# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 067 (Winter 2009–2010) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 _Applied Biodynamics_ Issue 067 (Winter 2009–2010) is a practical BD 508 horsetail issue covering harvest, fermentation, storage, crop-stage timing, and reported field-scale use. [**Download Issue 067 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-067) Patricia Smith’s “How to Make BD #508 Horsetail Tea” gives a complete method for both sourcing and preparation. Horsetail is harvested from May through September while leaving about four inches of stem for regrowth. After several days of drying, the herb is cut into quarter- to one-inch lengths and can be stored away from light and heat for up to two years. For the fermented tea, 10 ounces by volume—about 1½ ounces by weight—are added to one gallon of boiling water, simmered for one hour, cooled, and fermented in a loosely covered crock for 10–14 days. A sulfurous odor and surface film mark readiness. Strained tea stored in glass in a cool, dark place remains effective for six months or longer, and the issue reports that one fermented batch treats up to three acres. “Fields of Gold Farm Keeps Blight at Bay with Use of BD #508” presents BD 508 within a coordinated field program using **[BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500)** and **[Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc)**. The account emphasizes timely applications, repeated observation, and the practical management of moisture conditions that favor fungal pressure. It gives growers a model for comparing crop stage, weather, spray date, disease expression, and harvest quality across a season. In “Sulfur Influence of BD #508 and Climate Control?” Smith develops the biodynamic understanding of horsetail’s silica-sulfur relationship and its capacity to help balance excess moisture around plants. The article connects Rudolf Steiner’s indications with field experience and encourages practitioners to make weather, timing, and crop-response observations part of every spray record. This is especially useful when BD 508 is combined with other silica-oriented work such as **[BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501)**. “Kentucky Farmer Has Many Uses for BD #508” documents a 2,600-acre grain and hog operation applying preparations over hundreds of acres. Philip Lyvers brewed 30 pounds of dried horsetail in a 90-gallon cast-iron kettle, fermented it for about 14 days, strained it into a 250-gallon tote, and returned the spent herb to compost. BD 508, BD 500, and Barrel Compound were processed for one hour in a compost-tea machine and another hour and 20 minutes through a flowform, then applied with a 60-foot boom across roughly 450 acres in spring and fall. The farm’s 2009 records provide reported benchmarks, not results from a controlled trial. In a very wet year, wheat showed very little Fusarium damage, yielded 71 bushels per acre, and carried a reported cash cost of $1.60 per bushel. Corn harvested before prolonged rains yielded 145 bushels per acre with only 1–2% damage. The account also clarifies timing: silica preparations are directed to soil before crop emergence or applied after fruit, ear, or head formation is established, while flowering is avoided—especially in beans—to support strong fruit set. For growers building a broader weather-responsive program, JPI’s **[Sequential Spray Kit](https://go.jpibd.org/kit-sequential)** offers a related practical pathway. Issue 067 suggests how to make that work farm-specific: keep the formula constant, record crop stage and weather, observe disease pressure and plant quality, and compare yield, damage, and cost at harvest. ## Key Topics Covered Harvesting, drying, and storing _Equisetum arvense_ Fresh and fermented BD 508 tea methods Measured ingredients and fermentation-readiness indicators Storage and continuous-crock fermentation Crop-stage timing and avoidance of flowering BD 508 with BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound Farm-scale brewing, flowform processing, and boom spraying Reported disease pressure, yield, grain quality, and cost ## Repeatable Practice 1. Prepare a written batch protocol with herb weight or volume, water volume, vessel, heat, fermentation time, readiness indicators, storage conditions, dilution, and field rate. 2. Predefine treated and untreated or standard-practice comparison areas; record crop stage, weather, soil moisture, spray date, equipment, and all other disease-management inputs. 3. Measure disease severity, crop damage, yield, grain quality, and cost with the same methods and sampling locations throughout the season. 4. Repeat across fields and years, include null or adverse outcomes, and treat the issue’s farm reports as observations to test rather than controlled evidence of efficacy. ## Explore Related Resources - [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) - [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) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [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) - [Sequential Spray Kit](https://go.jpibd.org/kit-sequential) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-sequential) ## Articles - How to Make BD 508 (_Equisetum arvense_) Horsetail Tea (P. Smith)  - Fields of Gold Farm Keeps Blight at Bay with Use of BD 508 (_Equisetum arvense_) (P. Smith and H. Courtney)  - Sulfur Influence of BD 508 and Climate Control? (P. Smith)  - Kentucky Farmer Has Many Uses for BD 508 (_Equisetum arvense_) (P. Smith)  ## Citation Source: _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue No. 67, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 2009–2010. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 508, Crop and Garden Practice, Pests and Diseases --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-067-winter-2009-2010)