Guest: Sam Statham from Rosnay Organic farm near Canowindra, NSW Introduction to this episode: My guest on this episode of the series is Sam Statham who grows vines, olive and fig trees on his farm, Rosnay located near to the town of Canowindra in the central west of NSW. This is also the home of Sam’s family his wife Simone and their three children Molly, Georgie and Floyd. Sam himself grew up with his two brothers on a family farm in NSW which he describes as a bush paradise of rough, hilly country, mostly non arable and often drought declared. During a life changing trip around New Zealand in the 1990s, Sam visited biodynamic farms there and took that biodynamic experience back into the family farm. Over the last 20 years Sam and his own family have continued to develop their farm using organic and biodynamic practices as well as turning it into a community title subdivision, with multiple growers working together under an organic covenant. A written account of Sam's biodynamic growing experiences is contained in a companion text profile booklet of all the guests interviewed for this podcast series. Also entitled ‘Stories of our Biodynamic Farmers and Gardeners in Australia' details of this written publication are available from the Biodynamics Agriculture Australia Ltd. website. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate time elapsed in mins. Guest foreshadow comment - 0.00Generic podcast series introduction. – 0.30This episode introduction – 2.03Guest self-introduction – 3.53How would you describe biodynamics in 2023 – 5.58How do biodynamics contrast to more conventional agriculture – 8.17How did you first become involved with biodynamic growing in the first place? – 12.01Can you tell us more about the biodynamic methods you are use on your farm - and the beneficial effects they have there – 15.00 and on you – 20.45How have you incorporated the spiritual/cosmic aspects of biodynamics into your work? – 25.00What are some of the challenges you have faced in your biodynamic journey? – 29.45biodynamic methods to deal with starling, snail and cockatoo impactsWhat does the future hold for your farm? - 43.34The community title benefits of River Roads Organics farms – 45.20 Guest take home message and parting advice on biodynamic adoption – 49.10Thanks to guest, acknowledgements and episode close. – 49.29End of episode – 54.03 GUEST AND OTHER CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Sam Statham Rosnay Organic and Rivers Roads Organic Farms: Email:info@rosnay.com.au Tel: (02) 63443215 Web: https://rosnay.com.au/ Podcast production: Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) Inc.(Australia) Tel: 07 4639 2135 Email WEB Facebook Biodynamic Agriculture Australia Ltd. 25 Nobles Lane, BELLINGEN, NSW 2454,Australia Tel: 02 6655 0566 Email WEB Facebook Production details: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 25th October date 2023. Interview questions developed by: Anna Kula-Kaczmarski (HOPE) Incidental Music: James Nicholson BFGA podcast series - brief listener survey (2 – 5 minute) completion The Stories of our Biodynamic Farmers and Gardeners podcast series was produced for Biodynamic Agriculture Australia Ltd. Our short listener survey is available now on Survey Monkey. It consists of simple questions which should take less than five minutes to complete. The survey has been created to encourage our audience to give more feedback than is usually generated via podcast app rating scores and comments. We value any ideas, insights or comments listeners might have which could help us develop possible future podcast offerings. All feedback received will be treated as anonymous data and will only be used for the strict purpose of helping us better design possible future podcast media. The survey is available at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7HNFFBQ IDEAS MENTIONED AND RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION GUEST’S FARM Rosnay Organic – also has details about and link to information on Rivers Roads Organic Farms BOOKS/DOCUMENTS: Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge (2020 edition) Google Books listing and preview Charles Massey: Call of the Reed Warbler: A new Agriculture a New Earth (2020 edition) Google Books review. John Soper: Bio-Dynamic Gardening Paperback (2002 Edition) Google Book listing Rudolf Steiner The Agriculture Course Lectures (1924) – originally delivered in June 1924 and available in English translation on the Steiner Archives Website. Recent research paper (J. Paull, University of Tasmania, 2020) offering a brief overview of the historical significance of the Steiner lectures, with a timeline of their various language translation dates. BIODYNAMIC METHODS: Dowsing – as a means of confirming a connection with another species. For an introduction to concepts and practices see the Dowsing Society of Victoria...
