How I developed the idea of Super Biodynamics

A bit of history first

This blog post is about how I developed the ideas for a new super biodynamic process for my plants, grape vines and fruit trees.  Biodynamics was the first departure from modern agriculture.  It was a move away from mined chemical fertilizers.  Its development began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by philosopher Rudolf Steiner.  Steiner lectured about what we now know as organic agriculture.  The reason these lectures were held in response to a request by farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions.  They saw a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers.  The first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course.  Steiner emphasized experimentally testing these methods.

The German agronomist Erhard Bartsch tested Steiner’s biodynamic methods.  He then wrote up the results on the life and health of soil, plants and animals. Bartsch’s group published a monthly journal afterwards.

Moving forward in time

In the 1960’s, my mother started getting “Organic gardening and Farming” Rodale press.   We applied these methods to the worn out rocky soil on our lake lot.  The ground had been used for 100 plus years for cotton farming.  We mulched the leaves from the big old oak trees from our house in Atlanta and put them around the fruit plants at the lake. They did well.  The problem with the organic method were it took several years for the tree leaf mulch to break down and enrich the soil.  The reason as I look back was the soil had no worms not much bacteria in it.  So the plant growth was slow.  The trees did not set good fruit spurs either so the harvest was not all that great.

About last summer

In July 2023, I was watching a YouTube video about orchids.  I had already been using molasses in my water for my orchids and other outside plants as I heard it helped the roots by providing the soil bacteria with sugars and a bit of Nitrogen.  I then started testing it on some of my grape vines I had planted and some bell pepper plants I started.  Here are the results:

First my Orchids

I now have 14 orchids sending up blooms and putting out great roots!

This plant had never bloomed since I got in 2018.  That is six years with just very slow growth but no blooms.  For reference this is a Phal. Schilleriana ‘Pink Butterfly’ AM/AOS.  AM (Award of Merit) awarded to orchid species or hybrids scoring 80 to 89 points inclusive on a 100-point scale.  This is the second highest award.  The highest is FCC (First Class Certificate).  Moreover, I like the variegated leaves that the Schilleriana orchids have.

My Grape fertilizer results

While a good science based test is to have at least a test group of 30 plants.  I don’t have that many plants right now.  However, the results of the test plants show better growth.  Better branching and produced fruit with a very good flavor.  These are both grafted on 101-14 rootstock and the same Kerner variety from DoubleA vinyards in New York.  I have purchased grape vines from various sources in the past.   I found the DoubleA vines work the best!  They also keep up with the latest breeding trends from Italy and Germany.  France is still stuck back in 1920’s.  Our climate is changing and we need to keep up.  We can breed better vines with better taste profiles now such as Kerner and Sauvignon Kretos from Italy now a mildew resistant VCR variety.

My idea for Super Biodynamics

By using the natural fertilizers, I had better growth on two plants from the same batch, planted at the same time.  I used the molasses, the rice water extract, grill ashes, and extract from banana peels.  My reference plant did not do as well.  Additionally, I am adding used coffee grounds over the winter and adding cow manure around the grapes and my inside orchids.

Other Results with idea of Super Biodynamics

Concurrently, I grew some bell peppers from seeds from bell peppers (sort of free source of seeds – I don’t know why people buy nursery seeds).  I used the natural fertilizers on them.  In the past the best I could get was a plant about a foot 12-18 inches and maybe one or two peppers in a year.  This year they grew 4-5 feet tall and I harvested many peppers every week.  Their taste was better than the store purchased bell peppers.  My reference bell pepper plants never produced and only got about a foot high.  Most commercial bell peppers come from hydroponic greenhouses.  They often have a bit of a harsh taste very little flavor.  These had a sweet taste and nice mild flavor.  So I am looking forward to the 2024 growing season with lots of Passion!

Going forward with my ideas of Super Biodynamics

In summary, I am adding these factors to my fruit trees, grapes and orchids as an going task.  These tasks will be added to my weekly project plans with my new 12 week year work.  Furthermore, these methods go beyond what original the Biodynamic plans called for and what the 1960’s organic farming likewise suggested.