Dynamic Bio-Dynamics

My recent visit to South Australia for Tasting Australia was inspiring in more ways than one, but the one thing that really pushed my buttons was learning more about bio-dynamic (b-D) farming.

I’ve read a bit about it and a couple of years ago I visited a b-D winery on the Limestone Coast  and learned how they fill cow horns with dung and bury them to make something called 501 which they then mix with water (in a rather witch-like and very specific way) and spray on the vines.

There’s a lot more to it than that of course but it piqued my interest and dispelled any myths I might have harboured about hocus pocus and hippies. What I know just makes perfect sense – it’s about sustainably caring for the land, maximizing growing opportunities and producing food that is truly good for you.

Deb Cantrill from Nirvana Organics stirring her brew

Ulli Spranz and her husband Helmut converted their land at Paris Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula over 30 years ago after they emigrated from Germany. They use cows’ milk from their own purely grass-fed herd and that of eight other b-D farms to make a wonderful range of yoghurt, fresh cheeses (I particularly liked the white moulded Nuage Blanc) and butter, plus a hard cheddar style.  If you visit at the right time of day, you can watch the cheese making process through large picture windows in the cheesery wall. Ulli’s enthusiasm and knowledge is so infectious you can’t help but leave all fired up about b-D.

To the east of Adelaide Deb Cantrill and Quentin Jones also decided to leave the city and create a ‘good life’ for themselves, settling on 4 hectares of blackberry infested land in the Adelaide Hills which they, very appropriately it would seem, call Nirvana.

Thirty years on their luscious valley produces an abundance of produce like chestnuts, berries, geese, and myriad unusual and forgotten fruits, such as medlar and gooseberries. The geese are not just there to look pretty. Not only do the geese keep the grass down (two geese do the work of one sheep), they tread lightly on the land with their webbed feet, minimizing damage. In addition, chickens roam free under the trees, koalas are occasionally seen perching in the gum trees and kangaroos come often to feast on the lush grass and drink from the many springs on the property. All this just 3 kilometres from the nearest town and surrounded by other homes.

Down the bottom of the garden, a grove of basket wicker trees (for Deb’s basket weaving) forms an outdoor room which in summer hosts gatherings around the central fireplace and in autumn mushrooms can be found growing underneath the orchard of hazelnut trees. 

Everything is designed to work together. The geese enjoy a diet enriched by chestnuts and other good things and when their ranks have swollen from 20 to 60, as happens each year, a plucking party is held. As they can’t be sold, anyone who plucks 3 birds gets to take one home.

Deb’s farmhouse cottage kitchen with its wood burning stove is registered for the production of jams, jellies, fruit pastes and vinegars which fill the shelves of the small farmgate shop. Eggs are available on a self serve basis down the drive at the chicken coops, next the carefully fenced vege garden. Quentin’s specialty is roasted chestnuts and he can be found every Saturday in the main street of Stirling serving these gorgeous treats in paper cones. Of course the chestnuts also make a delicious stuffing for a roasted goose.

Quentin roasting chestnuts for us to try

Tours of the farm and classes in bio-dynamics bring a steady stream of garden clubs, schools groups and heirloom fruit collectors.

Also in the Hills, in the historic town of Hahndorf, is another cheese producer using organic, b-D goat and cow milk to make great cheese. At Udder Delights store and café you can enjoy ‘picnic’ baskets of not only their cheeses, but other locally produced foods such as Hill’s Cider Co. Pear Cider, seasonal preserves and delicious glacé pears with vanilla and saffron. The goat curd and goat brie are not to be missed, as is their soft, mild blue. You can also take a cheese making class so you can make your own cheese at home. 

a selection of Udder Delights cheese

I don’t imagine I’ll be burying any muck filled cow horns any time soon in my square foot garden, although if anyone has a little bit of 501 they are willing to part with I’d be very happy to receive it.  However there are other b-D methods I can adopt such as planting by the moon, so I think I’ll start with that.

To learn more about the bio-dynamic principals of farming and growing check out this site