Student Profile of Lesley Huddleston, Certificate in Applied Organics & Biodynamics 2009 Graduate, by Annette Kendall

Having been on their Hawkes Bay property for seven years, both Les and her husband Cal wanted to find different methods that would benefit the farm and the soil.  The property has been ploughed and intensively cropped for the past 40 years and Cal likened the soil to a “drug addict” so dependent on chemical fertilizers that it has lost the ability to produce its own nutrients.

Les had previous knowledge of organics and described herself as a ‘complete novice’ with biodynamics, but knew that they wanted to, and had to incorporate some of those practices into their farm and also their tourism business “A Maze ‘n’ Fun (incorporating the Amazing Maze ‘n’ Maize and Corncob Crazy Golf).  The Certificate in Applied Organics and Biodynamics fed this inspiration and helped Les and Cal  convert a part of their property to organic and biodynamic methods of farming.  The rest of the farm is still in conversion phase which they aim to complete over the next five years. 

The course was made up of three week long block courses with assignments in between.  The block courses were a time of intensive information gathering after which the students would then go home and put the learning into practice.  Husband Cal says there was “always a big debriefing” when Les returned home.  Les spent up to 15 hours a week studying and says she never thought of it as a chore because every assignment involved a case study to be done on your own farm, household garden or business – “everything on the course was appropriate to our farm.”

Les found the field trips “very inspirational” and says she was quite unaware as to what other organic/biodynamic methods people were using on their own properties.  The organic and biodynamic community is a close knit movement which has a strong philosophy of sharing knowledge and offering support.  Taruna College has an established network of people who have been there and done that and Les has been grateful for the ongoing access to such a valuable resource.  Both Les and Cal have found that even the biggest commercial growers within the Hawkes Bay are open to genuine outside enquiries and are willing to share their knowledge and expertise regarding organic methods.

Les says for her the farm now “feels different”.  “I never actually felt very connected with the farm but now I feel like I am”.  She says the course has enabled her to become a lot more aware of the plants, soil and weather.  Part of the content involved honing observation skills through drawing.  The participants performed weekly plant studies and Les found that by sketching she developed a better understanding of the plant life cycle.

Les feels the Organics and Biodynamics course gave her “a whole different perspective and new skills for looking after herself and her family”.  It’s evident to this writer that it also helped her to develop an honest and true love of the land.

The students themselves were from all over New Zealand and there was even a Canadian who had come to New Zealand specifically to do the course.  Taruna College has a world-wide reputation and Les feels fortunate to have something this good on her own doorstep.

Last year Paul Robinson won the prestigious Markham Young Viticulturist of the Year Award for Hawke’s Bay. This year he’s been studying organics and biodynamics at Taruna, as he sees it:

“options for the future!”

Paul had not had much exposure to organics until he did a stint last winter at Villa Maria’s organic Joseph Soler Vineyard and “was really interested and keen to learn more.” Villa Maria offered him the option of doing the Certificate in Applied Organics and Biodynamics at Taruna, and were very supportive throughout the course, which was “a huge help.”

The course structure gave him the flexibility to continue working, and the time between seminars was like a maturing process, allowing him to digest the material. Compared with his previous educational experiences, the course was “a lot more relaxed…which made it easier to learn, you could absorb things better, and a lot more practical as well.”

Paul found the course “very good, thoroughly enjoyed it!” particularly the broad range of knowledge and practices, and relating these back to what he’s learnt already. A highlight for him was the fieldtrips, “seeing it put into practice, seeing it work for people.”  And the crossover with other areas of interest, other skills: “I’d always wanted to know how to prune an apple tree and I finally got to do it about a month ago, so I was really happy with that.”

Asked if there were any challenges, Paul laughs, “Singing! I held back for a start, but by the end I was getting pretty good at it….Things become a lot easier as you do them more.”  On the question of where to next, Paul is “keen to see more of the biodynamics in action and to further what I know about it. It’s been a really good starting point, and I just want to keep going, I guess…. Within the next few years I hope to go overseas and do my OE, and at the top of my list is to visit some of the organic and biodynamic vineyards around the world, and to soak it all up as much as I can.” But for now he is adamant that his first priority is to finish his final assignment and to get that certificate!

Not so long ago he was immersed in the corporate world – sales and marketing, developing property.  “The corporate world is about living in that head space.  What I’d neglected was here in my gut and when your mind starts ruling the gut you can make pretty bad fundamental errors. I guess this new stage of growth for me was about marrying the two and that was in my heart.”

So how did he get to Taruna?  In order to take a much needed break from the corporate whirl, Burton returned to his family land, at Kumeu north of Auckland.

 “I got to point where I was literally forced to go back to the garden.  I thought:  right what am I going to do here?  Like the prodigal’s son being forced to go home and seeing that the time has come.  I realised it was there that I was always the happiest.”

Faced with the 9 acre family farm (ex-kiwifruit and nashi pears) he wondered how he could work with the land in new ways.

 “One thing that really showed up was that the chemical way is no way at all. By chance someone mentioned biodynamics and I did a bit of research and thought this sounds like a good model.”

By the time Burton came face to face with biodynamics he was already on the road to developing his own land into a sustainable organic garden.  It was while doing a course called Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) at NorthTec last year, that he found “One Man, One Cow”, the DVD about Peter Proctor’s biodynamic work in India.

“It grabbed me.  I watched it 4 times.  Through that DVD Peter Proctor has become one of my heroes and before this all my heroes were in the corporate world.  I really admire what he’s done in India and saw that there was a lot more than just gardening in this.”

