Harmonizing Offering

Our Harmonizing Offering is also known as Barrel Compost and Cow Pit Compound

The Harmonizing Offering is a biodynamic preparation developed by Maria Thun in the 1970s as a concentrated biodynamic compost. This preparation offers an easy way for land stewards everywhere to introduce the biodynamic compost preparations into land care practices. You can use this preparation on farms, gardens, and backyards to enhance soil health and help bring balance to any ecosystem, whether your intention is growing food, growing flowers, tending to pastures, or supporting wild ecosystems. 

The use of the biodynamic preparations offers each individual the opportunity to cultivate spiritual awareness and relationship with the land and ecosystems we inhabit. This fosters a reciprocal relationship with Mother Nature, weaving us back into the web of life. Healing on your land begins when you set the intention of installing a harmonizing pit. This preparation is an offering to all life forces, seen and unseen. 

The harmonizing offering preparation offers numerous benefits for soil health and plant vitality:

  • Packed with beneficial fungi, bacteria, and growth-promoting hormones, it enhances root development and soil structure. 

  • It boosts plants’ resistance to pests and diseases, aiding recovery during attacks and revitalizing struggling plants during drought-induced stress. 

  • Whether for seed soaks, root baths, or watering, indoor and outdoor plants benefit, though indoor use should be limited. 

  • It serves as an excellent soil inoculant, introducing biodynamic practices to any land. Applications range from soil and foliar sprays for all crops to supporting fruiting trees during stress. 

  • In sum, the harmonizing offering preparation is a versatile and indispensable tool for sustainable agriculture.

Making a Harmonizing Offering 

Why to make an offering

  • As an intentional offering to the land and the ancestors and spirits who tend it

  • It is an excellent soil inoculant and a great way to introduce biodynamic practices on your land

  • Use as a soil or foliar spray for all crops to improve growth and health

  • Seed and root baths

  • Use on fruiting trees to improve health and support in case of stress

When to make an offering

  • You can apply this preparation at any time of the year

  • We suggest three daily consecutive applications - regardless of spray frequency

  • Best applied early in the morning or late afternoon

How to prepare and make your offering

If you are not planning to use your preparation immediately you can put your preparation on an altar to be infused by your energy and prayers (options for storage noted below)

Dose

  • ⅛ cup is enough for anything up to ½ an acre

  • ¼ cup is enough for anything from ½ to 1 acre

Process

  • Soak dose in a jar of warm water for 12-24 hours

  • Pour dissolved dose into 3-4+ gallons of clean water at room temperature (spring or rainwater preferred)

  • If you use my sample (offering egg,) crumble it with your hands

  • Stir in one direction until a vortex forms and then switch directions; repeat for 20 minutes

  • Use a bucket and a brush (or a bundle of grasses or tree branch) to spray on your gardens, pastures, etc. (sprayers can be used - make sure you strain the preparation thoroughly to avoid clogs)

Alternatives

  • If you have our offering eggs you can use these as offerings in wild places such as rivers and parks

  • Ask for permission to make an offering and acknowledge the ancestors, and spirits who dwell on the land

  • Set your intention and bury the preparation or place the preparation in the river to dissolve naturally

What our packages include

  • In-person or online consulting and support throughout the whole process beginning with locating the ideal spot for the pit, installing the infrastructure, setting the preparation all the way to digging up the finished product and appropriate storing

  • Finished harmonizing offering to use on your land and share with your community

  • Storing guidance for preparation longevity

  • Detailed instructions for use and care

Harmonizing offering pit install costs

  • To make our offerings accessible we offer a variety of options which makes the costs of our services variable, the following factors will determine what your investment will be:

    • We offer in-person or remote support

    • Our clients can locally source materials or we can support in bringing what is needed

    • The amount of time and energy you put into the process

We offer two convenient size options

  • Traditional harmonizing offering pit

    • Appropriate for all farms, small and large scale

    • Includes approximately 1000 acres worth of ready-to-use Harmonizing Offering

  • Small-scale Harmonizing Offering pit

    • Appropriate for small-scale farms, homesteads, home gardens, and backyards

    • Approximately 300 acres worth of ready to use barrel compost