# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 054 (Fall 2006)

**By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31

_Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 054 (Fall 2006) is Robert True’s ten-year Blueberry Gardens case history, documenting cover crops, compost, heavy woodchip mulch, biodynamic preparations, planting stock, irrigation, deer fencing, U-pick economics, and a farm-based healing center.

[**Download Issue 054 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-054)

## A perennial crop within a living farm

Blueberry Gardens covers about fifteen acres, with three acres in blueberries and the remainder in woods or open land. True chose blueberries because they are native to the eastern United States, well suited to the region, relatively free of disease pressure, and capable of living forty to fifty years with good care. That long life makes soil building and preparation work cumulative.

True came to biodynamics after years in poultry, dairy, row crops, vegetables, and conventional farm management. The decisive experience was eating biodynamically grown food: the quality of the carrots and other produce gave him the confidence to learn the preparations and bring them into the blueberry fields.

## Building soil before planting

The first year was devoted to cover crops rather than blueberries. After incorporation, the farm applied a two- to three-inch layer of composted leaves. Over the following decade, soil organic matter rose from roughly 1.5–2 percent to 3.5–4 percent.

Each spring the blueberry rows received eight to ten inches of locally sourced woodchips—about 400 cubic yards per acre. [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) was applied immediately afterward, and True observed forty to sixty percent decomposition by the following season. The chips suppressed weeds, maintained the blueberries’ preferred acidity, supplied organic matter, and helped create soil that became softer, looser, more fertile, and easier to work.

After several years of relying on mulch and the preparations, True concluded that a small annual compost application would strengthen the system further. His experience shows how soil tests, touch, rooting, decomposition, and plant performance can be read together.

## A measurable soil-building record

Growers can repeat this approach with fixed sampling points and annual tests taken in the same month and depth. Record organic matter, pH, aggregate stability, infiltration, bulk density, moisture retention, earthworm counts, mulch depth, decomposition percentage, compost rate, and preparation schedule. Pair these with plant survival, shoot growth, flowering, yield, berry size, flavor, and disease pressure.

## Preparations for growth, flavor, and farm coherence

True used the complete preparation program, with increasing attention to [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) and [BD 501 horn silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501). Application evolved from red cedar branches to mechanical sprayers and irrigation injection; screening the liquid solved nozzle clogging.

After a season when mid-season berries lacked flavor, Hugh Courtney recommended silica. True applied BD 501 three times the next season and reported excellent flavor from bushes whose fruit had disappointed the year before. The observation invites a clear orchard comparison: matched rows of the same variety, the same water and fertility, recorded BD 501 timing, blind tasting, soluble solids, acidity, firmness, aroma, yield, and storage quality.

True also applied [Three Kings Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8) for at least four seasons and experienced its protective field as part of the farm’s growing vitality.

## Recovery after Japanese beetle defoliation

When Japanese beetles severely defoliated about half an acre in late July, True combined compost teas, Barrel Compound, [BD 500 horn manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), [BD 504 stinging nettle](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-504), and [BD 505 oak bark](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505) through the end of August. He observed visible recovery and fresh leaf growth by late summer.

A repeatable recovery log can mark damaged and comparison bushes, photograph canopy loss, score percent defoliation, record each application, and measure new shoot length, leaf color, bud formation, next-season flowering, and yield.

## Planting stock, varieties, weeds, and irrigation

True strongly recommends young bare-root plants. Smaller stock costing about $1.50–$2 caught up within two years with larger container plants that had cost $6–$7. The younger plants established readily and adapted well to the farm.

Variety selection remained site-specific. ‘Blue Ridge’ and ‘Cape Fear’ stayed nearly static and were removed after four years, while ‘O’Neal’ became a primary variety because it ripened around June 10 with large, flavorful, easy-to-pick fruit. Heavy mulch plus a narrow tilled strip at the edge of each row sharply reduced weed pressure.

