Biodynamics: When magic, astrology and farming collide
Manage your crops with magic and astrology!
Some populations seem more susceptible to superstition than others. Sailors, baseball players, and yes, vintners. People who grow wine have long had a reputation for strange beliefs and superstitions regarding their crops. Perhaps it is because, much like baseball and sailing, growing wine grapes and making wine is a perilous activity which is as liable to random failure as it is success.
But it wasn't until this Cracked.com article that I discovered how truly bizarre some vintner practices really are. It all stems from a practice with the bland and reasonable name of "biodynamics." Biodynamics began in the early 1920s with a spiritualist named Rudolf Steiner. Steiner's beliefs were a mix of astrology, mysticism, and spirituality.
In 1924 a group of farmers asked Steiner to opine about the best way to grow crops. Although Steiner had no farming experience, he cobbled together a plan which treated the entire farm as one single organism. Steiner's method aimed to increase soil fertility without the use of any chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
All well and good. Doesn't sound too bad at this point, does it? Let's get into specifics.
