The Ride Down

The Ride Down Perhaps one of the most important moments during the Napa County Board of Supervisor’s hearing for a neighbor’s proposed hillside vineyard happened just as the meeting adjourned. Presentations had been given by both parties, piles of copies of opposing hydrology reports thick as War and Peace circulated. Frustrations were expressed. Members of… Read more »

Ordinances Fail to Adequately Protect Environment

In the next weeks, we will address some of the issues that are confronting many of us and concern our relationship to the earth: land use issues, property rights, stewardship, and pesticide use. The following is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Napa Valley Register on Friday, February 18, 2011.  Letter to… Read more »

On Boundaries: Good Will Fences

              On Boundaries: Good Will Fences Each year when our certifier asks about the buffer zone between our vines and a southern portion of our boundary shared with two neighboring properties, we say we have a “good will buffer.” This means that we have the good fortune to have… Read more »

Snakes . . . Everyone Should At Least Have One . . . Copy

Snakes . . . Everyone Should At Least Have One . . . Copy   Fisher King Press is pleased to announce the publication of Snakes, a novel  by Patricia Damery Go West Young Lady! Love – Sex – Naiveté – Family – Values – Commitment – Betrayal . . . Patricia Damery weaves a seductive… Read more »

BC Prep and Radiation: Bring Balance in Hard Times

Photo Art by Bill Fulton               BC Prep and Radiation: Bring Balance in Hard Times In consulting with the Josephine Porter Institute this morning, I learned that calcium will help mitigate harm from any possible radiation coming our way. One way to get this is through the barrel compost,… Read more »

Spraying

Using evergreen branch to “spray.” There are several ways to spray the biodynamic preps, depending on the quantity of spraying that you have to do. In the garden we simply take an evergreen branch or a clean paintbrush to swish the stirred prep onto the ground or into the air around the plants.  In the vineyard… Read more »

Stirring

Stirring to create vortex.  Stirring Stirring  affords an intimacy with the land.  When we stir, as many of us as possible  participate. We each are unique in the way we stir, so it is important to have the imprint of each of our energies in the stirred preps. When we stir, we throw the water… Read more »

Stirring Equipment

Stirring “510” in 12 gallon crock  at sunrise. The stirring equipment needed depends on how much you will be spraying. For an acre or less, a 10-12 gallon crock or small wooden barrel or wooden bucket works well. Get one that has never had chemicals in it. We use a wooden dowel or stick to… Read more »

Sequence Sprays

Stirring “preps” for sequence spray. If you do only two practices to begin Biodynamic gardening, do a sequence spray and start a compost pile. As time goes by, you can adapt the use of the sprays to your own land’s needs, but the sequence is the ground work. This week we will explain the “sequence.”… Read more »

Time to Order the Biodynamic Preparations

BD #501, Horn Silica, is stored in sunlight.       Even one hundred years ago Rudolf Steiner foresaw the problems of climate change and of the diminishing fertility of the soil and developed practices to help. He described these practices in his lectures of 1924, now published in Agriculture, recommending that we use biodynamic… Read more »