Last Sunday we had our 2nd Biodynamic workshop where we made and applied preparation 501. The weather was perfect out at Glendhu Station and we had 8 willing participants to help share the workload.  We started with a recap from last month explaining what the basic principles of Biodynamic is, followed by an explanation as to what 501 is.  Yes I do hear you asking, “What is preparation 501?” and I am tempted to say you should have come along to find out for yourself, but I won’t.  Although you definitely missed out on a great day.So preparation 501 is a finely ground quartz (Silica – the clearer the better) put into a cow horn and buried in the ground for a period of 6 months.  Once removed from the ground it can be stored in a glass jar on a window sill.  It is best to use this preparation during the growing season at a rate of approx 1 gram to 13 litres of water per acre, this is then stirred for 1 hr, giving the water/silica as much movement and energy as you can in that hour.  Once this has been achieved spray in a fine mist over the plants you want to cover (I sprayed it everywhere).  The most ideal time to spray is very early morning, because the silica is a light reflecting substance it could burn the plants during the hotter hours of the day.

This is an air preparation and the spray enhances the photosynthesis of leaf activity, enhances skeletal strength of the plant and helps against fungal attacks.

It turns out we are all a bunch of stirrers – taking turns over the hour, I for one could not have stirred that big coldron for an hour all by myself.  But as a group it was very relaxing and rather social, and because we made so much of it we were allowed to take some home with us.  (If you where doing it for your own back yard you would make it in a bucket).

A big thanks to Su for another installment  of Biodynamic 101 (or 501 in this case).

For anyone who is interested in our next workshop it will be on the 29th of January – so stay tuned and don’t miss out.