Just a Drop: Chromatography and the Tiniest Entities

Originally published 2025-01-10. By Stewart Kahn Lundy, Jacob Gibbons.

Assessing the benefits of tiny doses of biodynamic preparations on soil samples

For this experiment, we selected a sample of soil from a garden bed that had not been tilled recently and only took the sample from the uppermost topsoil. The soil on our farm is a Bojack Sandy Loam, which drains well, to the point of becoming too dry. In terms of agricultural use, though, given the annual rainfall in Virginia — often over 40 inches — it is generally better that the soil dries too quickly than too slowly. That said, we have been in the midst of a significant drought, and the pasture is suffering. Many soils need to be lightened by cultivation.

Plowing was introduced to help bring light into the soil and counteract compaction in the dying of the Earth. Some soils, like my sandy loam, need a “dark” light to be added in the form of compost. “[H]umus, the substance closely allied to terrestrial life does not take up light and make it active in the earth but produces a lightless activity there.”1 Anyone who has taken a handful of good compost and left it out in the light will know the experience of seeing it disintegrate into mineralized dust. Humus must be hidden from sunlight to be preserved. Even though humus is a major portion carbohydrates, which itself is stored sunlight, the process of the formation of humus is a dark, interior process. 

This image of our uppermost topsoil is as I would expect it to be: little organic matter, but still a delicate radiant image. The radiant pattern speaks to a certain level of biological activity, but the overwhelming impression is one of raying outward. In sandy soil, air is constantly throughout the earth, which operates somewhat like a bellows on a fire — the combustion of organic matter is accelerated in sandy soil. The kind of compost to be used on sandy soil varies somewhat from what one might use on heavier, darker soil.

As Claude Bourguignon writes in Regenerating the Soil: From Agronomy to Agrology, “Generally in sandy soils you have a very intensive mineralization. Never use green manure on sandy soils. On clayey soils, where the movement of organic matter is very slow, you can use green manure. For sandy soils, use only compost because the reaction of mineralization is really too fast.”2 If the analogy of a fire were to be extended, sandy soil would run hot and does not require hot fuel. Instead, hot soil requires containment and a “throttling” of the combustion process to reduce and slow the raying-out process. What I must consider is ways to restrict or hold back this dispersing tendency on my sandy soil. Pfeiffer writes, “For every soil which has a tendency to dry out — be it garden or farm in a temperate or tropical climate — mulching and shading create conditions under which a healthy fermentation can develop, and losses of humus be avoided.”3 When I look for the kind of biodynamic preparation I want to add to my soil, there is an inner relationship to this advice.

Here is an image of horn manure produced from manure on our farm. There is an intensity here, almost a seething richness rivaled only by its will to expand. For some soils, this may be excessive, but for a light sandy soil, I specifically need to darken the soil and even add more of what Goethe might call “coarse juices” to prevent plants from bolting as quickly. When plants run out of nourishment or water, they are stimulated to flower quickly. But for most of what we wish to produce in the garden, we want to inhibit this flowering stage and grow luxurious green plants first. On sandy soil, everything tends to rush much more quickly to flower because the “coarse juices” drain easily, leaving the plant with refined sap that is ready to become nectar. “It has been found that frequent nourishment hampers the flowering of a plant, whereas scant nourishment accelerates it. This is an even clearer indication of the effect of the stem leaves discussed above. As long as it remains necessary to draw off coarser juices, the potential organs of the plant must continue to develop as instruments for this need.”4 One might say because the exhaling, dehydrating process is more active on a sandy soil that even without the presence of chemical silicic acid, the silica “process” is still markedly pronounced.

This experimental batch of horn manure was left in the ground during fall and winter, but also through spring and summer. Steiner suggests, “On the whole, it is best to leave them in the ground until one uses them. If they are to be used in early Autumn, they should be left in the ground till the moment when they are wanted. The manure will not suffer through this.”5 This is not always practical because roots can rob you of all your precious horn manure. But as droughty as it's been here on our farm this year, this was not a problem. 

We bury our horns in our pasture and try to keep them as much as possible within the developed layer of the topsoil. This cultured layer has been “educated” with the life of innumerable cycles of new life from our sheep, geese, hogs, and cattle. Steiner originally indicated a depth equivalent to “18 in. to 2 ft. 6 in”6, so I aim for a 20-24” depth before our sandy loam transitions to red sandy clay. After all, Steiner warns in the Agriculture Course that the burial site should “not too clayey or too sandy.” He also repeats that it should “not be too sandy.”7 Since other indications from him suggest that silty soil is not useful for much, what remains is that horns should be buried in loamy soil. This means the soil for burying preparations should not be too mineralized. It should be a rich, developed loam — even if this means you must add compost to improve the burial site.

