Biodynamic Background

There are cosmic influences from the zodiac on plants: the zodiac is the ring of twelve constellations against which the sun, as seen from the earth, appears to move during the course of the year, and the moon every month. Each constellation has its own quality which is imparted particularly to the sun and moon, when they stand in front of them. There are qualitative differences in sunlight and moonlight during the annual and monthly courses of these bodies. The nature of these differences is connected with the four elements :-

• earth,
• water,
• air/light and
• fire,

represented in the plant by

• root,
• leaf,
• flower and
• fruit

respectively.

The moon also affects plant growth. Maria Thun noted the effects on subsequent growth when seeds were sown with the moon standing in front of the different zodiacal constellations, and found that:-

• the earth constellations, Bull, Virgin and Goat, stimulated root development;
• the water constellations, Fishes, Crab and Scorpion, leaf development;
• the air constellations, Twins, Scales and Scorpion, flowering; and
• the warmth constellations, Ram, Lion and Archer, seed and fruit.

Her calendar has covered the timing of all cultural operations including transplanting, pruning, harvesting etc, together with the application of the biodynamic sprays. The Moon, Mercury and Venus strongly influence the processes of reproduction and growth, while the outer planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are more concerned with qualities such as nutritive value, taste, colour and aroma.

 

Soil

The creation of soil is a mutual interplay between the plant kingdom, the climate and the rocky part of the mineral kingdom. The lowest types of plant life start the soil-forming process when lichens and then mosses become established on a rock face. Their decaying residues produce weak acids which dissolve parts of the rock, and gradually conditions become favourable for higher order plants to grow; their roots also secrete acids as they penetrate into cracks in the rock, thus accelerating the process. The 'food' in the soil consists of the remains of plant and animal life, which are taken into the soil and digested by its population of micro-organisms; the products of this digestion pass into the soil water and are absorbed by the root hairs of the plants which thus operate like an intestinal wall.

 

Soil, apart from stones and pebbles, is composed of:

• Coarse sand 2-0.2 mm diameter
• Fine sand 0.2-0.02 mm diameter
• Silt 0.02-0.002 mm diameter
• Clay less than 0.002mm diameter

 

The following 2 tests show the percentages of each of the above constituents:-

• Take a sample of moist but not wet soil about the size of a golf ball, knead it in the palm of your hand and then squeeze it all together into a lump. See how gritty it feels, thus seeing the proportion of coarse and fine sand. If the lump fails to cohere, then sand particles predominate; if it can be moulded, clay and silt are the major constituents; if it is on the border of coherence, there is a good balance between coarse and fine.
• In the second, use a tall narrow glass, put tennis ball size of soil in it, almost fill with water and shake it thoroughly. Put it on a windowsill and watch how the soil settles out. The coarse sand, followed by the fine sand, then silt and a day later the clay. The depth of each layer gives the proportions which make up your soil.

If the result is mostly

• Sand then this light soil will drain easily with no waterlogging. It will have a very small water reserve. It will warm up quickly in the spring. Compost and manure will be washed out quickly. It should be kept covered with growing plants or a green cover crop.
• Clay then this heavy soil will have drainage problems. Its water reserve may not all be available to plant roots. Treading on this wet clay soil causes 'puddling' (compaction) and the soil becomes impervious to air and water movement, which will kill plants. It is useful to divide up the garden into raised beds about 4-5 feet wide and 6 inches high, leaving 1.5 feet wide paths between, so that you do not tread on that soil.
• Around the mid point between sand, silt and clay comes the ideal type of loam for gardening.

Plants are affected by the logarithmic function of the number of free hydrogen ions in the soil water, which is expressed by the symbol pH. pH of

• 7.0 is neutral and ideal for most crops
• 8.0 is alkaline and is too high for some plants but best for others (subsoil of chalk usually has alkaline soil)
• 5.5 is acidic and near to the limit which worms will tolerate (sandy soils are usually acidic, clay with high sodium content can be acidic) and
• 5.0 or less require remedial measures (1lb of dolomitic limestone dust per square yard) unless heathers and rhododendrons are being grown.

Use the plants which are suitable for their type of soil - acidic or alkaline.

 

Soil structure

Soil must have a structure which will allow free passage of air to the plant roots and soil organisms (usually created by worms creating tunnels), and also the free passage of surplus water into its lower layers while at the same time providing enough for the needs of its plant cover. This is done by

• there is sufficient humus in the soil to provide the carbon. Mulching a clay soil with a 6" depth of 50% spent mushroom compost and 50% Horticultural Grit will provide this carbon and make garden maintenance far easier (See case studies)
• encouraging the worm population to keep on digging more tunnels; by having at least a 3" deep organic mulch,
• avoiding damage to the structure by compaction of people standing on it when it is wet. Use raised beds and kneel on the path alongside to weed/maintain them.
• there is sufficient clay in the soil to provide the glue with the carbon to bind the soil particles into 'crumbs'. These 'crumbs' as micro-aggregates then join together to form macro-aggregates which then can hold plant nutrients dissolved or in suspension in water within them for the plant roots to use. 1lb of clay dissolved in one gallon of water sprayed onto 1 square yard of very sandy soil will create a more loamy soil.

