Ask Jim

A farmer-to-farmer blog with Biodynamic farmer Jim Fullmer. 

Contemplations From My Farm

A couple of months ago, as our berry harvest was winding down, I found myself crushing the last beautifully plump, ripe fruit of the year into a bucket destined towards fermentation and vinegar to be used by many I have never met.

As in the year prior, and all the years before that, with that final bucket or two came the profound thought that in the big picture I am merely a character in a much wider drama, played out on the great earthly and celestial stage of humanity’s dance with the natural world.

I know I am not alone in this profound thought. It is one considered by those who share, amongst other things, a foundation in farming.   Farming is where we find answers to life’s subtle questions, inspiration, imagination and peace of mind.

Biodynamic® farming, and the products that result, is what some of us farmers bring to the marketplace on a local, regional, or national level. Soulful food in a jungle of GMO, corn-fed crap. Biodynamic is a method of so-called “sustainable” agriculture that is not new to the global consumer, and in fact has been represented by the Demeter seal for nearly 80 years.  But today, here in the United States, we find it starting to trickle into that jungle, one stream amongst many others that hopefully will precipitate serious change in the health of people and the health of our planet.

These are interesting times fellow Biodynamic farmers. The Demeter Standards that define and protect Biodynamic agriculture are rigorous and not something that anyone can jump into and achieve overnight. Patience will definitely be a virtue.  In this example, supply will take a while to catch up with demand.

But hear this- sister and brother farmers out there in America- for those of you willing to dive into the primordial Biodynamic soup with all of your soul: I say now is the time. The fruit is getting ripe, and the great drama of the earthly and celestial wheel rolls on.