Great website Purplepear! I have been trying to get ahold of the Bio-Dynamic Gardeners Association Inc so that I can join to learn more, do workshops, learn about the preps etc, but so far the number has always rung out, twice an answering machine has come on, with the person giving the contact details for other people to contact... except they talk so fast it's impossible to write down the number, or double check it. The other website biodynamics.net.au looks good, except there doesn't seem to be workshops in Victoria... so if I was to join, how would I be able to purchase the preps if there is no workshops to attend locally?
Thanks for the link purplepear, I really need to get a calendar at least and was pleased to see that its for the southern hemisphere. Its hard enough to get started on something completely new and more so when you have to 'translate' it. Someone suggested to me that I get hold of the local freezing works/meat works to see what they do with any horns etc and that they probably biff them so they might be willing to sell them for not very much. Just thought, the local home kill butcher might occassionally get cows with horns go through him too,not sure that he'd give the intestines though. On the burying things bit, I've been thinking about that and I think what you do when you bury the filled horns in a specific way is creat an environment conducive to particular beneficial bacteria. I'm sure there IS a logical reason why these things work. I am willing to believe that biodynaics works just on the reasoning that Bach flower remedies works on my animals; they obviously dont know what Im doing with them and I know thats got nothing to do with biodynamics, but its working along a similar track and equally puzzling. When I read Maira Thuns's book and saw that they do not water after the first time when the seedlings are planted out I decided that this was worth looking into purely on that point alone. The trick is to get to the point where we are following the procedures properly. Its only then that I think you can safely say that something is or is not working. I cant say for sure whether planting by the moon works or not because I quite often miss by sometimes just a day, but I'm pretty sure it has worked. We were supposed to write down when we did what, so we could see what the differences were but ....well, there are alot of excuses. Hopefully the more we do this, the more we get used to the concept of it and get more proficient at it. Hope to see more from you on this Mr. Pear so we can learn to think with this concept.
They can post them to you. Mischief - there is a risk in getting too seroius so it runs your life. In the first instance the calendar is a guild and it gets you into a rhythm with nature and the cosmos. It makes you aware of the moon phases and the zodiac positions and the effect of these on plants (and us) I like to trust that the work of Maria was in good faith and I accept what she says as ok. One thing on writing down and doing your own tests was that I got great lettuce (leaf) from beds prepared for strawberries (fruit) in my garden at Dungog. I did not do extensive trials like Maria has done but it may prove to disprove if I had. Something is working if you "feel" it is working and people are commenting on "something" right about what you are growing. Intent - Observation - Intuition
The moon can move huge bodies of water,tides...why could it not move the sap in a plant.Try moon mowing,if you have a lawn.Cut at the right time your lawn will give you much less work,not that i have a lawn.i find them repulsive. Fernando
Ah sorry wasnt supposed to be too serious, the point I was trying to make was that I couldnt see how people can say something does not work when they have not followed all the procedure. To be honest our life has got so chaotic that we arent following anything and have trouble keeping up with our shadows. I will get at least one of those books so we can get an understanding of how we can use it here.
biodynamics is about a real knowledge of nature more than substances and procedures. Please indulge me to add this passage from a book I am reading on the Agriculture course that led to biodynamics. The book is by Peter Selg and he says something better than I can. It goes something like this:
PP, how would Biodynamic Preparations compare to Biofertilizer? eg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jOUK0yj9zs Seems like there may be almost the same ingredients used overall.
2 When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever. ________________________________________
Aha! Purple Pear and Grahame are one and the same! Go on - the game's up now... Or do you just go to the same library???
Looking at BD 500, I think it was called this because it was found that something like 500 (b)illion microbes were in a single (t)spoon, or something like that. As with the COAS version of biofertiliser, BD500 uses the poop of the lactating female. COAS has found that the lactobacillus subtitlo is a probiotic and very good at healing the earth. Biofertiliser is also brewed with the yeast added to increase the microflora in the brew, possibly in the same way that burying the 500 does in the horns. As far as I know 500 is just manure put into horns at the right phase of the moon, whereas the biofertilsers uses sugars to increase the microbial life. Paul Taylor had talks with Eugenio Gras about aerating the biofertilisers, which they were going to test. This would be similar to stirring of the 500.
From the heart (not a text book) My understanding is that the 500, 501, 502, 503 and so on were just codes perhaps applied to avoid controversy during the days of Nazi Germany. In our local group we try to not use the "codes" and call the preps by their names - Horn Manure, Horn Silica, Chamomile Prep and so on. It is no doubt that it is the beneficial bacteria and fungi that make the preps work but they work in different way to normal fertilizers, acting on etheric life forces that are difficult to get your head around sometimes. The stiring no doubt adds oxygen to enliven the bacteria in the brew but it needs to be seen from a perspective similar to homoeopathy where rhythm acts to potentize the substance. The rhythm of the reversing vortex sees "order" and "chaos" applied to the mixture. If you are familiar with the work of Emoto on water then you may realize the importance of "intent" in the stirring process. I sometimes think you could use chocolate cake if you stirred with the right intent. Dear Eco I do think G man and I are on a similar journey and that I need to fess up and admit that yes Grahame and I and indeed everyone are all one and the same but we use various Heteronyms depending on the situation at hand.
Seems you are right, PurplePear. I just checked a paper I have and the Total Viable microbial count for Horn Manure is more like 240 billion to one level teaspoon. And there is more going on in Bio-dynamic that can't be discounted. I was just reading your website about the fish preparation and comfrey tea. What is the 'aerator stone' ? Is it a pump or some kind of bubbling stone?
Nice one Purple, I don't always like to explain things in a way that they 'make sense', because as soon as they make sense some of the quality is lost. But this is an example of how I see intention might be considered in logical terms. Lets say I am planting a couple of rows of carrots, the first row I plant with my daughter, she is excited about it, I'm excited because she is, we tell little stories about what is going to happen to them. She tells me how big they will get and how we will all sit and eat them together, or she might take some to kinder to share with friends. The energy going into those carrots goes far beyond the simple act of planting carrots. And because we are planting with such love and attention, sub-consciously we take more care with how we are planting them, there will be a subtle difference in the way we handle them. Now take the second row, I am planting them by myself, I've got a million other jobs on my mind that I want to do, I want to be doing them now. But, I just have to get the carrots in because this is my last chance and all of my winter crop depends on getting them in or we may go hungry. The energy is very negative towards those carrots, I am distracted and consequently I have not taken the sub-conscious care of them, I plant them slightly differently. That attention can mean all the difference to carrots. This is just a simple example of how I believe deeper and more subtle energies work. Intention and attention means a whole lot, especially when you add it up over a whole garden and a whole life.
Matto - for the fish and comfrey, we use a stone like they use in fish tanks to inject air. This is weighted and runs off a solar panel so the pump runs when the sun shines on it and pumps air to the air stone at the bottom of the barrel. This ensures an aerobic break down. Grahame has nailed my thoughts on intent well - good job g man - I think this is what makes a gardner with "green thumbs" who does better than the guy next door who uses the same knowledge.
