Biodynamic
Wine
Growing
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When Orion and the Dog Star move
into the mid-sky, and Arcturus sees
the rosy-figured dawn
Hesiod 8th C BC
Historical references
• In ancient Greece and Rome wine was a
cultural symbol of death and regrowth.
• Louis Pasteur’s understandings of
alcoholic fermentation changed the nature
of wine growing and winemaking
• Scientific and rational agriculture replaced
spiritual approaches with N K P
Rudolph Steiner 1861 –
• The Agriculture Course, June 1924
• Koberwitz, former Eastern Germany
• a series of 8 lectures to farmers
• became the foundation for the Biodynamic
method of Agriculture
“The best sound a vine can hear is the noise
of the wine-grower’s feet”
Nicholas Mills
Rippon Vineyard
Central Otago NZ
1. The Soil
2. The Vine
3. The Cosmos
The Soil
Conventional
Organic
Biodynamic
A system of manuring will maintain and sustain
the humus content, microbiological life, and
earthworm activity of the soil.
Peter Proctor
Grasp the Nettle
N
P
K
leaf growth
root development, respiration, photosynthesis
sap flow and photosynthesis
Biodynamic Compost Preparations
502 – 507
• Combine with “forces” or “processes” and
“substances” to vitalise ordinary compost
into biodynamic compost.
• 4 elements of nature: earth, water, air and
warmth
Biodynamic Compost Preparations
502 – 507
502
503
504
505
506
507
Yarrow
Chamomile
Stinging nettle
Oak bark
Dandelion
Valerian
Biodynamic Compost Preparations
502 – 507
502
503
504
505
506
507
Yarrow
Chamomile
Stinging nettle
Oak bark
Dandelion
Valerian
The lungs
The stomach
The liver
The brain
The self
The blood
502
Yarrow (lungs)
• Breathes in cosmic influences.
• Connection to sulphur and potassium.
• Contains potassium and selenium.
• Potash forming
503 Chamomile (stomach)
• Digestion
• Contains sulphur
• Works on calcium and potash
• Prevents malformations
504 Stinging Nettle (liver)
• Cleanses
• Decomposed organic matter into mineral
• Makes compost and soil sensitive
• “Intelligence” and awareness
505 Oak Bark (brain)
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Reigns in excess
Protects, heals
Tannic acid give insecticidal properties
Calcium (living form) for health and growth
Prevents fungal attack
Prevents excess vine vitality
Raises pH without lime
506 Dandelion (self)
• Inner body, or the self
• Holds the other energies together
• Perfect potassium:silica relationship
• Silica draws in outer planets cosmic forces
507 Valerian (blood)
• Warmth
• Concentrates phosphorous in the soil
• Attracts light for photosynthesis
Preparations 502 - 507
• Don’t worry about the detail
• Concentrate on the principle
• Aim for balance
• Quality is more important than quantity
“The vine must be made to struggle,
but not to the point of serious stress.
So balance is important.”
Mme Lalou Bize Leroy
Domain Leroy, Burgundy
Maria Thun Barrel Compost Spray
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Called “cow pat pit” in Australia and NZ
Improves soil quality
Repairs chemical soil damage
Activates decomposition and microbial
processes
• Aerates soil and improves soil structure
• Balances and stabilises soil nutrients
• Stimulates formulation of humus
Spreading biodynamic compost
• On soil in autumn when the earth
“breathes out”
• Worms take compost into the topsoil
• Roots busy in autumn
• Lightly turn topsoil after spreading
How cow pat pit is used
• Sprayed in soil in Autumn when the earth
inhales
• Used as a primer before solid compost
and Horn Manure 500
• Spray two times a year to every 2 years
• Aim to get soil in balance by Spring
Cow pat pit raw materials
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Cow manure
Biodynamic preparations 502 – 507
Basalt (ground)
Grains (ground)
Eggshells (or dolomite or bentonite)
Cow pat pit preparation
• Insert solid biodynamic compost preparations
separately into mixture
• Stinging nettle (504) in the centre to represent
the sun
• Liquid valerian (507) sprinkled on top to warm it
up.