On a subtler level, I like to keep the burial pit in the pasture because the cows can walk all over it. Steiner indicates that proximity to cows, particularly in a barn, might be able to recharge old horns, “Use the cow-horns for three or four years in succession; then keep them in the cow-stable for a time, and use them again another year. This too might be possible.”8 Imagine a musical instrument like a guitar. If you pluck a string, any adjacent guitar strings tuned to the same frequency will also resonate. Only one of the guitars has the living initiative, but the others sing out. Only one impulse is alive, but even the “dead” guitars adjacent to the actively strummed guitar are quickened to a kind of secondhand life. I imagine something similar occurs when living cow horns are doing their real work above the ground, quickening the horns to new life below the soil. Though I have not performed experiments, I imagine that this might almost indefinitely extend the life of buried horns — at least until their physical structure disintegrated.

Pierre Masson says, “The ‘hot’ manures — for example chicken, horse, sheep or goat manure — are good for clay soil, which tends to be heavy and cold. ‘Cold’ manure — like that of cow, duck, or pig — is best used on dry, sandy soil or where it is too sunny.”9 Similarly, half-transformed compost or even raw manure may help “fire up” a heavy cold soil, whereas on sandy soil — in my experience — we tend to need something more stabilized whether it is something woody (lignin) or something truly colloidal that is not soluble and thus not as likely to leech out quickly with rain. 

We decided to run an experiment. While we were making chromatograms of our sandy garden soil, we also ran two more series of chromas of the exact same soil sample. The only difference is that to each, we added one drop of potentized horn manure (stirred for > 1 hr) and ten drops of potentized horn manure, respectively. Inspiration was taken from Alex Podolinsky, whose aim when spraying preparations was “one drop per square inch.” The following photographs are cropped from a single photograph with identical lighting.10 The subtle differences in the following chromatograms require repeated viewings, comparing and contrasting different examples. As we continue to repeat these experiments on different soil types, patterns are emerging that have some degree of repeatability. If the differences are not immediately apparent, continue reading and try revisiting the images tomorrow. Reading chromatograms takes practice, like developing an ear for music or an eye for art.

Video: we potentized 1tsp of dried and ground horn manure (same material as used in the samples above and the standalone sample of horn manur) in 1.5 liters of distilled water for > 60 minutes. We used a Mayu magnetic stirrer, which reverses with a gentle double tap from a finger; it provides adequate stirring while I simultaneously work on chromatography.

The image on the right is developed from a sandy loam topsoil. The left is the exact same sample plus 1 drop of potentized horn manure. The images are developed from 1.5 grams of dried soil in mL NaOH (sodium hydroxide 1%). The only difference between the one on the left is that the image on the right had 10 drops of potentized horn manure added. 1 tsp horn manure was potentized in 1.5 liters of distilled water for > 60 minutes. There is a clear difference between the two. A fairly consistent trend emerged: when a single drop of dynamized horn manure was used on a sample, the demarcation between the living realm and the mineral realm was softened. Using ten drops of dynamized horn manure integrated the dead mineral realm and the living realm more consistently. More trials will need to be done, but the initial results are promising windows into how only one tiny drop can make a significant difference.

As we continue to treat the garden bed with the stirred horn manure, rather unsurprisingly, the “gap” between the soil and soil-plus-one-drop begins to close. When I took these images to Mexico (though these were not really a “planned” part of the seminar), they spoke more effectively than I myself could. What is particularly useful about chromatography is that these formative pictures bypass any need for translation. Every human being can see the images directly and feel the differences between them. I have to say that the group in Mexico pointed out things that I myself had not noticed in my own chromas. Wherever I go, there is something to learn.

We will be bringing many of these chromas to Viroqua, Wisconsin for the 2025 FOPM conference from Jan 30th - Feb 2nd. We’d be happy to share what we’re finding if you can visit. The photographs below are all taken from a single shot to minimize variation in lighting, but there’s just no comparison to seeing them in person.

Be sure to sign up for our 2025 Spring Chromatography Workshop from March 21st - 23rd in Floyd, Virginia.

The Dynamics of Creation in Mexico

Stewart K Lundy, Jose Aviña, and 2 others

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December 20, 2024

It had been a long time coming. Jose, Alejo, and I have been talking for years, and we’ve been nurturing the idea of a new intensive retreat in Mexico. As with anything that is born, there is a prolonged gestation period before the newborn impulse arrives. We want to express our special thanks to Ricardo, who hosted us at his ranch, and to his team for managing hospitality and attentively filming the entire event (thank you, Maria and Aguirre!).

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