Preparation name

Biodynamic compost

How to make

Ingredients: The key ingredients are: (1) dry matter such as hay, dried leaves (preferrably not eucalypt), (2) green matter (grass, leaf, weeds, old plants from your good garden and other plant matter) cut them as close as possible to when they are used, (3) manure (preferrably cow manure), (4) water, (5) gardeners lime, (6) crushed rock dust, (7) wood ash, (8) some old compost and (9) the BD compost preparations. An ideal minimum size for the heap is 1 cubic metre. This is big enough to generate sufficient heat for the heap and gives a reasonable volume of compost.
Making the compost:  Create an area which is easy to access for the compost materials. With an open compost, use a space which has wire nettting around it with metal pickets. Some gardeners use wooden enclosures. You can also build it without any enclosure. Its ideal that the location has some shade, but is not too close to tree roots. The compost heap should be on the dirt so beneficial organisms can move back and forth from the heap.

Its important to create an air tunnel at the bottom of the heap before building the heap. This can be done with sticks or a roll of wire.  Some heaps use progressive layering of the ingredients, while others mix all ingredients together in one big pile. My preference is to have many thin layers in the heap as follows:

• Commence with dry matter, then manure and then green matter.
• On the green matter sprinkle a small handful of lime.
• Repeat this layering in the same order, except you alternate the lime with small handfuls of rock dust and wood ash.
• Water the heap as you go, a lot of moisture is important.
• I find that very fresh manure is the best to use, as it spreads easily and has more life to add to the heap.
• When you have used up all your ingredients and layered it into a uniform shape, the heap will be a cubic square for a 1 cubic metre heap or a rectangular shape for a larger volume.

• Compost preparations 502-507 are then be added in order.
• Make a circle of 5 holes around the top of the heap and then one hole in the middle. These holes should be about 50cm deep. Then insert compost preparation 502-506 (see quantities in the practice notes on other pages) within a ball of manure into the holes.
• The 507 should be stirred for 15 minutes in clean water before being applied. Put half down the middle hole and the rest is poured over the top of all the heap.
• Then cover the heap with a thick layer of hay.
• The heap should heat up with a few days and may reach up to 70C. If made properly it will stay hot for a few weeks, then begin to cool off and may still be warm after month.
• You should monitor the heap over the first month to check its progress. If it is too dry, it will need forking or turning, with water added. If it is not hot, it will also need turning to aerate it and most likely more water.
• The heap should be ready for use after about 3-4 months.

Reasons for use

Aids the general fertility of the soil and health of plants and enables you to recycle matter from your garden. You become an alchemyst in your garden by transforming matter.

How to apply

When to apply: It can be made at any time of the year as part of your garden fertility plan. For a reasonable size food garden you should be making at least 2 one cubic metre heaps per year. Plan their building to coincide with your key planting times and make sure you    allow at least three months before hand for them to brew. Compost heaps have an optimum time for use, so do not leave them for too long after construction. You will know the compost is ready when all matter in it is broken down into a rich black mixture wwhich has a strong earthly smell is slightly sticky and has many worms in it.

Country alternatives

None

Comments

You should always make your own compost. If you cannot get cow manure, fresh hen manure is OK, but volume will be an issue. Horse manure is probably the next easiest manure to get. This manure is OK, but beware of any horse manure from a stable as it may have a lot chemicals in it. The same point applies to any animal manure. For chickens, they should be your own and the cow manure should never come from a feedlot. Cattle grazing on grass is essential for good quality manure.

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