Bio-dynamic farming practice

Bio-Dynamic farming has been practised successfully for over sixty years and is thus probably the oldest environmentally conscious farming method in existence. Originally established in Germany, and also followed extensively elsewhere in Europe, the method has won ever-increasing numbers of adherents throughout the world.At a time when conventional farms are largely run on business or industrial lines, the idea of a farm as a self-sustaining living organism is original and becoming increasingly important. This book shows how, by combining the best traditional farming methods with up-to-date management skills, appropriate crop and animal husbandry and technology, farmers can begin to put this idea into practice and create a modern system that makes ecological sense.The text is firmly based on detailed practical experience and is richly supplemented with 85 clear diagrams, 82 tables and 36 colour plates.Friedrich Sattler, author of the main part of this book, is a trained agriculturalist. He has been manager for over 30 years at Talhof, a farm that has been run on bio-dynamic lines since 1928.Eckard von Wistinghausen, OhD sc.agr., joined the staff of the Bio-Dynamic Research Institution in Darmstadt, Germany in 1972. His particular concerns there are site and soil analysis, quality standards and education and training.