Re: Names in the news
sounds about the same price as they were charging at the Kimberton Whole Foods store. ! What would you charge ? If we could sell raw milk, we'd charge $4.50 per gallon.
Re: Dalgety
Lloyd Charles wrote: Hi Roger In your dalgety pictures the underground streams meet pic - what is in the right hand side ? a curving line like a lake shore or similar at the edge of the green , i couldnt make this out real good or is it a little ridge top? the curve looks too smooth to be made by anything else but ponded water ? actually it's an underground stream curving down from the fenceline which is about 200 metres north. When the underground lakes are full, this stream would in fact form the edge of one which is why the curve is so smooth. What happened was there was a 30 minute (about) downpour in late Dec which literally swept through the reserve, washing loose and dry stuff off the surface and recharging the underground streams and lakes (all of which I had dowsed a month or so earlier without any surface indicators - I feel pretty good about that! :) ) I learned today there are only about 18 cows in there, they will be there for four weeks max. That's good, the feed and water should last OK. This was slow loading (very) . for the future are you able to list the pics with a short description of each so that we can click on and bring them up one at the time rather than waiting for the whole page to load. well, it's the first time i've done anything like this, i can only get better with practice. Thumbnails are the way to go. Are you going to albury? Its raining in Toowoomba already , i guess that change will get to coffs harbour next week and there's a TC off the west coast that could put something around albury about the 17th of feb . Cheryl says good numbers to all four workshops, she just keeps doing this, I dont know anybody can pull rabbits out of hats like this lady! Yes, robin and I are driving down on the 15th after the Canberra Peace Rally, we're staying at the Albury Georgian Motor Inn in town. Looking forward to the workshop. Be a busy week, I've got a landcare conference in Braidwood 13/14th. You're going to Toowoomba aren't you? cheers roger Cheers Lloyd Charles -- %% May I have given you seeds that you can turn into roots that will bear fruit in the future. (Rudolf Steiner) %% Reiki Healer, Earth Healing, Natural Energy Divination Earthcare Environmental Solutions PO Box 2057 Queanbeyan NSW 2620 Australia Ph: +61 2 6255 3824 Fax: +61 2 6255 1028 Mob: +61 410 469 541 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: CT=BDcompost,preps+Alaska humus, forest humus kelp
I will say this, though. Unlike Elaine Ingham who at least has the courage
to defend her views in public forums such as SANET and the Compost Tea list,
I have never seen Brinton or Bess do so, nor present a coherent argument or
data in support of their critique where anyone could see it and evaluate it.
I notice Allan also does not have the guts to flat out say in a forum that
Elaine monitors, that he now believes Brinton and not her ('egg on my face'
and like that). That's his choice and theirs, but it doesn't really help us
understand the details of all this much.
Brinton has data. He has published two studies in BIODYNAMICS in the
90's If anyone has the one on Barrel Compost as an effective control
for foliar diseases, I'd appreciate it if they'd post it here.
When we get this audio streaming worked out, I have Bess'
presentation and Brinton's presentations to make available. They come
after the awesome Fred K. Community post - IF we get some
cooperation on making these files work.
Come on Frank, you're sharp enough to know what I'm doing here. It's
my job to bring ideas to the group, to keep people thinking. To keep
the sausage rolling in the frying pan. As you concluded in your post
otherwise: Don't believe me, but consider this when you're thinking
for yourself. If your pendulum is stuck, I'll be there for you. I'm
not a primary source, but I'm happy to give you the finger...I mean
POINTER to another, potentially valid, point of view. Let's hope that
people get out of the easy chair and put this stuff into practice.
If I can get you off from your well articulated duff and make a post
like you have, and hopefully the follow-ups to it, I've accomplished
what my goal was.
Making a virtue of Elaine's willingness to quibble in public forums
is rather questionable. Valid or not, I can assure you that it is
costing her a lot of respect in some circles. After a while, no
matter how brilliant a person is, or has been, reflective individuals
start hoping that person will start getting more sleep - - and
wondering how or why they don't!
