Dung!

High sun and a huge pile of dung, dung from the cowshed! Its lovely dung to be ploughed into the ground so that in the following year the earth is replenished with lovely fresh nutrients for its millions of living beings. Without them, there is no fertility.

And the dirt is not just muck. In biodynamic farming dung is particularly loved and is treated with a mixture of herbal medicines. Just like in homeopathy, we use dandelion, yarrow, nettle, valerian, camomile and oak bark. All these are well-known herbs used not just in alternative medicine but in schnapps manufacture, tanning and much more. The herbs undergo a lengthy process and when they are added to the dung, it resembles mould. No wonder for the herbs are decomposed. We very gently make a hole in the dung and then pour in a little of the herb preparation.

This treatment encourages the dung compost and all the great nutrients that will be supplied to the land by the converted fertilizer.

Krogerup Breeding Farm is on the way to becoming accredited as a biodynamic agricultural farm, this is called the Demeter authentication. The use of the herbal preparation to encourage the dung compost is a pre-requisite of the accreditation.

In the coming weeks we will be throwing ourselves into the Spring work. We have to spread the dung, plough, till and seed. We'll cultivate a big vegetable garden and a large area where we will have some historical varieties too and much more. It all requires dung.

As was once said, 'It's shit that puts the cake on the table'!

[Translated by Katherine Ball from an original post in the Aarstiderne Farmer Blog by Per Kølster]