# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 049 (Summer 2005) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 _Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 049 (Summer 2005) is Paul Sansone’s field-tested manual for commercial biodynamic cut-flower production, integrating compost, preparations, cover crops, raised beds, irrigation, sanitation, equipment, daily observation, and market quality across twenty-eight intensive acres. [**Download Issue 049 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-049) ## Biodynamic flower production at commercial scale Sansone and Susan Vosburg adapted Alan Chadwick’s Biodynamic French Intensive Method to mechanized floriculture. Specialized tractors, bed shapers, mechanical mulchers, reusable woven mulch, drip irrigation, and spray or injection systems allowed them to preserve the method’s biological principles while working many acres efficiently. The result is a confident production system built around beauty, diversity, soil fertility, and market quality. Cut flowers can return high value per acre, while a varied planting supports the farm organism and brings artistic vitality into agricultural work. ## Compost, nutrient return, and soil building Sansone’s central fertility rule is a mass balance: the plant material exported as flowers should be matched by composted organic matter returned to the soil. For established perennials, he recommends a spring top-dressing of one-quarter to one-half inch of mature biodynamic compost. His windrows are twelve to fifteen feet wide, about six feet high, and built from dairy manure, soil, plant trimmings, leaves, straw, or spoiled hay. Materials are layered toward a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of about 30:1. Greensand, rock phosphate, oyster shell, and kelp are added at approximately fifty pounds each per twenty-five tons of compost, and the pile receives the [BD 502–507 compost preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set). Six months to a year of maturation produces a stable, biologically active material. He also gives a banded plant-food blend of four parts seed meal, one part rock phosphate, one-half part kelp, and one part greensand, adjusted in practice through soil analysis. The issue cites Paul Mäder and colleagues’ twenty-one-year comparison of biodynamic, organic, and conventional systems as supporting reading on soil fertility and biodiversity. ## Cover crops, beds, spacing, and weed control Cover crops are selected for specific work: buckwheat followed by annual rye and vetch for weed pressure, Sudan grass for biomass and fibrous roots, and crimson clover, fava beans, oats, or alfalfa for rotation diversity. Sansone describes spraying cover crops with [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) or [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) before incorporation to support rapid transformation. Here & Now Garden used ten-inch-high, three-foot-wide raised beds. Perennials were commonly planted at 1.5 plants per linear foot in a staggered matrix, giving each plant about a sixteen-inch root zone. Annuals were planted at 2.5 plants per linear foot with about a twelve-inch root zone. In peonies, this geometry increased density from about 7,000 plants per acre in rows to 10,000 in raised-bed matrix plantings. Porous woven polypropylene covered unplanted bed surfaces to exclude light while allowing air and water into the soil. Combined with organic mulch and clean bed preparation, this sharply reduced hand-weeding and kept labor available for higher-value work. ## A coordinated vitality and disease-management sequence Sansone places disease resilience within the whole system. Healthy soil, mature compost, balanced plant growth, dry foliage, sanitation, and timely preparations work together. [BD 500 horn manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) is used in early spring to support roots; [BD 501 horn silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) follows in early summer for leaf vitality; and fermented [BD 508 horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) is integrated into foliar or soil programs during wet, fungus-prone periods. For Botrytis pressure in the Pacific Northwest, the article gives a precise historical example: one and a half ounces of chopped dry horsetail made about four gallons of fermented tea, enough for two acres of dense foliage, then diluted into fifty gallons of kelp-and-fish spray. During cold, wet spring weather, applications were repeated at ten-day intervals. Daily scouting, prompt removal of affected tissue, drip irrigation, seasonal mowing, and composting of crop residue complete the sequence. ## The seven essential elements Sansone condenses the method into seven connected practices: 1. Fertilize primarily with biodynamic compost. 2. Use BD 500, BD 501, BD 508, and the compost preparations as a whole system. 3. Grow soil through every cultivation and cropping decision. 4. Build polyculture and crop diversity. 5. Design the farm as an individual, increasingly self-supporting organism. 6. Practice conscious stewardship through records, observation, skill, and presence. 7. Use the [biodynamic calendar](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar) to connect farm, farmer, and the [cosmos](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos). This is a practical standard: every element can be expressed as scheduled work, mapped fields, application records, crop measurements, and regular farm walks. ## Greetings from Woolwine Laura Riccardi’s seasonal report captures preparation making at JPI in full motion: processing 8,000 horns of BD 500, making [BD 507 valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507), filling stag bladders for [BD 502 yarrow](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502), renewing Barrel Compound, burying [BD 504 nettle](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-504) and horn silica, and harvesting the previous year’s yarrow preparations. Her report connects the large physical scale of the work with the living richness of the JPI farm. ## Key Topics Covered Commercial cut-flower production adapted from the Biodynamic French Intensive Method to mechanized floriculture. Compost mass balance, windrow dimensions and materials, maturation, mineral additions, and perennial top-dressing. Cover-crop rotations, rapid incorporation, raised-bed dimensions, matrix spacing, reusable mulch, drip irrigation, and weed exclusion. BD 500, BD 501, and fresh or fermented BD 508 in a coordinated crop-vitality and disease-management program. Botrytis observation, sanitation, timing, application records, and the need to distinguish whole-system results from single-input effects. Seven connected elements: compost, preparations, soil building, diversity, farm individuality, attentive stewardship, and calendar observation. ## Repeatable Practice 1. Map replicated flower beds by crop, cultivar, soil, and irrigation; assign treatment and standard-practice comparisons before the season. 2. Record compost source, mass, maturity, application depth, preparation batch, spray dose, water volume, timing, weather, equipment, cover crops, cultivation, sanitation, and all co-interventions. 3. Measure emergence, stand count, stem length and strength, flower number, grading, pest and disease incidence, vase life, marketable yield, labor, inputs, and revenue on fixed dates. 4. Repeat across crops and seasons, retaining null and adverse results so the commercial and biological value of each practice can be separated from the complete system. ## Explore Related Resources - [Complete Set of Biodynamic Compost Preparations](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) and [application instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-500) - [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) and [application instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-501) - [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-508) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [application instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-spray) - [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) ## Articles - Biodynamic Flower Production: Demystifying the Method (P. Sansone)  - The Case for Biodynamics (P. Sansone)  - Seven Essential Elements of the Biodynamic Method (P. Sansone)  - Greetings from Woolwine, Virginia (L. Riccardi)  - Resources for Biodynamic Flower Production and 2005 JPI Notices  ## Citation Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 49, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Summer 2005. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Compost, Crop and Garden Practice, Water --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-049-summer-2005)