This week we applied biodynamic Prep 500
to all our beds. Prep 500 is composed of fresh cow manure
that has been stuffed inside cow horns and buried for the six months between
the spring and fall equinoxes.
This picture, courtesy of Chez Pim, shows our cow horns freshly filled with manure last year and awaiting burial. While
underground, it is infused with the energy of the earth, and decomposes into a
rich, completely non-smelly elixir. The small photo is of the manure after it's been buried for six months. Isn't it beautiful? It
is then ready to be mixed and applied.
Prep 500, also also called "horn manure," is a soil enlivener. In biodynamics, we recognize that soil health is key to plant growth. But Prep 500 is not like worm castings or manure or compost, which are all typically applied by the shovel-full. We use only a small amount, some would say a homeopathic amount. We begin with about three or four ounces of this manure-based substance, and mix it up into several gallons of water. We are making a medicine for the soil, so to speak, and every aspect of it needs to be a pure as possible.
We begin with well water – more pure than our city
water. We bring the water to a warm
temperature by heating over a natural fire. The ‘natural’ part of the fire – that it’s heat be based on a flame – is
important for esoteric reasons which I cannot fully explain, though I get
the essential reasoning. We’re not
bombarding this water with electricity or microwaves, we’re heating it
naturally.
Once the water is warm, we take the prep in our hand; plunge it into the water, and begin to swirl it around, releasing it. Then we begin
what is perhaps the most important part of the procedure: aerating it. It's important to stir it in a certain fashion, to create vortexes that force the water high up onto the sides of the container. A
deep, conical depression is in the middle of our swirling.
This is a vortex.
Once we have a good vortex, we sustain it for a few moments, then
violently interrupt it with our stirring implement, creating a bit of chaos as
we begin to create a vortex in another direction. This process of vortexing – interruption – vortexing is repeated
for one hour. Focus is maintained on
the preparation, since we are making medicine for our soil.
As I directed Christopher through his first stirring, I told him how
important it was during the hour to be quiet, focus on the vortex, and
treat the stirring as a meditation. He later wrote down his impressions:
"I had time during the hour of vortexing to
ponder what it is we were doing, and why it should work. And I recalled
the perfect beauty of the
horn manure. How it exemplified what we look for in a high
quality soil or soil amendment, being moist, colloidal, and structured.
And I thought of the vortexing procedure
which is what plants are doing with respect to bringing the earth into
light
and the light into earth, as biodynamics recognizes. And it occurred to
me that perhaps this preparation provides to
the soil a template or vibrational exemplar toward which to aspire, and
that by
spreading it lightly around we are providing the soil with a goal worth
working
towards." Great meditation, Chris!
Now at the end of the stirring, it is dusk, and we are ready to apply it to our soils. We do this with brushes, which we dip into the finished prep and flick droplets onto our planting beds. This is a seemingly tiny amount, don't you think? But we are talking here about a powerful
substance, used in homeopathic quantities, that we trust will bring about subtle but significant improvements in our soil.
Horn manure prep is but one of the "elixirs" prescribed by Rudolph Steiner, the father of biodynamic agriculture. His theories of natural growing preceded the modern organic movement. Organic gardening overlaps many of Steiner's tenets. Some call his ideas "voo-doo." Some dismiss them out of hand. The proof, to me, is in the growing. And the healthiest gardens I've ever seen have been biodynamic ones. So we'll continue our black magic here and thumb our nose at the skeptics.
One of Rudolf Steiner's mentors, Viktor Schauberger, spent the majority of his life studying water. The natural vortexes occurring in rivers, creeks and streams fascinated him and an understanding of their significance in water vitality permeated much of Steiner's philosophies. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and anyone who follows biodynamics will tell you: it works. Science may catch up to practice someday, but in the meantime, we do what works.
Posted by: John Pomeroy | January 06, 2015 at 02:33 PM
I love your description of the cow horn preparation. I have just started my own blog about my life as a BD farmer and will be describing the Preps and other BD concepts. I will be giving a six week BD workshop in Ecuador which I describe on my website growbd.org
Posted by: Walter Moora | December 17, 2010 at 02:31 PM
an interesting study that produced increased yields from biodynamically prepared compost applications versus conventional applications: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=10&sid=e92e34f5-0edf-4687-b8fd-db4e4215373e%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=48496364#db=a9h&AN=48496364
Posted by: tyler | September 02, 2010 at 07:37 PM
hi from Greece...nice page...
Posted by: athanasios giannopoulos | May 12, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Keith: The Prep 500 is a fall application, and we can put it on all beds, active or not. It goes onto the soil, not the plants. In the spring, you should begin with Prep 501, which is the horn silica. You can acquire horns and the preps from the Josephine Porter Institute for Biodynamics here: http://www.jpibiodynamics.org/index_set.html
You won't see the horns listed on that index, but they do have them, if you inquire about it. Using horns from a cow (as opposed to a steer) is essential, and she should have had at least one calf during her lifetime. Good luck with it!
Posted by: Love Apple Farm | December 20, 2007 at 10:23 AM
I've been intrigued by the "Horn" preps and want to begin in the spring with the Prep 500 you describe. Finding the manure won't be a problem. Where does one obtain the horns? Also, it appears that this is a late fall activity so are you putting it on beds that will lie dormant, or on active winter garden beds?
Keith
Posted by: Keith Winkelman | December 20, 2007 at 09:02 AM