Just a Drop: Chromatography and the Tiniest Entities

Assessing the benefits of tiny doses of biodynamic preparations on soil samples

For this experiment, we selected a sample of soil from a garden bed that had not been tilled recently and only took the sample from the uppermost topsoil. The soil on our farm is a Bojack Sandy Loam, which drains well, to the point of becoming too dry. In terms of agricultural use, though, given the annual rainfall in Virginia — often over 40 inches — it is generally better that the soil dries too quickly than too slowly. That said, we have been in the midst of a significant drought, and the pasture is suffering. Many soils need to be lightened by cultivation.

Plowing was introduced to help bring light into the soil and counteract compaction in the dying of the Earth. Some soils, like my sandy loam, need a “dark” light to be added in the form of compost. “[H]umus, the substance closely allied to terrestrial life does not take up light and make it active in the earth but produces a lightless activity there.”¹ Anyone who has taken a handful of good compost and left it out in the light wi…