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Forest Reclamation
1992-2004
| The forest on the left-hand side was clear-cut by a neighbor in 1992 and left for nature to deal with. After 14 years of 'nature by herself' hardly any new trees were able to establish themselves! This clearly shows that any logging activity has to be followed by a well thought out re-forestation programme; a damaged environment cannot be left to itself.
Due to the logging activity in 1992 winter storms blew down a large percentage of Douglas firs (on right-hand side, Forest Field) demanding that a windbreak (alder grove) be established, which C-Dar did a year and a half later.
As the microclimate in the forest abruptly changed, tall Douglas fir trees were suddenly exposed to extremely cold winds and the influence of the summer sun. Within five years, the new alder hedge was able to 'filter out' drifting snow and deflect heavy Northern winds, giving the Douglas fir a better chance to establish itself again. However, the tall Douglas fir trees were unable to quickly grow protective trunk branches; so, direct sunlight (heat) severely damaged the trees' cambium.
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C-Dar Team inspecting the Forest Field
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After clearing of the devastated windfall field, it was necessary to top-soil it. It now has been transformed into a forest meadow.
Along the edge of the forest, plants such as crab apple, wild rose, hazelnut, wild cherry, etc. have been planted. They will help birds to establish themselves. Squirrels, chipmunks, and a host of other small animals have chosen to make their homes along the forest's edge, too. The field was seeded in early spring (rye) and treated several times with Biodynamic Preparations 500 and 501. A clover mix was added later but did not take hold for lack of water in the first year. The area is to become a wild animal sanctuary. Incidentally, white tail deer, bear, cougar, lynx and other animals frequently visit the grass field. Valerian spray (BD Preparation #507) appears to attract them greatly.
Now, in 2004, the Forest Field has changed dramatically. The soil structure, by analysis, shows up to 15% humus (which is very high - 4% is good!). Various species of clover have moved in and an array of grases have established themselvels, too. The BIG change was brought about by bringing in our small herd of cows. By carefully managing the Forest Field, we were able to get six weeks of grazing for a herd of 6 - 7 cows. The pH level hovered around 5.8 which, for grass, is low. We made a basic mistake when mixing manure and woodchips in our compost. Extreme caution is recommended when using wood waste (branches, wood chips, peat moss, greenery of all sorts etc.) in manure piles as they tend to lower the pH level. We were 'foreced' to lyme the Forest Field once in order to bring it up to speed again (pH 6). A few weeks ago we made the next step and disc-plowed an area of 100 yards by 35 yards. Will we be able to grow herbs and field vegetables?
Bears and cougars, deer and lynx still visit us and although an over eager cougar attacked one of our horses, we have been able to live in harmony with our environment - up to this point in time.
For a number of years now we have been sowing assorted tree species during the 12 Days and 13 Holy Nights of Christmas: between December 24th and January 6th. In the Agriculture Course he offered at Koberwitz in 1924, Dr. Rudolf Steiner indicated that remarkable qualitative improvements of new plants could be achieved by sowing in this particular period.
We have included one additional element, based on the knowledge that the moon has a particularly significant influence on seeds (reflecting cosmic imprints from various planets) during the times when IT REFLECTS (towards Earth) certain heavenly constellations. Mr. Georg Schmidt of HERA Institute in Germany has shown in hundreds of scientifically conducted tests that the characteristics of an oak (quercus rubra), for example, can be fundamentally changed when seeding times coincide with certain planetary conjunctions and/or oppositions. The leaves of such an oak reflect the constellation of the planet(s) at the time it is seeded (and not planted!)
The Holy Nights, however, provide us with a particularly auspicious time during which the plant world (seeds)’s receptivity to cosmic impressions are greatly enhanced (hearkening intently to a higher cosmic message). The 'sound' of QUALITIES appears to come from those subtler spheres.
We know that human beings always influence whatever (scientific) test(s) they conduct. A scientific test can never be truly objective even if and when executed by a machine. (A machine, after all, has also been designed / constructed / set up by a human being. Human beings are all subjective). There are certain specific Ether-Flow fields around every human being. These EF’s constitute - on however subtle a level - the memory i.e. 'physical expression' of the scientists’ entire belief system. In other words: we influence our environment by what we believe, what we have memorized! Along the lines of: we are what we eat……. We also reflect (via our brain) what weaves around us as ‘cosmic- or materialistic thoughts’.
For the Holy Day & Holy Night Seeding, we exposed the seeds of a Vine Maple, to a consciously chosen seeding time that co-relates to specific astrological aspects. During the Holy Day/Night Seeding, the sun is at its lowest point above the horizon. Here, we consciously exposed the seeds to who we are i.e. belief system. We meditated on the Vine Maple and 'ask' it to change its present physical characteristics/expressions by growing into a new plant of which we had a very clear picture in our mind. For the purpose of this test, we asked whether it might become an upright, standing tree instead of being a bush and to move out of the dark forest etc.
Since we are of the opinion that this earth is going to be in dire need of new tree species due to significant changes and the exhaustion of old species, our aim is to work (in this and many other cases) with the Deva of the Vine Maple. We hope that she will listen to our questions and be willing to bring forth a new and hardier tree. The new Vine Maple would, indeed, be a special species for cold, dark and rainy climates.
We are not prepared to fall into the Gene-engineering trap whereby we deny the existence of higher (tree) entities with whom we can work together. Just as dogs, cats, cows and many other animals can be domesticated, so too, can trees. It simply requires that we develop more insight, understanding and love for a world that altruistically supports us.
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