# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 022 (Winter 1997–1998)

**By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31

Issue 022 connects the interpretation of BD 502 yarrow with concrete preparation-making, tree-recovery and beekeeping observations, and a call for records that allow other practitioners to compare results.

[**Download Issue 022 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-022)

The editorial announces that _Applied Biodynamics_ will move from four issues per year to three so JPI can concentrate labor and funds on preparation production, training, research support, and more substantial issues. The issue also introduces scheduled telephone consultation hours and fees, documenting the institute’s transition toward a more formal advisory service.

Hugh J. Courtney introduces Manfred Klett, then head of the Agriculture Section at the Goetheanum. In **“The Yarrow Preparation,”** Klett approaches [BD 502 yarrow](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502) through plant form, habitat, sulfur and potassium processes, the stag bladder, and the seasonal sequence of summer hanging and winter burial. These are spiritual-scientific interpretations rather than measured agronomic mechanisms. For practical comparison, makers can nevertheless record the plant source and harvest stage, sheath source, filling weight, hanging and burial dates, site conditions, recovery yield, and the finished preparation’s color, aroma, texture, and storage behavior.

Robert Grimes’ **“Looking Back on the J.P.I. Prep Seminar”** records a four-day seminar with fourteen participants. The report describes mesentery sewn into pockets and packed with moistened dandelion blossoms for [BD 506](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-506); cleaned intestine tied, packed, and sealed for [BD 503](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-503); oak bark grinding and skull preparation for [BD 505](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505); and approximately 2,000 manure-filled horns prepared for [BD 500](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500). The article is valuable as a record of materials, handwork, sequence, and group organization.

In **“Some Effects of the BD Preps,”** Stephen Storch reports moving a severely root-damaged English spreading yew, later applying BD 500, BD 501, equisetum, and biodynamic compost, and observing extensive new roots when the tree was dug again. The account is a single-site observation without an untreated comparison; it identifies useful measurements for a future repeat, including initial root loss, treatment dates, root spread, root mass, shoot growth, and survival.

Evrett Lunquist’s **“Horsetail Tea and Bees”** compares his experience feeding one package of bees sugar syrup made with horsetail tea with another beekeeper’s package from the same source. The report explicitly says that the apiaries, forage, management, and chemical exposure differed and that the author could not identify horsetail as the deciding factor. A repeat would require several colonies, balanced assignment, identical management, and records for syrup intake, brood, adult population, stores, mites, disease, winter survival, and losses.

Woody Wodraska reviews Beth Wieting’s _Gardening Basics_, a concise introductory guide covering planning, companion and succession planting, soil and fertility, bed preparation, seed sowing, and a planting calendar.

## Articles

-   Manfred Klett (H. J. Courtney) 
-   The Yarrow Preparation (M. Klett) 
-   Some Effects of the BD Preps (S. Storch) 
-   Horsetail Tea and Bees (E. Lunquist) 
-   Looking Back on the J.P.I. Prep Seminar (Oct. 29–Nov. 1, 1997) (R. Grimes) 
-   Book Review: _Gardening Basics_ (W. Wodraska) 

## Key Topics Covered

BD 502 yarrow, plant observation, the stag bladder, summer hanging, winter burial, and spiritual-scientific interpretation.

Hands-on making of BD 500, BD 503, BD 505, and BD 506 at JPI’s 1997 preparation seminar.

Documentation of root recovery after transplant damage and preparation use.

Horsetail tea in bee syrup as a preliminary observation requiring controlled repetition.

Publication scheduling, advisory work, and introductory biodynamic gardening.

## Repeatable Practice

1.  Label each preparation batch with material source, weight, maker, dates, burial location, photographs, recovery yield, and finished-quality notes.
2.  For tree recovery, photograph and measure root damage before planting, map treatments, and compare several treated and standard-practice trees on fixed dates.
3.  For a bee trial, use several colonies from comparable stock, assign treatments before the season, keep management consistent, and record health and production outcomes.
4.  Report every outcome, including null results and losses, so a practical observation is not mistaken for proof.

## Explore Related Resources

[BD 502 Yarrow](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502) · [BD 503 Chamomile](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-503) · [BD 505 Oak Bark](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505) · [BD 506 Dandelion](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-506) · [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500)

[Making and Using Biodynamic Preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-preparations)

## Citation

Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 22, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 1997–1998.

**Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 502-507, BD 508

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> Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-022-winter-1997-1998)