# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 059 (Winter 2007–2008)

**By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31

_Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 059 (Winter 2007–2008) explores vortex geometry, animal gratitude, Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray, a quackgrass case report, university teaching, youth preparation making, and the memory of Peter Dukich.

[**Download Issue 059 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-059)

## The vortex between earth and [cosmos](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos)

John Blackwood begins with a form every preparation maker knows through the body: water moving into a vortex, released into chaos, and gathered again. He distinguishes a spiral formed in a plane from a spiral organized around a point. When those two activities meet in three-dimensional space, the vortex arises.

Blackwood presents the vortex as a form living between the earthly center and the cosmic plane. Sink water, shells, palm growth, tornadoes, and other natural forms illustrate variations of spiral and vortical geometry. His interpretation of stirring as a relationship between earth and cosmos belongs to biodynamic spiritual-scientific thought; it is not a scientific consensus about vortex mechanics.

The midwinter spiral carries the same gesture. Human beings walk inward toward a dark center, then turn and move outward as the sun begins its return. The seasonal ritual and the stirring vessel become two experiences of a single formative movement.

## Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray: one preparation, many uses

The issue formally expands the name “Pfeiffer BD Field Spray” to [Pfeiffer BD Field and Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray). The formula did not change. The new name recognizes how effectively the spray serves gardens, landscapes, compost, seed, foliage, and farms.

It contains BD 500 together with BD 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, and 507. The 2007 issue recommends several uses; these are historical practice claims rather than controlled efficacy findings:

-   spray green manure, cover crops, stubble, residues, or sod before incorporation to support their transformation into humus;
-   apply to soil to stimulate microbial and enzymatic activity and accelerate organic-matter breakdown without tying up nitrogen;
-   use in sheet composting;
-   prepare a seed bath before sowing to support germination;
-   apply foliarly to crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and squash to stimulate flowering and fruit set.

Current preparation and application details are available in JPI’s [Pfeiffer spray instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-pfeiffer-spray).

## Goodbye quackgrass

Mike and Mary Jayne Richmond had managed a 100-by-200-foot Michigan garden organically for 15 years, yet quackgrass remained deeply established in the clay loam. Mike treated half the garden with Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray and combined it with a planned succession of cultivation and cover crops.

The sequence was clear:

1.  In early June, apply Field and Garden Spray to the quackgrass area. Richmond stirred for 30 minutes, then used a four-inch brush when plant material clogged the sprayer.
2.  Disk the treated area and leave it fallow.
3.  Disk again two weeks later, then sow rye.
4.  Turn under the rye in late July and sow Japanese millet.
5.  In October, apply Field and Garden Spray again and disk in the knee-high millet.

Richmond reported that after the second cultivation he could push his hand into the soil to the wrist for the first time. Two weeks after the autumn treatment, he observed the millet fully incorporated and the soil dark and friable. He judged the treated area better than neighboring ground he had managed organically for 15 years. The case combined spray applications with repeated disking, fallow periods, rye, and Japanese millet and did not include a matched control, so it cannot isolate the spray’s effect. A year later, he reported reduced weeding, food for the family and 13 CSA customers, four thriving bee colonies, and rotationally grazed sheep.

Pfeiffer’s wider weed guidance supports the same rhythm: cultivate thoroughly, use competitive crops such as millet, soybeans, cowpeas, or successive rye crops, and work patiently with what the weed reveals about the soil. Readers can continue with [Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s _Weeds and What They Tell Us_](https://go.jpibd.org/book-weeds).

## A repeatable quackgrass comparison

Growers can reproduce the learning value of this case with paired plots. Map quackgrass cover before treatment; keep soil type, cultivation dates, and cover-crop seed rates consistent; apply the spray to one defined treatment; and measure rhizome density, percent cover, soil penetration resistance, infiltration, aggregate stability, organic matter, weed-removal hours, and crop yield through the following season. Photographs from fixed points make the structural change visible.

## Competitive produce quality at Evergreen Elm

The Evergreen Elm biodynamic gardening team entered 29 exhibits at the 2007 McKean County Fair and received 24 first-place blue ribbons, one third-place ribbon, and two fourth-place ribbons. Their Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato took first place. L. A. Rotheraine credited the results to the gardening team, rigorous chemical-free growing, their seed method, and consistent use of Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray.

Fair judging provided a public comparison of entered produce, but it was not a controlled test of Pfeiffer spray, seed method, or other management. A modern group can strengthen the record by preserving entry weights, Brix readings, harvest dates, blind flavor scores, photographs, storage life, all co-interventions, and results from matched comparison plots.

