Kitchen Garden Forum

If you have the time to read the below posted website you may get an idea of the thoughts behind the inception of the Soil Association.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner

Your comments would be most welcome. Good, bad or indifferent!
JB.

Just imagine..............
What if the Soil Association had adopted all the dynamic and moon-phase mumbo-jumbo as well?

Hi Alan,
Well the Soil Association of 50 years ago did! They all referred to vibrations and radiations from the soil.
In the article about Steiner he actually asks people to use science to prove his theories because he had not had the time to do so. They still remain unproven but now, as if by magic, they have become 'facts'.
JB.

If anyone fancies a long read on Steiner's view of the origins of humankind, I can recommend this

http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA011/CM/GA011_index.html

There's a prize for anyone who gets to the end without laughing, and a bonus for anyone who thinks any of Steiner's ideas can be treated as plausible.

Thanks for that.

Atlantis, eh ?

Maybe it is a little long to read through.

Here is a typical gem from Steiner:
"People who eat too many potatoes and have to make a terrible effort in their heads to cope with potato fermentation therefore tend to be weak in the head. It is mainly the middle parts of the brain that grow weak, leaving only the front parts which make little effort to prevent potato fermentation. It is actually due to the fact that potatoes have come to be widely eaten in recent times that materialism has developed, for this is produced in the front part of the brain."

For more go to

http://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/say-what

That's food for thought.

oldherbaceous wrote:That's food for thought.

Get your teeth into this one: Gardening hint of the day

“Catch a fairly young mouse and skin it ...
You must obtain this skin when Venus is in the sign of Scorpio ...
Carefully collect the ash and other constituents that remain from the burning ...
Sprinkle it over your fields ...
You will find this an excellent remedy.”

alan refail. Alan, it would seem that young mouse will have to go a long way. [sprinkle it over your FIELDS]

Today I am still obliged to remain silent about the sources of the information given here. One who knows anything at all about such sources will understand why this has to be so

This tells you all you need to know, I think. No sources to cite therefore Emperor's new clothes invoked.

Perhaps, having read this, we can worry a bit less about the phase of the moon, and the importance of the direction and duration when stirring a crock of manure.

For those with more receptive and respectful minds, more contemporary information on biodynamic agriculture and gardening can be found at

http://www.biodynamic.org.uk/index.php

I happen to agree with the comments on bees in the article John Walker has posted above..

But then I would, using top bar hives...

This is the sad thing. There probably are some aspects which have a beneficial effect - though probably for nothing like the given reasons - but they will never be investigated seriously because of the mysticism they are lost amongst.

Though the bidynamics lot are clearly not totally barking; I wish I could sell my horsetails at £3 for 25g ! Or ground silica (sand ?) for £15 / 200g.

But seriously, look at Steiner's work in the link Alan posted above. If you have any sort of critical faculty at all, I don't see how your mind can remain receptive and respectful of his work.

alan refail wrote:If anyone fancies a long read on Steiner's view of the origins of humankind, I can recommend this

http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA011/CM/GA011_index.html

There's a prize for anyone who gets to the end without laughing, and a bonus for anyone who thinks any of Steiner's ideas can be treated as plausible.

Call me a lightweight, but I struggled with the Preface! A particularly favourite line from this is "In order to avoid possible misunderstanding, it should be said that spiritual perception is not infallible." which I presume means the weighty tome that follows can all be dimissed if proved to be untrue, I think. Bit of a cop out I reckon.

As for the biodynamics, I'm not against this at all and did give it a try. I bought the "Planting By the Moon" book for 2006 but totally failed to have the time available when I was supposed to be sowing/planting out etc, or the weather was so bad I couldn't stick to schedule. I may give it another go, but not when I'm having to work full time

John Walker wrote:For those with more receptive and respectful minds, more contemporary information on biodynamic agriculture and gardening can be found at

http://www.biodynamic.org.uk/index.php

Yes, John, "more contemporary", and worthy of consideration, but not entirely freed from Steinerian claptrap: cf "Further to this biodynamic farmer recognizes that the life of a farm is exposed to wider as well as internal farm-based influences. The more subtle rhythms associated with the sun, the moon and the planets form the basis of an annually produced planting calendar. This guides the farmer towards appropriate times for cultivation and sowing for maximum quantity and quality."

John Walker wrote:For those with more receptive and respectful minds...

Why is it that those, like you (and the followers of most religions), who believe the unprovable, use this sort of patronising put-down as an alternative to logical argument when someone questions their "beliefs"? I really do find this objectionable, though I am not offended by it.