Re: silica spray/biodynamic gdng

**E* Z* <e*@acmeplant.com>**

Which equisetum?  Equisetum hymenale, the species most commonly used  
in the garden around here, (NYC/PA) doesn't have leaves.

Ellen Zachos

On Apr 24, 2008, at 5:39 AM, Miranda Smith wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have used home-made horsetail spray for disease prevention in  
> greenhouse
> crops. It works beautifully. I'm sure you could spray it on the  
> soil, too.
> If you can't find any wild, you can buy it from almost any good herb
> supplier.
>
> If you make it, crumble the leaves into small pieces and wrap them in
> several layers of cheesecloth--like a giant bouquet garni. Then put  
> it in a
> pickle crock filled with water. Cover the crock and let it sit in a  
> warm
> spot for at least five days and preferably a couple of weeks. Strain  
> it
> through a coffee filter before diluting it and putting it into a  
> sprayer so
> it doesn't clog the nozzle. (Cleaning nozzles is a major pain.) It  
> should
> look like weak tea when you use it.
>
> For a faster brew, you can bring it to a light boil, preferably in a
> stainless steel or ceramic pot--not aluminum or non-stick--and hold  
> it just
> under boiling for about 5 minutes. Again, strain, dilute, and fill the
> sprayer.
>
> Traditionally, there is a way of stirring these materials--first one  
> way and
> then the other, to create a vortex and bring in particular energies.  
> It's
> tedious--so much so that many BD farmers have mechanized it. I  
> confess to
> having stinted on this step--my arm gets tired. It still worked well.
>
> Miranda
>
> On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 12:06 AM, MARY FRAN MCQUADE <mfmcq@sympatico.ca 
> >
> wrote:
>
>> Margaret--
>>
>> I don't know about commercially available silica spray, but I  
>> remember
>> horsetail (equisetum) is supposed to be full of silica. Some  
>> herbalists
>> recommend horsetail tea for use on for hair and nails (as well as
>> internally, tho I don't think I'd want to try that).
>>
>>
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