# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 084 (Spring 2014) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 **Applied Biodynamics No. 84** shows biodynamics functioning at farm scale without losing precision. Its central interview documents the Hack family’s closed-loop grain-and-livestock organism in Ontario, while the companion articles clarify [BD 507 Valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) practice, report Homeodynamic and EcoFarm education, and deepen plant observation through two book reviews. In **“The Hack Family Farm Organism,”** Abigail Porter interviews Ulrich Hack. The family converted a 532-acre continuous-corn farm immediately after arriving from Germany in 1982 and achieved Demeter certification in 1986. The farm later grew beyond 1,000 acres, with more than 800 acres in cultivation and pasture, 100 acres of permanent pasture, 165 acres of woodland and river, and more than 600 acres of grain. Seventy beef cows and dairy young stock brought the winter barn population to 160 head. Grain, cattle, gardens, orchards, bread, flour, cider, seed, and apprenticeships supported twelve family members through several complementary enterprises. Fertility is organized quantitatively. About 1,000 tons of compost each year cover 150–200 acres at five to seven tons per acre, so the 800-acre rotation receives compost every four to five years. Rye, oats, peas, tillage radish, buckwheat, and clovers provide green manure; grains are undersown with legumes for the following year’s hay, pasture, or fertility. The farm planted more than 20,000 hedgerow trees for wind protection, habitat, and microclimate. It saved most seed, replaced a flax lot after detecting 0.01% GMO contamination, and favored red and sweet clover that could be grown and selected on the farm. The spray program is equally clear. [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) was applied at least annually and [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) twice on most fields. Winter grain received two BD 500 sprays; grain undersown with clover received [BD 501 Horn Silica](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), and the clover received another after grain harvest. Fermented [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) was added to the hour-long 501 stirring. A 100-gallon machine allowed one batch to stir while another was sprayed; three batches could cover 150 acres in one evening. Preparation making had been engineered for steady annual work. The family buried approximately 1,200 manure-filled horns at [Michaelmas](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar) and lifted them in May, retaining half and sharing half with the Ontario group. A sausage press fitted with a long pipe packed manure to each horn tip. About thirty silica horns were buried in May and lifted around Michaelmas. Chamomile was packed through a short pipe-and-board tool; roughly twenty oak-bark skulls were placed ten apiece in two half-buried rain barrels beneath downspouts; and a four-foot-square, open-top-and-bottom cedar frame surrounded by peat held the nettle preparation. These adaptations preserve preparation quality while making large batches practical. The compost sequence is also repeatable. Barn manure and four to five round bales of daily straw bedding were collected weekly and treated with the compost preparations. About every four weeks, weather permitting, the pile moved to field-edge windrows and received the preparations again. In early June, the windrows were turned, treated a third time, sprayed with valerian, and covered thickly with straw for shade and summer moisture. Current growers can connect the account with JPI’s [BD 502–507 compost preparation set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set). In **“Response to ‘The Valerian Preparation (BD 507) Revisited,’”** Porter identifies four active methods: spray diluted valerian over a newly built pile; spray it and also pour it into a separate central hole; wait until transformation and then spray or pour it into the finished pile; or add a little to each solid-preparation hole while also spraying the exterior. Malcolm Gardner explains that Steiner used the German terms for dung and fertilizer interchangeably, while noting valerian’s distinctive character as a liquid, unburied, phosphorus-related preparation applied in a fine manner from the pile’s periphery. The practical next step is a paired comparison: use matched compost materials, vary the timing of BD 507, assess finished texture and consistency, and apply the composts to comparable plots. Record dates, crops, and root, water, air, or fire days; where resources allow, compare compost, soil after application, and plants through conventional analysis, chromatography, and sensitive crystallization. This turns variation in current practice into a productive field-research program. The remaining pieces extend the issue’s educational reach. Caren von Gontard reports on Enzo Nastati’s Colorado workshop; Pat Frazier records JPI and Biodynamic Association collaboration at EcoFarm, where about 1,800 people attended, the biodynamic preconference drew roughly 150, and several sessions reached standing-room capacity. Porter’s reviews of [_Thinking Like a Plant_](https://go.jpibd.org/RB9BXF) and Deb Soule’s _How to Move Like a Gardener_ reinforce living, participatory observation as a daily agricultural skill. ## Articles - The Hack Family Farm Organism — Abigail Porter interviews Ulrich Hack - Response to “The Valerian Preparation (BD 507) Revisited” — Abigail Porter - 2013 Enzo Nastati Workshop in Colorado — Caren von Gontard - JPI at EcoFarm Conference — Pat Frazier - Book Reviews: _Thinking Like a Plant_ and _How to Move Like a Gardener_ — Abigail Porter ## Key Topics Covered - Growth from a 532-acre corn farm to a 1,000-acre farm organism - Grain, pasture, woodland, river, cattle, gardens, and value-added products - Annual production and rotation of 1,000 tons of compost - Twenty thousand hedgerow trees for wind, habitat, and microclimate - Seed saving, local adaptation, and GMO screening - One-hundred-gallon stirring and 150-acre evening spray capacity - Annual burial of 1,200 BD 500 horns - Tool adaptations for horn, chamomile, oak-bark, and nettle preparations - Three-stage winter windrow treatment and moisture protection - Four current methods for applying BD 507 - Matched compost and plot comparisons with multiple analyses - Homeodynamic, EcoFarm, and participatory plant-observation education ## Related JPI resources - [Biodynamic calendar guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar) - [BD 507 Valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) and [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-507) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc), and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [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 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 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) and [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [Thinking Like a Plant](https://go.jpibd.org/RB9BXF) ## Citation _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue 084, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Spring 2014. [**Download Issue 084 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-084) **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 502-507, Compost, Farm Economics and Community --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-084-spring-2014)