Re: introduction and a WHOLE lotta questions

[Manfred Palmer]

Hi Jennifer: You words seem full of passionate intent.Welcome! Hugh Lovel's clues are always well-screened, pondered, tried, and scientifically valid in my experience. You would no doubt benefit greatly from his book : A Biodynamic Farm. His ongoing commentary on this list contains the substance of what effectively constitutes his next "book". It was a pleasure to have him with us in Canada recently as a part of a large organic conference. Incidentally, his 4-hr. presentation , "basic, and advanced,biodynamics" was professionally recorded, and tapes are still available i believe. Mind you, they lack the accompanying slides which he showed during a short portion.......but still worth it. Share your soiltest results with the list? As for the goat manure, depending on how densely it is packed, and how large an area it comprises, i would add, in place, the Steiner remedies ....prepared by a reputable practitioner... Hugh was selling these at our conference,with instructions, and no doubt has some left. There are other sources too, through this list. To me, even though you're chomping at the bit, i would caution re precipitous action on the soil. If you can afford the time, and you're short on funds anyway, keenly examine what grows on at least some of the fields as they are now. Note the types of weeds prevalent, and get a book... "weeds and what they tell"...E.Pfeiffer, and ask further questions of the list, too. Leave them alone till you need to bring them into "production"   (What kind of equipment do you have?)    Before that, you may benefit from a few smother/cover/incorporating crops like buckwheat followed by rye and/or oats/barley to winter kill... leaving you with a cover and a thick suppressive mulch in the spring. On another relatively weed free field you may sow oats in the spring with an underseeding of sweet clover or dwarf clover, depending on your future intent for that plot. It is generally acknowledged that the least damaging mode of non-manual cultivation is with the use of a "spader" implement( costly)This requires at least 30 hp for a 4' width. Again, depending on the type of soil in your various fields, if you dont have a spader, then the notched-discs and spring tooth cultivator(s) are ok.   As for the all-important garden patch , many favor the (alternate) bed width/permanent clover/perrenial-grass cover drive-path system( Also see Hugh's.) The prerequisite for this is a fairly "clean patch" with no persistent "problem weed" ...like bindweed or heavy twitch grass. It's useful to keep a record of which beds grew what/in companion or solo, so that you can alternate the light/heavy feeders, and make other adjustments relating to individual plants' cycles. This takes a bit of study. I would say, the first year doesnt matter too much in this regard and is  your major observation for these factors. You can then arrange the following year with those things in mind. Certainly abide as closely as practicable to the planting/sowing schedule in the Stella Natura calendar, and learn what those celestial factors are as you go along. As soon as you are ready for the inclusion of a cow or two, you will soon see the evidence of that major commitment in its blessed processes. As an alternate, or additional animal presence,... you may have heard of the movable, human scale, "chicken tractor:"... basically variations of a movable enclosure with a secure hutch included. These are moved bit by bit down the field, feeding and replenishing as they go. This can be done with sheep, goats, Llamas, etc. A byword is not to include manure from animals which have conventional deworming compounds passing through them ...in your current compost, or randomly through the fields. Contain and isolate for special attention. There are more benign things available. Then, actually first consideration, there are the 3 primary field spray remedies. The horn manure, the horn clay, and the horn quartz. Others more experienced will no doubt advise on their sequential applications/timings. There's a start. Continue to ask specific questions. ...And thrill to the inevitable variation of opinion/insight!   Good for you! good for All! ...........manfred palmer   ----- Original Message ----- From: Jennifer Rochester To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 2:47 PM Subject: introduction and a WHOLE lotta questions Hi all.   My name is Jennifer. I don't know how much of an introduction is important here, but I will give enough info to hopefully help you understand our present situation anyway.   I am married to Michael, and we are parents to 4 terrific little girls.  We used to be pretty sheeple-ish, but then one of my daughters became autistic due to her routine vaccinations.  This was the beginning of BIG life changes for us, in so many ways. We now no longer believe in the 'mainstream' medical model at all, as well as most things mainstream. I feel like an alien left on the wrong planet with my family a lot of the time. We now take care of our own 'medical needs', including birthing at home unassisted. Life is so much better now.   Anyway . . . in doing some research about how to help my autistic daughter, I came across info about Sally Fallon. Along came even more changes in our lives.  We now get all of the food we can find that is at least half decent (if that :-/ ) and prepare it correctly (I have become quite the sourdough queen, lol!),  but we very quickly realized that in order to have truly good food, as well as legal access to raw milk etc, we would have to produce our own. So we began researching how to do this. We had a 5 yr plan to getting our own farm, but fate had other plans, and we are now on a 72 acre farm in Northern Kentucky, 4 yrs ahead of schedule. While we are absolutely ecstatic to be here, we didn't get nearly enough time to research and learn. Our plan is to have a 2 acre garden for ourselves this year, and hopefully start a CSA type operation in the following years. Our biggest dilemma is that we don't have much time to learn before it is time to plant this year.   I feel very drawn to biodynamic gardening for many reasons, the biggest one being that it really makes sense and matches very well with our religious beliefs (LDS). The problem is, there is just so much to learn, and we have so little time!!! We are more than willing to do the work required to learn what we need to, but I am wondering if anyone can maybe help us by telling us which books and resources you feel are most valuable (I just got my first ACRES USA and catalog, and there are SO MANY books I would like to get, but we have limited resources and most especially limited time before this years planting).  I know that it will take many years to get the farm up to the level that we would like, but I am also very anxious to make sure we are doing all we can to make it the best it can be NOW, especially  because nutrient dense food is so important for my daughter in helping her to come out of her autism. Is anyone willing to maybe help us with a quick study in what we should be doing now? I am worried we are running out of time. I have been on this list for only a month (which is as long as we have been here on the farm), and while I am finding it very valuable, I feel a bit lost at times. I feel like an elementary student dropped into a roomful of advanced chemists, and I am floundering in trying to understand it all. I know that time will take care of this, just as it did when I first started learning about removing the mercury from my childs brain. I remember how lost I felt then, and now when newcomers come trying to learn, it's almost hard to understand why they don't get it, because it all seems so natural to me now. Like I said, we are more than willing to do what is needed to learn all we can, but in the meantime, it would be really helpful if someone could just say, 'look, here's what you need to do. You need to apply this particular prep at this particular time, and here's where you can get it or how you can make it, and here's how you apply it'. Is there somewhere where I can find what I need to do in a simple format like this? I know we will enjoy spending years learning all of this, but I really need something NOW as well, in a form I can easily understand. I can learn all of the why's later.  We have a whole barn full of goat manure that is pretty well broken down (the previous owner had family problems, and did not have the time to clean it out for two years, just kept adding more straw), but I don't even know how this should be used. According to the 'organic' stuff I have read, we would add quite a bit of this, but according to the last note Hugh sent, we don't need that much. How the heck is a poor beginner like myself supposed to know what to do?!?  Something deep in my heart tells me that I will find the answers here. I know that you all are very busy people, but if any of you feel so inclined, I would GREATLY appreciate some help, or at least a finger pointing me the direction I should go.   Thanks so much!!! Wow, with so many changes in such a short time in my life, I am really curious what could be coming up next. I am sure it will be something that I have no clue even exists right now.  I am just loving filling my brain with all of this new info. I feel so ALIVE!!!  Jennifer   [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Click here for the best diet and nutrition information you will ever find! www.westonaprice.org ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." -- William O. Douglas  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*