# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 082 (Autumn 2013) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 **Applied Biodynamics No. 82** pairs an operational tour of JPI’s expanded Floyd facilities with a close, practice-led examination of [BD 507 Valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507). The two articles share a common emphasis: preparation quality depends on exact seasonal handling, clear storage practice, direct observation, and field comparisons that growers can repeat. In **“JPI Has Expanded Its Operations,”** Abigail Porter records the Institute’s 2013 move into two complementary sites: a downtown Floyd office and storefront for education and order fulfillment, and a farm about ten miles away for preparation plants, burial, processing, storage, and Pfeiffer production. The farm’s woods, hills, fields, and fertile Little River bottomland supplied distinct environments for preparation work and placed JPI beside Riverstone Organic Farm and Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary. The article follows one full seasonal transfer cycle. Shortly after Ascension Day, preparations were lifted at the former farm and moved to Floyd; material needing more transformation was reburied on land treated with biodynamic sprays. In early summer, [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) was buried, valerian blossoms were ground and pressed, one hundred pounds of nettles were enclosed in nylon screen and buried for one year plus a summer, and yarrow-filled deer bladders were hung in summer sunlight. Chamomile, dandelion, and oak-bark preparations were lifted and screened into crocks stored in peat-lined wooden boxes. By late summer and early autumn, [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), pre-potentized 500, and the long-buried [BD 504 Stinging Nettle](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-504) were recovered and processed, while fresh oak bark and other autumn materials were gathered. The office maintained three-business-day order fulfillment throughout the move, demonstrating that expanded production and dependable distribution could proceed together. In **“The Valerian Preparation (BD 507) Revisited,”** Porter returns to Steiner’s instruction to add valerian before using the prepared manure. The article develops the practical value of applying stirred BD 507 to finished, transformed compost near the time of use. Steve Storch placed the stirred preparation in a central hole in finished compost and waited two weeks before spreading it. He reported stronger plant growth, more flowering, fuller fruit and flower color, greater earthworm activity, and improved frost endurance; impatiens that usually ended with the first frost endured four frosts. Other growers reported finer compost, longer moisture retention, and stronger cover-crop growth. The issue also preserves an exact **Prepared 500** method. Finished BD 500 is placed in a ceramic crock; for larger quantities, it is arranged in four- to five-inch layers with one set of the five solid compost preparations between layers. BD 507 is lightly sprinkled or misted over the top, the crock receives a loose lid, and the material rests in a root cellar or cool basement for four to six weeks before use. Growers can pair this archived method with JPI’s current [BD 500 instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-500) and [BD 502–507 compost preparation set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set). Porter’s proposed timing trial is especially repeatable. Build three matched compost piles: apply BD 507 when the pile is built; apply it only after the other preparations have transformed the pile; and apply it at both stages. An optional fourth pile receives BD 507 in a central hole after finishing. Spread the resulting composts on adjacent plots with the same soil, sow the same seed on the same day, and record every operation—including whether it falls on a root, water, air, or fire day. Compare finished compost, soil, and plant tissue or juice through conventional analysis, sensitive crystallization, and chromatography, alongside field observations of moisture, earthworms, plant vigor, flowering, color, and frost response. Issue 082 therefore turns both institutional growth and preparation inquiry into usable procedure: establish suitable production sites, preserve seasonal burial and storage rhythms, keep fulfillment dependable, and test application timing with matched materials, adjacent plots, and shared measurements. ## Articles - JPI Has Expanded Its Operations — Abigail Porter - The Valerian Preparation (BD 507) Revisited — Abigail Porter ## Key Topics Covered - Expansion of JPI preparation production in Floyd, Virginia - Separation of office, storefront, farm, and burial functions - Seasonal lifting, reburial, screening, and processing - One-year-plus-one-summer nettle burial - Crock storage in peat-lined wooden boxes - Operational continuity and three-business-day fulfillment - BD 507 application to finished transformed compost - Two-week waiting period after central-hole application - Plant growth, flowering, color, earthworm, moisture, and frost observations - Four- to five-inch layering method for Prepared 500 - Three-pile comparison with an optional fourth treatment - Conventional, crystallization, chromatography, and field measurements [**Download Issue 082 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-082) ## Citation _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue 082, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Autumn 2013. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 502-507, Compost, Research Methods --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-082-autumn-2013)