Re: Copper Culture-Biodynamic farming

**l*@juno.com**

 Hi All,

On our recent trip to California, we toured the Benziger Vineyards in
Glen Ellen, which are wholly grown according to biodynamic farming
methods. They also pay a cash incentive, on a sliding scale, for
subcontractor farmers who use various levels of organic farming methods,
with biodynamic methods being the highest paid.

This does not entail antennae, copper wires, or anything like that.
However, crops are grown between the rows to be used as green fertilizer
for the vines, they have a garden in the middle of the vineyard that is
specifically designed to attract the various sorts of insects the plants
need, and you will see lavender and other plants growing among the vine
rows. The vineyard is situated in a bowl-shaped area that is made up of
differing soils, subsoils, and bedrock. The grapes are planted on those
soils and with that exposure that best suits the particular type of
grape. They release sheep to mow the rows, and raise cattle and sheep for
manure. They use no pesticides and no manufactured fertilizers.

And they are very successful.
We found it all very interesting.

Regards,
Lois
Visit http://loisdevries.blogspot.com

On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:16:42 +0100 Kathryn Marsh <kmarsh@iol.ie> writes:
> I'm familiar with much of the work cited on this page and there are  
> 
> problems with quite a lot of it. 
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