Which is a funny group of people. Their rules sound kooky, but their results aren't at all what I would expect from kooks. The best strawberry jam I can get here comes from from a farm where they (I learned when I asked about why it's so good) turns their compost according to the phases of the moon. Weird. The same farm was also raided by the police. 130 police officers searched the place at dawn one morning, and apparently the only reason for suspicion was that those weirdos had money to spare for a succession of new greenhouses even in years when all their conventional neighbours had no money to spare for anything.
>turns their compost according to the phases of the moon. Weird.
It might not be so weird.
While not as noticeable as ocean tides, aquifer tides[1] cause the soil to "breathe" twice per day. Spring tide vs. neap tide (which is a function of Moon phase) would change the magnitude and diurnal timing of this "breathing" pattern, which could have a significant effect on soil biology.
As you learn more about Earth Science, it's interesting to discover that (some of) these "crazy" ideas start to look not-so-crazy.
One of my favorite examples: how do you stop vermin in your garden? Make a small pile of rocks off in the corner, of course! Sounds like superstitious gobbledygook, right? And it is, right up until the moment you realize that all you really did was make a happy undisturbed snake habitat.
All that suggests that turning the compost once per moon cycle makes sense. I've no problem with that. But turning the compost at specific points in the cycle… and yet, these are the farmers with the best produce.
Aquifer tides sound like a fascinating concept that didn't occur to me before, but tides require a lot of fast lateral mass transfer thats usually not possible in most aquifers.
In this case, the effect is largely due to the overburden itself expanding and contracting with varying tidal attraction. These mechanisms force atmospheric gases into and out of the soil, like a piston.
It sounds like doing that might encourage the snakes to reproduce and you’ll just end up with more snakes. Even if you’re fine building a few new habitats every year, at a certain point would you encounter some sort of snake breeding law/regulation?
The Oxford Companion to Wine has a long article about it. It "remained little known in the wine world until an increasing number of top-quality producers" adopted it, many of whom learned about it from someone who "makes no claim to understanding how biodynamics works". I, uh, find it difficult to believe … but these actually are top-quality producers.
The Companion also notes that many of them do it but prefer discretion. I can see why.
Maybe what matters isn't exactly when they turn their compost, but that they turn it at all. Like, caring about the details even in a "whacky" way (according to most non-biodynamicists) is a lot better than not caring about the details at all -- and maybe to people who aren't into biodynamics, turning the compost is a weird detail that only "whacky" people would care about.
Maybe the phase of the moon is important. Maybe it's not, but if you're bothered enough to do things according to the phase of the moon you're probably paying attention to other stuff that matters.
"In this groundbreaking study of organic farming, Julie Guthman challenges accepted wisdom about organic food and agriculture in the Golden State. Many continue to believe that small-scale organic farming is the answer to our environmental and health problems, but Guthman refutes popular portrayals that pit “small organic” against “big organic” and offers an alternative analysis that underscores the limits of an organic label as a pathway to transforming agriculture.
This second edition includes a thorough investigation of the federal organic program, a discussion of how the certification arena has continued to grow and change since its implementation, and an up-to-date guide to the structure of the organic farming sector. Agrarian Dreams delivers an indispensable examination of organic farming in California and will appeal to readers in a variety of areas, including food studies, agriculture, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, geography, and history."
I just confirmed for those so inclined, you can quickly download a PDF of the book for free on Library Genesis.
Oregon Tilth was a certification for sustainable farming when I was growing up in PNW, though I can’t attest it’s “strictly” enough or not on the topic.
Biodynamic is an unregulated label that is often meant to imply this, but of course offers zero guarantees. Usually it comes with a “tour the farm” level of visibility into processes, which is a nice upside. Often coincides with “dry-farmed” and/or “trap cropping” practices, two labels that indicate material benefits to crop quality independent of the biodynamic label.
