|
Federal
Government Recognizes Biodynamic Agriculture
(more biodynamic articles 2, 3)
Answer To A $64,000
Question in Bradford, PA
Adapted from an article by Grant
Nichols in the Bradford Journal & Miner Vol.CLVII No.29
by Christine Murphy and published in
Lilipoh
In May of 1996 the Bradford City Water Authority,
of Bradford, PA, with a special waiver from the Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP), embarked on an unique sludge
conversion project. As in all closed-loop water filtration
systems the biggest problem is how to dispose of sludge (a
phosphorus poor by-product with low levels of organic materials).
For many years the disposal procedure of choice has been to
compress the material and deposit it in a landfill.
 The
new project however considered revitalizing the sludge and
converting it to soil. The first step was depositing the sludge
at a stone quarry on the Bradford Watershed. Next, seeding
and fertilizing was done using two different methods. A 24'x24'
area was planted with commercial seeding and chemical fertilizing
techniques. The balance of the area of approximately 1-1/2
acres, was treated with biodynamic methods only. According
to Kim Benjamin, water utility manager, the area cultivated
using biodynamic techniques is now healthy and strong while
the chemically fertilized area is thin and burned out (see
photo).
L.A. Rotheraine*, agronomist for the project,
proved that sludge can be fully reclaimed and revitalized
and that biodynamic methods are the most effective and practical
solution to sludge disposal. It is also the cheapest. Had
the sludge been handled in conventional ways, it would have
cost taxpayers $64,000 more to get the job done! Rotheraine's
calculations depended on laying seeds (five types of grass,
plus winter wheat, winter rye and oats) on top of the fresh
sludge and covering them with approximately 2-4 inches of
hay. He activated the seeds with a life-enhancing biodynamic
preparation (#500 horn manure - see Lilipoh "Nutrition
and the Land") which he sprayed over the hay.
The solution was combined with Thun Barrel
Compost for instant nutrition. This latter consists of six
biodynamic preparations: yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle,
oak bark, dandelion flowers, juice of valerian flowers, with
basalt, cow manure and pulverized egg shells. (See BD Prep
Chart.)
During the course of the summer the sludge
was sprayed three or four more times with the Thun Barrel
Compost by Bob Cummins of the Cummins Construction Company
and Rotheraine. A delighted Cummins --the contractor for the
Water Authority--when asked if he had any doubts about the
success of the project, said, "As soon as Evergreen Elm
lent us Rotheraine to mastermind the job, I knew we would
succeed." Today, one year later, the biodynamically treated
area is unbelievably fertile; far healthier than a comparable
regular environment.
Copyright © 2001 L. A. Rotheraine
Reprinted by permission of Lilipoh
Footnote:
This past summer's McKean
County Fair in Northwestern Pennsylvania saw the Evergreen Elm
gardening group shine again. They won 26 blue ribbons out of
30 entries for their biodynamically-grown produce. Evergreen
Elm's master gardener L.A. Rotheraine, speaking as a private
citizen, says, "This is renewed proof that biodynamic methods,
freely available to those who wish to make use of them, outperform
in quality, yield, taste and nutritional content the methods
foisted on us by chemical companies and the agricultural schools
that have become their tools.
Until the schools of agriculture learn that plants are microcosms
of the stars and planets, the erroneous concept of plant growth
that they teach makes their produce inferior. This forces the
use of chemical fertilizers to compensate for their child-like
approach to agriculture, thereby destroying our precious germ
stock, while producing synthetic, tasteless vegetables having
questionable nutritional value. Even the most retrograde of
ancient cultures knew the correlations between earthly life
and heavenly life."
|
