I just read the 1924 Steiner agricultural lectures and am almost finished "Secrets of the Soil" for which I thank Brenda for the recommendation. Though I am not at the astral forces stage, I think there are, for me, some practical takeaways. For example the dispersion of microbes into the soil. In the past I would allow my compost to finish processing and then perhaps store it a while on a tarp, to prevent tree
roots accessing the nutrients. Both bad practices, I now conclude. If the compost is allowed to fully process then the microbes doing the processing will likely die and, if the compost is on a tarp, the earth worms and other life elements will have difficulty returning to the soil. Also, without true contact with the soil, moisture and other types of microbes cannot move into the heap. So now, when the compost is almost ready and is still actively processing, though at a much slower rate, I add it to the soil. And yesterday, when I transplanted a few blackberries, instead of trenching in their roots, adding compost and then watering, I added compost and
chicken manure to the
bucket half filled with
water, swirled it a bit with a stick, soaked the roots of the plants in the mix and then, after layering down the roots, applied the liquid mix to them.
Common sense you may say, but I needed the readings to get me thinking.
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