About Us

At daryl we believe in using and buying Biodynamic, Organic and Sustainable ingredients and wines whenever possible. We think it's not only important to support local agriculture, but that food and wine produced in this way can lend tastes and textures that make the dining experience incredibly unique.

Sustainable agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely, without causing irreversible damage to ecosystem health. Two key issues are biophysical (the long-term effects of various practices on soil properties and processes essential for crop productivity) and socio-economic (the long-term ability of farmers to obtain inputs and manage resources such as labor).

Organic farming is a form of agriculture which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. As far as possible, organic farmers rely on crop rotation, crop residues, natural fertilizers and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and tilth to supply plant nutrients, and to control weeds, insects and other pests.

Biodynamic agriculture , or biodynamics is an organic farming system (but predates the term). It is based on the anthroposophical teachings of Rudolf Steiner, particularly on the eight lectures given by him in 1924 at Schloss Koberwitz in what was then Silesia, Germany nowadays Poland (close to Wroclaw). At the time Steiner believed that the introduction of chemical farming was a major problem. Steiner was convinced that the quality of food in his time was degraded, and he believed the source of the problem were artificial fertilizers and pesticides. However, he did not believe this was only because of the chemical or biological properties relating to the substances involved, but also due to spiritual shortcomings in the whole chemical approach to farming. Steiner considered the world and everything in it as simultaneously spiritual
and material in nature, an approach termed monism. He also believed that living matter was different from dead matter, a viewpoint commonly referred to as vitalism.

The term biodynamic was coined by Steiner's adherents. Any biodynamic produce is also organic. A biodynamic farm works exactly the same as an organic farm in using no pesticides, herbicides etc., but there are various agricultural methods which are unique to biodynamic farming. These include field and compost preparations and the use of an astrological calendar to
determine times of planting and harvesting. Biodynamic produce is certified by Demeter, but can be certified by an organic certifying body as well. A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a closed, self-nourishing system.