The Pfeiffer Center at Threefold Community Farm
Midwinter Agriculture Intensive
THE AGRICULTURAL INDIVIDUALITY
With Mac Mead, Megan Durney, Kim Vaughan,
Harald Hoven, Alex Tuchman, Hugh Williams,
Sea-Anna Vasilas, Jennifer Kleinbach
TO REGISTER, SCROLL DOWN OR CLICK HERE
In this centennial year of the lectures “Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture,” given by Rudolf Steiner in June, 1924, we are focusing on what for many is the guiding star for the biodynamic work – the image of caring for the earth and her kingdoms as for a living being that can unfold and develop into an independent self-sustaining individuality.
We will explore the inner and outer practices helpful in nurturing this special being in lectures, open conversations, and artistic activities.
Approaching the 100 year anniversary of biodynamics, we look forward to gathering around the topic of the Agricultural Individuality. As land stewards, how do we hear the voice of the land and support its manifold expressions? How does our inner life influence the development of the landscape? Please be inspired by the land you live with and bring your landscape with you in spirit to our gathering. On Sunday night we will have a Talent Show where we hope your offerings can be influenced by the landscapes you carry in your hearts.
*****
Click here for detailed schedule.
*****
The Midwinter Agriculture Intensive 2024 will include the following presentations:
“Celebrating the Centennial of the Agriculture Course – Approaching the Agricultural Individuality” by Mac Mead
(This is part of the conference; separate tickets are also available, click here.)
We’ll look at the context and significance of Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture lectures given in June 1924 in Koberwitz, Silesia, and focus on a central theme, the agricultural individuality. What are the What, Why, How, and When of this guiding star of biodynamic work?
“Raphael Garden: An Individuality of Farm & Farmer” by Harald Hoven
Creating a farm or garden individuality begins with a great deal of consideration, love, and confidence that the work can be done. Becoming intimately familiar with each part of your landscape, the plants, animals, and other beings seen and unseen, helps to bring them together as a whole as you learn to listen and speak to the being of the land. Harald will share his experience shaping the individuality of Raphael Garden for over 30 years and offer insights for your own journey.
“The Spikenard Individuality and Honey Ceremony” by Alex Tuchman
The living relationships, which create a network of kinship in the diversity of a farm ecosystem, have both a physical reality, and a spiritual one. Where does the plant end? Where the insect begins! In this time together, we will explore the wonderful mysteries of the insect world and their interactions and relationships within the agricultural individuality. This time will end with an experiential study of honey through a ceremonial process, bringing us into a sensory connection and enlivening our relationship to the being of the landscape.
“Experiencing the Individuality of Your Landscape: Inner Work” by Alex Tuchman
Who are you? What do you need? How can I serve you? These earnest, heart-felt questions, held as a path of inquiry, inform an experiential process for developing loving interest in the other. When we don’t assume we know it all, and remove prejudices from our consciousness, an intimate beholding and communion can happen between us and the other. But how can we do this with an agricultural individuality? Who is this being? The paradox is that this individuality is both one being, and a dynamic multidimensional being with many faces and facets. We will begin this time together by exploring a spiritual relationship to individuality, and then go outdoors and engage in experiential exercises to connect and commune.
“My Karma Ran over My Dogma: Individualizing a Farm” by Hugh Williams
Hugh Williams has worked in biodynamics for almost 5 decades and will share what has most inspired him, the unfolding of the farm organism into a unique individuality, crafted in a specific location by individuals karmically connected.
“Cows and Compost: The Belly of the Land” by Kim Vaughan & Megan Durney (walk and talk)
The farm individuality expresses itself before our very eyes. We walk within the belly of the farm in a world that is in constant transformation due to the dynamic metabolic activity of the animals and soil itself. We will explore some lawful relationships that allow the being of the land to be seen.
Speech with Jennifer Kleinbach
We will start the day with speech — working generally with the elements of our speaking and particularly with the planetary qualities that underly Rudolf Steiner’s beloved verse “Being sprung of the world-all,” which gives a picture of a stage in the incarnation of a human individuality.
Eurythmy with Sea-Anna Vasilas
In the harmonious movement art of eurythmy, we will explore the beings of the planets, their movements and gestures, in relationship to a verse given by Rudolf Steiner from the Mysteries of Ephesus.
The Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble is presenting an evening program
A Shovel of Stars Overhead: Where To? What Next?
(This is part of the conference; separate tickets are also available, click here.)
*****
Click here for detailed schedule.
*****
Please note: This is not an introductory course. Participants are expected to be familiar with Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture lectures and to have some working knowledge of biodynamics.
*****
REGISTRATION: Click on the ticket link below to register.
SCHEDULE: The course begins with a presentation on Friday evening at 7:30 pm and concludes with lunch at 12:30 pm on Monday. The detailed schedule will be posted soon.
CONFERENCE RATE: $395
An Early Bird Special through December 31, 2023: A $15 adjusted rate for those who have participated in previous years. Please email [email protected] letting us know when you participated in the past.
DISCOUNT RATE: We are offering a discounted rate of $295 for Fellowship members and employees at institutions in the Threefold community. To obtain the discount registration link, please email [email protected] letting us know your affiliation.