• After 27 days dig and aerate with spade
• Two weeks later use on soil
• Looks very rich, dark, fine earth with a clean,
earth smell
Cover crops
• Stimulate humus formulation
• Used to bring elements like N and CO² from the
atmosphere the soil
CC’s also:
• Biodiversity in monocultural vineyards
• Provide shelter for beneficial fauna
• Protect soil from erosion
• Improve soil structure (chicory and lucerne)
• Competition for weeds (clover)
• Force lateral or shallow vine roots deeper
Cover crops
• Why do biodynamic farmers sow cover
crops instead of leaving natural soil cover?
• Cover crops provide greater nutrients than
weeds
• If you want to grow wine you must
compensate
• Vines are perennial plants
• Weeds are left in place, mowed, mulched
or ploughed
The Vine
The Vine Preparations
Steiner devised three further preparations
used as sprays:
• Horn Manure (500)
• Horn Silica (501)
• Horsetail (508)
First Use of 500 and 501
• Use horn manure (500) before starting
with horn silica (501) when converting to
biodynamics
• Encourage strong root system (500)
before developing upper part of plant (501)
Horn manure (500)
• Grass is energised in the cow’s stomach
• Cows give powerful force and energy digesting
the grass
• Grass is released as manure
• Manure is buried in cow horn for 6 months over
winter
• 501 Stimulates the soil but is not a “fertiliser”
• Contributes to veins taste of place, terroir and
soil
Raw Material 500
• Cow dung from pasture – grazed,
pregnant or lactating cows, cow horns of
native breed; should have previously
calved
• Collect fresh cow pats in Autumn
• Make preparations immediately
• Bury filled horns at autumn equinox in a
shallow pit in well drained earth, horn
facing down
500 When Ready
• Dig up in Spring equinox
• Should be slightly loose, dark brown, smell
of humus rather than manure
• Can be mixed with Cow Pat dung,
chamomile, willow or nettle tea, horn clay
• Spray on soil in large droplets
• Penetrates soil more easily after light rain
• Can keep for 36 months well stored in a
dark place surrounded by peat
Horn Manure 500 Benefits
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Builds soil structure and humus
Attracts and stimulates beneficial soil life
Mycorrizal fungi interface between vine and soil
Brings energy and life to roots
Stimulates deeper stronger root growth
Stimulates release of soil trace elements
Helps regulate leaves by lime and N in soil
Increases water holding capacity
Stimulates generation of seeds
“Ideally, biodynamic agriculture should bring
about a balance between the calcium and silica
forces,
between inward growth and outer form,
between dark and light,
between the tangible and the intangible,
between the inward pull of gravity and
the outer pull of the cosmos”
Rudolph Steiner
500 Polar Opposite to 501
Horn Manure 500
• Acts on calcium or lime processes (terrestrial), in
dark earth, roots
• Calcium works from inside out
Horn Silica 501
• Horn silica acts on silica processes
• Silica works from outside in
• Growth above and drawn to light
When to Apply 500
500
• Filed horn with 500 soil through winter
solstice (days are longest) to spring
equinox when the earth exhales and
atmosphere above brightens
• During a root period when earth is
breathing in during the descending moon
in the afternoon
How Often to Apply 500
• 2 to 4 times a year
• Once or twice late Autumn after harvest
when earth breathes in
• Again once or twice in early spring as first
shoots appear before earth breathes out
• 60 to 120 grams (1 horn) into 30 – 120 L
water for 1 ha vines
Horn silica 501
• Silica makes up nearly 50% of earth’s
crust
• Clear relationship between light and heat
of the sun
• Sowers millions of tiny mirrors over the
vines, intensifying the sun’s effect
• Brightens both the vines and the soil
Raw Material 501
• Quartz in crystalline form ground into a fine
powder
• Can be collected any time
• Ground down to fine powder during winter
• Mix powder with water into dough-like paste and
fill horns
• Bury in shallow pit in good earth, open site