## Gratitude toward the animal

Nancy Jewel Poer’s meditation addresses a beef animal before slaughter with direct responsibility and reverence. The animal has lived through milk, pasture, weather, movement, hunger, rest, and the full arc of bovine life. Its body will nourish human beings, and its organs will help carry plant substances through the making of BD 502–506.

The meditation gives preparation making its ethical center: human beings and animals are partners in the work, and the proper response to the animal’s gift is consciousness, gratitude, skill, and service to renewed life.

## Biodynamics enters the university

At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, JPI board president Gena Nonini taught the first “Foundation for Applied Biodynamics” course to 25 students from farming, viticulture, rice production, landscaping, gardening, and university programs. The curriculum joined history, the farm organism, Goethean thinking, forces and substances, certification, [calendar work](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar), and hands-on preparation making.

Participants learned to make [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) and [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc). A complementary course was planned around the four kingdoms, etheric and astral forces, [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), and the compost preparations. The structure remains an excellent model: conceptual foundation, direct experience, exact method, and shared observation.

## Youth, community, and transmission

At JPI’s Michaelmas gathering, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and friends filled more than 1,200 cow horns. Each young participant filled at least 100 horns and received a patch. The horns were placed in a large pit to transform through winter into BD 500.

JPI’s open house brought visitors through the farm, offices, root cellar, preparation facilities, educational displays, and hanging yarrow bladders. These events show how biodynamics passes from one generation to the next: people see the materials, do the work with their hands, hear the reasons, and become part of the seasonal rhythm.

## Remembering Peter Dukich

Hunter Francis remembers Peter Dukich as a gardener, carpenter, Waldorf teacher, Camphill participant, musician, and lifelong teacher of biodynamics and Anthroposophy. His study groups could move from agriculture to history, religion, science, and music in a single evening. He helped hundreds of people experience the connection among daily life, the Earth, and spirit.

## Key Topics Covered

Spiral and vortex geometry, midwinter ritual, and the biodynamic interpretation of earth–cosmos relationships.

The 2007 renaming and historical uses of Pfeiffer BD Field and Garden Spray across soil, residues, seed, foliage, and compost.

A Michigan quackgrass case that combined spray applications with cultivation, fallow periods, rye, and Japanese millet.

Public fair results from Evergreen Elm, treated as practitioner evidence rather than a controlled efficacy test.

Animal gratitude and ethical responsibility in preparation making; foundational biodynamics teaching at Cal Poly.

Youth preparation work at JPI, community education, and Hunter Francis’s remembrance of Peter Dukich.

## Repeatable Practice

1.  For a weed or soil trial, divide a uniform area into randomized or well-matched plots and pre-map weed cover, rhizome density, soil condition, and planned co-interventions.
2.  Use the same cultivation dates, cover-crop seed rates, water, fertility, and observation schedule; vary only the treatment being tested and record every deviation.
3.  Measure percent weed cover, rhizome density, penetration resistance, infiltration, aggregate stability, organic matter, labor hours, crop yield, Brix, storage, and photographs from fixed points.
4.  Repeat through the following season and at additional sites, publish unchanged or adverse results, and keep spiritual interpretation and practitioner testimony distinct from measured effects.

## Explore Related Resources

-   [Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-spray), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-pfeiffer-spray)
-   [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)
-   [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)
-   [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc)
-   [_Weeds and What They Tell Us_ by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer](https://go.jpibd.org/book-weeds)
-   [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course)

## Articles

-   Vortex Forms and Midwinter Spirals (J. Blackwood) 
-   Pfeiffer BD Field and Garden Spray: A New Name for the Pfeiffer BD Field Spray 
-   Meditative Thoughts for a Beef Animal Before Slaughter for Meat and Biodynamic Preparations (N. J. Poer) 
-   Goodbye Quackgrass (C. Korrow) 
-   Evergreen Elm: Achieving Success With the Help of the Pfeiffer BD Field and Garden Spray 
-   Gena Nonini Initiates University Course in Biodynamics (H. Francis) 
-   Michaelmas Gathering at JPI Introduces Scouts to Biodynamics 
-   JPI Open House – August 25, 2007 
-   In Memoriam: Peter Dukich (1915–2007) (H. Francis) 

## Citation

Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 59, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 2007–2008.

**Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Crop and Garden Practice, Pfeiffer Preparations

---

> Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-059-winter-2007-2008)