Biodynamic growing

[Chestnut]

I have no experience of biodynamic gardening, and only a little more of unbiodynamic gardening- but I have to admit it does sound fascinating.
I have already made a note in my diary to get down to our local library for a book on the subject to take on holiday with me later this year :-)
Can any of you grapes recommend any books which would be suitable for beginners? I don't mind how complicated they get, just so long as they start the explanation at the beginning and don't depend on 'prior knowledge' of biodynamics!

[DWSmith]

Oh no! I've been doing everything wrong and leaving out the important stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBlcTWRafEc

[Jay-ell]

less than 400 horns for a 500 acre farms. That's a load of ......... whichever way you look at it.

[DWSmith]

I'm beginning to think that Rudolf Steiner was a c0pr*philiac. What do you think?

[veggiechicken]

I think its an unsuitable word to use on here as it may attract all sorts of weirdos - so I've edited it a bit!

[Jay-ell]

Biodynamic gardening doesn’t look doable for vegetarians due to all the bits of animals you have to use. There’s 9 preparations which form the backbone to Biodynamic Gardening, of which 6 use parts of animals. Not sure what happened to preparations 1-499 though. Maybe they were too weird.

• Preparation 500 – Horn Manure – Pack a cow horn with manure, bury it over winter, dig it up on the spring equinox
• Preparation 501 – Horn Silica – Pack a cow horn with crushed quartz, bury it in spring, dig it up in autumn
• Preparation 502 – Yarrow – Pack a stags bladder with yarrow flowers.Hang the bladder under the eaves of the house for 6 months and in Autumn bury it in a pot of soil. Bury that pot over winter then dig it up in spring
• Preparation 503 – Chamomile – Stuff a cow intestine casing with chamomile flowers. Bury that sausage in soil in a terracotta pot. Bury that pot in the autumn and lift in the spring.
• Preparation 504 – Nettle – Pack a terracotta pot with nettles. Bury that pot, making sure that the worms CANT get in. Dig it up a year later.
• Preparation 505 – Oak Bark – Pack a pigs skull with powdered oak bark. Fill a water butt with a mix of water, soil and leaves. Put the pigs skull into the “swamp” in the water butt in the autumn. Retrieve the skull in spring.
• Preparation 506 – Dandelion -Make a parcel of dandelion flower buds wrapped in a cows mesentery (part of the guts). Bury the parcel in a lined hole in autumn and dig it up in spring.
• Preparation 507 – Valerian – Pack a bottle with Valerian flowers then top up with rianwater.Hang it from a tree branch in the sun for 3 days. Take down and strain.
• Preparation 508 – Horsetail – Make a tea with the horsetail, dilute it to 1/40th its strength. Make the liquid sticky my stirring it one way then quickly stirring the other

All of the preparations are used by diluting them quite a bit (a bit like homoeopathic gardening) and then “Dynamizing” the solutions to make it sticky – stirring it one direction till you get a whirlpool then quickly stirring it the other way. No idea how that is supposed to make it sticky.


I have a DK Biodynamic Gardening book which I mistook for a Biointensive Gardening book. It doesn’t have an authors name and unfortunately I’m not able to pack it into a cow horn and put it where the sun isn’t shining over winter.
iring the other

[veggiechicken]

Is No 508 made with a horse's tail or Horsetail the plant and is it really marestail?

Veggie or not, finding some of those ingredients would be a challenge. Its been a while since I've seen stag's bladders for sale in Morriesons's

[Jay-ell]

Is No 508 made with a horse's tail or Horsetail the plant and is it really marestail?

Veggie or not, finding some of those ingredients would be a challenge. Its been a while since I've seen stag's bladders for sale in Morriesons's

Equisetum Arvense which some people call horse tail, some mares tail (although mares tail could also be a pond plant Hippuris vulgaris)

I just want to grow a few veg - I never expected to be decapitating swine, disembowelling stags and rending asunder heifers. I think I'll stick to BFB as it's requires less clean up afterwards.