Homoeopathic agriculture pioneers
When Rudolf Steiner presented lectures about his super-sensible
research, he rarely gave anything as direct as a recipe. It was much
more common that basic principles of the subject at hand were described
from several different angles without a fanfare to mark the transition
from one approach to another.
So it is remarkable that Dr Steiner gave the gathered farmers and gardeners
the recipes of the 'preparations', as he did in his fourth and fifth
lectures at Koberwitz at Whitsun 1924. I wish someone had been brave enough
to ask him to go even further into the basic principles because, despite
the accompanying explanations, these preparations are as enigmatic as anything
Steiner presented. Until one is intimately familiar with the principles
one could easily think that sage and onion put in a turkey's abdomen, left
in the warmth of an oven for some hours at the start of the holy nights,
is a valid preparation. How can one really be creative with these if one
doesn't grasp their basic principles?
There is a lot of research on the 'classical' preparations, some of which
can be accessed via the forum. There have been
long-term trials which are all in BD's favour.
It is the usual practice for BD preparations to be made on the farms that
use them, or to be made regionally and shared out amongst the associated
growers. Some can be had from national
and local associations. In Europe, all activity with the preparations
is increasingly threatened by legislation (Regulation
(EC) 1774/2002) that erupted from BSE and
foot and mouth. If it weren't so sad this would be funny;- for many,
the approach which would address these problems in a sane way, is
the one being threatened! It is a massive subject; I cannot do more than
sketch in some factual aspects.
Previously there has been no need to call one of the offshoots of
Steiner's work 'classical' biodynamics because there has only really
been that one school - admittedly one containing a breadth of practice
and opinion. But if I am to differentiate the newer creativity from
the older this seems a reasonable, neutral and non-pejorative phrase
to use.
The 'classical' biodynamic preparations are usually known by the
names given them in 1928 when they were being investigated by early
BD experimenters keeping their cards close to their chests. These
are the numbers 500 - 507, plus '508' which some argue is not a preparation and others that it is the most important and neglected.
There is a lot
of literature on the detail of the classical preparations so
I will just take 500 as an example to give a flavour.
500 -
take a well-developed horn from a cow who has had a calf, fill it
full of firm and fresh cow manure. Bury it a foot or so down beneath
a rich soil over the winter. Identify the site well! Exhume it around
Easter (N Hemisphere) and, for each acre, about 50 grams of what
comes out is put into about 20 litres of water and stirred vigorously
for an hour. Make sure there are vortices one way and then the other
which reach to the base of the bucket or barrel, and interrupt them
vigorously to change direction. After stirring, take this to your
land and sprinkle it over the soil. (How many of you are thinking, "Why
didn't I think of that?") 500 is sprayed when soil cultivation
is taking place and before new crops are planted. It is thought to
act primarily upon the soil and roots. Maria Thun is of the opinion
that Horn Manure preparation should only be applied when sowing or
transplanting.
(See here for reported results.)
501 -
uses finely crushed crystalline silica in a cow's horn and is buried
in the soil over summer until Michaelmas. Much less is used in the
stirring and it tends to be used in the foliage to increase its use
of sunlight. Together, 500 and 501 are known as the 'field sprays'. (Reported results.)
502 - 507 The 'compost preparations'. A pinch of each of the following
are placed in holes bored along manure and compost heaps.
(Reported results.)
- 502 -
Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) flowers are stitched into
a stag's bladder and hung up over summer. These are then buried
over winter. (Reported results.)
- 503 -
Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla) flowers are stuffed
into the small intestine of a cow like sausages. These are buried
over winter and then exhumed. (Reported results.)
- 504 -
nettle (Urtica dioica) is buried in the soil for a year
from June to June. (Reported results.)
- 505 -
Oak bark (Quercus robur) is kept in a domestic animal's
skull and left under flowing water and organic sludge over winter. (Reported results.)
- 506 -
dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flowers are wrapped in
a cow's mesentery and buried over winter. (Reported results.)
- 507 -
the juice from valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is squeezed
out and sprinkled over the heaps when they are created. (Reported results.)
'508' - Equisetum arvense is boiled for 15 minutes and cooled, diluted and sprayed to minimise fungal infestation.
(Reported results.)
There's a historical overview of BD in the UK here
