A simple step-by-step guide to biodynamics This is the easy guide to getting luscious fruit and vegetables and gorgeous flowers by harnessing the rhythms of nature and using all-natural methods. For gardeners looking for a self-sufficient, ethical approach that produces great results, biodynamics is the ultimate form of organic gardening. DK's trademark visual approach and practical advice shows the home gardener how to get the best from their garden using biodynamic methods. Biodynamic Gardening is the perfect introduction to this ultra-green method, explaining how it works by improving soil health and performing key tasks at optimal times. Focused chapters show you what to do in the garden each season, including preparing and feeding the soil, caring for plants, keeping a balanced garden ecosystem, and harvesting at the best times for the best flavor. It also includes step-by-step features explain how to make the special soil preparations biodynamic gardening is so famous for.

The gardening technique that works with nature and the cosmic forces to make your garden a flourishing paradise of fruitfulness. Bio-dynamics developed from a course of lectures on agriculture given by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 after a group of farmers were alarmed by the deterioration of food crops. It has now become a thriving worldwide movement followed by thousands of farmers and small-holders in Britain, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand and the United States. This authoritative book enables anyone to practice bio-dynamics in their own garden. Explaining the principles, from the use of special preparations to enhance the fertility of the soil and working with cosmic forces when planting and sowing to how to cope with pests or disease and what companion plants will give the most effective results. Covering fruit and vegetables, herbs and special features, it includes advice on crop rotation, green manuring and mulching. It offers advice on composting and preparation of the soil, and suggests vegetable varieties that are recommended for flavour and productiveness. First published in 1983 this standard work has been revised and updated with new information and illustrations to make it the most accessible guide available. It has been used for decades by the Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association and now brings bio-dynamics to every gardener who wants to garden in harmony with nature.

The expert guide to biodynamic farming and gardening. In this revised and updated edition of Grasp the Nettle Peter Proctor tells the reader how to apply biodynamic methods of farming and gardening to a wide range of conditions in New Zealand and in other countries. The book provides practical observations and techniques, and relates these to the spiritual scientific knowlege upon which that biodynamic practice is based. Peter gives tips on how to recognise healthy soil and pasture, and on how to make your own biodynamic preparations. He also gives examples of farms that are successfully using biodynamic methods. This book aims to assist biodynamic farmers and gardeners to observe the processes of life and growth, and to understand how these processes are governed by cosmic forces, so they can use this knowlege in applying their practical skills. Peter Proctor, past national field advisor for the NZ Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, now teaches and advises farmers on biodynamic methods around the world.

Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming informs and inspires gardeners, and farmers, who wish to bring quality and integrity into their work with the land. It is about developing close relationships with land that produces our food. This book combines over 40 years of Frank Holzman’s experience in farming, gardening, education, research, and development to provide techniques and concepts for sustainable land use. Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming is a more spiritual and thoughtful approach to land stewardship, geared toward aspiring gardeners with a desire for a deeper connection with the earth. It is as much about why as it is about how to develop land. Rather than traditional tractor farming, this book provides a better understanding of horticulture, dealing with the biological interactions between soils and plants, and providing a good understanding of living systems. Holzman examines healthy perspectives of how to approach a piece of land as a living organism and transform it into a balanced ecosystem. Frank Holzman provides lots of information and insight for backyard gardeners and professional farmers, alike. Truly a great resource for transforming the garden, as well as the gardener.

Biodynamic techniques recognise that plant life is intimately bound up with the life of the soil; that the soil itself is alive and that the degree of vitality influences the health of the crops. You will soon be able to grow quality produce which possesses vitality and has the highest flavour, through the nurture of the soil.Whether you are an experienced gardener or not, whether or not you have used permaculture or grown organic produce before, this book offers valuable, easily accessible tips

"This edition has been edited by Marcia Merryman Means, who also wrote the short introductions before each lecture"--T.p. verso.

Permaculture is a movement that is coming into its own, and the concept of creating plant guilds in permaculture is at the forefront of every farmer's and gardener's practice. One of the essential practices of permaculture is to develop perennial agricultural systems that thrive over several decades without expensive and harmful inputs: perennial plant guilds, food forests, agroforestry, and mixed animal and woody species polycultures. The massive degradation of conventional agriculture and the environmental havoc it creates has never been as all pervasive in terms of scale, so it has become a global necessity to further the understanding of a comprehensive design and planning system such as permaculture that works with nature, not against it. The guild concept often used is one of a "functional relationship" between plants-beneficial groupings of plants that share functions in order to bring health and stability to a plant regime and create an abundant yield for our utilization. In other words, it is the integration of species that creates a balanced, healthy, and thriving ecosystem. But it goes beyond integration. A guild is a metaphor for all walks of life, most importantly a group of people working together to craft works of balance, beauty, and utility. This book is the first, and most comprehensive, guide about plant guilds ever written, and covers in detail both what guilds are and how to design and construct them, complete with extensive color photography and design illustrations. Included is information on: - What we can observe about natural plant guilds in the wild and the importance of observation; - Detailed research on the structure of plant guilds, and a portrait of an oak tree (a guild unto itself); - Animal interactions with plant guilds; - Steps to guild design, construction, and dynamics: from assessment to design to implementation; - Fifteen detailed plant guilds, five each from the three authors based on their unique perspectives; - Guild project management: budgets, implementation, management, and maintenance. Readers of any scale will benefit from this book, from permaculture designers and professional growers, to backyard growers new to the concept of permaculture. Books on permaculture cover this topic, but never in enough depth to be replicable in a serious way. Finally, it's here!