A Full Moon Harvest: Farming Biodynamically

First published in July 2021; roles are as they were at the time.

Every summer under the cover of a full moon night, a most curious scene unfolds in the 150-year-old, mist-covered plantation of Seeyok Tea Estate. Careful observation aided by the light from hand-hewn lanterns unveils 50 women fast at work. Their hands are swift and sure, plucking away on a select patch of the estate’s best section in an unfaltering rhythm, in sync with an age-old chant. A strange enchantment captures the onlooker, rooting them to the moment and awakening curiosity about the nature of the activity.

Night harvest under a full moon

Mr. J.P. Gurung, one of Darjeeling’s most senior tea professionals, explains that this is an annual event the tea estate observes steadfastly. A batch of muscatels dedicatedly picked for Teabox under the full moon is a summer harvest planned around the lunar calendar. This estate happens to be one of the few tea gardens in the world that practices biodynamic farming.

An alternative method of agriculture, it all started in 1924 with a series of eight lectures to a group of farmers in Breslau (now known as Wrocław, in Poland) by the Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Influenced by Goethean science and Rosicrucianism, his lectures presented an alternative agricultural viewpoint. The aim was to develop an ecological farming system that would manifest as a grassroots alternative, especially at a time when there was a steady deterioration of the landscape due to aggressive chemical agriculture.

Rudolf Steiner and his fundamental approach to biodynamic farming

Following the tenets of biodynamics, the practice conceives of the land as a functioning individual, a self-contained entity. The farm ecosystem is envisioned as an organism, leading to more holistic management practices designed to achieve a balance between the physical and metaphysical realms. The intention is to recognize the influence of cosmic and terrestrial forces, which allows us to harness the potent life energy and enrich the land, the product of the land and the inhabitants of the same.

A guide to the principles of biodynamic farming by Faizan Javed

Like most other alternative agricultural practices, the ecological principle of biodynamics follows the common thread of raising food that is simply more than foods produced by conventional means. In terms of nutrition, taste and aroma, it far exceeds the rest. With Seeyok Tea Estate following the lunar calendar and, in essence, practicing the very principles of biodynamics, the summer harvest is understandably always a much-awaited occasion.

“As practitioners of biodynamic farming, we follow the lunar calendar. We believe on a full moon night the cosmic energies are at the highest and this enhances the quality of tea that is harvested and produced during this period,” Ashwini Sashidhar, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Seeyok Tea Garden, explains rather succinctly. It elucidates why this tea, crafted especially for Teabox, is always in high demand across the world.

A fine cup of Seeyok Moonbeam Muscatel beaming with flavors and aroma

The muscatel teas of India already enjoy special attention for their prized rarity, being specific to the terroir of Darjeeling. The Seeyok Moonbeam Summer muscatels are rendered even more special due to their observational practices.

Treating the garden as a living entity, singing to it, employing practiced hands to pick during the auspicious time under a strawberry moon night: the tea no longer remains a simple beverage. It is in itself a story, a living legend. To be seen, sensed, and savored.

Originally published on Still Steeping, the Teabox blog, on July 29, 2021. Lightly edited for clarity in October 2026. Taste a muscatel from the estate in this story: Darjeeling Seeyok Summer Muscatel Black, or explore all our single-estate Darjeeling teas.