There are few better team-building activities than stuffing cow horns with fresh manure together — at least on a Biodynamic farm. Sometimes you wonder if it’s the process or preparation that is making such a difference on your farm. I believe it is the combination of both that enlivens biodynamics.

Intentionality is a vision that flows through the practice of biodynamics. This is the guiding concept in making the biodynamic preparations. We grow and harvest the plants that are raw materials for most of these preparations. We carefully plan our schedule for making and harvesting these preparations to follow the rhythm of the seasons and the Moon. Every aspect of their production and use is filled with intentionality. There are good reasons biodynamics is called a practice. It is as much a way of thinking as a farming strategy.

There are two groups of Biodynamic preparations — the field sprays, 500, 501, 508, and the compost preparations, 502 to 507. In this episode of Troon Talk, we are focused on the three field preparations and will follow up with a second episode on the compost preparations.

Biodynamic Preparation 500, or cow horn manure, is by far the most well-known of the preparations, as the cow horns are every journalist’s favorite photo opportunity. Their cameras have made BP 500 the very symbol of biodynamic farming. It is true, if you only use one of the preparations — 500 is the one. But 500 is only half of the dynamic duo that includes BP 501 — the quartz or silica spray.

500 works in the dark world of roots and 501 in the sunlight transforming energy into nutrition in the leaves. 500 is applied to the soil, inoculating the soil with a complex blend of microbiology and feeding the life already in your soil. These preparations demonstrate where modern agricultural science and biodynamics continue to come closer together. 500 is a fermented tea that feeds the soil’s biological system. The silica crystals from 501 improve photosynthesis, increase plant cell wall strength, and add growth. These preparations are now mimicked by agricultural chemical companies that market them as patented brand-name products. The attack on Biodynamic Preparations is often from these corporations because they cannot patent the preps.

As famous as the preparations made with cow horns are, BD 508 spray preparation is the least known. No burying for months underground, 508 is a simple herbal tea made from Horsetail (Equisetum Arvense). This plant is rich in silica, which as with 501, supports cell wall strength and is also an anti-fungal we use to supplement our powdery mildew spray program.

Our biodynamic preparations are based on microbiology and chemistry. There is no mystery here except the mystery of nature itself.