Biodynamic Growing - Part 3: Preparation 501

Biodynamic Growing - Part 3: Preparation 501

Preparation 501 is made in a similar way to preparation 500. Ground silica, which is most commonly found in nature in the form of quartz, is mixed into a paste and packed into a cow horn, then buried in a pit over the summer months.

At the end of summer, the horns are dug up and a good handful of the mix is added to a barrel of rainwater. The mixture is then stirred vigorously for an hour in clockwise and anticlockwise direction to create chaos and bring the energy of the cosmos into the preparation.

The purpose of preparation 501 is to enhance the light reaching our fruit and vegetable crops in order to help them ripen. The extra light produced by the reflective surface of the silica will help your plants to turn starches into sugars.

When do use it

We use preparation 501 whenever a crop needs some assistance in ripening. Generally, the last time we will use it is at the beginning of September when the light isn't as bright and we want crops, like our apples, to move forward. Preparation 501 and 500 should be thought of as a unity, both compliment each other and are the foundations of biodynamic farming.

Like with most aspects of biodynamic growing, the more you practice, the more you will understand when a preparation needs to be used. The most important thing is to give yourself fully to the process and pay attention to your plants and soil.

How to use

You should apply preparation 501 in the mornings, as early as possible. We distribute the spray as a very fine mist using a backpack sprayer. If you are doing this on a smaller scale however, then a spray bottle would work just as well.