From remarks made by former BDA president Steve Moore several years
back on the topic of 'is BC a short cut to biodynamics'? -Allan
BC is not intended to replace biodynamic compost preparations, nor
500/501, for that matter. It is intended to provide a way for farmers
to apply the six compost preparations to a wider area and more
frequently than might otherwise be possible. There are many
situations where it is difficult, if not impossible to make and
distribute compost, especially on large acreage.
This is exactly the case on my farm. BC is an adjunct to using all of
the biodynamic preparations in a fairly conventional manner. We use
BC as a spray during cover crop "plow down"; we use it in compost
tea; we use it as a foliar to combat fungal development on tomatoes
and other crops during our foggy season. (Will Brinton at Woods End
Lab did some laboratory assays using samples of our BC tea, which
showed outstanding results prohibiting fungal development.)
In making BC the compost preps are inserted into the "dynamized"
mixture of cow manure, egg shells, and basalt rock dust, in much the
same manner as they are inserted into a conventional compost pile.
The total mass of material is much smaller than a conventional pile
and it is placed in a "barrel" just below the level of the soil
surface, rather than as a pile above the soil surface. The above and
below soil surface difference is worth noting. However, the preps
themselves certainly "participate fully in the composting process".
They are not "thrown out there without the <processing> that can only
take place in a compost pile." BC is a nearly black, humus rich
compost. Conventional measurements of its chemical properties show it
to be very good compost. I perceive it to be highly "intensified".
BC arose out of Maria Thun's research in Germany over the past 20 -
30 years. My understanding is that BC is intended to work in terms of
stimulating and activating soil organisms. This is exactly how we see
it working in practice. Observations in Germany indicated that plants
grown in weathered calcium soils accumulate less radioactive elements
from atomic wastes than plants grown on silicious soils. Apparently,
experiments showed that eggshells can be important to calcium
processes in soil. Furthermore, basalt was shown to help build-up
clay minerals in soils and help stabilize nitrogen in manure. Based
on these observations, Maria Thun formulated a recipe for BC with the
intent of stimulating these three aspects in soils, as an adjunct to
500, not as a replacement.
I fail to see where BC, used properly and as intended, is a "short
cut". Any methodology or biodynamic practice can be undermined
through improper understanding and implementation. Using BC in
fundamentally sound biodynamic program further enhances what is
already being brought to the farm organism. Hence, my enthusiastic
support for it.
