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| The season’s fruit and leaves are all wrapped up in this baby bundle. |
This week the Chardonnay vines are pushing tiny buds, some already unfolding to reveal miniature leaves and future grape bunches, baby bundles of the season’s riches.
Today we begin the Biodynamic sprays. The moon is in Leo, a fire, or fruit, sign. We spray all our fruit bearing plants (grapes and orchard) in fruit signs, beginning with the barrel compost preparation (BC prep), an earth spray that has all the compost preparations which help plants assimilate nutrients from the soil, as well as basalt dust (assists in supporting microorganisms) and eggshells (calcium.) Barrel Compost was originally developed in Europe after the above ground nuclear testing of the late 50’s, when it was discovered that plants treated with it not only were able to assimilate more nutrients from the soil, but they also did not absorb Strontium 90. (Maria Thun, see Earth Day blog, 2012 ) We will spray this preparation four times on the vines and orchard this spring, once in each of the fire signs, and then next week, as part of a sequence in water or leaf signs to increase moisture. (More on the use of sprays to help with moisture next week.)
Each moon sign has its own characteristic force, and we wish to grace and balance our fruit with each. Leo brings the lion heartedness of fulfillment to our grapes and persimmons. Saggistarius brings expansiveness and justice; Aries, all the fire of desire and initiative. When we eat and drink fruit grown in these ways, we too are sensitized to and balanced by the forces of the moon and the cosmos.