• with Spring equinox or Summer solstice Moon in
front of an air/flow sign
• Underground all Summer when earth forces
directed outwards to cosmos
501 When Ready
• Dig up at Autumn equinox or Winter
solstice
• Spray over tops of vines and on leaves as
fine spray
• Keep in glass jar, in light, sunny position
• Growers in hotter climates such as
Australia (and specific regions within
Australia) are wary of over-using horn
silica and burning the vines
Horn Silica 501 Benefits
• Influence seem in upper (cosmic) part of
plant
• Allows leaves and shoots to enhance use
of light and heat
• Improves photosynthesis
• Augments plants’ assimilation of
atmospheric CO²
Horn Silica 501 Benefits
• Encourages ‘light’ or Summer processes
to strengthen plant against fungal or insect
attack
• Augments ripening, raises sugar (baumé)
levels in both sap and crop
• Allows crops to keep longer once picked
When to Apply 501
• In spring stimulates vines upward growth towards the
sun in 2 ways: encourages cell division and fruitfulness
(consistent crop and reserves buds for following year)
• Avoid during flowering (inhibits fruit set)
• Moon-Saturn opposition in months before ripening
• Ascending moon under Leo favours seed ripening and
stable yields
• End of ripening pushes vine into Autumn mode
• After harvest leaves falling, to ripen shoots ad prevent
disease in leaf stem opening
When to Apply 501
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Spray early morning as vines warm up
2 to 6 grams in 30 to 300 L water
Dynamise for 1 hour
Spray within 3 hours of dynamising
Can add 508 Horsetail (Equisitum)
Horsetail 508 (Equisetum)
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She-Oak or Asuarina Stricta is used in Australia
70% silica relates to light
Strong sulphur component is antifungal
Counteracts excess moon influence in soil that
encourages fungal diseases
Treats vines directly not via compost
100 g p/ha
Stir 20 minutes
Fresh 508 preparation fine spray on vines
Fermented 508 droplets sprayed on soil
Horsetail 508 (Equisetum)
• Concentrated concoction diluted as needed
• Use as often as needed between Spring and
Autumn
• Use in Summer during flowering mid morning
when flowers open and receptive to solar forces
• Spray before strong lunar influence or wet
weather
• Reduction in need for sulphur dust for Powdery
Mildew or oidium
• Reduction in need for Bordeaux Mixture (copper
sulphate, lime, water) for Downey Mildew
Celestial bodies
• Inner celestial bodies closest to the sun
(e.g. our Moon, Mercury and Venus)
favour the calcium force
• Outer planets (e.g. Mars, Jupiter and
Saturn) bring silica influences
• Biodynamic calendars show the position of
the planets
• Moon-Saturn opposition reinforces the
action of horn silica 501
Horsetail 508
• Supplants horn silica
• Creates a downward movement
• Works to push “fungal level” down off
plants into the soil reducing risk of fungal
attack
The Dynamics of Biodynamics:
practical level
• Preparations are first stirred “dynamized”
in water
• dissolves substances and helps microbes
multiply fast
• Stirring makes links the solid and the liquid
• Stir one way (whirlpool) then the other
mirrors N-S poles influence on water in
motion
The Dynamics of Biodynamics:
spiritual level
• Spiritual level - vortices are life giving,
bring spirit into water and preparations,
water becomes dynamic carrier of life
energy
• Outside in draws in energy, inside out
disperses energy from within
• Changing direction undergoes chaos
(imprint of the cosmos)
Stirring methods
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Stir by hand
Electrically powered machine
Flow-form fountains
Flow form vortices are spread horizontally
Bucket form vortices are spread vertically
Weeds,
Pests &
Diseases
Weed Control
• Mulching
• Weed tea - apply and correct missing
nutrients
• Weed ashing - when weeds have set
seed, collect seeds, leaves and roots,
spread ash on ground
• Sow cover crops
Pest Control
• Read and understand message pest is
sending – is it a beneficial predator?
