Biodynamic Equisetum preparation

Last week we prepared an Equisetum (horsetail) spray for the garden terraces at our new farm.  We figured it would be a good time to get the soil going, as we are nearing the end of the grading process and will soon get started building out garden beds - it's never a bad time to work on your soil, people!

We begin this preparation by harvesting young horsetail.  The younger shoots have more bio-available silica, as well as being energetically "new", like our garden.  As you can see, the younger shoots (right) are more compact, holding more moisture and potential than their older, wispier counterparts on the left.

Equisetum is an ancient medicinal plant used in a variety of healing practices, making it a perfect fit for a biodynamic preparation.  Members of this family of plants once reached over 30 meters tall during the Paleozoic era, though over the last 200-300 million years they've toned it down to a more unassuming two to three foot perennial.  The hillsides at the new farm are covered with this under-appreciated living fossil, so we thought it would be fitting to do a spray with them.

Equisetum is used in many holistic and naturopathic healing modalities to treat anemia, internal bleeding, bone loss, brittle hair and nails and as a diuretic.  All of these properties transfer into the garden, as horsetail spray is seen to strengthen the "skeleton" of a new garden because of its high silica content, as well as helping as an anti-fungal treatment due to its diuretic nature.

We then roughly chop/cut the young equisetum into a large crock (or in our case, a ceramic Le Creuset pot) and steep this "tea" over a fire heat source for about 8 hours.  Are you jealous of our new Wolf range?  You can see it for yourself at our August 14th Jam Making class.

Once steeped, we leave it outside (uncovered) for 24-48 hours to imbue the tea with the energy of the sun, moon and constellations - a miniature version of the 6 month horn preparation.  This action carries the energy that the tea has "absorbed" into the soil when we spray the garden.

Some biodynamic preparations are done in the evening while others are done at dawn.  Since this preparation is being done in the "morning" of our new farm, we decided to do an early application.  Our wwoofers, interns and apprentices gathered at 6:30am above the garden terraces.  We went over the purpose of the application, its effects in the garden, and how the preparation is executed.  First things first, we pour a small, almost homeopathic amount into three gallons of water and stir for 20-30 minutes.  

There is a specific stirring method in which a vortex is created, bringing more astral energy into the mixture.  20 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but it can get pretty tiring!

Once the stirring is done, we pour this mixture into our 2 gallon garden sprayer and get out on the terraces.  We have a lot more space here at the new farm than over at Glen Arbor, so we didn't trouble ourselves with getting every nook and cranny of the terracing.  The goal of the spray isn't to get it on every square inch of the garden, but to get it evenly distributed so that the organism of the garden as a whole has been "treated" with the tea.  Here's one of our excellent wwoofers, Adam, spraying one of our lower terraces.

 

To learn more about Biodynamic agiculture, visit the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association and Steiner College.

Comments

[Pure Fulvic Minerals]

I recall horsetail being popular for healthy hair and nails. I never thought of its benefits as a sparayed tea over a garden.

[hellaD]

This article is fantastic. Horsetail is such an unusual looking plant, I just love it. I did a course in biodynamic agriculture in Napier, New Zealand a few years ago, your farm reminds me of Hohepa farm in NZ.