Growing or maintaining a garden in a modern context can be a little self-defeating for those of us who seek more conscious living. For example, when we are mechanically levelling a monoculture of grass every weekend, or when it is a battle. When we are taking on the weeds, the slugs or the aphids with an arsenal of chemicals, & thereby losing the bees, butterflies & birdsong. When we are taking more than we are putting back, or that putting-back is in the form of inorganic chemical feed, or acquired in plastic bags from the garden centre. It can be extractive & harmful when we intend the opposite. It can be expensive. Plants in plastic pots, money, time, water.

We have lost our way. Somewhere between bagging up our trimmings to take to the tip & blowing the autumn leaves into the road with over-sized hair-driers; between removing & bringing in or buying, literally, sticks! Sometimes pretend sticks made of plastic for plants to climb on.

In our times of ecological distance; disassociation from nature & the rising tide of human impact our gardens, even the smallest spaces, can be reclaimed. They can be supportive to the biodiversity on which we humans entirely depend, & they can offer us so much more than chemically cultured flower-beds, goalposts & swing sets. They can be alive with all the layers of nature. They can bring us joy, healing, food & vitality. Gardening can be shifted, from an arduous congregation of tasks. It can become not just a physical act, but a conscious one, where we tap into more timeless resonances & larger harmonies. The return of spirit to our utilitarian modern pursuits – the essence of conscious living. 

It is with this in mind that The Biodynamic Association has recently launched its online Biodynamic Gardening Club. It has a simple hope, that as many people as possible are able to experience what a sustainable, biodynamic approach to gardening offers; both space & food alive with health & vitality, from tiny urban patches & suburban gardens to village allotments or community plots. It is inspired by this sense of community, diversity & inclusivity; supporting & sharing, growing while we grow & gathering while we gather. 

Biodynamic Growing

We write about Biodynamic growing in our book, Sattva – The Ayurvedic Way to Live Well (Hay House UK) – & it’s worth explaining a little about it for those who aren’t aware. It is a system of growing conceived by the Austrian spiritualist & philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920’s & applied to agriculture in response to depleted soils & souls brought about by industrialised farming, unconscious practice & widespread use of chemical fertilisers. It is painstakingly sustainable &, since it begins where the stipulations for organic growing end, it is organic growing broadened to encompass both the most subtle & most expansive of natural rhythms, cycles & shifts – flowing as it does with the energies of the day, the seasons, the moon & the wider cosmos & all their transformative subtleties – many things that growers used to know, feel or intuit but, with the pace & heavy-handedness of industrialised living, we have collectively forgotten. At its essence it is kind, empathetic & sustainable & encourages a true, conscious & mutually enriching relationship with the land. In these ways it chimes very strongly with Ayurveda. 

While some of Steiner’s guidelines can seem unduly esoteric, it is worth understanding that nature is inherently ‘biodynamic.’ It is profound harmony formed of the interplay between & relativity of all substance, consciousness & energy. To grow biodynamically then, is less a following of principles set down on paper than a steady immersion in, & understanding of, nature itself. It is the time, process & mindfulness which allows this subtle osmosis of energy. It is working with, more than exercising dominion over. Mutually nourishing & assuring rather than simply extracting. The farm, the garden or the individual mirrors the whole in its unity & cohesion. This is the understanding of macrocosm & microcosm emphasised by Ayurveda.           

This may all sound a little ‘big.’ Fortunately, simply adopting small biodynamic practices, taking on a little advice, sharing & growing, perhaps re-wilding a little, growing some herbs or leaves, & starting to feel into the changes that come seasonally & daily will all help us to take positive steps on this walk home. Our gardens will start to feel a little different & their life will start to return. We will start to grow our intuition & relationship with our food as we grow our own. We will feel more renewed when we enter these spaces.

Find out more about The Biodynamic Association’s Online Gardening Community at www.biodynamic.org.uk/garden. Follow them @biodynamicuk on Instagram.

Joining the biodynamic gardening club is £15 for a whole year & will give you access to:

• A quarterly seasonal e-newsletter

• Dedicated members Facebook group for sharing, inspiration, tips & advice

• Interactive webinars led by experts in their field

• Extensive online resources

• News & events

• Regular offers