As for myself, this is not a 'head' issue at this point. This is a
get out there and do it issue. (I will report that the best 'magic'
effect I've seen from compost tea to date was with a batch of three
week old almost totally ignored Will Brinton unstirred compost tea.
Man, that stuff REALLY promoted quality plant growth.)
As far as your worms, well, we can talk about that later.
Our aim is Religion, our method is Science Break out of the castes!!
Will Brinton on Chemical Processes in BD500
A paper that first appeared in BIODYNAMICS can be downloaded at http://www.woodsend.org/aaa/inst.html I didn't find the 'BC as CT' article. If anyone has it, please share! -Allan
Re: Biodiesel
It is not recommended to run diesel engines on kerosine and cooking oil mixtures without preheating the mixture first because coking can occur on the injectors causing engine problems. It is better to start an engine on diesel allow it to heat up by having a hose running from the radiator to a second fuel tank containing the mixture. If your doing that I would just run the engine on strait vegetable oil. Of course you have to allow the engine to idle on diesel after to remove any coking on the injectors. The numbers for kerosene are actually 20 to 30%. To produce biodiesel on your own you mix sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and methanol or ethanol with the vegetable oil in a process that is to complex to describe here. This is a complex chemical reaction and should not be done without proper instruction. I have long thought that biodynamic farms are perfect for biodiesel in as far as the farm organism goes because you can reduce the pollution from your tractors by growing your own oil crops on spare acres and at the very least mixing biodeisel with diesel directly in your fuel tank. Although this would very obviously be an off season project. Peace Eric On Wednesday, February 5, 2003, at 04:53 AM, gideon cowen wrote: According to a motoring programme on TV here, one can use used vegetable oil, strained of course, to run diesel cars without any alterations to the engine. You just need to add 3 % non kerosene based white spirit (turpentine), and let it sit for one week before using it. McDonalds and Co. should have some spare, I am not sure what they do with it ? has anyone else heard, or done this ?? Gideon. - Original Message - From: Eric Myren [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 1:24 PM Subject: Biodiesel The best book I know of on this subject is from The Fryer To The Fuel Tank by Joshua Tickle. The most efficient producer of oil that could be used as biodiesel is actually Algae. It takes the Suns energy directly and converts it to oil (in the process eating carbon dioxide) and it could easily supply the worlds energy needs. As many other things could... The main reason it has not expanded in North America as quickly as Europe is that it is not enjoying the same corporate welfare the big oil and gas corporations get. If you want more information on growing crops for its production or any thing to do with it just google it there is loads of information out there. peace Eric
Re: Dalgety
Roger - Are there just the 4 pictures? If so, it loaded instantly with my DSL. The only thing that I would recommend is that you keep the 72dpi and resize your uploaded originals to the size you want them on the webpage rather than uploading very large pictures and re-sizing with html. You pix weigh in at 156k, not that bad, but they could be as small as 20k, with a little work. Interesting stuff. Which person is Hamish? DOES HE SELL FLOWFORMS??? ;-) later
Re: Los Alamos Laboratories pollution.
I'm trying to get in touch with him right now. He's in Europe in some shows. Will get back about his work the satellite stuff when I get hold of him. Jane From: Lance Howard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:18:40 -0800 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Los Alamos Laboratories pollution. .. One of whom has been sounding an alarm and doing map pieces about the upcoming wars, based not only on oil reserves, but on water and geographical meanderings of rivers. Many of his shows and much of his work has been censored here in the US and he more often has receptions in Europe. Jane can you post a website or other contact information for this artist?
