Jennifer Ludwig

I sprout grains as well. I wrote a step-by-step blog post on how to sprout grains for chickens. If you would like to look at that go to: http://lightlytilled.tumblr.com/post/41969834013/sprouting-chicken-feed


But I'll summarize some important notes:

I source my wheat berries from a local grower. Ask for "animal grade" grain, or if she provides a chicken blend. You don't need to buy "food grade" wheat berries, which would be anything bought at a grocery store in bulk. I've purchased animal grade grain for less than $0.25 cents/lb.


Mix the grains up! I try to alternate in 6 lbs increments between wheat and rye per chicken. I also sprout peas, but they need to be cooked.


The chickens will need a constant source of grit and oyster shells (or some kind of calcium source).


I have backyard chickens (without access to pasture), so I also provide fresh dark greens, scraps of fruit & veggies and fermented dairy products.

I am still unclear about biodynamic calendar differences.

The Farmer's Almanac uses the Moon phases and climatic conditions of North American to suggest planting dates.

A Biodynamic planting calendar uses the Moon, Sun and other Celestial phases to suggest the best times to plant crops that will optimize Fruit, Flower, Leaf/Stem and, Root organs of that crop. Also to point out dark days or perigee period where no plant should be influenced. This is a very specific reference calendar. A grower most calibrate the time to her time zone. I know the Maria Thun's calendar is printed for Eastern Standard Time, therefore I read the calendar 3 hours fast as I am on the West Coast.

*Side Note* The influence of the Moon, Sun and, Celestial phases on various plant organs, types and, crops have been observed and documented within the Biodynamic community in repeatable scientific manners.

Hope that clarifies the difference between the two calendars.

This is the calendar I use.

http://www.stellanatura.com

Remember to adjust the the time to your time zone. I believe the calendar is made for Eastern Standard Time.

I seed and transplant according to the calendar. I've also tried to weed my garden on DARK days, and harvest crops in conjunction to their days on the calendar. I went to a BD conference in November and I heard a suggestion to EAT by the calendar as well, which I am very interested in trying out.


Cheers!

There are Biodynamic Associations throughout the United States. From these associations you can find contacts to farms that produce the BD Preparations and BUY them. The farm I work on is apart of the Oregon BD Association. A few times a year we get together with the group and pump out large quantities of preparations and then bury them. ....It's convenient that our farm also raises grass feed beef. The cow horn, skulls, organs and, poop are in abundance!

So if you're looking for an easier way to GARDEN Biodynamically, buying preps can be more preferable than sourcing and creating your own.

I am a biodynamic farmer on a medium size commercial organic farm. We use the biodynamic planting calendar for seeding crops in the greenhouse and on transplant days. However we use it with a degree of practicality. Obviously as a commercial farmer we have specific target planting dates we try to follow.


***The rule of thumb that we follow on our farm is that we can seed anything on a ROOT day, because we want to encourage all our plants to have excellent roots. However we try to avoid FRUIT days with LEAF/STEM plantings, vice versa. Example, we would not seed a lettuce planting on a FRUIT or FLOWER day, because we do not want to encourage blotting. Root days can be your most versatile planting day.