Care in preparation work: what quality depends on

Biodynamic preparations work only as well as they are made, stored and applied. This is not a pious wish but a practical principle: a carelessly stored or hastily stirred preparation loses its purpose. Where preparation work shrinks to the bare minimum — one spraying a year just to keep the Demeter certificate — the method falls short of its potential. This guide sums up the principles of care that come up again and again in the specialist literature.

First, without false perfectionism: anyone who cannot make the preparations themselves does well to buy them in — bought-in preparations are always better than none at all, and cleanly made goods are better than a faulty home production. Care does not mean dogma; it means taking the method seriously.

Material: only the best

Quality begins with the starting material. Horns, animal sheaths and herbs should come from your own farm wherever possible, or from a known source with species-appropriate husbandry, and be in flawless, near-food-grade condition. Herbs are collected at the right time and in the right place and carefully dried. The vitality you put in here is what the preparation carries forward later.

Storage: dry, alive, undisturbed

Storage plays a part in determining the effect. Horn manure is kept cool and able to breathe slightly in a vessel made of glass, stone or enamelled material; the moisture is checked regularly so that the preparation neither dries out nor rots. The compost preparations are stored separately from one another, each surrounded by peat or untreated coconut fibre — a box with individual compartments has proven itself. The surround of peat or coconut keeps the moisture balanced; it is a moisture buffer, not a miracle material. Storage is cool, frost-free and in a quiet place. Details under Storing the preparations.

Water and vessel

When stirring, the water counts too: soft, as low in lime and chlorine as possible, and brought to hand-warm temperature before stirring. According to common recommendation, the stirring vessel is taller rather than wider, holds considerably more than the amount of water so that a deep vortex can form, and is made of a harmless material such as wood, copper or stoneware. Cleanliness goes without saying — residues of washing-up liquid or foreign substances have no place in the stirring barrel.

Stirring: thoroughly and attentively

Stirring is not a mechanical side task. For one hour, a vortex is rhythmically built up, abruptly reversed and brought into chaos, without a break. Stirring by hand is considered ideal because it keeps the attention on the preparation — the specialist literature speaks of an "intimate permeation". After stirring, the preparation is applied promptly, as the effect of the stirred preparation wears off after about a day. More on the technique under Dynamisation and Applying the preparations.

Rhythm: taking the work seriously

The last point is not a technical one but an attitude: preparation work unfolds through repetition. Anyone who gives horn manure and horn silica at the right times, puts the compost preparations into every manure heap and keeps this up over the years will see a different effect from someone who ticks off the compulsory programme once a year. Care here means above all reliability.

Frequently asked questions

Why is care so important with the preparations?

Because the preparations are living substances: their effect depends directly on origin, making, storage and application. Mistakes in any of these steps reduce or destroy the effect.

Are bought-in preparations worse than home-made ones?

Not in principle. Cleanly made bought-in preparations are better than a faulty home production — and always better than none at all. Making your own is the path of learning, not a must.

How do you store the preparations properly?

Horn manure cool and able to breathe slightly in glass/stone/enamel, the compost preparations separately in peat or coconut fibre, cool and frost-free, with regular moisture checks.