Anna Helmer
Anna Helmer from Helmer's Organic Farm in Pemberton gave the presentation about biodynamic farming at the COABC’s annual conference.
Observing moon cycles, applying teas and tinctures, and following a colour-coded calendar with astrological symbols and notes about fruit, leaf, flower or root plants may seem like a bizarre way to grow crops, but biodynamics has been an agricultural movement for decades.
Relatively few North American growers have tried the methods introduced in 1924 by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in his lectures. Those, like Anna Helmer, a self-described former party-girl turned biodynamic farmer, started out questioning the practice’s efficacy, but years later found herself giving a presentation about it at the Certified Organic Association of BC’s annual conference.
“I’m here to make the case of why to do it and why it’s so important for the future of farming in BC,” Helmer says. “If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t bother with it. I think it’s a really important thing to look into. You don’t need to stop what you’re doing in terms of fertility to start biodynamics. It’s a delicate blend of science and spirituality.”
Helmer is one of the family members who runs Helmer’s Organic Farm in Pemberton, which is mostly known for growing potatoes, but biodynamics isn’t just for potatoes; it can be beneficial for all crops from fruits to vegetables as well as mixed farms. In fact, a number of wineries have shifted to biodynamic grape growing including a number in France, Spain and other European regions as well as a few, more recently, in North America. Well-known organic-pioneering farmers, the Forstbauers of Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm, continue to employ biodynamic methods on their 100-acre farm.
“Although biodynamic farming has certain methods and techniques (such as composting, the planting calendar and the use of herbal preparations and tinctures), it is much more than that,” says Niklaus, grandson of the original Forstbauers who started the farm. “It’s a way of looking at the world and understanding our role in it. Our goal is to work with the rhythms of nature, the flora and fauna, the microbes and soils, to not only sustain the land on our farms, but to enhance it.”
Steiner believed people would “figure it all out” in four years, but as Helmer points out, that was about 100 years ago and biodynamics is still far from mainstream. It’s therefore hard to find anyone who will describe themselves as an expert in the method, but there are plenty of organizations with experienced enthusiasts (like Forstbauer and Helmer) who can help with education. Having more farmers learn about the method is what Helmer feels can differentiate organic farmers further as the lines around how food is described continue to blur.
Her family’s farm started the transition when her parents went to a conference on biodynamics in Penticton in the 1990s. “It confirmed this conviction that [my dad] had that he would not have to add outside anything to the soil,” she says.
The conviction was tested one year when the crops weren’t doing well.
“We had a terrible year,” Helmer says. “We bought the approved organic fertilizer for the cover crops.” But the fertilizer sat.
“All that plastic it came in. It was very eye opening,” she says. “We didn’t use it. We ended up sending it back.”
As Forstbauer explains, biodynamics was developed to heal soils that were being depleted and to produce healthy food.
“On our farm, we currently work with all of the biodynamic preparations, we also use a biodynamic calendar for reference,” he says. “We continue to hone our skills at rebuilding the soil through composting and furthering our education on the soil through the teachings of Elaine Ingham and the Soil Food Web as well as our knowledge and self-awareness of the soil biome in relation to our own health through Zach Bush.”
Forstbauer’s parents, Hans and Mary began farming in the early 1970s with a spirit of regenerative agriculture through a biodynamic mindset. “For as long as I can remember, one of their mottos has been, healthy food from healthy soil,” he says. “I can’t say what year we started using all of the preparations and making them
Niklaus Forstbauer and Anna Helmer
Niklaus Forstbauer and Anna Helmer at the COABC annual conference.
on our farm, but I personally began that process in the late 1990s.”
The principles of biodynamics make use of six compost preparations numbered 502 to 507. Then there are the horn sprays #500, 501 and 508 as well as nettle, comfrey and manure teas. Helmer recommends BC Biodynamics and the Josephine Porter Institute to get preparations and to learn about the method. There is also the Biodynamic Association which offers education resources and links to other sites that can help with the steep learning curve.
“You have to accept that there is a whole lot that goes on between your plants and soil and the environment that you don’t know anything about,” says Helmer. “It’s really powerful as a farmer to know that I can grow things without having to purchase an input.”
She says that over the past 20 years the farm’s yield line has continued to go up. She credits this to biodynamics.
“Our understanding of our role as farmers in nature is to be good stewards of the earth, the land, the soil,” says Forstbauer. “Ironically enough, it is actually the soil that takes care of us, giving us food, giving us life.”
It feels like a revolutionary time to Helmer.
“Our organic farming pioneers … they took off in their own direction,” she says. “Biodynamics offers us this chance. To go off on our own again, to do another end run. I know that I want to be in a different playing field. It’s a good way to distinguish ourselves. But there’s drawbacks to going into biodynamics. It’s hard to talk about, especially in conventional farms and farm areas.”
She feels that biodynamics offers the explanation as something different from organic and notes that her customers think it’s “really neat.”
“There should be no pressure [for first-timers],” she says. “If you do it wrong, your plants might notice. It’s quite fun actually. There’s room in biodynamics for common sense and instincts. The plants understand it, the soil gets it. The 500 [preparation] is the one thing we’ve been doing on the farm for 20 years. Tossing a little 500 around, it’s not going to hurt. Maybe it will encourage you to try more.”
Biodynamics may provide an alternative farming methodology for those who want to be organic but limit their reliance on outside inputs, or for those who want to pursue a practice that follows a calendar and various astrological data points. Even the initially reluctant, like Helmer, can learn how biodynamic methods are capable of doing things humans may not understand but that can create stronger yields and healthier soils.