At Jurlique, the power of Nature is at the heart of everything we do. The clean air and soil of the Adelaide Hills is what brought our co-founders, Jurgen and Ulrike Klein, to South Australia and why they chose it as the birthplace of Jurlique. We believe the rich biodynamic* soil on our biodynamic* farm enables our plants to be the most powerful and potent they can be, and that we can capture that life force in our exclusive Bio-Intrinsic method.
We believe by following biodynamic* farming techniques, we’re harnessing all the positive, living energies from Nature, as well as farming in the most sustainable way possible. Biodynamics* is an all-encompassing approach to farming and uses the sun, moon, stars and planets of Earth to bring about balance and healing, treating the farm as a living organism – one that’s self-contained and self-sustainable.
Organic farming is defined by its use of organic fertilisers. Biodynamic* also adheres to these principles but while organic permits imported fertilisers, biodynamic* requires that a farm produce its own fertility as much as possible through the rotation of crops, with no outside inputs.
There’s a lot that goes on at our farm but one of the most important roles is that of the bees in our beehives. Bees are essential in pollinating and propagating the plants and flowers. It’s their round-the-clock toil that promotes floral growth and sustains the vast volumes of concentrated botanicals on our farm.
Pam Cherry, our Herb Farm Coordinator who has worked at the Jurlique Farm since 2005, says: “The bees send out scouts every morning and find what’s flowering. And they do wiggly dances and they’ll wiggle in the direction that everyone’s got to fly to. All the workers will then know where to fly to and they’ll all forage around. Some things have a lot of nectar, some have pollen, some have both. They’re amazing, the amount of work that they do.
“Being a no-waste and biodynamic* farm means we are responsible for caring for the whole farm as a unit. Each part we care for – be it the soil, water or bees – is creating a healthy vitality. The end result flows through to our products,” explains Pamela.
According to a report compiled by Greenpeace, bees are paramount for ensuring sustainable crop production. Bees don’t just help us with our crops either – by following biodynamic* farming practices, we’re promoting biodiversity and safeguarding bees. The report cites scientific studies that have shown that chemical-intensive industrial agriculture is implicated in the decline of bees and pollination, with fertilisers, herbicides and insecticides having a negative impact on bee health.
To find out more about the sustainable practices on our Jurlique Farm, read our Sustainability Report.
*Certified biodynamic by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia. Jurlique’s products and farm are not certified or affiliated with Demeter® USA or Demeter International.
