A medicinal herb garden on the heavy clay soils of the Swabian Mountains? The farmers of Eckwälden looked very sceptical when WALA started searching for a plot of land for their new project in the 1950s. Rudolf Hauschka purchased a boggy meadow at the foot of the mountain directly behind the construction site for the new company building, which WALA gardeners have been cultivating ever since using biodynamic methods. After many years the soil became crumbly and easy to work. Today the gardeners grow more than 150 different medicinal plants for the manufacture of WALA preparations on an area of more than 4.5 hectares. Dragonflies, toads and fire salamanders have made their homes amid the water lily pond, stream, beehives, meadows and woods.

What is biodynamic agriculture?

This method, developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in 1924, regards the garden as a more or less closed system. Most of the seeds, compost and potting compost are self-produced. The gardeners use various plant preparations which help the compost to decompose better and strengthen the resistance of the plants to pests and disease. Working by hand is essential when dealing with plants. When sowing and harvesting the WALA gardeners work with the rhythms of Nature. Strong healthy plants are the result.