Associated Press Writer
Gena Nonini, 46, a third-generation San Joaquin Valley farmer who grows citrus, vegetables and grapes, is comfortable talking about some of the elements considered most esoteric by conventional farmers.
The moon, planets and sun all exert an influence on the earth, some of it in ways that can be measured, such as gravity and the ebb and flow of tides, she said. Why shouldn't they also affect the sprouting of a seed or the ripening of fruit?
"I see the farm as a symphony, and the farmer as a conductor," Nonini said. "The universe writes the music."
As for the soil preparations — made with manure buried in cow horns, ground up crystals and other unusual elements — they're just a way to gently prod plants in the direction they need to go, much like homeopathic remedies, she explained.
Still, she conceded it might be hard for some farmers to become comfortable stuffing yarrow flowers in deer bladders after a lifetime of spraying chemicals purchased by the gallon.
"It can be difficult to wrap your head around it," Nonini said. "The way I see it, it spoke to my heart first."
Two-hundred miles north, a growing number of San Francisco foodies are buying into the philosophy — or at least its results.
Mark Ellenbogen, bar manager for the well-regarded restaurant Slanted Door, uses biodynamic citrus in his drinks and features biodynamic wines on his list.
"I just see a depth of flavor that I don't see in any other product," he said. "It's hard to describe. It just tastes really good: the complexity, the intensity of flavor."
Most U.S. grocers and distributors don't carry biodynamic foods because the farms are still too small and too few to supply enough produce to meet their needs, said Bu Nygrens, purchasing manager at Veritable Vegetable, the country's original organic produce distributor.
It's also easier to sell the biodynamic philosophy with wine — a packaged good with a label that can tell a story — than with a vegetable such as broccoli, she said. But that may change as consumers think more about consuming organic, local, seasonal food — ideas important in biodynamics.
"We're trying to get people to think of things totally differently," Nygrens said, "and that's just going to take a while."
