# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 052 (Spring 2006)

**By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31

_Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 052 (Spring 2006) examines biodynamic renewal after soil contamination and Hurricane Katrina through Hugh J. Courtney’s practical guidance, Rita Amedee’s first-person New Orleans account, Margaret Runyon’s Easter Pilgrimage report, and Patricia Smith’s farewell as editor.

[**Download Issue 052 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-052)

## Renewal as a whole-earth task

The issue opens with Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s call to perceive life and growth as an organic whole over the entire earth. That frame shapes every article: environmental work becomes more than an isolated correction when it restores living relationships among soil, plants, water, people, place, and spirit.

## A biodynamic sequence for compromised soil

For heavily oil-affected ground, Courtney describes a long-term renewal sequence. Concentrated material is removed where possible; excavated soil can enter a controlled composting process with [BD 502–507](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) or [Pfeiffer Biodynamic Compost Starter](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-compost); and the area receives repeated [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [BD 500 horn manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500). The goal is to rebuild biologically active soil that can support ongoing transformation.

A contemporary record can strengthen this work through baseline and follow-up laboratory tests for petroleum hydrocarbons, organic matter, pH, respiration, and microbial activity. Map treatment zones, record every compost batch and spray, and sample the same points at fixed intervals. That makes the renewal process visible in both field experience and measured change.

## Pfeiffer Field Spray from acres to houseplants

Courtney gives a simple scale conversion for [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray). A two-ounce unit equals about twenty level teaspoons. For a one-fifth-acre garden—about 8,000 square feet—he uses four level teaspoons. The material is moistened to a paste for six to twelve hours before dilution and application; the remaining dry material is kept sealed and dry, while activated material is used within about forty-eight hours.

For houseplants, the article suggests one-eighth to one-quarter teaspoon pre-moistened in the watering can, then diluted the next day. The larger lesson is proportionality: calculate the fraction of an acre, scale the material accordingly, keep a treatment log, and observe soil structure, rooting, leaf color, flowering, resilience, and water use over repeated applications.

## Transitioning conventional plants into biodynamic care

Container-grown starts receive an initial watering with Pfeiffer Field Spray or Barrel Compound followed by BD 500. Fermented [BD 508 horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) can follow, and [BD 501 horn silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) is added after the root system is established and the plant is mature enough. For bare-root trees and bulbs, Courtney describes a clay-and-manure root dip enlivened with Field Spray or Barrel Compound plus BD 500 and fermented BD 508.

This creates a coherent progression: establish the plant in living soil, support the water and fungal sphere, then bring in silica activity as roots and foliage are ready.

## Preparation timing as an organized workflow

The issue compiles working application windows after stirring: BD 500 and Prepared 500 within four hours; BD 501 forms within one to two hours; BD 502–506 within one to four hours; Barrel Compound and historical 500X within four days; and activated Pfeiffer Field Spray or Compost Starter within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. BD 507 and BD 508 may be re-stirred for use.

These windows help a group plan stirring stations, field routes, sprayer filling, and labor. Recording actual stir completion, application start and finish, weather, distance, and field response can continue refining the practice.

## Katrina in vitro: one garden as a center of vitality

Rita Amedee’s first-person account moves from evacuation through levee failure, wetland loss, neighborhood destruction, return, and renewal. Her house escaped floodwater, though the roof, fence, pool, and surrounding tree canopy were damaged. In the yard she encountered dragonflies, fish, songbirds, and a strong pulse of life; most plantings survived three weeks of drought before water service returned. Amedee understood this vitality as a testament to twenty years of biodynamic care.

The experience moved her from a small private garden into wider action. Beginning in October 2005, she sprayed Barrel Compound and BD 500 in heavily damaged zones, including the 17th Street Canal breach before access was closed. One practitioner became three, then nine, and eventually a coordinated Easter action.

## The Easter Pilgrimage

On Holy Saturday 2006, more than forty people worked with Common Ground Community Garden. They stirred and sprayed nearly six acres with Barrel Compound, BD 500, BD 501, and fermented BD 508 and built a biodynamic compost pile. Preparations were broadcast at four New Orleans sites, while seventeen people worked simultaneously at Lake Itasca, the Mississippi’s headwaters. The pilgrimage continued at Shearwater in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

The project’s strength lies in coordinated timing, clear roles, multiple preparations, compost making, and sustained local relationships. A future community action can add mapped routes, batch and coverage records, fixed photographs, soil tests, vegetation surveys, and seasonal follow-up while preserving the shared moral and spiritual intention at its center.

## Saying goodbye

Patricia Smith closes nine years of work with JPI and twenty-four edited issues of _Applied Biodynamics_. Her farewell honors contributors, local groups, JPI staff, Hugh Courtney’s editorial guidance, and Bruce Bumbarger’s design. The circle she describes—from volunteer preparation work to staff service and newsletter stewardship—shows how biodynamics continues through people who make knowledge usable for others.

## Key Topics Covered

Compost-centered renewal of oil-affected or otherwise compromised soil, with concentrated contamination removed where possible.

Regulatory compliance, mapped treatment zones, laboratory testing, fixed sampling points, and complete compost and spray records.

Garden and houseplant scaling for Pfeiffer Field Spray and a preparation sequence for transitioning conventionally managed plants.

Working application windows after stirring as a practical workflow rather than proof of efficacy.

Twenty years of biodynamic care in one New Orleans garden and post-Katrina applications across damaged urban sites.

Coordinated work from Lake Itasca to the Gulf Coast, with spiritual intention distinguished from independently measured remediation.

## Repeatable Practice

1.  For contaminated soil, identify the contaminant with qualified testing, follow current environmental and disposal requirements, remove concentrated material where required, and map treatment and comparison zones.
2.  Record every compost batch, preparation, dose, water volume, date, weather, treated area, co-intervention, and chain of custody for samples.
3.  Sample fixed points before and after treatment for relevant contaminants, organic matter, pH, respiration or microbial activity, infiltration, plant survival, and biomass using an accredited laboratory where appropriate.
4.  For garden-scale sprays or plant transitions, use matched plants or plots, standardized care, fixed observation dates, photographs, and full reporting of unchanged or adverse results.

## 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)
-   [Pfeiffer Biodynamic Compost Starter](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-compost) and [overview](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-compost)
-   [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-spray)
-   [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc)
-   [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-500)
-   [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) and [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)

## Articles

-   Answering the Call, Finding a “Cure” with Biodynamics (H. J. Courtney) 
-   Katrina in vitro (R. Amedee) 
-   Easter Pilgrimage (M. Runyon) 
-   Saying Goodbye (P. Smith) 
-   Sludge-Treatment Note, Preparation-Timing Table, and 2006 Workshop Announcements 

## Citation

Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 52, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Spring 2006.

**Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Crop and Garden Practice, Soil Health

---

> Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-052-spring-2006)