# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 064 (Spring 2009) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 _Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 064 (Spring 2009) connects Manfred Klett’s reflections on polarity, compost, BD 500 and BD 501 with the Viroqua group’s practical model for regional preparation making. [**Download Issue 064 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-064) ## Life fertilizes life In Hunter Francis’s continuation of his interview with Dr. Manfred Klett, manuring means humanity’s conscious return of fertility to the earth through animal manure, compost, and the biodynamic preparations. “Life fertilizes life” is the guiding principle. Living fertility feeds soil processes and plant diversity, strengthening the farm organism from within. Klett contrasts this with fertility delivered primarily as soluble salts. In his spiritual-scientific account, biodynamics works through living transformation: animal and plant residues enter compost, organic matter becomes humus, and the preparations guide the process toward greater organization and vitality. The familiar phrase “feed the soil, not the plant” becomes an active farm practice. ## Four processes in biodynamic composting Klett describes compost formation through four interwoven elemental stages: - **Heating:** the warmth process awakens and intensifies transformation. - **Aeration:** the air process carries steam and gases and opens the pile to breathing. - **Moistening:** the water process releases cellular sap and supports living exchange. - **Turning to earth:** stabilization and humification create the lasting soil-building substance. Good composting guides decomposition so that organic matter does not simply mineralize away. Klett distinguishes nourishing humus, available to soil life, from more permanent humus whose compounds resist rapid microbial breakdown. Together they feed current biological activity and build enduring soil structure and carbon. ## BD 500 and BD 501 as a living polarity Klett reads the earth and plant in a threefold image. The root sphere below ground acts as a “head” pole, receiving cosmic forces reflected through the mineral world. The above-ground realm of growth, flowering, fruiting, and ripening acts as a metabolic pole. The soil surface forms the balancing rhythmic middle. [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) is sprayed on the earth, preferably before sowing; Klett interprets it as strengthening the root sphere below the soil. [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) is sprayed into the above-ground phase of vegetative growth and ripening; Klett interprets it as opening plants to light and working with cosmic forces. Used in rhythm, the two preparations enliven complementary poles of the agricultural organism. ## One hour of hand stirring Klett gives the one-hour hand stir a precise spiritual-scientific meaning. Use hand-warm rainwater and build a full vortex, then reverse it through chaos into a new vortex. Different water speeds create extremely thin layers and an expanded plane of sensitivity, opening water toward air. The solid preparation passes into liquid, then into droplets, and unfolds through warmth as it is sprayed. In Klett’s spiritual-scientific interpretation, the hour corresponds to the rhythm of human will. Stillness and movement, inward thought and outward action, time and space meet in the stir. This personal participation builds a direct relationship with the preparations and with the individuality of the farm. ## The Viroqua Biodynamic Group Marcia Halligan and Steven Adams recount a regional initiative that grew from personal questions into a durable preparation-making community. The work began in 1994 with guidance from experienced practitioners and a single horn of BD 501 placed in the ground. Winter study groups formed in 1995, and the Viroqua Biodynamic Group began making preparations together in 1998. The group progressed from [Biodynamic Compound Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) and BD 500 to making BD 502–507, BD 501, [BD 508 Equisetum](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508), and the [Three Kings Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8). Its annual rhythm includes spring and fall preparation-making days and a January regional gathering, with additional conferences and visiting teachers as opportunities arise. ## A repeatable structure for regional quality Several practices give the Viroqua work continuity: - A core “Apical Meristem” group meets in winter to plan and make decisions. - Preparation days remain open, welcoming a steady stream of newcomers. - A shared notebook preserves dates, materials, methods, observations, and responsibilities. - Members seek counsel from experienced preparation makers and send participants to JPI training. - Extra preparations and cow horns are distributed to regional farmers and gardeners. - Partnerships with farms, institutes, and communities share speakers, costs, and expertise. Chromatographer Roland Ulrich prepared chromatograms of all the group’s 2007 preparations in spring 2008. The images gave the group a comparative record to read alongside preparation-making notes and field observations. Chromatograms can preserve a visual history across batches, but the issue does not establish them as an independent measure of preparation quality or field efficacy. ## Music and biodynamic culture Christy Korrow reviews pianist Brigitte Armenier’s recording of Schubert and Brahms with the accompanying essay “Between Music and Biodynamic Agriculture.” Armenier joins music and agriculture through living time, qualitative transition, sacred geometry, the number nine, and Goethean perception. Both arts invite attentive participation in pattern, rhythm, polarity, and becoming. The cultural project reinforces the issue’s central insight: biodynamics is not a mechanical sequence of inputs. It is a living art and science in which disciplined practice refines perception and the human being participates consciously in the evolution of the earth. ## Key Topics Covered Living manure, compost, and humus in Klett’s account Warmth, air, water, and earth processes in composting BD 500 and BD 501 as complementary spiritual-scientific poles Vortex, reversal, rhythm, and the one-hour stir Regional preparation making in southwestern Wisconsin Shared records, training, distribution, and collaboration Chromatograms as comparative images rather than proof of field efficacy Music, qualitative time, and biodynamic culture ## Repeatable Practice 1. Choose one compost, preparation, or spray question and define the treatment, comparison, and expected observations before beginning. 2. Record materials, quantities, stirring method, timing, weather, site, and every co-intervention in a shared notebook. 3. Use consistent soil, compost, crop, or preparation-quality measurements; if using chromatograms, interpret them alongside—not instead of—field and laboratory records. 4. Repeat across batches and seasons, retain null or adverse results, and distinguish practitioner or spiritual-scientific interpretation from independently measured effects. ## Explore Related Resources - [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-500), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-500) - [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-501), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-501) - [BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [Biodynamic Compound Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-508), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-508) - [Three Kings Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8), [practice guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-erbe-8), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-erbe-8) - [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) ## Articles - Working in the Midst of Polarity: Manfred Klett’s Further Reflections on Biodynamics (H. Francis)  - Viroqua Biodynamic Group: Preparation Making in Southwestern Wisconsin (M. Halligan and S. Adams)  - Schubert, Brahms and… Biodynamics, A New CD (reviewed by C. Korrow)  ## Citation Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 64, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Spring 2009. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 500, Compost --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-064-spring-2009)