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Culture and Horticulture: A Philosophy of Gardening
This is a fascinating introduction to gardening in its widest sense, setting horticulture in its historical, cultural and cosmological contexts. The author offers both a theoretical understanding of biodynamic gardening and useful tips on light and warmth, ground covers, composts, crop rotation and weeds. The first part of the book is concerned with providing a philosophical and epistemological background to the subject, while the second part deals with the practicalities of horticulture.
435 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1979
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148 people want to read
About the author
Wolf-Dieter Storl
70 books121 followersBorn in Saxony, Germany in 1942 with a green thumb and the gift of writing, and emigrating with his parents to the United States in 1954, cultural anthropologist and ethno-botanist Wolf Dieter Storl has had a special connection to nature since childhood. His specific area of research is shamanism and healing in traditional societies with a focus on the role of plants in all aspects of life, including sacred symbolism, magic, medicine, foods, and poisons. He has pursued this interest in many parts of the world.
After finishing his PhD in Anthropology (magna cum lauda) on a Fulbright scholarship in 1974 in Berne, Switzerland, he taught anthropology and sociology in Grants Pass, OR. During this time he also offered an organic gardening course that was extremely popular. He was one of the pioneers of the organic/biodynamic gardening movement. While preparing for his doctoral exams in Switzerland he also lived in an experimental community and helped tend a five-acre organic garden. There he had the good fortune to learn from master gardener, Manfred Stauffer who specialized in composting any organic matter.
Storl is also an avid traveler and has gathered much experience observing nature around the entire globe and spending time with people who are very connected to the nature that surrounds them. From1982 -83, he spent a year as an official visiting scholar at the Benares Hindu University, in Varanasi, India. After returning to the United States in 1984, he spent much time with traditional medicine persons of the Cheyenne and taught courses at Sheridan College in Sheridan, Wyoming. He has traveled and conducted research in South Asia, India, Mexico, the Canary Islands, South Africa, and much of Europe, pursuing ehtnobotanical and ethnomedicinal interests. He has written some twenty-five books and many articles in German and English, which have been translated into various languages, such as English, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Danish, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Czech. Storl is a frequent guest on German, Swiss and Austrian television and has also appeared on BBC.
After another visit in India and Nepal in 1986, he and his wife moved to Germany where he began to write books as a freelance writer and offer freelance lectures. He lives with his family on an old estate in the foothills of the Alps where he has a large garden.
Storl’s books are unique in that he does not treat nature only with cold objectivism. He is able to delve into nature's depths and supports his experience with ancient lore from all over the world that has been, for the most part, left on the wayside in the wake of objective science. He theorizes that science is not always as objective as it claims to be. He invites his readers on a journey into a world of nature that is completely alive and has its own rhyme and reason. Myths and lore from many cultures also have a prominent place in his writings, as he claims that the images portrayed in this way often tell us more about the true nature of things than dry facts can do.
Credentials:
MA from Kent State University, instructor there from 1967 – 1969 in anthropology and sociology.
PhD in Anthropology (magna cum lauda) from University of Berne Switzerland, Fulbright scholarship, 1974.
Organic, biodynamic gardener since 1970. First book, Culture and Horticulture from organic gardening course notes of three years on request of students.
Since 1986 freelance author living in Germany with family.
Wolf D. Storl also writes in German as Wolf-Dieter Storl
After finishing his PhD in Anthropology (magna cum lauda) on a Fulbright scholarship in 1974 in Berne, Switzerland, he taught anthropology and sociology in Grants Pass, OR. During this time he also offered an organic gardening course that was extremely popular. He was one of the pioneers of the organic/biodynamic gardening movement. While preparing for his doctoral exams in Switzerland he also lived in an experimental community and helped tend a five-acre organic garden. There he had the good fortune to learn from master gardener, Manfred Stauffer who specialized in composting any organic matter.
Storl is also an avid traveler and has gathered much experience observing nature around the entire globe and spending time with people who are very connected to the nature that surrounds them. From1982 -83, he spent a year as an official visiting scholar at the Benares Hindu University, in Varanasi, India. After returning to the United States in 1984, he spent much time with traditional medicine persons of the Cheyenne and taught courses at Sheridan College in Sheridan, Wyoming. He has traveled and conducted research in South Asia, India, Mexico, the Canary Islands, South Africa, and much of Europe, pursuing ehtnobotanical and ethnomedicinal interests. He has written some twenty-five books and many articles in German and English, which have been translated into various languages, such as English, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Danish, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Czech. Storl is a frequent guest on German, Swiss and Austrian television and has also appeared on BBC.
After another visit in India and Nepal in 1986, he and his wife moved to Germany where he began to write books as a freelance writer and offer freelance lectures. He lives with his family on an old estate in the foothills of the Alps where he has a large garden.
Storl’s books are unique in that he does not treat nature only with cold objectivism. He is able to delve into nature's depths and supports his experience with ancient lore from all over the world that has been, for the most part, left on the wayside in the wake of objective science. He theorizes that science is not always as objective as it claims to be. He invites his readers on a journey into a world of nature that is completely alive and has its own rhyme and reason. Myths and lore from many cultures also have a prominent place in his writings, as he claims that the images portrayed in this way often tell us more about the true nature of things than dry facts can do.
Credentials:
MA from Kent State University, instructor there from 1967 – 1969 in anthropology and sociology.
PhD in Anthropology (magna cum lauda) from University of Berne Switzerland, Fulbright scholarship, 1974.
Organic, biodynamic gardener since 1970. First book, Culture and Horticulture from organic gardening course notes of three years on request of students.
Since 1986 freelance author living in Germany with family.
Wolf D. Storl also writes in German as Wolf-Dieter Storl
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 29, 2013
I put this one aside, since I own it...and the library books needed to be returned. I really liked the beginning of this - it was a very readable anthropology of gardening. Enjoyable historical perspective and consistently makes holistic connections. As I picked it up and began reading again, it go a little weird. Astrology of the evolution of plants? astral garden rotation? I guess I'm just not out there enough for the full monte here. The last chapter came back to the anthropological theme...with an anti-industrialization twist, not surprisingly.
"The small garden, if handle right, can satisfy nutritional needs, save on food bills, provide for essential contact with nature and serve aesthetic purposes." I'd have to agree. And the biodynamic concepts of layering plants and using companion organisms to let nature take care of itself also makes sense, although it might not be a perfectly tidy garden.
"The small garden, if handle right, can satisfy nutritional needs, save on food bills, provide for essential contact with nature and serve aesthetic purposes." I'd have to agree. And the biodynamic concepts of layering plants and using companion organisms to let nature take care of itself also makes sense, although it might not be a perfectly tidy garden.
December 11, 2019
I enjoyed Wolf Storl's insights and practical tips too. I read this book while I was travelling on land from Scotland to Iran. I kept looking out the window of our train, over weeks of travelling, observing miles and miles and miles of agricultural land, cultivated by heavy machinery, with hardly any farmers in sight. I kept thinking about the big gap between the deep philosophical observation of Mr. Storl and the reality of our present day agriculture. How could the huge chasm between the Philosophy of Gardening of Mr. Storl and our agri-business of the present day, devouring lands and livelihoods be reconciled?
Otherwise, I found this book helpful, even though the philosophy of the biodynamic preparations remained a mystery. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on compost making.
Otherwise, I found this book helpful, even though the philosophy of the biodynamic preparations remained a mystery. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on compost making.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews