Biodynamics and a sore arm

Biodynamic Preparation 500 Last week I had my first foray into Biodynamics. The plan was to apply the famous preparation 500 to my garlic crop. The cornerstone of biodynamics is preparation 500. This is made by stuffing cow manure into cow horns, burying those horns over winter, then stirring a small amount of the fermented manure in rain water ( 25 grams of 500 in 13 litres of water for a one acre block is the recommended application rate) for an hour and spraying the resulting liquid in droplets onto the soil. The details of the stirring are important: it has to be for an hour, using the reverse vortex method, where the water is stirred in one direction until a vortex forms in the bucket - and then, when the vortex reaches the bottom, the stirring direction is reversed, creating chaos in the liquid. Again, this works on many levels, depending on who you talk to: this is either a way of attracting cosmic influences into the liquid - or just a really good way of mixing stuff up. Preparation 500 stirring vortex  Having acquired a nugget of the precious brown stuff, ( I did not stuff the cow horns myself, I just bought the end product) I waited for the right conditions; A descending moon, a misty afternoon with a high chance of rain. Things were looking promising!  I had collected the required items; a large stainless steel pot, a wooden stirrer and about 13 litres of rain water.  I approached the task with trepidation, one whole hour of stirring by hand! However, I was past the point of no return, I was committed, it had to be done.  I had suspended a wooden pole from the verandah to aid in the stirring process. With cuppa, biscuits and timer in hand I began. I started stirring using my hand and soon got into a rhythm, creating a vortex, in one direction then the other. I alternated between using my hand and the wooden post, it was a meditative process a bit like tending an open fire, my arm was sore but it was not too bad.  Then to apply to the soil, this took another hour or two. I used a brush and sprinkled the preparation over the field. I had planned to use my organic solo backpack sprayer for the job, only to learn that this was inappropriate as it is made out of plastic, it needs to be stainless steel. Only natural materials such as wood or steel are allowed to be used in any part of the process. So I sprinkled until dark and my pot was empty, it took forever and was more grueling than the stirring process. Plenty of time for reflecting about what and why I was doing all of this!!! My sore arm stirring for one whole hour It was a strange thing, it felt very medieval, a bit like a priest sprinkling holy water to protect the crop from evil spirits or something of the like. My brother said that I looked like a witch and was acting like one too. Maybe so...... 500 is used to improve soil structure and microbiological activity, it stimulates soil bacteria, which promotes soil fungi, which in turn enables  nutrient exchange between the plants roots and the soil. With any luck, I will be reaping the benefits with the 2012 garlic crop. Next thing on my list is to attempt to tackle Biodynamic Composting.