Re: Biodiesel
Slightly off the topic, folks in North America and elsewhere might not realise the enormous tax imposed on motor fuels in the UK. A year or so back, a run down most of the country was organised to demonstrate the use of alternative fuels: spent oil from fish-and-chip frying shops was collected, crudely distilled in a mobile laboratory and used in the demonstration vehicle (I think a diesel-engined car). It worked perfectly well (except for a strong smell of French fries in the exhaust) but the authorities insisted on an exact record being kept of the volumes used. Standard fuel tax then had to be paid on this. Another reason why biofuels haven't caught on as well as they should? Tony N-S. _ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://messenger.msn.co.uk
Re: Raw Milk
British milk producers might like to confirm what I remember about the sale of non-pasteurised milk in the UK: it is prohibited on a casual basis, but can be sold to individual named customers. Tony N-S. _ Overloaded with spam? With MSN 8, you can filter it out http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmailpgmarket=en-gbXAPID=32DI=1059
Trace elements hybrid corn
This month Acres had an interview with DR Gerald Olarsch. The article claims that research done in forties indicated that crops grown from hybrid seed (particularly corn) 'are incapable of taking up nutrients or trace elements'. Being a sweet corn junkie this came as rather a shock. Is this true? Anyone familiar with these studies ? Ron Poitras
OT/Re: Biodiesel
Eric: Ive been wanting to use this too, but held off because of engine-damage concern. Another factoid which i found thru Google : because of the increased solvency/chemistry of the biodiesel, there was a chance of dislodging any petro-diesel clumps which might be clinging to tank walls or tubing,... and might clog up the injectors. I think this is in addition to coking. I had planned to run Bidi this season exclusively. (i get a headache every time i catch the downwind from the tractors, and i'm assuming that will change when i switch to bidi with much fewer toxic particulates) . There has been a toronto company advertising for the past year for delivery of bidi locally.(Mostly for bigrig companies) I just dont know yet if they'll deliver a drum, or i can pick it up. My understanding is that it is not practical below freezing because of gelling. (That's ok for most farmers'seasons anyway.) Is that another reason for suggesting preheating? And, are you saying that coking is inevitable without preheating? The vendors don't mention any alterations required to use bidi. Again, i don't know their mix ratio. What proportion diesel/bidi would be correct to avoid the pre/post idle and heating which you mention? If i can avoid running an extra fuel-tubing coil through a preheat location, it would be preferable...especially since tractor's aircooled. Thanks for any further info .manfred - Original Message - From: Eric Myren [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 7:37 AM Subject: Re: Biodiesel
Subject: Peace Seeds
Does anyone know if Alan Kapuler is still running Peace Seeds, and if he or the company has email or a web address? I think you want http://www.abundantlifeseed.org/index.htm Note they have some BD seeds! David Robison Stellar Processes 1033 SW Yamhill Suite 405 Portland, OR 97205 (503) 827-8336 www.ezsim.com
Re: compost tea
In a message dated 2/4/03 12:43:40 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Compost tea has been used by BD farmers for a long time and no one bothered to get all technical about feeding the culture. Allan's explanation was very good; we just don't yet know if brewed compost tea is needed. There are several fertilizer companies that will pay you a small dividend if you let them clean the muck out of you pond every few years. What they are accumulating is an incredible quantity of microbes that live in this muck. As it turns of many of the same organisms that live in the soil also live in this pond environment. The extra attention given to aerobically brewed tea gives several orders of magnitude higher of these beneficial organisms in aerobic tea than anaerobic. Always, when cleaning out the brewer the muck smells wonderful and reminiscent of a big healthy lake. This muck goes back into the compost pile. Likewise the tea organisms can be reproduced through judicious use of the biodynamic remedies. With the tea what is not needed id spending thousans on a brewer when you can easily make one with the biggest investment being a tank and a great compressor...sstorch
Re: Subject: Peace Seeds
Abundant Life is a beautiful website, especially it's opening page! But I really did want Peace Seeds. Thanks to 'our' Allan, I was able to get in touch with A. Kapuler this morning and order the corn I was looking for, plus ask for a listing of the 2003 Peace varieties.
