Birch pit preparation

What is the birch pit preparation?

The birch pit preparation is a special mixture developed within the biodynamic tradition, made of birch bark, compost and water and brought to ripeness in a dug earth pit. It is not one of Steiner’s original preparations — it does not appear in the Agriculture Course of 1924 — but a later extension of biodynamic practice, developed in the Central European Demeter school, chiefly for fruit growing.

It belongs to the family of tree-care preparations (together with tree paste) and is used as a watering on the tree disc, as a component of care in trunk coatings, or as a spray for plant strengthening.

Making it

Making it follows a set scheme, though it varies between farms and schools:

1. In a shaded part of the farm a shallow earth pit is dug — about 50 centimetres deep, lined with boards. 2. The pit is filled with birch bark — bark peeled as freshly as possible from mature birches, clean and free of soil. 3. Over the bark, biodynamically activated compost is layered, to which the six compost preparations 502 to 507 are added. 4. Water is added, so that the mixture stays moist but does not stand in water. 5. The pit is covered and left to itself for several months.

After ripening (six to twelve months) a dark, crumbly substance has formed, which is used as a concentrate. It is dynamised in water and spread, or worked directly into a trunk coating.

Use in fruit growing

In biodynamic fruit growing the birch pit preparation counts as a means of care for stressed, ailing or newly planted trees. Concrete uses:

• as a watering on the tree disc (around 100 g of concentrate in 10 litres of water, the tree disc watered once a year)
• as a component of tree paste (added in place of fresh manure)
• as part of the wound closure after a broken branch or an injury to the bark
• as a spray where fungal problems recur, alongside horsetail

Quantities and frequency are not standardised. Its use follows the biodynamic rule of thumb: small, repeated impulses rather than large single doses.

How it is understood in the biodynamic tradition

In the biodynamic tradition the birch pit preparation is understood as revitalising the bark biology of the tree. In anthroposophy birch bark counts as a “light wood” with a particular connection to processes of growth and renewal. Together with the enlivened compost it is used to support the bark of the tree and the way it heals its wounds.