Biodynamic Peppers
When I started gardening with biodynamics I loved reading the original lectures by Rudolph Steiner.
I love his series of lectures “Harmony of the creative word: The human being and the elemental, animal, plant and mineral kingdoms”.
In these lectures Steiner talks about gnomes living below plants in the soil substrate. According to Steiner, these gnomes are responsible for thrusting plants up from the earth.
He also talks about Undines, Sylphs and Fire Spirits. Undines are the spirits that give plants form and structure.
Sylphs are the spirits that carry out the chemical reactions of plants and Fire spirits give form and structure to the seeds that plants create.
This was soo in line with the magical creatures in my magical childhood garden.
Would Peppers Actually Work?
However, the practical (adult) me took a bit of convincing! Especially when it came to biodynamic peppers!
Would a pest or weed really be controlled just through breaking the connection with the land by burning the seeds of the weed? Even stranger, could pest animals and insects be similarly controlled?
I had nothing to lose by trying these peppers. At worst…… they didn’t work! Then, it was back to the drawing board. And Rudolph Steiner and my biodynamic journey would experience its first, and so far only, failure!
So I created some peppers to control weeds. I decided to start with some perennial unwanted plants and I made peppers to deal with Nutgrass, Wandering Jew and Oxalis. These definitely slowed down the weeds’ growth. And, in the case of Oxalis it controlled this weed completely!
Boyed up with this success, I created biodynamic peppers to deal with Rats, Mice, Ringtail and Brushtail possums as well as Cane Toads.
And I am pleased to report that Rudolph Steiner’s reputation is still intact! My garden is now free from many of these pests! And all without the need to spray any chemicals or poisons.
I have also trialled these peppers in the gardens of several clients and friends with outstanding results.
What Are Biodynamic Peppers?
Biodynamic peppering is a process used in biodynamics to clear an area of unwanted plants or animals. These unwanted animals and plants have become pests, and have proved resistant to other (organic) control measures.
Peppers are created by burning the seeds of weeds, or the skin of pest animals, to a char. The resultant ash is then sprinkled around the infected area.
For best results it’s recommended the char be ground in a mortar and pestle to create a fine ash that resembles ground black pepper, hence the name of “Pepper”. This makes more sense when you realise that Black Pepper has a history of being a very expensive spice!
The pepper ash is mixed with a fine sand to increase the ease of distribution. A small amount of pepper can treat a large area.
The ash can also be potentised homeopathically for treating larger areas. This potentising also makes it easier to treat several different gardens or spaces.
Each pepper must be created during the full moon. This includes the burning, grinding and potentising. To be fully, effective peppers must also be dispersed during the hours of the full moon.
One of the things that I love about Peppers is that you can’t make a mistake! There’s nothing worse when gardening than finding that you’ve accidently sprayed a beneficial insect or killed a beloved plant! Each pepper is very specific. For example, a pepper for the grey/brown rat won’t affect a water rat or a native rat. Separate peppers need to be created for each pest or weed.
Want To Know More About Biodynamic Peppers?
Interested in purchasing ready-made peppers?
I have a stock of Biodynamic Peppers available for purchase. These include peppers to control animals such as cane toads, rats and mice. I also have peppers to control insects such as grasshoppers and hard scale. Weed peppers include nutgrass, tradescantia and commelina. See table below for the current range of available peppers.
Standard peppers retail for $30 for 50ml, plus postage and handling. 50ml is sufficient for 10 applications in an average garden.
If you have a weed or animal that has become a pest, but that is not already listed, I create bespoke peppers specific to your situation. Bespoke peppers cost $60 per 50ml, plus postage and handling.
Animal |
Insect |
Weed |
|
Bandicoot |
Bronze Citrus Bug |
Creeping Cinderella (Calyptocarpus vialus) |
|
Brushtail possum |
Cockroach |
Lantana weed |
|
Bush Turkey |
Fruit Fly (Qld) |
Nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus) |
|
Cane Toad |
Grasshopper |
Oxalis (Wood sorrel or Soursop) |
|
Cockatoo |
Hard Scale |
Paspalum weed |
|
Corella |
House fly |
Singapore daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata) |
|
Crow |
Small Hive Beetle |
Tradescantia fluminensis |
|
Duck |
|
Velcro weed (Silverleaf desmodium) |
|
Fox |
|
Wandering Jew (Commelina cyanea) |
|
Indian Myna Bird Mouse Noisy Miner Bird Pigeon Rat – Brown/Grey Ringtail Possum Rabbit Silver Eye Bird |
Coming Soon Bindii weed Nodding Thistle (Carduus nutans) Wild Tobacco
|
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