# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 027 (Fall 1999)

**By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31

Issue 027 documents a difficult institutional period at JPI and begins an extended treatment of weed ashing, or biodynamic “peppering,” with an unusually direct warning against dogmatic reliance on authority.

[**Download Issue 027 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-027)

The cover explains that a planned article about a newly formed organization and publication was withheld on legal advice. Another party had applied to register “BD Preps” as a private trademark despite JPI’s prior use of the term. JPI, the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, and Demeter objected before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Because a published argument might affect possible litigation, the broader article was deferred.

The resulting issue, dated Fall 1999, was mailed in spring 2000. The editorial reports staff departures after disagreements about JPI’s priorities, new staff arrivals, a $60,000 Rudolf Steiner Foundation loan used to finish the institute’s building and make other investments, and an occupancy permit received in February 2000. Dandelion contributions and preparation seminars show that practical production and education continued through the disruption.

Hugh J. Courtney’s **“Ashing or BD ‘Peppering’—A Function of Lunar Forces”** is the first installment of a proposed series on weeds, insects, and animal pests; this article concentrates on weeds. Courtney assembles passages from Rudolf Steiner, Lilly Kolisko, Maria Thun, and Adalbert Keyserlingk and argues that [BD 508 horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) should precede a weed-pepper program. He interprets horsetail as moderating watery conditions associated with lunar influence. This is a spiritual-scientific hypothesis offered for testing, not an established biological mechanism.

The practical sources recommend collecting ripe seeds of the target weed, burning them without prolonged red heat, retaining the ash, and distributing it directly or after grinding and high dilution. Courtney emphasizes that methods differ, timing may matter, and several years of repeated treatment may be required in historical reports. The issue does not yet provide the full dilution protocol; that appears in the continuation in Issue 028.

The most important methodological passage comes at the end. Courtney asks readers to observe what actually happens, including negative results, rather than treating his instructions, Maria Thun’s work, or even Rudolf Steiner’s indication as a fixed recipe. A credible field test would use mapped randomized plots, an untreated control, a carrier-only control, a documented ash batch, pre-declared timing categories, and multi-season counts of target and non-target plants.

## Articles

-   Biodynamics Under Attack? (H. J. Courtney) 
-   From the Editorial Desk (H. J. Courtney) 
-   Ashing or BD “Peppering”—A Function of Lunar Forces (H. J. Courtney) 

## Key Topics Covered

The “BD Preps” trademark dispute and the legal reason a planned article was withheld.

Publication delays, staff departures, new personnel, building completion, institutional debt, and continuing seminars.

Historical weed-ashing sources, ripe-seed collection, low-temperature burning, grinding, dilution, and repeated application.

BD 508 horsetail and lunar-force explanations as spiritual-scientific hypotheses rather than measured mechanisms.

Observation, disclosure of failures, field controls, replication, and multi-year measurement.

## Repeatable Practice

1.  Identify and map the target weed before collecting fully ripe seed from the same species.
2.  Record seed source, maturity, burn container, temperature indicators, ash color, weight, grinding, dilution, mixing, timing, and weather.
3.  Randomize replicated untreated, carrier-only, ash-only, BD 508-only, and combined plots while holding cultivation and fertility constant.
4.  Count target plants, flowering, viable seed, germination, crop response, and non-target vegetation on fixed dates for several seasons.

## Explore Related Resources

[BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) · [BD 508 overview](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-508) · [Rudolf Steiner’s _Agriculture Course_](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course)

## Citation

Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 27, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Fall 1999.

**Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 508, Pests and Diseases

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> Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-027-fall-1999)