# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 060 (Spring 2008) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 _Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 060 (Spring 2008) profiles Tierra Miguel’s regional farm partnerships, the national preparations conference, Marjorie Spock’s environmental work, and Maria Thun’s seasonal research. [**Download Issue 060 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-060) ## Tierra Miguel: biodynamics in Southern California Founded at Michaelmas in 1999, the Tierra Miguel Foundation set out to renew Earth and humanity through agriculture, education, and the healing arts. Its 85-acre Pauma Valley farm became a working biodynamic demonstration in a region receiving only about ten inches of rain each year. The farm included roughly 20 acres of wildlife habitat, a one-acre experimental orchard, and eight to 14 acres of vegetables, strawberries, and herbs in active production. The San Luis Rey River formed a wildlife corridor along the property. Cover crops, crop rotation, biodynamic compost, and the preparations formed the farm’s fertility strategy for sandy soils where organic matter needed constant renewal; the article does not isolate the contribution of any one practice. ## An exact preparation rhythm for an arid farm Tierra Miguel adapted its spray program to heat, light, and limited rainfall. The following are the farm’s documented 2008 practices and intended effects, not controlled efficacy findings: - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) were applied sequentially at least three times each year. - [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) was applied three to six times per year with the intention of supporting soil life and root activity. - [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) was used selectively in the bright, arid climate, especially on fruits and herbs where greater sugar and essential-oil development was desired. - BD 500 and BD 501 were made on the farm; nettle and yarrow already grew there, and the team was establishing chamomile and valerian for future preparation making. When on-farm compost volume was insufficient, Tierra Miguel purchased biodynamic compost from the Van Omaring Dairy, whose owners had learned the method through a foundation workshop. This exchange shows regional farm individuality in action: one farm’s educational work became another farm’s fertility resource. ## Food quality, CSA scale, and public trust A year-round 300-member CSA carried produce to subscribers in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties. Nearly all the food came from Tierra Miguel itself. Cool-season brassicas, beets, turnips, leeks, and herbs alternated with summer and autumn tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, and melons. The CSA made quality directly visible to the public and demanded rigorous production, harvest, packing, delivery, and crop-planning records. A comparable farm can evaluate its own development through preparation dates, crop yields, box counts, member retention, flavor feedback, storage losses, soil organic matter, water use, and the percentage of each box grown on site. ## Permanent farmland and community health When development threatened the farm, Tierra Miguel assembled a landmark conservation partnership. A $475,000 grant from the California Department of Conservation and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service created a permanent agricultural easement. The Pauma Band of Mission Indians ultimately purchased the protected land and established a long-term lease with the foundation. The partnership also strengthened farm-to-school and community-health work. School visits, salad bars, cooking classes, health festivals, teacher training, and CSA boxes connected agriculture with nutrition and learning. The farm reached thousands of children and became a model for collaboration among farmers, tribal leaders, schools, health professionals, conservation agencies, and local families. During the 2007 Southern California fires, Tierra Miguel remained standing while the surrounding region faced enormous disruption. The farm continued its mission with an even clearer purpose: pass healthy agricultural skills, protected land, and a living relationship with Earth to future generations. ## The national preparations conference About 50 preparation makers gathered in Viroqua, Wisconsin, for the Seventh Annual Biodynamic Preparations Conference. The central theme was [BD 506 Dandelion](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-506): the plant, the mesentery sheath, the connection between [cosmic activity](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos) and earthly substance, and the history of preparation making in America. Walter Goldstein presented the dandelion preparation in relation to human nutrition and cosmic connection. These proposed relationships belong to biodynamic spiritual-scientific interpretation unless separately tested. Harald Hoven spoke on the plant, Hugh Williams on the mesentery, and Hugh Courtney demonstrated the sheath directly. Preparation makers shared biographies, lineages, struggles, and future responsibilities, turning individual experience into a collective practical history. Participants also poured BD 500 from their home regions into one bowl, mixed it, and each carried some of the combined preparation home. The gesture made regional work reciprocal: every place contributed, and every place received. ## Questions as instruments of development The conference ended by gathering questions about quality, succession, regulation, regional and centralized production, innovation, and