”He talks about the rich experience of working with others in a group and of meeting so many dedicated people. “Respecting how other people see the world and appreciating that sometimes there’s a time to stand up and speak but at other times we just sit back and listen.”

 “In all walks of life and all vocations there are people out there who are passionate about what they do and really follow their heart in what they do enjoy everyday for what it is.”

And this has been Burton’s path, the path back to his garden. “It was a bit like the story of The Alchemist – it was always under your nose the whole time – until you realise it you don’t see it.”

What has the hill country of Herbertville got in common with the Wimbledon Commons?  (No – not Wombles – but nearly!)  Both places have been a source of inspiration for Jenny Speedy, a 2008 graduate from the Certificate in Applied Organics and Biodynamics. Jenny grew up on a conventional sheep and beef hill-country farm in Herbertville, southern Wairarapa, and says she grew up “just loving the land”. Jenny went on to develop a lasting interest in horticulture, and travelled to the UK after completing her Diploma (Horticulture) at Lincoln.

Then in the beautiful, natural forests of England and the wild gardens of Wimbledon Common her love of true nature was rekindled. “That’s perhaps where I kicked off the feel of natural growing rather than controlled growing.”

Back in New Zealand in 1989, Jenny worked in Dene’s Garden Way in Havelock North for 10 years and there her interest of organic gardening grew. “While I was there I became really fed up with people coming in and buying chemically-produced  sprays and fertilisers.  There was just no care, it was so glaringly obvious.  So we tried to bring an organic influence mainly through encouraging greater use of compost and organic based products on the shelves.  At that time Peter Bacchus was making his wonderful Eco compost which we would sell.”

During her time at Dene’s Gardenway, Jenny met her partner Remco and together they bought Possum Lodge – a five acre property up the Tukituki River.  “We were in heaven,” Jenny recalls, and together they worked and lived organically with Possum Lodge, until some 2 years ago when they decided to sell and move to Hastings.“The reality of school set in,” says Jenny referring to her three children, ages 5, 7 and 9, “and we wanted to pursue other dreams.”

One of those dreams was to do the ‘organics and biodynamics course’ at Taruna, which Jenny had been lining up for more than 8 years.

For Jenny the course design very much reflected what they were learning.  “The course was structured in a very conscious way.  It started with the soil and built it up to the human being and then brought in the spiritual aspects.  There’s this beautiful foundation – building to where you are prepared (like the soil) and then you can (finally) relate to the developing plant.”

Jenny tells how the course has enriched her connection with plants. “The plant observation was wonderful.  I loved it but I had to work hard at that having come with conventional habits and then it wasn’t until the very end that it made sense.”

For Jenny it was a process of ‘bringing it through myself” and now the Dandelion, Jenny’s chosen plant for the observation exercise, is a dear garden friend.   

“I love Dandelions they are not a weed at all.  They are a true connector of the earth and the heavens, such a healing plant with this concentration of light-forces. Plants are such a symbol of life.  I look at the plant now and see a whole different thing – before I looked at the health only, but now it’s more ‘how and where the plant grows’ that can tell us something.”

Further catalysts for studying the Certificate
were motherhood and a deep concern for the health of the earth.
“This was a huge influence – how to feed my family the best way and nurturing our body, mind and soul – the complete nutritional picture; also, knowing that the past conventional ways just aren’t working and
wanting to help nurture the earth back to health.”

And the result? Jenny is now building a beautiful edible garden for her family at her Hastings home, and working biodynamically at thriving Te Koha Orchard.

Jenny runs two compost heaps – “one ready and one on the go” and is also passionate about saving seeds, especially of heritage plants.

Colin Ross discovered the Taruna Certificate in Organics and Biodynamics when the certified organic farm he was managing in Marlborough asked him to find out what was required for Demeter Certification. An assignment in the prospectus required the creation of a Farm Management Plan.  Colin realised that this would provide the groundwork towards Demeter Certification.  Crucial in Colin’s decision to sign up was the scheduling of the three eight-day live-in seminars at Hohepa in the non-growing season and the opportunity to establish a mentorship and network within BD organizations.

Now at the end of his third eight-day seminar Colin suggested that the locals should also live-in, mainly because in the evenings the group was able to stay holding onto the activity, through late night discussions, taking learning to a deeper level.   “The openness of our group meant an openness of discussions, which gave us the opportunity to explore our consciousness and to operate on several planes behind the material world resulting in a discovery of the forces that create our reality.”

“I have learnt to use the whole structure of the earth better, through better observing, and better custodianship.  I am developing intuitive pathways by tuning into the seasonal rhythms over a longer period of time and feel more grounded in Steiner principles.  This has helped me to become an independent decision maker and a better educator.  I am able to communicate the principles of biodynamics with understanding on many levels to my staff and consumers.”

Colin feels that the course is very diverse and is taught by quality lecturers ranging from the very academic to the practical.  “I have found the course to be a great medium for self-improvement as well as learning how to use the tools of organic and biodynamic farming.”

When asked about the singing and painting which is integral to all courses at Taruna, Colin replied that the “Philosophy of singing is a marvellous way to harmonise a group and to open each other up.  He added that, “If there was a lot more singing in the world we would be better farmers.”   “Painting helped me to observe the life behind the matter as well as developing a sense of the rhythms and expressions of the subjects at hand” he explained.

Colin has already encouraged members of his staff to complete the course and believes, that other courses Taruna offers are of relevance for example the cheese making and bread-making course offered in January.

As a wine and olive oil grower, Colin sees his role as providing joy for those who eat and drink his products.  He wants to put that joy into what he creates.  “There are no sour grapes in the vineyard.” he reminded me and then went to check the roast beef and vegetables.