Re: Trace elements hybrid corn
This month Acres had an interview with DR Gerald Olarsch. The article claims that research done in forties indicated that crops grown from hybrid seed (particularly corn) 'are incapable of taking up nutrients or trace elements'. Being a sweet corn junkie this came as rather a shock. Is this true? Anyone familiar with these studies ? Ron Poitras Hi Ron I dont know the science of this but its pretty well accepted in eco farming circles that hybrids are able to grow successfully on trace element deficient soils conversely that open pollinated and really any older varieties need a much more complete spectrum of available trace elements to produce good yields - makes sense I guess - the newer (including hybrid) varieties have been bred and rigorously selected for bulk yield on experiment station soils with poor trace element availability and excessive use of N P K.- Maybe of interest - we are in serious drought here and it has become very obvious that our sheep are selectively grazing the wheat stubbles that we have grown using a remineralising fertility program - we still have a couple of paddocks on conventional fertilisers and when given the choice they are going in them as a last resort, prefering to eat straw to the ground in the mineral paddocks - sheep are in good condition (3 fat score or better - good enough for the butcher) so its not a case of desperation on their part. Cheers Lloyd Charles
Re: Dalgety
Allan Balliett wrote: Roger - Are there just the 4 pictures? If so, it loaded instantly with my DSL. The only thing that I would recommend is that you keep the 72dpi and resize your uploaded originals to the size you want them on the webpage rather than uploading very large pictures and re-sizing with html. You pix weigh in at 156k, not that bad, but they could be as small as 20k, with a little work. Interesting stuff. Which person is Hamish? DOES HE SELL FLOWFORMS??? ;-) later Like I said, it's the first time I'd done anything like that. The maximum I can get on a geocities template page is 8 photos; what I'm doing is practising before going on to bigger and better things. I have at least a thousand images of that site on this system and as many more of other properties and stuff such as the making of a BD compost pile, compost from grain dust (that's the 8% protein waste that blows your silos sky high), organic and BD farms and many other things. Hamish is the person in the waistcoat. I represent the Australian flowform manufacturer (Living Water Flowforms), any info you want, just ask. roger %% May I have given you seeds, that you can turn into roots, that will bear fruit in the future. (Rudolf Steiner) %% Reiki Healer, Earth Healing, Natural Energy Divination Earthcare Environmental Solutions PO Box 2057 Queanbeyan NSW 2620 Australia Ph: +61 2 6255 3824 Fax: +61 2 6255 1028 Mob: +61 410 469 541 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Dalgety
Hamish is the tall thin guy on the left of the photo. He hauls this rig around the whole country.. gideon. - Original Message - From: Allan Balliett [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 1:54 PM Subject: Re: Dalgety Roger - Are there just the 4 pictures? If so, it loaded instantly with my DSL. The only thing that I would recommend is that you keep the 72dpi and resize your uploaded originals to the size you want them on the webpage rather than uploading very large pictures and re-sizing with html. You pix weigh in at 156k, not that bad, but they could be as small as 20k, with a little work. Interesting stuff. Which person is Hamish? DOES HE SELL FLOWFORMS??? ;-) later
Re: Raw Milk
Old Plaw Hatch farm in Sussex sells raw milk thru a milk round available to anyone who wants it in the local area, the reusable glass bottles must carry a disclaimer saying the milk could contain harmful organisms, and right at the bottom it says that this also true of pasturised milk !! ho ho. unfortunately here in Scotland there is no such thing as raw milk. gideon. - Original Message - From: Tony Nelson-Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 5:45 PM Subject: Re: Raw Milk British milk producers might like to confirm what I remember about the sale of non-pasteurised milk in the UK: it is prohibited on a casual basis, but can be sold to individual named customers. Tony N-S. _ Overloaded with spam? With MSN 8, you can filter it out http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmailpgmarket=en-gbXAPID=32DI=1059
sheep know, so do cows
In 1964, my Daddy put down a good deal of chemical fertilizer. We had pretty good pastures and they instantly went to 'lush green fields' he was pleased. But it made him 'sick as a dog' to handle the stuff, and we ended up having to buy hay mid summer because the cows wouldn't eat any of it. They were up to their bellies in 'showplace green' and wouldn't touch the stuff. That was the last and only time anything has been added that came out of a bag. If the cows didn't want it, I didn't see any point in it.