• Appearance of pests from poor soil
management
• Removing pest from ground habitat seeks
new habitat in vine canopy
• Pest ashing - burn and spread pest pepper
(or dynamise spray) to discourage pests
Disease Control
• Prevention not cure
• Prune and shoot positioning so bunches hang
freely
• Manage new shoot growth to precent excess
shade and humidity within vine canopy
• Use dusting sulphur, lime sulphur or Bordeaux
Mixture to control Powdery and Downy Mildew
(approved for Organic and biodynamic
vineyards)
Disease Control
• Spray during dry weather so protects as barrier
• Never spray on wet grapes because upsets
yeasts and starts berry fermentation
• Precents vine wood diseases
• Biodynamic pruning paste - cow manure + whey
and diatomaceous earth /clay, seals crevices
where fungals diseases may overwinter
Biodynamic Remedies
• Teas – put plant in boiled water then soak
• Decoction – put plant in water then boil
• 500 Urticae (500 + nettle + willow teas) for
fan leaf viruses and weak vines
• Chamomile tea – tempers stress of heat,
cold, rain and drought
Biodynamic Remedies
Nettle tea*
• an astral plant, contains K, Mg, C, and Fe
all stimulate vine sap
• soothes chlorosis
• repletes and liberates Fe in soil
• smell acts as insect repellant
• mix with Bordeaux mix leaves softer faster
Chemicals
• Pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, herbicides
• Calculated 142 g chemicals per 750 ml bottle of
wine
• @7,000 bottles per Ha
• 20 spray treatments per year
• X 400 L of liquid = 1 T per Ha per year
• X liquids added 20 to 40 T per Ha per year
• = 1 T chemical spray diluted at 1:20 or 1:40
strengtht is needed to treat 1 Ha of vines
The
Cosmos
“We shall never understand plant life unless
we bear in mind that everything which happens
on the earth is but a reflection of what is taking
place in the cosmos”
Rudolph Steiner
Cosmos
There are 4 lunar cycles linked to the
moon’s relationship with the sun:
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Synodic (the sun)
Apogee-Perigee (the earth
Sidereal (the stars)
Ascending – descending (plane of the
ecliptic)
Synodic (moon & sun)
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29.5 days moon and sun phase cycle
Waxing (new to full moon)
Waning (full to new moon)
Felt through medium of water
Waxing increase in moisture content of
earth and atmospheric humidity (plant
growth and fungal diseases)
• Waxing good time to apply compost spray,
weed/pest ashes absorb easier
Apogee–Perigee (moon & earth)
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Ellipic
27.5 day period
“anomalistic” month cycle
Perigee – Moon’s closest point to earth
“winter mood” water realm, encourages
fungal diseases
• Apogee – moon furthest away from earth
“summer mood” growth up and away
Sidereal (stars)
• 27.3 days 12 astronomical constellations and
zodiac
• Sidera Latin for “star”
• Sequence recurs every 9 days, each 12 different
between 0.5 and 3.5 days
• Earth – Taurus, Virgo, Caprocorn
• Air – Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
• Water – Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
• Fire – Aries, Leo, Sagitarius
• Vine – fruit/seed crop relates to fire sign, so time
vineyard work to coincide with fire rhythm
Ascending – Descending Moon
(planes of the ecliptic)
• 27.3 days moon’s rise and fall and rise
• Compared to sun 365 days
• Ascending rhythm of the moon invokes a
Spring/Summer mood
• Descending invokes an Autumn/Winter mood
• When ascending earth breathes out. Plant
growth concentrates above soil, sap flows
upwards
• Descending – earth breathes in. Plant growth
concentrated underground, sap flows down
Moon – Saturn Oppositions
• Celestial bodies stand opposite each other
in the sky at 180 degrees
• E.g. full moon faces the sun
• E.g. moon faces Saturn
Biodynamic Status
• Difficult to time daily vineyard work precisely to
favourable aspects of biodynamic calendar (and
avoid unfavourable aspects)
• Therefore compromise 2.25 days average moon
in front of each constellation
• Do not have to work to biodynamic calendar for
B-D status
• B-D status awarded if preparations are used in
sufficient quantity (not on when they are applied)
Demeter International
• Founded 1997
• Coordinates activities of individual
Demeter Biodynamic certification
programs worldwide
• 18 member countries (not Australia but
includes NZ)
• Australia recognised by Demeter but
federal government control biodynamics
here
Demeter
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Greek Goddess of fertility
Protector of all fruits of the earth
Earth mother – Da Mater. Roman name is Ceres
When her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by
Hades (Pluto) the god of the underworld, nothing grew
on earth.
• Persephone was only returned by Hades for 6 months of
the year
• Persephone brought spiritual forces to earth manifest
through plants
• This human consciousness (spirit) and development of
agriculture (matter) are inextricably linked in biodynamics