In this feature we highlight the farmers and processors who bring Biodynamic® products to life — focusing this month on cooking. Demeter’s online Biodynamic Directory is a tool for both producers and consumers.
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Photo above provided by Ambyth Estate
Ambyth Estate
AmByth is the Welsh word meaning ‘forever’. Ambyth Estate utilizes the Biodynamic method of farming to enhance our observations of nature and use these intimate insights as tools that allow our 17 acres of vineyards to express their true character through the fruit it produces. Located right between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the vineyard, orchard, and olive groves cover steep hillsides that allow the plants to extend their dry-farmed roots into ancient substrate of sedimentary rock deposits known as Linne Calado.
Every season our soil is rejuvenated with our own aged compost inoculated with biodynamic preps. Chickens, cows, and sheep enliven the land with their valuable manure, aerate the soil with their hooves, and are an excellent source of weed control. We let them loose in the vineyard during the winter months to mow the cover crop and wild grasses.
We have 600 Spanish varietal olive trees, and we produce dry-farmed, estate Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, that is for sale at our winery. We always have oil cured olives on hand in the tasting room. Ambyth Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich and pure, with no added enzymes.
Online Shop: ambythestate.com
Contact:
info@ambythestate.com
510 Sequoia Lane
Templeton, CA 93465
805-423-1904
Apricot Lane Farms
Since 2011, Apricot Lane Farms has cultivated great-tasting, nutrient-dense food through farming practices that enhance the health and beauty of its entire farm ecosystem. Across 234 acres in Moorpark, California, the farm cultivates 100+ varieties of fruits and vegetables, while raising animals such as cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks within a regenerative system. Apricot Lane Farms has been certified Biodynamic for over a decade, using practices such as prep-making, animal grazing, cover cropping, and composting to build biodiversity above and below the soil.
The farm cultivates 15+ varieties of avocados across 40+ acres of Biodynamic avocado orchards. These avocados are shipped nationwide, offering consumers a way to source just-picked, Biodynamic avocados directly from the farm.
From these avocados, Apricot Lane Farms produces the world’s only Biodynamic Extra Virgin Avocado Oil. Hass avocados are ripened to perfection and then gently pressed to extract the emerald green oil, while preserving nutrients and flavor.
Online Shop: apricotlanefarms.com
Contact: info@apricotlanefarms.com
Benziger Family Winery
Benziger Family Winery is located in Glen Ellen, California. Our ranch has been home to olive trees since it was first settled in 1860. Then, in the late 1990s, as we transitioned the estate to Biodynamic farming, we added hundreds more trees to contribute to the biodiversity of our vineyards. As pioneers of Biodynamic farming practices, we view our estate as a single living ecosystem, by inviting nature into the estate and honoring the connection of all living things. The land thrives on biodiversity, so we cultivate diverse plants, attract beneficial birds and insects, use natural preparations to nurture the soil, and raise sheep and cows among our vines. Through Biodynamic farming, the best of what the land possesses is reflected in everything we produce from our ranch.
Today, we’re growing over 1,200 trees at our flourishing estate, including some that are over 200 years old. It was only natural that we create a Biodynamic Estate Olive Oil from the bounty that we hand harvest every fall.
Our distinctive blend of Leccino and Maurino olives makes a mild, fruity, and slightly peppery flavor profile. The result is an ideal finishing oil that’s perfect for dipping fresh-baked bread, dressing farmers’ market salads, or drizzling over grilled veggies.
Our oils are available to purchase in the Benziger tasting room or by calling the winery.
Website: benziger.com
Contact:
guestservices@benziger.com
1883 London Ranch Road
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-935-3000
Culinary Collective
Culinary Collective is a Demeter-certified importer of Spanish foods, in particular Biodynamic olive oils from Castillo de Canena. We are committed to sustainable and responsible sourcing. We work with small suppliers who support traditional local economies. We believe great food should nourish people, communities, and the planet. That’s why we take a holistic approach to sustainability across all of our products.
A family-owned gem from Andalucía, Spain, Castillo de Canena has crafted award-winning extra virgin olive oils since 1780. With a rich heritage and commitment to sustainability, their oils, revered worldwide, blend artisanal tradition with modern innovation. “As farmers and harvesters, we feel the need to take care of our trees and the ecosystem in which they grow. Committed to our countryside, we practice regenerative agriculture to take care of the health of our soils and thus guarantee their future…. Biodynamic agriculture seeks the integral balance between the soil, the trees, the animals and Man.”
These award-winning olive oils can be purchased online.
Online Shop: culinarycollective.com
Contact:
info@culinarycollective.com
4620 Campus Place, Suite 240
Mukilteo, Washington 98275
(425) 398-9761
DAMYA
At DAMYA, we believe exceptional olive oil begins with healthy, living soil. Rooted in our family groves in Tunisia, we farm in harmony with nature, embracing Biodynamic principles that restore biodiversity and strengthen the land season after season. Our Demeter Certified Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the purest expression of that philosophy — single origin, harvest dated, and cold extracted within hours of picking.
What makes DAMYA unique is our belief that people shouldn’t need a different olive oil for every recipe. Rather than dictating which oil belongs in the frying pan and which belongs on the table, we crafted four distinct oils — Biodynamic, Robust, Delicate, and Unfiltered — all held to the same uncompromising quality standard. We call it four expressions, one quality standard. Whether you’re finishing a salad, roasting vegetables, baking a cake, or simply enjoying fresh bread, the choice should be guided by flavor, not by a rulebook.