Farm Bill money available for conservation
One thing I learned at the Western SAWG meeting was that they worked their little tails off to get the Conservation money in the Farm Bill. It was passed by the Democratically controlled Congress. Now the Republican Congress is trying not to fund it. There is a comment period now which everyone could respond to, whether or not they qualify for the program, so that the program will remain open for those souls who DO qualify. Comments on the advanced notice will be taken into consideration as USDA prepares the final version of the Proposed Rule for CSP. This is being sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) There are a number of programs--Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), , the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Forestry Incentives Program (FIP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the Conservation Security Program (CSP) (The law makes CSP an entitlement program with no specific budget cap--all who are eligible and develop and implement approved conservation plans may receive CSP payments. Check with the Land Stewardship Project www.landstewardshipproject.org) There's a Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grants program and a Direct Marketing program. Check www.agMRC.org I have 4 inches of paper on this and it's quite hard to understand. We were told that they were trying to nullify CSP by not funding technical aid, but that we should get as many people as possible to inquire about it to keep it open. Hope this helps. I do not have any particular insight on this myself. You're going to have to do your own research. Best, Merla
Re: Jane 's information
I too would like to be on Janes list. Thanks, RB
for Aussies mainly? TODAY! Have your say on GE @ The Age
-- Forwarded by Christiane Jaeger/NRE on 07/02/2003
09:51 AM ---
[EMAIL PROTECTED] on 06/02/2003 10:43:55 PM
To:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
cc:
Subject:!!!Fwd: TODAY! Have your say on GE @ The Age
X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 12:50:55 +1100
To: GeneEthics [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: GeneEthics [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: TODAY! Have your say on GE @ The Age
X-Filtered-With: Ruralnet Attachment Renamer - badlist filter
YOUR VIEWS ON GE
A front page story in the Age today (SMH P38; Australian P4) reports on a
letter to Nature magazine. It suggests that the genes in plants cells may
be more mobile than earlier thought and thus more difficult to contain ...
The Melbourne Age newspaper is giving readers a chance to have a say
about GE crops today - log on and tell them your views ...
http://www.theage.com.au/yoursay1/2003/02/06/index.html
PLEASE NOTE: GeneEthics Network has moved. New address follows.
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email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bob Phelps)
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Knowing is not enough, you must also act.
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Re: Canberra Peace Rally; was re: Dalgety
on 6/2/03 10:31 PM, Roger Pye at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Yes, robin and I are driving down on the 15th after the Canberra Peace Rally, we're staying at the Albury Georgian Motor Inn in town. Looking forward to the workshop. Be a busy week, I've got a landcare conference in Braidwood 13/14th. You're going to Toowoomba aren't you? Hi Roger, I'm traveling by Canberra on the 15th on the way to Albury. Where what time is the Peace rally? May see you there, if not see ya in Albury. LL Liz
Re: Canberra Peace Rally; was re: Dalgety
Liz Davis wrote: I'm traveling by Canberra on the 15th on the way to Albury. Where what time is the Peace rally? May see you there, if not see ya in Albury. 11am at Garema Place in Civic cheers roger %% What we knows we knows, and what we don't know we don't want to know (English farmer 1856) %% Reiki Healer, Earth Healing, Natural Energy Divination Earthcare Environmental Solutions PO Box 2057 Queanbeyan NSW 2620 Australia Ph: +61 2 6255 3824 Fax: +61 2 6255 1028 Mob: +61 410 469 541 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Who's Watching the USDA's Organic Henhouse?