the future of the craft. A strong preparation community does not leave these matters vague. It names them, assigns observation and research, compares methods, trains successors, and returns with results. A preparation group can use the same format annually: record source materials and sheaths, make side-by-side samples, compare smell, texture, color, moisture, storage, microscopy, field response, and crop quality, then archive photographs and notes for the next generation. ## Marjorie Spock and environmental action Jennifer Greene honors Marjorie Spock as a biodynamic gardener, eurythmist, teacher, author, translator, and pioneering environmental advocate. When government aircraft sprayed DDT over Long Island, Spock and Polly Richards joined ten others in a federal case to protect land, health, and the right to keep a farm free from chemical intrusion. From 1957 to 1960, Spock wrote daily reports on the legal proceedings and expert testimony. Rachel Carson recognized their value, requested the trial transcript, and became Spock’s collaborator and friend. The case, together with a major bird kill on Cape Cod, helped provide the ground from which _Silent Spring_ emerged. The plaintiffs established the right to seek an injunction so that a full scientific review could occur before a destructive environmental action. Spock later farmed biodynamically, worked closely with Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, and spent 43 years in Maine teaching, gardening, writing, and mentoring. Her life joins spiritual perception, disciplined documentation, legal courage, and practical care for Earth. ## Farmers and elemental life In _Of Farmers and Fairies_, Spock presents farmers, fishers, foresters, and miners as people working within the elemental world. The farmer holds a particularly complete place among earth, water, air, warmth, soil, crops, and animals. Her account of gnomes, undines, sylphs, and fire spirits belongs to an anthroposophical spiritual-scientific worldview rather than current scientific consensus. ## Maria Thun’s biodynamic year Hunter Francis reviews [_The Biodynamic Year: Increasing Yield, Quality and Flavour_](https://go.jpibd.org/pLI6uv), a practical distillation of more than 50 years of Maria Thun’s research. The book connects planetary rhythms with plant response through charts, [calendars](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar), trials, and long observation. It also covers the preparations, Barrel Compost, greenhouses, pruning, storage, foraging, soil preparation, cover crops, rotation, and the distinctive stewardship of many fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The enduring research pattern is simple: sow comparable lots at clearly recorded times, hold other conditions steady, measure development and yield, repeat through seasons, and allow the accumulated plant response to reveal the rhythm. ## Key Topics Covered Tierra Miguel’s 85-acre Southern California farm, year-round CSA, wildlife habitat, school programs, conservation partnerships, and permanent agricultural easement. Historical preparation rhythms adapted to an arid climate, with intended effects distinguished from controlled findings. Regional fertility exchange between Tierra Miguel and the Van Omaring Dairy. The 2008 national Biodynamic Preparations Conference, preparation lineages, succession, regulation, quality, and research questions. Marjorie Spock’s gardening, environmental litigation, documentation, and connection with Rachel Carson. Maria Thun’s seasonal planting research and the need for matched sowings, complete records, fixed measurements, and replication. ## Repeatable Practice 1. For a farm or calendar trial, define matched fields or sowing lots and record the hypothesis, preparation schedule, timing, cultivar, seed lot, fertility, irrigation, and management before work begins. 2. Keep comparison conditions consistent and document every application, weather event, crop stage, co-intervention, harvest, storage period, and departure from protocol. 3. Measure yield, quality grade, Brix or essential oils where relevant, soil organic matter, water use, storage loss, member retention, and fixed photographic observations. 4. Repeat through several seasons and sites, retain unchanged or adverse results, and separate spiritual interpretation, farmer testimony, and independently measured outcomes. ## Explore Related Resources - [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) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-508) - [BD 506 Dandelion](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-506) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-506) - [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) - [_The Biodynamic Year_ by Maria Thun](https://go.jpibd.org/pLI6uv) - [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) ## Articles - Tierra Miguel: Sharing the Fruits of Biodynamics in Southern California (H. Francis)  - Biodynamic Preparations Conference: A Conference Report (L. Nelson and New Moon \[M. Proctor\])  - Marjorie Spock: 1904–2008 — Friend of Angels, Elementals and Human Beings — Gardener, Eurythmist, Teacher and Student of Anthroposophy Crosses the Threshhold at Age 103 (J. Greene)  - Of Farmers and Fairies (M. Spock)  - The Biodynamic Year: Increasing Yield, Quality and Flavour (reviewed by H. Francis)  ## Citation Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 60, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Spring 2008. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Farm Economics and Community, Research Methods --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-060-spring-2008)