"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...

No doubt that horse poop has helped :-))

i'll say! i've even put it on a spot where there actually wasn't any topsoil
at all; i scraped together some straw & leaves & put my blessed horsepoo on
top & mixed it all around a bit, & that spot is giving me my best-ever
lettuces (i'm not generally good at lettuce, but these ones are pretty
good!) all praise horse poo!

And what did he have to say (in a nut shell if you can give it) about
Formula 500 or was he too long winded?

it was actually covered very briefly. even more briefly:

firstly, assume you've read the book & are now more aware of bacteria's
relationship to worms & soil generally. :-)

in short, the 500 is composted cow poo that is absolutely chockers with
bacteria, in particular actinomycetes. it's been composted over winter at a
depth where the bacteria are warm enough to still be happy & eat the poo.
because you have dug & buried the cow horns, there is plenty of oxygen
available for them to complete their task. the fact that the horn is, er,
horn-shaped means oxygen can "follow" the bacteria down into the horn
(people have tried with other containers & it didn't work). bd-ers think the
keratin in the horn must have some sort of positive effect but nobody knows
(i'm thinking it might be because air can still pass through horn somewhat?
at any rate, a mr podolinsky, bd-er extraordinare, thinks other containers
block the "cosmic forces" but i am disinclined to think _that_ is what they
are blocking.)

when you dig it up & put it in water & stir it vigorously, you are
oxygenating the bacteria all over again, & so their population explodes. (at
this point he started on with "cosmic forces" & my eyes just rolled right
out of my head). bacteria can double in quantity in 20 minutes with
oxygenation, so as the stirring process is a long one, the result is a great
deal of bacteria. you strain, etc, & apply the solution at night, as u.v.
light would kill the bacteria, so by the time the sun comes up the bacteria
has had a chance to work its way into the soil, and the fact that it's full
moon apparently means soil moisture is drawn up somewhat to aid the bacteria
in entering. b.d. soil is therefore just hyper-bacterialised organic soil.
with so much more bacteria, the other animals (including worms) benefit, and
the whole system is therefore improved & improves on itself.

that's about it!!

i love these sorts of ideas, but all the faff about cosmic forces etc just
puts me off.

are you thinking about converting your farm to biodynamics?
kylie