Today I got the latest copy of the Organic Farming Research Foundation's Information Bulletin. Looks like Allan's appraisal of the value of Organic Certification could become a reality if we all don't comment to Mr. Mathews (at the bottom of this email) just like we did on the Organic Rule. I don't have a scanner. I retyped this article so all who don't get this journal could read this. There's another article, but I'll do that one another day. Best, Merla February, 2003 Organic Farming Research Foundation Information Bulletin Winter 2003 Number 12 Whos Watching the USDAs Organic Henhouse? By Joe Mendelson, Legal Director, Center for Food Safety On October 21st USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announced the final rollout of the countrys first national organic food standards and the marketplace appearance of the new green and white label identifying foods as USDA Organic. The label represents the culmination of a decades-long struggle by organic farmers, environmentalists and consumers to create a viable alternative to our industrial agricultural system. The implementation of the organic standards represents a critical moment for the future of organic food and farming. With the National Organic Program in place, however, top USDA officials clearly have focused on other issues. In a recent speech, Secretary Veneman seemed more intent on supplanting organic agriculture with genetic engineering as the agency wrestles with a vision of sustainable agriculture. This apparent administrative apathy toward the role of a successful organic program has created an NOP that exists as an insular bureaucracy, failing to ensure continued public involvement and oversight in the evolution of the program. The result is that decision making and policy discussions on critical issues have happened with little, if any, public notification or involvement. Since the October launch the impacts of USDAs decision-making have become increasingly real. In particular, consumer and environmental advocates have raised questions about whether the NOP is properly performing its role as accreditor of organic certifying organizations. Fueling concern is the appearance of numerous new, previously unknown certifying agents applying for accreditation into the USDA program. During development of the final standards in 2000, the USDA identified 49 existing organic certifying agents, including 13 state programs. In anticipation of its role as accreditor, the USDA predicted no significant growth in the number of certifying agents seeking accreditation by the new USDA-run program. Contrary to such projections, the number of applicants has far surpassed this number to now total 122. This large number of accreditation applicants presents important questions about whether an apparently disinterested agency is able to properly process and oversee the large volume of prospective organic certifiers for adherence to organic standards. The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) clearly anticipated the potential for bureaucratic compromise during the accreditation process, specifically by calling for an accreditation Peer Review Panel as a public oversight mechanism to ensure that accreditation procedures are followed. The panel is critical to consumer confidence in the integrity of the organic label. AFTER ALL, THE ORGANIC FOOD LABEL IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE CERTIFYING AGENTS ENFORCING THE STANDARDS (my capitals). While a February 2002 website posting by the NOP acknowledges this requirement, unfortunately, USDA has yet to establish the mandatory Peer Review Panel, despite having already accredited more than seventy organic certifiers, including a significant number of new certifying agents. This flaunting of the law has already shaken confidence in the process. Last spring, one company, Fieldale Farms, attempted to pressure the NOP into relaxing the 100% organic feed requirement for organic chicken production. While the agency did not accede to this demand, the NOP did accredit Fieldales organic certifying agent, Georgia Crop Improvement Association. This raises questions as to how thoroughly USDA scrutinized this certifierís application and whether the processes of accreditation review and decision making are rigorous enough to prevent acceptance of new certifying agents intent on manipulating or weakening the organic standards. Unfortunately, attempts by consumer and environmental organizations to analyze the USDAs performance in overseeing the first round of accrediting organic certifiers have been met with stiff government resistance. Several months ago, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sought public release of all the documents used by USDA in making accreditation decisions. Absent the Peer Review Panel, the documents are the only way the public can determine whether the integrity of organic standards will be preserved by certifiers. To date, CFSs Freedom of Information act request seeking the documents has been rebuffed.
