Happy Equinox!
Originally published 2024-03-19. By Stewart Kahn Lundy.
Automated reading
Barrel Compound, Valerian, etc.
Whether or not we plan to do so, we always seem to be doing a stir and a spray at the equinoxes. These are special moments. When you stir water for a spray, the depth of the counterclockwise vortex is the deepest moment of the cosmic in-breathing: the winter solstice. When you reverse in chaos, this is the tipping point of the spring equinox — of the Easter season. When the clockwise vortex reaches the depth of the bucket, you have arrived at a microcosmic summer solstice — the greatest cosmic exhalation. The chaotic reversal, once more, brings you to the equinox.
On my own farm, I use an inordinate amount of barrel compound. Barrel compound consists of cow manure, volcanic rock dust (basalt), eggshells, plus the biodynamic compost preparations. For me, barrel compound embodies a primal impulse: the precursor to new humus (manure) and the precursor to new soil (volcanic rock dust) together with “young” calcium (pullet eggshells). I’ve never found an upper limit for Barrel Compound applications, but I notice when I don’t use it.
Josephine Porter Institute - Applied Biodynamics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
For me, barrel compound embodies a primal impulse: the precursor to new humus (manure) and the precursor to new soil (volcanic rock dust) together with “young” calcium (pullet eggshells).
Homemade Barrel Compound is the greater portion of the compost we add to our starting mix. I use a full third of barrel compound in my starting mix. This may seem excessive, but I’m serious about giving our plants a good head start. With good humus like barrel compound, plants thrive for weeks longer in flats and do not need to be rushed or “potted up” the same way as starving plants do.
If you can source some decent manure, making your own Barrel Compound (BC) is a highly economical pursuit you can do for your farm or garden. Barrel Compound (BC) retails at over $9 per unit, whereas a single Barrel Compound Kit can make some 600 units - enough to treat hundreds of acres. Can you source 12.5 gallons of manure? If so, you can make Barrel Compound! While we encourage everyone to make their own Barrel Compound, it is still important to keep introducing the biodynamic impulse from established operations until the new pattern of life has become firmly established.
One of my favorite ways to use Barrel Compound is to spray it directly on the soil whenever I am cultivating or flipping beds. It’s always good to give something to the soil whenever you disrupt it, so I apply Barrel Compound over the beds immediately before tillage so my tractor incorporates the impulse thoroughly. Think of it as a gift to the elementals. If I am transplanting, a quick stir of Barrel Compound in water and a watering can is enough to welcome the new plants to their home.
Maria Thun found Barrel Compound especially useful as a regular foliar spray for brassicas. If we wish to reduce cabbage moths, we want our brassicas to stink less. Maria Thun’s research suggests that relying on odorless manure compost and odorless foliar sprays significantly reduces pest pressure on brassicas.
Taking a hint from one of our community, Joe Stevens, I have started using Valerian 507 whenever starting seeds or transplanting. In essence, aromas move upward and outward and rarely find their way down into the soil. By adding volatile aromatic essential oils below the plant, we amplify the upward cosmic stream. It is Joe’s contention — and I am inclined to agree with him — that Valerian as a soil preparation is a key missing component towards effective biodynamics. If only Valerian were added to horn manure sprays (as in the case of Podolisnky’s version of 500, which contains 500, 502-507), we would see significantly improved results.
Biodynamics is kundalini for the garden.
There more obscure reasons for using Valerian and this spectrum of flowers. For me, biodynamics is kundalini for the garden. We capture the floral elements, settle them down, and introduce these elements to the “head” of the plant: its root. This contains the secret of biodynamics.
Some of us add valerian during the last 20 minutes of stirring horn manure. Experience demonstrates that this is often what takes biodynamics to the next level.
What are your experiences with valerian as a soil spray?
Josephine Porter Institute - Applied Biodynamics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
