Libby, Jude, Janelle, and Anya a Jurlique Educator at the Mylor Farm
When it comes to environmental claims by companies, you can usually color me a little cynical. Don’t get me wrong, I still buy as many organic, sustainable, fair trade products as possible, but I know that some companies simply look at is an eco-marketing scheme, not a real commitment to the environment.
About eight years ago, when I lived in Colorado, I covered a story about an organic juice company called Mountain Sun that was dumping its apple waste into the Dolores River and polluting the water. The Environmental Protection Agency had to threaten them with large fines to get it to stop.
Most recently, I cringe every time I see the Sun Ranch listed as “one of the top ten ecotourism lodges” in magazines like Outside because of the many endangered gray wolves they have killed on the property, including the brutal killing of a female two years ago with an ATV by a ranch hand.
So, I usually have my b.s. antennae up with eco-marketing and I’m excited to report that Jurlique is the real deal.
I almost want to work there myself. Yesterday we spent time “working” on the farm, which was really a true treat. We toured their shared vegetable garden. We planted sweet clover and coriander. We “rubbed out” peppermint leaves from the stems into a bin, and we learned all about the biodynamic preparation that was being made to spray on the farm because the moon is opposite Saturn.
Doug planting clover seeds in the greenhouse
Working to "rub out" the dried peppermint leaves. We smelled wonderful afterwards.
Now that sounds a bit weird, and since the preparation involves burying a cow horn with silica and manure for some time and digging it up to add it to the mix, you might think these folks are woo-woo about farming. But whatever you may think, the proof is in the pudding, or preparation, as you might say.
Cow horns are filled with silica or manure and buried on the farm to prepare a special compost
Stag bladders used in the preparation
The biodynamic flow form is used to prepare the water for the crops
For one thing, the farm looks really healthy, with native tree plantings all around to encourage wildlife habitat, and a commitment not to use any chemical sprays on the invasive blackberry bush on the place – no matter how tiny the spray. For another, everyone who works there is passionate about what they do and really happy. You get the very clear sense that they all care about the health of the land and are proud to work there.
Jude and I get a close-up look at the biodynamic preparation
But, back to biodynamics. Biodynamic certification is based on the principals of farming laid-out by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Schools. In the 1930’s, he researched ancient methods of farming for German farmers and based on that recommended preparing the soil and plantings on an astronomical calendar and using animal parts like cow horns and stag bladders to create unique, natural fertilizers. He was big into the idea that a little bit of something natural can go a long way (the whole premise behind homeopathy).
Because the moon was opposite Saturn yesterday, the farm was preparing its special, four-times-a-year mix to spray lightly on the crops.
I haven’t done the research on whether there are published papers to back up the biodynamic claims, but such careful, meticulous farming certainly can’t hurt and hell, I might try burying a cow horn in my own backyard if I can get a garden that looks as healthy and productive as the Jurlique Farm does.
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