Nirvana Biodynamics

The vegetable garden is springing to life as the October plantings are developing. Now it is time to plant the seeds of climbing and bush beans, lettuce, beetroot, carrots, celery, parsnips, potatoes, sweetcorn, silverbeet, pumpkin. For best results plant 2 days before the full moon and transplant seedlings of tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, capsicum, melons during the new moon phase in the afternoons. Check the compost heaps are not drying out. Treat them like a living plant - if you water your plants once a week then water the compost at the same time. DISPELLING THE ORGANIC MYTHS “Using raw manure on my garden makes me organic” Wrong! All animal manures regardless of age must be properly composted with other materials before adding to soil. When raw manure is used it harms the soil microbes and the worms and causes imbalances in the soil. Sure!, you get the lush quick green growth, just the same as adding urea or soluble Nitrogen. Animal manures have the potential to contain dangerous ...

Spring has reached it's crescendo in the hills with lots of growth ,colour and activity. The goslings (better known as "Tails up mowing ans fertiliser company") are are growing fast as they graze on the orchard pasture, while the chooks are busy discovering a host of goodies that live in the soil. Most of the fruit trees have flowered and set fruit and the hills and valleys are looking wonderfully productive. The bees are enjoying the vast array of flowers while the shahtoot mulberries are sort after by everyone . Today the air is full of chestnut essence as the catkins hang low with the extra weight. This also means the berries are ripening and my days are spent harvesting and selling these in a fleeting season that lasts until Christmas. For many of our customers fresh raspberries or currants are the highlight of their Christmas feast.

When I meet someone new and they find I’m a biodynamic gardener the first question I get is “Well how do you get rid of………? The average gardeners go into the garden not with the concept of LIFE but the concept of DEATH. They go out to get rid of things. In order to grow a crop everything else is removed. You only have to listen to the gardening programs to confirm this. WEEDS - THE USEFUL PLANTS . The importance of weeds to the gardener is that: • They tend to be stronger growing plants with more extensive root runs enabling them to gather nutrients at deeper levels of the soil. • Weeds can provide some protection for your desired plants from wind and rain. • They can provide alternative food source for problem pests. • They provide food and habitat for useful predators. • They can protect land not being currently used from erosion. WEEDS ASSIST SOIL BUILDING Volunteer plant (weeds) main job is colonising any bare patch to protect it from the elements. (Wind, rain, sun) This can be use...

To achieve a balanced biodynamic farm the “animal element” needs to be included, to move it towards the concept of “the farm as an individual living organism.” Nirvana is an orchard, so the logical the choice of animals is birds because birds go with trees & bushes. Both the domestic fowl & geese form an essential part of our orchard. They play an important part in composting, and producing vital ingredients to ensure dynamic recycling of nutrients. The geese have been chosen for their grazing ability, 3 geese = a sheep. Having webbed feet they can graze the damp valley without damage. Their grazing has reduced our mowing costs by one third. Our base flock is made up of 20 cross breed embden /touslouse. These birds are hardy & reliable breeders. They graze the orchards each day. They prefer fine grasses, clover and other grasses when they are short. In general they do not like broadleaf weeds. However they do search out and destroy any comfrey leaf or root. Other g...

From our paddock to your plate – connecting producers to co-producers In slow food we have read & heard much about how producers should reconnect to their co-producers giving them the joy of savoring fresh local seasonal produce. For some, farmers markets are a logical way to do this but it does not work for everyone. For the past 20 odd years Nirvana Organic Farm& Produce have been doing this in a unique way that goes beyond just selling produce. As a small orchard in the urban fringe area of the Adelaide Hills just 20 minutes drive from Adelaide’s CBD (Capital city of South Australia) we have taken advantage of our location to develop a unique small business & lifestyle that not only brings the co-producers to us but also the world. In the beginning we sold direct to retailers & restaurants .This required a lot of running around & selling, especially to restaurants whose chefs changed regularly & were never prepared to pay a fair price. (They often advertised ...

Everyone can grow their own fresh veggies. The Key to success is Quality compost . Deb can share her long experience to help you have a full garden with little need of food storage, thus a empty refrigerator. COMPOSTING & MULCHING Sunday, October 7th 9.00 -12.30 $40 Reduce water use by learning the principles of composting & mulching, techniques & materials used & how they can be used most effectively on your garden or farm. VEGETABLES FOR YOUR TABLE. Sunday, October 14th 9.00 -12 noon $35 Practical guide to establishing & maintaining a productive & healthy vegetable garden

The shroud of winter has finally fallen away and it’s time to see what’s happening in the garden. The green manure or compost that was dug into the soil has been worked over by all the millions of bugs, fungi, bacteria and other ‘biota’. Now it’s time to plant, ready for summer harvest and beyond. At Nirvana we use raised beds because soil can be built up by digging out the foot paths increasing the soil depth immediately Raised beds also warm up more quickly in spring; there is more aeration & life via micro organisms and an overall increase in growth activity. Rudolf Steiner in ‘Agriculture’ described it this way ‘For any given locality on Earth ,there is a certain level that separates what is above the earth from what is inside the Earth. Anything raised up above the normal level for that locale will show a particular tendency to life, a tendency to become permeated with etheric vitality .You will therefore find it easier to permeate ordinary inorganic soil with humus-like mate...