# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 091 (Spring/Summer 2017) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 Issue 091 is rich in repeatable orchard and garden practice. It combines Threshold Farm’s forty-five-acre closed-fertility system, precise fruit-thinning and frost-protection methods, Skyline Farm’s long-running compost comparison, a complete spring–summer preparation sequence, and a coordinated two-day spray for World Biodynamic Farming Day. In **“Threshold Farm—Fundamental Biodynamics,”** Mike Biltonen interviews Hugh Williams and Hanna Bail at their mixed orchard, livestock, vegetable, and forest farm in Philmont, New York. The farm makes every preparation it uses except BD 508, draws compost from its own crossbred cattle, uses keyline design to increase water-holding capacity, retains all compost on the farm, and maintains a closed fertility cycle. Over twenty years, farm-wide organic matter rose from 1.9% to 4.7%. Williams and Bail connect preparation work with exact agronomic observation. They begin the season with [BD 500](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) when soil biology is active and soil is neither cold nor dry. They use potassium-feldspar [BD 501](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) to engage potassium within the clay-humus complex, use chickens to remove orchard-floor leaves carrying apple scab, and judge harvest by full fruit maturity. Their system joins preparation making, animals, bees, compost, water management, crop timing, and family life into one working farm organism. **“Fruit Thinning for Balance”** gives an orchard protocol with clear timing. A balanced crop may require removing about 90% of developing fruit within forty-five days of fruit set. Threshold Farm applies BD 501 most effectively at twenty days after full bloom; ten- and thirty-day applications can be added when the starting crop load calls for them. Shortly after the morning spray, excess fruit yellow, wither, and drop; hand-thinning completes the target load. The result is strong annual bearing, return bloom, and high-quality fruit rather than an exhausting biennial cycle. The interview also records Threshold Farm’s [BD 507](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) frost method. Stir one-half to one cup of valerian preparation in twelve gallons of approximately 100°F water for fifteen minutes with alternating vortices. Apply a fine mist through the upper nozzles of an air-blast sprayer on the evening before the expected frost. Williams reports a dependable four to five degrees of protection and says the practice saved the orchard crop about one year in two. **“Taking Cuttings for Grafting”** follows [Maria Thun’s research](https://go.jpibd.org/calendar-maria-thun): take scions during the [Moon’s ascending fourteen-day period](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar), choosing a root, leaf, flower, or fruit day according to the plant part to be strengthened, and graft during the same ascending period. Plant trees and bushes after leaf fall during the descending Moon of October and November. In **“History, Impact, and Fate of Skyline Organic Farm in Topanga Canyon,”** Karen Moneymaker interviews Stefan Hagopian. Hagopian’s first farm comparison planted six identical fruit trees in three pairs, each with 50% native basalt soil and 50% of a different amendment: certified organic compost, steer manure plus home compost, or Jack McAndrew’s biodynamic compost. Within eighteen months the biodynamic-compost trees were clearly stronger in vigor, productivity, flavor, color, and keeping quality; twenty-five years later, only that pair remained alive and healthy. The result guided the development of a nine-acre biodynamic farm within twenty-seven acres of native habitat. Abigail Porter’s **“Spring and Summer Use of the Biodynamic Preparations”** provides the seasonal sequence. Apply biodynamic compost, [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), or [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) first; prune and apply [tree paste](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-tree-paste) during the descending Moon before bud break; use BD 500 for seeding, transplanting, orchard floors, pasture regrowth, and soil activity; use valerian before frost; use fresh or fermented [BD 508](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) to balance watery conditions and strengthen plant structure; then apply BD 501 as a dawn mist after roots and true leaves are established, after fruit set, and near ripening. Porter also gives practical details for difficult germinators: spray BD 501 over a carrot or parsnip seedbed in the evening, or treat seed and hold it in a closed glass container in darkness for twenty-four hours before planting. Newly planted orchard trees receive BD 500, Barrel Compound, and Pfeiffer spray until roots are established; BD 501 begins around fruiting age, approximately two years. **“Transition, Hope, and Service to Community: Reflections Upon 2016 at JPI”** records JPI’s national reach and development. The accompanying leadership report notes almost 100,000 preparation units distributed to more than 2,500 practitioners across forty-eight states and ten US territories and Canadian provinces during the preceding three years, while planning advanced for JPI’s twenty-five-acre farm, preparation distribution, research, and regional networks. For **World Biodynamic Farming Day**, the issue recommends BD 500 on the evening of June 3 and BD 501 at sunrise June 4. To include all nine preparations in two sprays, add Barrel Compound during the last twenty minutes of the BD 500 stir, then add BD 508 during the last twenty minutes of the BD 501 stir the following morning. JPI’s [Sequential Spray Kit](https://go.jpibd.org/kit-sequential) supplies the four components. ## Articles - Threshold Farm—Fundamental Biodynamics — Mike Biltonen interviews Hugh Williams and Hanna Bail - Fruit Thinning for Balance - Taking Cuttings for Grafting - History, Impact, and Fate of Skyline Organic Farm in Topanga Canyon — Karen Moneymaker interviews Stefan Hagopian - Spring and Summer Use of the Biodynamic Preparations — Abigail Porter - Transition, Hope, and Service to Community: Reflections Upon 2016 at JPI — Patricia Frazier - Introducing a Beginner Pfeiffer Associative Contract for One Acre or Less - JPI Search for New Executive Leadership - JPI Board of Director News - Call for Board Members - Welcome to Our New Editors - World Biodynamic Farming Day ## Key Topics Covered - Forty-five-acre closed-fertility mixed farm and orchard - Farm-wide organic matter increase from 1.9% to 4.7% - On-farm preparation making, cattle compost, keyline, and closed nutrient cycles - BD 501 fruit thinning at twenty days after full bloom - Ninety-percent crop-load reduction within forty-five days of fruit set - Valerian frost spray delivering four to five degrees of protection - Ascending-Moon scion cutting and grafting timing - Six-tree controlled compost comparison with twenty-five-year follow-up - Complete spring–summer preparation application order - True-leaf, fruit-set, dawn, and ripening criteria for BD 501 - Seed treatment for carrots and parsnips - Two-spray World Biodynamic Farming Day sequence ## Related JPI Resources - [Biodynamic calendars](https://go.jpibd.org/calendars) · [calendar guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar) · [cosmic rhythms guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos) - [BD 500 Horn Manure](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-500) · [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) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-501) - [BD 507 Valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-507) - [BD 508 Horsetail](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-508) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-508) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [Pfeiffer Compost Starter](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-compost) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-compost) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-pfeiffer-compost) - [Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-pfeiffer-spray) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-pfeiffer-spray) - [Biodynamic Tree Paste](https://go.jpibd.org/product-tree-paste) · [protocol](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-tree-paste) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-tree-paste) - [Sequential Spray Kit](https://go.jpibd.org/kit-sequential) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-sequential) - [BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [Preparation guides and instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-preparations) ## Citation _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue 091, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Spring/Summer 2017. [**Download Issue 091 PDF**](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-091) **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, Compost, Orchards and Perennials, Research Methods, Soil Health --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-091-spring-summer-2017)