The Planting Calendar                                                                                
Abstracted from the BDAI Training Manual, Planting Calendar Section by Rachel Pomeroy & Biodynamic Agriculture in India by Peter Proctor

The Biodynamic Planting Calendar is not based on retrieving past knowledge, but on modern research by many different people, beginning in the early years of the 20th century and still going on today. This research is largely based on suggestions given by Rudolf Steiner.

Each researcher has found certain - often different - cosmic influences to be the dominant ones for their particular environment.  For Lili Kolisko, it was the full moon cycle, for Maria Thun, it is the constellations.  This illustrates one of the major tenants of a true understanding of, and working with, Nature; that each farm is an individual organism, and its location, climate, ecology, and the people working the land, are all variable factors. It is therefore important that each farmer experiments with different rhythms and cycles, each time observing and carefully noting the results. Sooner or later a pattern will emerge.

It is important, however, to realize that the planting calendar should never be the most important factor to consider when sowing, cultivating, or doing other agricultural work. In daily practice, the weather, soil conditions, lateness of season, and so on, must often override considerations of a cosmic nature.

In the agricultural course Rudolf Steiner pointed out particularly how the health of soil, plants and animals depend upon bringing nature into connection again with the cosmic creative shaping forces. The practical method he gave for treating soil, manure, compost and especially for making bio-dynamic compost preparations, was intended above all to serve the purpose of reanimating the natural forces which in nature and in modern agriculture was in wane.      E.E. Pfeiffer

The planets and constellations are part of our total environment and have obvious major interactions with the Earth which result in our experiencing day and night and the seasons of the year. Less obvious is the effect of the moon on the tides of the ocean, ground water rising to the surface at Full Moon, and extra sap leak from plants when pruning at Full Moon.

The farmers over the centuries who observed the sky and the results of their farming activities built up their own library of experience of best times for certain activities. They experienced the subtle, less obvious connections between their earth activities and their observations of the sky.      Rachel Pomeroy

RHYTHMS
Biodynamic agriculture works from two poles -- the cosmic and the earthly. Understanding and using the rhythms of the cosmos for sowing and planting in conjunction with the practice of soil fertility, makes organic farming truly work.      Peter Proctor

For an introduction to the Rhythms and Symbols click on these links.

You know what the day's Rhythm is but can't remember what farming activities are best on that day - click here.

You want to sow seed, or harvest, or cultivate, etc. but can't remember which is the recommended Rhythm for that particular activity -- click here.