APPRENTICE RATE: A rate of $195 is available for farm apprentices who were active during the 2023 season or will be apprenticing in 2024. Please send an email to [email protected] with a short description of your apprenticeship and why you feel this course would benefit your continued learning. Once reviewed and approved, you will receive a link to register at the apprentice rate.
CANCELLATION POLICY: You may cancel your registration any time before December 31, 2023, for a full refund, less a $25 administrative fee. No refunds will be offered after December 31, 2023.
MEALS: Catered lunch Saturday-Monday and dinners on Saturday and Sunday, all provided by Threefold Café, are included in your registration fee. The Café will also be open for dinner on Friday evening and will be offering simple breakfast options each morning on a pay-as-you-go basis.
ACCOMODATIONS are available on campus at the Holder House, through our local homestay list, or at several hotels a short drive away. Click here to visit the Holder House web page for more information about these accommodation options. Once registered, you will receive a booking code to reserve a room at Holder House.
PRESENTERS
MAC MEAD mentors Threefold Community Farm staff and interns. Mac began farming in 1975, when he had the “privilege and good fortune” to learn biodynamic methods directly from former co-workers of biodynamic pioneer Ehrenfried Pfeiffer at the Fellowship Community. In 2006, Mac became the Program Director of the Pfeiffer Center. The core instructor of our Biodynamic Course, Mac regularly speaks at conferences of the Biodynamic Association (BDA), the Northeast Organic Farming Association, and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. In 2016, he was an invited speaker at “The Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture,” a conference of the Harvard Divinity School.
HARALD HOVEN founded and ran Raphael Garden at Rudolf Steiner College (Fair Oaks, CA) from 1987 to 2007. There he trained close to 100 apprentices, created a seed-saving and breeding program, established biodynamic adult education at RSC, and operated a year-round 70-member CSA. Since his retirement from RSC in 2017, he has consulted, trained, and mentored biodynamic farmers in the U.S. and abroad, focusing on preparation making and biodynamic practices.
HUGH WILLIAMS, one of the best orchardists in the East and a biodynamic farmer, brings his perspective on harnessing the local ecology to cultivate the farm individuality. Hugh is the owner of Threshold Farm in Philmont, NY. He has been growing fruit trees and orchards using biodynamic methods on a commercial scale for more than forty five years.
ALEX TUCHMAN is a beekeeper, educator, farmer, author, and student of nature. As the Director of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary, Alex carries a wide variety of responsibilities on the farm, with the bees, in the classroom, and in administration. Alex arrived at Spikenard Farm in March of 2014 after three years as the Farm Manager of Loyola University Chicago’s Student Farm in Woodstock, Illinois, his home-state. Alex is an active member and the co-leader of the Agriculture Section of the School for Spiritual Science and a consistent contributor to the biodynamic agriculture and natural beekeeping movements, and regularly teaches at conferences in the U.S., around the world, and online. Alex’s book, A Lively Hive, was published in 2021, outlining the basic biodynamic beekeeping methods that are practiced and taught at Spikenard Farm.
MEGAN DURNEY is the Farm Manager and coordinates the daily work on our Threefold Community Farm, and is an instructor for Pfeiffer Center’s one-year part-time biodynamic training. She takes a leading role in planning and carrying out our annual Plant Sale and each season’s vegetable production. She directs our seed saving, herb growing, and herbal product production, and manages our CSA, Farm Stand, and sales to other outlets. Megan is a board member of the Nature Institute. Megan joined the Pfeiffer Center as an intern in 2006 and became a staff member in 2010. In 2014-2015, she studied seed saving under Harald Hoven at Raphael Garden in Fair Oaks, CA.
KIM VAUGHAN, Herdsperson and Dairy Manager, heads up the only dairy herd in Rockland County. In addition to supporting all aspects of Threefold Community Farm operations and administration, she is an active member of the Fellowship Community’s Administrative Circle and Community Council. Kim first met biodynamics at a year-long course with Harald Hoven at Raphael Garden in Fair Oaks, CA. She soon joined their CSA and became a star volunteer, serving on the steering committee, organizing fundraisers, and milking the cows on weekends. In 2016, Kim stepped away from Waldorf kindergarten teaching to become a full-time apprentice at Raphael Garden, followed by a summer at Fulcrum Farm in Grass Valley, CA, where she helped tend a small herd of Scottish Highland cows.
SEA-ANNA VASILAS has been teaching eurythmy internationally since 2011, after graduating from the four-year eurythmy training at Eurythmy Spring Valley in Chestnut Ridge, NY. She first encountered eurythmy through her work with biodynamic agriculture and has continually been inspired by the living relationship between biodynamics and eurythmy. Sea-Anna earned her MA in Performance Eurythmy from Alanus Hochschule (Germany), and is currently a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley faculty and ensemble.
JENNIFER KLEINBACH, Speech Artist, teaches speech for the School of Eurythmy, Sunbridge Institute, and the Fiber Craft Studio. She also coordinates community speech ensembles for local festival performances. Jennifer received her Speech Formation diploma from the Speech School of North America and her eurythmy diploma from Eurythmy Spring Valley. She has toured with Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble as a eurythmist and speaker, and performed in Threefold community productions of Rudolf Steiner’s mystery dramas (2007, 2012-2014). Jennifer holds a BA in classical languages from Haverford College and an MA in medieval studies from the University of Notre Dame.