I Make BD 500

This morning I put about half a box of bulbs (about 175) into a bucket and told Isaiah that he had to pop them in the holes I made, but when the bucket was empty, he was done. This was surprisingly effective: the definite completion kept him on task. Each bulb walked up to its hole and fell, unexpectedly, to its death. At least, that was the sketch Isaiah performed for his own amusement, over and over again. Jadon's bucket went quickly as he recalled line after line of his favorite Jeeves and Wooster scenes and lines (he is reading P.G. Wodehouse for himself now, which I think quite impressive). Abraham and Joe came out for their bucket and stuck with it all the way to the bottom. Good for them.

As we close in on 2/3 of the bulbs planted (we ended the day at about 64%), I took a break today to make BD 500, a biodynamic preparation that I hope will serve as a potent homeopathic treatment for the land.

Two years ago, I ordered seven cow horns from the Josephine Porter Institute. They supply top quality biodynamic preps to customers around the world, but they encourage people to try to make their own. Some day, I suppose, I will have my own cow horns, but for now, I am thankful to get started with any horn. You can tell that these are cow (female) horns because of the birth rings: bull (male) horns are smooth. And not usable for making the preps.

Into the horns, I troweled as much cow manure as I could from, I hope, the lactating cows in the dry lot. At the risk of being indelicate, it was all fairly fresh, as the cows spread their hay around and cover previous manuring daily.

I vaguely recall reading an article about the importance of a clay cap for the manure, so I dug a few more holes with the bulb planter in order to get a good compressed clay plug. The end result was neither attractive nor, I'm afraid, impermeable, but it was what I had patience and ability for this day.

And then I had to bury them in the earth. Phil and I discussed options for spots reasonably rich in humus, but, in the end, I opted for the site of Chloe the dog's grave. I knew the soil had been recently disturbed, which made for easier digging, and I knew we will do no land improvement things there over the next six months (if ever). So I dug a small hole and placed my seven horns, with the openings down to prevent water from soaking in. I have seen beautiful, radiating spirals of horns about to be buried. That would have required a bigger hole, and I have dug enough holes lately to want to enlarge this project.

So there is BD 500, in process. I'll dig it up sometime between Easter and Pentecost (which is May 27 next year) and see what I have.