Intuition, Logic, RS and Brain Teasers
Unless indicated differently everything written herein is my opinion and should be read accordingly. Pretty well everyone in this community except those very recently joined should know by now that I operate by intuition and not logic. This does not mean, however, that logical processes do not have meaning for me. Just as a reminder, the first questions I asked in the Brain Teaser series were: 1. Did Steiner really intend BD502-507 to be used solely in compost manufacture? 2. Did he identify equisetum as BD508 or was it someone else? 3. Is there a 'missing' BD509? If so, what might it and its purpose be? RS was a scientist, a philosopher, a writer, a researcher. To achieve accomplishments in any of these (indeed, I would say any 'thing') he would have to have had a record system of some kind. He was also an Austrian and therefore a member of the Germanic branch of the Celtic race. The Germans are recognised as being amongst the most logical-thinking of Earth's peoples, and quite rightly so. Therefore one would expect that his record-keeping would have been second to none and that it would have met at least two essential criteria - one (as a scientist) to enable him to find things quickly and in their right order, and another (as a researcher) to assist those who came after him. RS was also personally 'compartmentalised' (a crude description but not meant to be insulting) - how else might I interpret the fact that in his book 'The Story of My Life' the word 'agriculture' does not appear once, let alone 'preparation', 'dandelion' or 'chamomile'? My interpretation in fact is that very little of what he wrote in 350 books, MSS and papers on a wide range of subjects gets a mention in his 'Story'. That said, I imagine he thought those writings (eg his Agriculture Lectures) to contain enough on each subject to enable later researchers to follow on. I think it can be taken as read that when the farmers of 1924 asked for his advice (perhaps I should say 'hounded' considering his reluctance), he set about preparing an answer that would be satisfactory to them not just as farmers but also as people - logical Germanic people. Whether he had the research 'under his belt' so to speak (probably from his researches into the oracle-sanctuaries of the Atlantean Era) or whether he received visionary insights is as irrelevant as determining who numbered the preps. The fact is that he would have had to begin somewhere in fashioning that answer and, leaving the cosmos and/or spirituality aside, there is only one logical starting point. The Soil. Following on from that, logically, the Plant. In each of its growth stages, from Mature Seed to Immature Seed. After that, again, the Soil. How can I conjecture thus? I was a cabinet maker for 20 years during which I crafted furniture to traditional standards, mostly individual pieces that I designed from scratch, and all using recycled timbers. First, however, I had to research and plan and construct the 'set-up' which would allow me to research and design, make and finish the furniture; one does not make a two-metre high triangular wall unit out of ten different and mostly antique timbers without having a detailed plan of action and the tools to go with it. Steiner would not have - nay, could not have - been any less exacting. He would have had the laboratory or trial set-up already and set his own criteria for the necessary actions. How must the Soil be constituted? What would restore it to that constitution? What was needed to germinate the seed? What would nurture the seedling and encourage it to grow? And so on - what, when, what with and how. Think about this. I mean really think. In his agriculture course lectures he spoke of the herbal preps in a specific order, do you imagine he just pulled the order out of the cosmos or spoke of them as they came to mind? Of course not, no more than I would have finely sanded a piece of wood before it was ready for that to happen. No, they would all have fitted into a pattern, a pattern for life, for survival. Often when analysing events it helps to 'go' into the future and look back. In my hand I have some agapanthus seeds; I plucked them off a flowerhead at the ANU an hour or so ago. In their present state they're green and fresh and have a nice aroma and soon I'll put them somewhere dark and cool to mature and dry out, losing their smell in the process, until the season is ready for them to be planted. When I do that, as far as the plant is concerned its one determination or purpose will be to produce more seed but the soil will have other reasons for encouraging or allowing its growth. This is important because the two are in a symbiotic relationship, each giving to and taking from the other. There are other symbiotic relationships involved - soil/air and plant/air - and whatever we do must fit in with all three, not just one in isolation as, for example, does
