Ilmar Randuja, seed selection pioneer 

Across the car park of Rüttihubelbald, a small, somewhat gaunt figure approaches with a big wheelbarrow full to the brim: Ilmar Randuja. Despite his 88 years, he works every day at full tilt. He is troubled that he needs more time to do less. But that does not prevent him from continuing with his work and research.
His youth coincided with the Second World War. He was still in school when he heard tell of the American breeder, Luther Burbank. It was said that he often carried seeds in a cloth pouch on his chest, turning to them and asking, with the greatest respect, what qualities they would like to develop. This episode was decisive; his schooling completed, he became a professional biodynamic gardener. To acquire the necessary practical knowledge of selection, he worked in several conventional seed companies and trained as a gardener with an emphasis on breeding, before returning to biodynamic farming.
From the late 50s to the early 70s, he was responsible for the garden of the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim, near Basel. He devoted all his spare time to the selection of biodynamic vegetable seeds, practicing his art in the gardens of the Goetheanum. Through careful selection and cross-breeding over several years, he created many new varieties. It took ten years for example to breed a mild variety of red and yellow peppers – in those days, pimento peppers were very strong tasting. By 1964, he had developed 30 new varieties which he offered to his friends and other interested people. His circle of consumers grew gradually, because his selections were easily cultivated and had undeniably successful results. Some of his varieties are still being produced today and are marketed by Sativa Rheinbau AG.
In 1968, Ilmar Randuja sought a position that would allow him to expand his selection work. In 1973, the opportunity was offered to him at the newly-founded Ekkarthof in Lengwil, Thurgau. A few years later, he was sending out 3,000 catalogues a year, offering up to 300 different seeds including 60 tea and herb plants. In 1989 he passed this business on to younger colleagues so that he could establish his own garden at Rüttlihubelbad.
Ilmar Randuja writes: "In Ancient Persia, without any of today’s intellectual calculations, breeders achieved incredible plant metamorphoses, which formed the basis of all subsequent great civilisations until now. Future plant transformation by selection should be driven by new knowledge of the spiritual laws of the evolution of plants, which we cannot learn in the official schools that train plant breeders. This opens up a new field of exploration that needs modest and highly motivated researchers. What we have done so far in this area should be understood as only a first commitment to this cause."