Drip irrigation works best when each emitter is placed at the plant. Pre-spaced drip line did not match curved rows, and young plants were lost before the system was corrected. Individual emitter placement, sufficient water supply, properly sized mains, and zone-by-zone flow calculations became essential establishment practices.

## The deer-fence discovery

Fencing a two-and-one-half-acre block revealed the farm’s largest hidden yield loss. Sales rose from $700 to $7,000 in one season because deer had been eating blossoms before fruit set. Extending electric fencing to all blueberry areas protected that reproductive stage and transformed the economics of the crop.

This is an excellent example of measurement changing management: count browsed buds and blossoms, compare protected and unprotected edges, track fruit set and pounds per bush, and connect those numbers directly to sales.

## A profitable honor-system U-pick

The farm’s self-serve U-pick brought in about $10,000 in one season with fewer than ten hours spent collecting payments. Weekdays commonly produced $300–$400; the best Saturday reached $1,000. Road signs and community word of mouth were enough to draw customers, and the honor jar made trust part of the farm’s social life.

## Blueberries and the healing center

The farm also includes an eight-sided center for yoga, massage, acupuncture, and other healing work. True experiences the blueberry fields as the grounding force of the center, while visitors move naturally between picking, treatment, and classes. The result is a social farm organism in which agriculture, healing, nature experience, and community strengthen one another.

## Editorial continuity

Hugh Courtney outlines a shared East Coast–West Coast editorial model, with Kara LeBeau and Hunter Francis bringing scientific literacy and biodynamic commitment into the next phase of _Applied Biodynamics_. LeBeau’s background in science writing, religious studies, and organic-agriculture research supports an editorial voice that joins spiritual science with clear evidence and useful field detail.

## Key Topics Covered

Three acres of blueberries within a fifteen-acre farm and the value of soil building before planting a long-lived perennial crop.

Reported organic matter rising from roughly 1.5–2 percent to 3.5–4 percent after cover crops, composted leaves, and repeated mulching.

Eight- to ten-inch woodchip mulch at about 400 cubic yards per acre and reported 40–60 percent annual decomposition after Barrel Compound.

BD 501 and reported flavor changes, plus a BD 500, BD 504, and BD 505 recovery sequence after Japanese beetle defoliation.

Bare-root stock, site-specific varieties, weed control, individual drip emitters, and deer fencing.

Sales reportedly rising from $700 to $7,000 after fencing, a later $10,000 honor-system U-pick, and the healing center as business and community context.

## Repeatable Practice

1.  Map rows by variety, plant age, soil, mulch depth, irrigation, and deer exposure; retain matched preparation and standard-practice comparisons where feasible.
2.  Record compost and woodchip source, volume, depth, decomposition, preparation batch and dose, irrigation, pest pressure, fencing, labor, harvest, and sales.
3.  Sample fixed locations for soil organic matter, pH, moisture, infiltration, mulch depth and mass, decomposition, root and shoot growth, pest damage, yield, berry size, flavor or chemistry, and plant survival.
4.  Separate the effects of fencing, irrigation, mulch, preparations, variety, and weather through staged or factorial comparisons repeated across seasons.

## Explore Related Resources

-   [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 504 Stinging Nettle](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-504) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-504)
-   [BD 505 Oak Bark](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-505)
-   [Three Kings Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8) and [application guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-erbe-8)

## Articles

-   Growing Biodynamically at Blueberry Gardens (R. True as told to K. LeBeau) 
-   Publication Future for _Applied Biodynamics_ (H. J. Courtney) 
-   Introducing the East Coast Editor for _Applied Biodynamics_ (K. LeBeau) 
-   _The Secrets of Metals_ by Wilhelm Pelikan Is Back in Print! 

## Citation

Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 54, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Fall 2006.

**Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Crop and Garden Practice, Farm Economics and Community, Orchards and Perennials, Pests and Diseases, Soil Health, Water

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> Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-054-fall-2006)