Besides worms the soil also contains centipedes, mites, springtails, eelworms, amoebae, protozoa, fungi and bacteria; who carry out the digestive process mentioned at the start of this section, mostly within the top 3" of soil (avoid burying this soil by digging or double digging; use a mulch or green manure instead). The total weight of these in a fertile pasture is on a par with that of the maximum number of stock which it can carry. The fungi mycorrhyza act as intermediaries between the soil and the plant. Their hyphae (fine hairs) penetrate both the soil and the plant cells in the surface layer of the roots. They secrete substances from the plant into the soil, and can transfer to the plant complex substances which would not normally be taken up from the soil solution through the root hairs, thus helping the plant to be healthier and grow faster.

 

Water in soil

Plants use water in 3 ways:-

• for circulating the products of soil digestion to where they are needed and also the products of photosynthesis from the leaves to the actively growing parts of stems and roots,
• for maintaining turgor in the leaves and keeping them cool by evaporation and
• an essential ingredient in the synthesis of sugars and starch by the action of light and chlorophyll.

An average crop of wheat needs about 450 tonnes of water per acre from sowing to harvest; 99% of this has to come through the soil with the rest being directly absorbed by the leaves from rain or dew.

When rainwater enters a soil, it sinks down until it reaches the water table, after the 'water-holding capacity' has been topped up. Water is held

• in the upper regions of the soil partly in very fine channels called capillaries and
• partly by being absorbed by the soil colloids, humus and clay (some clay can absorb 40% of its own volume in water before becoming a liquid).
• The water table begins where all the spaces between the micro and macro aggregates are filled with water; which may be close to the surface. Most roots cannot grow and will die in a saturated soil: earthworms are killed and most other soil life comes to halt. If the water table is less than 1 foot down, then either artificial drainage is required or the soil composition must be changed to a loam between the extremes of pure sand, silt or clay as detailed in the soil structure above. As water becomes depleted by evaporation and root absorption, more rises up through the capillaries from the water table.

If the soil is covered by a 3" deep mulch of organic compost/manure or by a green manure, then the action of the wind and the sun in drying it out will be greatly reduced. Melcourt Industries - who supply bark for mulching purposes, path material or playground material - planted young apple trees in a field. They then soaked the ground to full saturation in April and covered half of it with their bark mulch. They took moisture measurements each month of that Spring and hot Summer, and no other further action. In August, the fruit trees with no mulch were severely dehydrated, whereas the others were in no water stress.

 

Biodynamic Agriculture

In Biodynamic agriculture one works with the energies which create and maintain life. The following materials are not used at all:-

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers,
soluble phosphate fertilizers,
high percentage pure potash salts containing chlorine, including compound materials,
Sewage,
Sewage sludge and
Composted household rubbish.

Its method produces an organic fertiliser to secure a healthy soil and plants with the following practical steps ( See reference 10 ):-

1. Build, and properly treat, manure and compost piles. Do not waste any organic offal. Do not burn leaves and trash, but compost them. Collect everything organic. Do not apply crude, undecomposed organic matter to the fields or garden, but make use of the beneficial effects of microlife by first composting manure and all other organic material. Apply - immediately prior to planting or seeding - only predigested material which will not tie down nitrogen, phosphate and other fertiliser elements but will increase their availability. The use of the Biodynamic Compost Preparations or B.D. Starter will greatly help in reaching the goal: good humus.
2. Introduce soil-protecting crop rotations and cover crops.
3. Introduce green manuring, but take care that the green manure crop is properly ploughed or disced under without locking up the soil life and nitrogen. In a garden, or wherever feasible, introduce mulching.
4. Improve your soil cultivation practices.
5. Establish proper environmental control, wind protection, good drainage, control of the watershed.
6. To create the right balance between the conserved and cultivated areas between woodland, wetland, pastures and arable land, together with integrating the wildlife and multiple species of domestic animals.

 

The following materials may be used against various insect pests ( See references 19 and 36 ):-

Derris ( contains rotenone to kill insects and fish ),
Pyrethrum ( extract of chrysanthemums to repel insects ),
Nicotine mixtures ( extremely toxic ),
Quassia ( kills some insects but harmless to humans or other animals ) and
Soap solution.

The Biodynamic Preparations fall into 3 categories: two are of a general nature, six for treating compost and manure, and one for dealing with fungus diseases. Their main purpose is to stimulate and enhance the supersensible forces and influences working in from the far spaces of the cosmos and up from the centre of the earth.

These Biodynamic Preparations ( Numbers 500-508 inclusive ) can be purchased from the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, who prepare them as follows:-