the only one embracing biodynamics. From farms to vineyards to gardens, the practice is growing, thanks to its emphasis on self-sufficiency, which puts people more in touch with every step of the process of making food, and allows more control over the end result. For winemakers, such as Cayuse Vineyards in Walla Walla and a growing number of California wineries, biodynamics enhances a wine’s terroir—which refers to the flavor in wine that can indicate soil, geography and climate differences. Similarly, farmers and others feel that food produced biodynamically is better: “Wine growers feel it enhances the terroir,” says Barry Lia, coordinator for biodynamic farming in Washington state. “I say we need to extend that concept to food and meat and dairy.”
Beyond taste, however, Lia says that biodynamic foods are appealing because people have been disillusioned with the uncertainties of the mainstream food supply, both conventional and organic. “People are looking for authenticity. The problems with the current food system are just hitting us in the face.”
Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun became a vocal advocate of biodynamics after seeing it in action on a trip to New Zealand. The retired Illinois senator, and one-time presidential hopeful, shares Lia’s sentiment about the reasons for biodynamic farming’s popularity. “Food reflects the place where it’s grown. I think it tastes better. The focus [in biodynamics] is on the land and where it’s situated on the planet.”
What Moseley Braun saw in New Zealand reminded her of the farming techniques she watched her great-grandparents practice on their family farm in Alabama: “I spent a great deal of time there as a child,” she says, “But it wasn’t until I met Martina and Christopher Mann at the Michael Fields Institute that I learned about biodynamics as a practice. I was so taken with what they were doing, I wanted to do it myself.”
The concept started with Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and founder of Waldorf education, who in the early 1900s was asked by farmers to use his renowned brain to comeup with a new agricultural model other than the status quo. What he came up with is a system that, at its core, connects everything: The earth is a living presence and the soil not only contains organisms, but is itself one, says Haakenson. It flies in the face of mainstream thinking about agriculture. “Most of us have been trained in viewing the world in a Cartesian fence [that is] the world is a substance and we [humans] are different from the earth.” The philosophy also emphasizes the importance of the rhythms of the universe—the sun, moon, planets and stars—to plant and animal life.
Spinning water
If Haakenson’s cows alone make biodynamic farming sound like a tad more work than, say, growing a bunch of organic produce, it is. The animals, which have 30 acres of pastureland on Jubilee Farm, are only the beginning, since Steiner also came up with 10 “preparations” that go in the soil, sort of like fertilizer recipes tailored for particular uses. Haakenson thinks of it as “homeopathy for the farm.” Tinctures made from herbs (these too must be grown on-site) such as chamomile, stinging nettles and dandelions are added to water for use on crops. Everything, from the production to the distribution of these recipes is intensely deliberate. Some preparations are spread in the mornings, when the earth is considered to be “breathing out,” others in the evenings when it is “breathing in.” In one preparation, which calls for burying cow manure packed in a cow’s horn over the winter, the fermented mixture is added to water that is diligently stirred (manually or mechanically, depending on the water volume) into a vortex for one hour, reversing the direction periodically. This multiplies the surface area of the water, so the mix is dispersed evenly. In the evening, the water is sprayed on soil (the manual method uses buckets and whisk brooms, brush, or pine boughs) in order to strengthen root formation.
Another preparation calls for a horn filled with quartz or feldspar to be buried over the summer and then sprayed on crops in the morning to foster growth and ripening, according to Lia. Farmers come up with their own mixtures as well.
Adherents to biodynamic farming call it the “original organic,” and it’s clear why. Lia, who lends a hand on Jubilee Farm as well as S + S Farm on Lopez Island, explains the difference between organic as we know it and biodynamic is like night and day: “Organic often becomes a substitution for traditional farming methods, but it’s still using the commercial and industrial agricultural models. Biodynamics gets you off the industrial and commercial model, because the emphasis is on self-sufficiency.”
For some, such as Haakenson, “certified organic” has become less meaningful since federal standards for “certified organic” were adopted in 2002 and farmers have become snagged by the politics and costs.
After Moseley Braun’s discovery of biodynamics, she had hoped to turn her great-grandfather’s family farm into biodynamic. But after 9/11, she moved back up to Chicago to be closer to her family, and instead founded Ambassador Organics, a brand with the goal of making biodynamic products more readily available to consumers. So far, the products include spices, teas and coffees. She still hopes to eventually restore the family farm and make it biodynamic.
As Haakenson can attest, it’s a lot of work. “There are a lot of people who think I’ve really gone off my rocker,” he laughs. But that’s okay—he and his farm are reaping the ultimate rewards.
Despite not owning a farm or small garden, Seattle-based freelance writer and editor Niki Stojnic finds herself writing frequently about those who do. Fortunately, her houseplants reap some benefits from the research.