On Saturday, Oct. 12, you are invited to help stir and spray the cow horn Preparation 500 over the farm’s pastures with Benjamin Meier, our Cheese-maker.
We will gather together from 2-4 pm under the maple tree by the apprentice house (across the parking area from the Farm Store).
The preparation will first be stirred for one hour, and people can take turns stirring. The stirring activates the preparation. Immediately afterwards, the liquid will be ‘sprayed’ on the fields. The more people we have participating, the faster it will go! Children are welcome!
If you would like to join us, please bring a bucket and a clean large paint brush (like to paint a house).
For questions and RSVP: djrjourney@gmail.com 603-546-5737
Following is Benjamin’s explanation of the how and why Preparation 500 is produced:
"The cow horn manure preparation is one of the preparations done by BioDynamic farmers to enliven the fertility for land and plants.
A cow horn is filled with cow manure and buried in the ground over the winter.
In spring the manure is taken out of the horn and kept in a dark and cool place until it is used for spraying over the fields.
Then this very transformed manure, which is by now dark, rich soil, will be stirred in water for one hour. You change stirring direction once you have achieved a strong vortex.
Why is manure put into a cow horn? Manure is a great fertilizer. The cow horn concentrates the energies and so transforms the manure to a very potent substance.
Why is this preparation buried in the Winter? Manure is energetically and emotionally quite strong. The Winter gives this force clarity and direction.
Often, BioDynamic farmers use this preparation not because they understand exactly how it works, but because they see the great effect it has for land and plants"