8 lectures, Koberwitz, June 7-20, 1924 (CW 327)
When Rudolf Steiner gave these lectures eighty years ago, industrial
farming was on the rise and organic methods were being replaced in the
name of science, efficiency, and technology. With the widespread alarm
over food quality in recent years, and with the growth of the organic
movement and its mainstream acceptance, perceptions are changing. The
qualitative aspect of food is on the agenda again, and in this context
Steiner's only course of lectures on agriculture is critical to the
current debate.
With these talks, Steiner created and launched "biodynamic" farming--a
form of agriculture that has come to be regarded as the best organically
produced food. However, the agriculture Steiner speaks of here is much
more than organic--it involves working with the cosmos, with the earth,
and with spiritual beings. To facilitate this, Steiner prescribes
specific "preparations" for the soil, as well as other distinct methods
born from his profound understanding of the material and spiritual
worlds. He presents a comprehensive picture of the complex dynamic
relationships at work in nature and gives basic indications of the
practical measures needed to bring them into full play.
These lectures are reprinted here in the "classic" translation made by
Rudolf Steiner's English interpreter, George Adams. This edition also
features a preface by Steiner's colleague the medical doctor Ehrenfried
Pfeiffer, as well as eight color plates.
This is the course that began the biodynamic movement. Rudolf Steiner's
Agriculture Course is the essential work for anyone wanting to
understand and use Steiner's methods of food production.
This book is a translation from German of Geisteswissenschaftliche
Grundlagen zum Gedeihen der Landwirtschaft. Landwirtschaftlicher Kursus
(GA 327).
