Photo Creds goes to @SetonHall
With the crazy weather this week it was hard not to want to hibernate indoors and snuggle up under a nice warm blanket. With a snow day on Wednesday and a delayed opening on Thursday, it sure seems like spring is never going to come! But I'm trying to stay positive and keep telling myself that the warm weather is just around the corner - it just has to be!
During this crazy week I have been ruminating on what Mac told us last Friday at the Pfeiffer Center regarding bringing biodynamics here to Seton Hall (get my pun;). Anyway, I really think this thing can happen! Wanda told us that she has ordered some of the preps from Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics for our garden. I don't know about you, but that gets me super excited. This means we are one step closer to using this method we have been talking about and researching for so long in our garden and creating real food from its methods!! Come on, you have to agree with me that it is at least a little joy provoking. Tell me we are getting bunnies and I will be over the moon excited!! I don't know if I would be able to contain myself haha.
I am not sure which ones she bought, but I think the 2 basic ones which would be the best to start off with for our garden in my opinion would be Prep 500 and 501. Prep 500 is made from cow manure placed in a cow's horn, and then buried for several months to transform with the help of the earth's energy. Then, the transformed material, which according to Mac has a neutral or dirt like smell, is placed in water and is stirred vigorously for an hour. Finally, this prep is sprayed on the soil we will be planting the seeds in during the early spring - which is now (screams internally). The other prep, Prep 501, is used later on in the season once the plants have sprouted. It is made of crushed quartz, silica, mixed with water which is sprayed towards the end of Spring. This prep goes on the leaves of the plants, which enhances their ability to take in the sun's energy. Both of these preps would be pre-made, which makes it easy on us, we just need to make sure we use them correctly. We might also work on our compost pile so we can implement Mac's famous quote is: The most important thing to remember about biodynamics is "you use things from your farm for your farm." So, I think we really need to find a good manure source for our garden which would allow us to have rich soil from processed plants from our garden.
I am so excited for this warm weather so we can get started!!