Appalled by the effects of traditional agriculture, Stellenbosch wine farmer Johan Reyneke has opted for a radically different approach.

‘‘There’s only one thing I want to show you and that is the soil,” Johan Reyneke says when I meet him on his family wine farm near Stellenbosch. In no time he has me digging under the vines with my bare hands. I work my fingers effortlessly into the soil and am surprised to feel it soon becoming moist. I take out a handful and see that it is filled with humus.

“That is what healthy soil looks like,” Johan tells me. “Dark, packed with clods and fine roots, and inhabited by a variety of creepy?crawlies.” Fascinated, I watch a shongololo, a worm and a mieliebug trying to make a fast exit from the root of a dandelion.

When we visit the next patch of vines, only a few metres away, I’m amazed at the difference in the soil. “It’s still undergoing conversion; that’s why it’s not so dark and supple,” Johan explains. “But wait till we get to the next patch.” When we do, I’m shocked. The soil is as hard as rock and has no trace of life in it. Johan points to the farmlands around us. “It’s like that everywhere around here: dead earth as a result of conventional farming.”

‘Kill first, then reanimate’ appears to be the motto of conventional farming. “But it just doesn’t make sense to rid the land of weeds with herbicides and then use fertiliser to reintroduce nutrients into it,” says Johan. “In conventional – and organic – vineyards, weeds are seen as competing for the nutrients and moisture which the vines need. We, however, see them as messengers that inform us about the condition of the soil.”

After graduating from university, Johan worked on the farm with his dad. “But I struggled with the conflict between our agricultural practices and my understanding of the interrelatedness of all life. By the time I inherited the farm in 1998, I felt at a total loss because I believed we were killing the land through conventional farming, but didn’t know any other method.”

Eventually Johan decided to try organic farming. But back in 1998 there was no formal training in organic farming and, worse, you were considered a threat to conventional farming. Johan ran into major resistance from agricultural organisations which believed his land would attract all sorts of pests.

“It was Jeanne Malherbe, the former doyenne of South African organic and biodynamic farming, who saved me,” says Johan. “She taught me how to read the land like a book. From the weeds I was able to deduce where the soil was too compacted or too high or low in certain nutrients, and this in turn enabled me to improve our farming practices.”

Today Johan’s farming is based on the principles of biodynamic agriculture, where farmers see their properties as self?sufficient ‘wholes’ and use cows to supply their fertiliser.

Another essential aspect of biodynamic farming is inherent value rather than commercial value. “In today’s increasingly materialistic world it is easy to forget that a cow is worth more than just R18 x 500kg,” says Johan. “She is also ‘Daisy’, the lovable creature who trims the pastures and provides entertainment for the children.”

Biodynamic farmers foster the health of their land by using a range of special preparations. Johan makes his own, using herbs such as dandelion, yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettles and equisitium, as well as oak bark, ground silica and cow manure.

I absolutely love it when he tells me about ‘Preparation 500’. “Do you want to hear the Old or the New School version?” he asks. Intrigued, I want to hear both.

“The Old School version revolves around the tradition of the ‘Holy Cow’.

“They also see the Earth, or Mother Nature, as a living entity, one that breathes in during autumn and winter and breathes out during spring and summer. So in autumn a preparation of cow manure is put in a cow horn and buried in the soil to capture the ‘incoming energy’. In spring, it is dug up and diluted with water. The mixture is vigorously stirred to energise it and a double handful is then splashed on the soil with a brush. At first I was sceptical about Preparation 500, but the results are truly amazing,” says Johan.

The Old School version sounds like sheer poetry to me – and I’m sold on it. The New School version, by contrast, is no more than a scientific explanation of the effectiveness of Preparation 500. ‘Cow manure is better balanced than the manure of any other farm animal’, it explains. ‘Cow horn contains bacteria which enhance the composting process. The horn is buried in winter because the soil is moist then and more conducive to microbial activity. The vigorous stirring adds oxygen to the mixture, which is also good for microbial activity’.

The aim of biodynamic farmers is to develop land that requires minimal external input to deliver high quality produce and has no negative impact on the environment. In keeping with this aim, Johan believes wines should not be ‘made’ and thus avoids the use of enzymes, protein and cold stabilisations. “My ultimate goal is to produce wines that accurately portray the uniqueness of my vineyards,” he explains.

Biodynamic farmers also work with the natural and cosmic rhythms that regulate life on Earth. “There’s nothing mystical about this,” Johan says. “I’m a surfer and see the cycles of nature in the sea and moon. Thus we harvest our grapes and rack our wines in accordance with natural and cosmic rhythms.”

Johan’s ‘Reserve Red 2007’ was voted the best wine by Neil Pendock at Winex, so clearly working with nature does pay off. But, more importantly, farmers like Johan offer us the true gift of nature – unadulterated goodness for the body and soul to enjoy.

Reyneke Wines 021 881 3451/ 3517, www.reynekewines.co.za

BIODYNAMIC FARMING

Biodynamic Agriculture is based on the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner, who built up his ideas about farming through keenly observing plants and animals, studying traditional farming practices, science and deep spiritual research.

Biodynamic Calendar
Through the centuries farmers have learnt the wisdom of planting, pruning and harvesting in harmony with the moon and the position of the constellations. During the 20th century, Maria Thun researched and experimented with this wisdom. She identified patterns and rhythms which proved that the different positions of the moon and constellations did affect farming activities. She formalised this knowledge into what is now known as the biodynamic calendar.

For more information on biodynamic farming, or to order a biodynamic calendar, visit  www.bdaasa.org.za – the website of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association of South Africa.

Johan’s advice:
1. Start working the mind. True success comes from within, not from commercial motivation.
2. Start with a small project – you’re bound to make mistakes.
3. Once you understand the process and things start working out it’s quite easy to increase the area. Johan started with 0,25ha then went to 20ha and is now doing 50ha.
4. Ask plenty of questions and get involved with like-minded people.