The gardener also looks for sources of manure which they cannot make in their small back garden. Some people may be fortunate enough to be able to keep chickens, or other poultry, whose manure they can use but larger animals are usually out of the question for gardeners.

Types of manure …

· Cow – the very best, because the cow has four stomachs and so processes the manure to high degree of refinement. However it may be hard to get as organic farmers tend to want to hang onto it to use on their own land. But you can always ask, and the average garden only needs about 1 cubic metre per year of biodynamically composted cow manure.

· Horse – very good, and usually very available, but the horse has only one stomach and so their manure is not so well refined as that of cows.

· Pig – again good, often not so easy to get, and the pig again has only one stomach. Pigs’ digestive systems are very similar to that of humans so pig manure needs to be very well composted to ensure it is OK for the land.

· Poultry – good but can tend to burn, very fiery, needs to be extremely well composted. Poultry, as do all birds, have a different digestive system to mammals.

· Human – pretty well a no-no. Human manure is full of toxins and pathogens which – because it comes from us – are only too easy for us to pick up and become sick with. Trees can process it, and better if it is part of a reed-bed sewage system. Modern sterilising methods may be safe … but the sterilisation kills off all the good things as well as the bad, so the end result is really only useful for bulk fibre, aiding the structure and texture of the soil but not for providing nutrition.

• All of these manures should be further composted in the garden, using the 6 compost preparations.

The preparations add quality to the manure, making it far more potent than it would otherwise be. You will need far less biodynamically treated manure than you would untreated for the same nutritional and enlivening effect on the soil and the plants you grow.