Our approach is rooted in Tunisia’s agricultural heritage and centuries of Amazigh wisdom about working with nature rather than against it. As stewards of the land, our goal is simple: produce exceptional olive oil while leaving our groves healthier for the generations that follow.
Our oils are available online and in-store nationwide at Whole Foods Markets.
Online Shop: damya.com
Contact: hello@damya.com
Follow us on Instagram: @tastedamya
Fattoria La Vialla
In 1978, when Giuliana and Piero Lo Franco bought the Fattoria’s first farmstead they had a dream: seeing the abandoned countryside come back to life. Immediately from the start the organic cultivation method was adopted. The next step was taken in 1997 with the introduction of biodynamic agriculture. Now, almost 50 years later, the farm-winery is in the hands of their three sons, Gianni, Antonia, and Bandino.
The Fattoria has some 1400 hectares of vineyards, olive groves, vegetable, and fruit patches and woodland. The organic-Biodynamic products include several kinds of red, white, and sparkling wines, extra virgin olive oil, several kinds of pasta and pasta sauces, typical aperitives, marmalades, honey, and biscuits. The products combined guarantee a 360-degree Mediterranean culinary experience.
What makes Fattoria La Vialla’s extra virgin Olive Oil so special? The olives are stone-ground by natural millstones that are enclosed in a transparent, hermetically sealed dome (patented by La Vialla!) which makes it possible to continue stone grinding while fully protecting the extra virgin olive oil from oxidation and avoiding stripping it off its nutritional content.
Online Shop: lavialla.com
Contact: fattoria@lavialla.it
Filigreen Farm
Situated between hills of mixed coniferous redwood forest to the west and oak woodlands to the east, Filigreen Farm is located on 97 acres in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County, California. It is a Demeter-certified Biodynamic and CCOF-certified organic diversified farm, producing an array of orchard fruits, blueberries, olives, wine and table grapes, vegetables, cut flowers, and herbs. Year-round offerings of value-added products include olive oil, everlasting flowers, dried fruit, and tea. The farm also houses an apiary and an ongoing inquiry into water revitalization through the use of flowforms and other vortices by design.
Experimentation and research are central to Filigreen’s mission. New cultivars, rootstocks, training methods, and nursery techniques are continually developed, applied, and adapted, which give the farm the independence it needs for intensive production. The successful riparian restoration of Anderson Creek, a major tributary of the Navarro River that bisects the farm, serves as an example and training ground for other riparian restoration efforts in the valley. Large portions of the farm are dedicated to natural spaces of forest and river habitat for native species. A conservation easement held by the Anderson Valley Land Trust ensures protection of the land to be used for organic and Biodynamic agriculture in perpetuity.
Filigreen’s olives, planted in the high-density technique used throughout the farm, include Spanish Arbequina and Arbosana, as well as frost-hearty Tuscan varieties. The olives are milled at Olivino’s certified organic facility in Hopland to produce Biodynamic olive oil, which is sold in the online store and at several local locations.
Online Shop: filigreenfarm.com
Contact: hello@filigreenfarm.com
Follow on Instagram: @filigreenfarm
Golden Vineyards
Golden Vineyards is located in Mendocino County, California, and has been certified Biodynamic since 1994. Joe and Julie Golden own the land, which comprises about 2,000 acres of oak woodlands and conifer forests, with less than 60 acres in production.
Golden Vineyards includes about 35 acres of winegrapes and 7.5 acres of Italian, Greek, and Spanish olives for oil. Their high-quality olive oil can be sampled as part of the food selection at their restaurant, the Golden Pig, which features products from numerous local farms.
They write, “Our restaurant is FARM DRIVEN, and was founded on the belief that food produced on healthy soil, with clean water, lots of sunshine and minimal intervention will keep you healthy. By investing in the land and the farmer, we’re creating a culture that strengthens goodwill among local businesses and not only delivers fine food to each of our customers but serves as an educational source that inspires dialogue about the sustainable food movement, seasonality, and stewardship.”
Website: www.thegoldenpig.com
Contact:
info@thegoldenpig.com
13380 S. Hwy 101
Hopland 95449
SunHawk Farms
SunHawk Farms is a small family-owned Biodynamic farm and homestead overlooking the lush Hopland valley in Mendocino County, California.
John Schaeffer and Nantzy Hensley purchased the 320 acres for SunHawk Farms in 1998 and did so with a commitment to steward and care for the land in the most sustainable and regenerative way possible. John and Nantzy founded Real Goods and the Solar Living Institute, which they ran for over 40 years out of the Solar Living Center in Hopland.
At SunHawk Farms, our extra virgin olive oil, high in health-giving antioxidants, is an expression of place, patience, and purpose. The 2025 harvest tested with a polyphenol count of 475 mg/kg (nearly double the 250 mg/kg minimum required for the European Union cardiovascular health claim).
Through thoughtful cultivation, gentle milling, and an unwavering focus on quality, our oils capture both the terroir of Northern California and the rich tradition of artisanal olive growing. For over five thousand years, people have been harvesting this wellspring of good health. Our olives are grown along the hills in Mendocino County, California — home of the greatest number of organic farms in the U.S. Here, we grow over 4,000 olive trees of the Tuscan varieties. Using strict Biodynamic techniques, our olives are harvested by hand and pressed just down the hill at Olivino. Each year, our harvest grows.
SunHawk Farms’ extra virgin olive oil can be purchased online and can also be found at retail locations in Northern California and in many high-end holistic body care products.
Online Shop: sunhawkfarms.com
Contact:
2001 Duncan Springs Rd,
Hopland, CA 95449
(t) 1-707-272-3128