Austrian educationalist Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) had many hats. As well as being an educational reformer, he was an architect and a scientist who founded the biodynamic approach to agriculture, warning farmers that the widespread use of chemical fertilisers would lead to the decline of soil, plant and animal health and the loss of nutrients in food. (Tuesday June 28th, 2022 — Nursery World)

Jeevan Angelo McKnight ... Until 10th grade, McKnight attended Ann Arbor’s Skyline High School, where he was on the wrestling team and said he racked up a few concussions. Now, he is homeschooled, but more important for his aims was his stint at the Rudolf Steiner School, where he developed a passion for the arts, painting and singing. (Saturday June 18th, 2022 — MLive.com Michigan, USA)

In Michigan’s still-young but expanding wine industry, there’s always room for people who want to try something new, challenge the norm and push boundaries. Include BOS Wine among those innovators. New to the state’s flourishing wine scene, with a tasting room far off the beaten trail, BOS Wine offers customers something entirely new: A menu that highlights both Michigan and California wines, as well as seated tastings (so far, a fairly new practice at tourist-driven wineries) at its location in Elk Rapids. (Thursday June 16th, 2022 — Second Wave Media)

But by sequencing her entire genome, and setting it next to the historical specimen collected in 1906, researchers this week confirmed that the tortoises, a century apart, were of the same long-considered-extinct lineage: The fantastic giant tortoise — “with a current known population size of a single individual.” That means she’s considered an “endling,” or the last known individual in a species or subspecies. (Thursday June 16th, 2022 — Washington Post - Washington DC USA)

But now researchers have found a new genetic population of polar bears in Greenland that don’t rely on sea ice to hunt, rewriting how we think about the sea bears and their ability to adapt to a warming planet. ... Much of the population’s uniqueness comes from their remote location in the southeast corner of Greenland. (Thursday June 16th, 2022 — Washington Post - Washington DC USA)

The Wrekin is not certified biodynamic, but cow pat pits, and the rhythmic - then chaotic - stirring of preparations, according to the lunar cycle, are key to this extraordinary property. On the surface, visitors to The Wrekin see a happy cow and a picturesque patchwork of vines, interspersed with an olive plantation and duck-laden pond, park-like hillsides of oak and sequoia, groves of native trees, and a backdrop of golden hills, where Jan and her husband Andrew farm beef and superfine merino. (Wednesday June 15th, 2022 — Rural News Group - New Zealand)

As governments and companies race to slash their emissions, there is increasing interest in the ability of natural landscapes, such as forests, wetlands and mangroves, to protect against the risks posed by climate change. Horticulturalists say the humble garden can also serve as a powerful tool in this fight. (Sunday June 12th, 2022 — BBC online)

When you drive up to a biodynamic vineyard, the first thing you notice is how beautiful it is, Chris Benziger, the vintner at Benziger Family Winery in Sonoma, California, told Travel + Leisure. It's full of "habitat highways," like olive trees and lavender bushes, as well as animals roaming, like the sheep on Benziger's land, which do everything from pushing debris into the ground to eating leaves and even fertilizing as they go. (Saturday June 11th, 2022 — Travel + Leisure)

Organic certified wines from the USA will always have the USDA Organic seal. Look out for Demeter Biodynamic certifications as well. These indicate that the wines are organic and go a step further to follow special farming practices (Friday June 10th, 2022 — Prestige Hong Kong)

In 1970, a violent storm uncovered a Makah village that was buried by a mudslide more than 300 years earlier. A newly re-opened museum tells the fascinating story of the ancient site. (Monday June 6th, 2022 — BBC online)

Hidden in the beautiful Moss Valley, south Sheffield, Moss Valley Market Garden grows vegetables and fruit that are as good for you as they are for the earth. Sheffield's finest biodynamic and organic vegetables and fruit market uses purely natural growing techniques and follows the rhythms of nature to ensure that the produce is brimming with health and vitality. (Sunday June 5th, 2022 — Yorkshire Live - UK)

Researchers were stunned when they discovered a species of seagrass had effectively cloned itself for 4,500 years and covered nearly 80 square miles. (Wednesday June 1st, 2022 — Huffpost)

Created 300 years ago, Jaipur's Jantar Mantar is an outdoor complex filled with gargantuan astronomy tools designed to be used by the naked eye – and they're still accurate. (Tuesday May 31st, 2022 — BBC online)

Mistletoe, a semi-parasitic plant that grows in the branches of trees all over the world, has been used as a herbal medicine for thousands of years for conditions such as epilepsy, spleen disorders, pain and rheumatic conditions. Just over 100 years ago, in 1917, Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher with incredibly keen observation skills, noticed the mistletoe looks a lot like a tumor, and proposed it might have anticancer properties. Many vitalistic medical practices, such as Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, naturopathy and homeopathy, for example, use the doctrine of signatures, which is what Steiner was suggesting. (Sunday May 29th, 2022 — Verve times)

There are many animals that make elaborate structures, but almost all of this output serves a practical rather than aesthetic purpose. ... Nevertheless, there are some creatures that create objects of beauty without any seemingly practical purpose. (Sunday May 29th, 2022 — BBC online)

At this time, the federal government and big ag are neglecting local production. That is where community groups are stepping up to fill in present day nutrition gaps and push us towards more local food security. (Sunday May 29th, 2022 — Daily Kos )

The packaging of Šuran biodynamic wines, the work of the Rovinj Studio Tumpić/Prenc, won second place in the category of wines and champagnes of the prestigious world competition Dieline Awards. (Tuesday May 24th, 2022 — CroatiaWeek)

Sir Albert Howard, F.H. King, Rudolf Steiner, and others established the principles of organic agriculture in the early 1900s, believing that the use of animal manures (typically converted into compost), cover crops, crop rotation, and biologically based pest treatments resulted in a healthier agricultural system. (Monday May 23rd, 2022 — NatureWorldNews)

Looking at the history of winegrowing, within the larger context of modern agriculture, its impact on our planet, and the present and future threats presented by climate change, a first do no harm agriculture policy is a path forward to a better future. (Friday May 20th, 2022 — Forbes)

Scientists say massive tractors could be damaging up to a fifth of global land used to grow crops. (Tuesday May 17th, 2022 — BBC online)