# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 094 (Fall–Winter 2018) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 Issue 094 treats seed saving as the completion of the crop cycle and a foundation for locally adapted agriculture. Through four experienced seed-growing perspectives, it connects sound population management, open-pollinated varieties, humus-rich soil, biodynamic preparations, and careful harvest timing with seed vigor, genetic breadth, and long-term farm independence. In **“Saving Seeds for Security and Vitality,”** Abigail Porter brings together Harald Hoven, Beth and Nathan Corymb, and Steven Adams. The article begins with a decisive practical point: the number of parent plants matters. Depending on crop and variety, a seed grower may need as few as 10 plants or more than 200 to maintain useful genetic diversity. A reliable first step is to choose open-pollinated, mostly self-pollinating crops—lettuce, tomatoes, beans, or peas—then reserve a protected corner or row end, label the parent population, and select from multiple vigorous, true-to-type plants. Harald Hoven’s Raphael Garden developed from nearly unproductive ground into a one-acre, year-round intensive garden supplying a 70-family CSA. Manure-based biodynamic compost, cover and green-manure crops, rotation, [BD 500](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), [BD 501](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501), [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc), and [BD 502–507](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) built the foundation; after seven years, Hoven observed a major increase in vitality. Five percent of the growing area was devoted to seed crops, and the garden eventually supplied half of its own seed. His breeding work includes Raphael’s Gold Zucchini, stabilized across 15 generations, and locally adapted lettuces selected across 19 to 20 years. For seed crops, Hoven uses less—but very mature—compost than for food crops, preventing excessive leafy growth and supporting timely ripening. Across California’s 12-month growing season, the land receives four to six BD 500 applications; individual crops receive one to four BD 501 sprays according to crop length. He waits at least four weeks after transplanting before the first BD 501, emphasizes BD 501 during seed formation and ripening, uses fermented [BD 508](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) frequently in the rainy winter, and harvests fully ripe seed before shattering. He favors [planting two days before the full moon](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar), transplants in the afternoon during the descending moon when possible, and uses [Moon–Saturn opposition](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos) as a strong seed-crop timing. Beth and Nathan Corymb’s Meadowlark Hearth applies a constellation-led system on 500 acres in western Nebraska. Root, leaf, flower, and fruit crops are sown, cultivated, and reinforced on their corresponding earth, water, air, and fire days. If planting cannot occur in the preferred window, the growers return to cultivate the soil at the matching time. For biennial seed crops, fire signs receive first priority where the crop must complete reproduction; ordinary crop classification guides the backup choice. In unusually wet seed-ripening weather, Meadowlark increased BD 501 as often as nine times, while [BD 505](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505) or [BD 507](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) could be added to a field spray for disease or frost support. Steven Adams describes an integrated monthly rhythm for the increasingly wet conditions of southwestern Wisconsin. His evening spray combines BD 500 and Barrel Compound with fermented BD 508 and BD 507; his early-morning BD 501 also includes BD 507. Adams applies the spray preparations at least monthly, observing that each growth stage calls for a fresh balancing influence. Locally saved seed adds another layer of adaptation as flood frequency and humidity change. In **“How I Came to Save Seeds and the Tools I Use,”** Marjory House describes practice in Oregon’s 48-inch-rainfall Willamette Valley. BD 508 supports balance during the wet spring; BD 501 is applied as seed formation begins, preferably around the full moon, and seed is commonly ready by the following full moon. House harvests fruit seed on fruit days and lettuce seed on leaf days, favors the waxing moon’s second quarter, uses the descending moon for transplanting perennials, and avoids leaf days for storage harvests. Her long-running Whipple bean line demonstrates how local selection and community seed exchange preserve a well-adapted variety. **“Increasing Tomato Seed Viability with Valerian (BD 507)”** records L.A. Rotheraine’s exact fermentation protocol. Begin when the Sun and Moon are in Leo and use ripe or overripe fruit. Cut each tomato from stem to blossom end and fill a glass jar about 80% with seed pockets; add about 15% clean, non-chlorinated water and two drops of BD 507; stir seven times in each direction. Ferment uncovered in a warm, dry, dark place for 1½ to 4 days, stirring twice daily. When a fine gray mold forms, pour off mold and floating seed, rinse repeatedly until the water is clear, and dry the sound seed on nylon screen in the sun for three to ten hours—often three to four hours on a sunny day—until thoroughly hard. Rotheraine reported more than 20 years of viability in his Selke tomato seed, supported by daily [Pfeiffer Field Spray](https://go.jpibd.org/product-pfeiffer-spray) during the first transplant week, weekly applications through the growing season, and frequent BD 507 and BD 501 late into the 90-day frost-free season. The issue also honors Peter Proctor’s worldwide preparation teaching; provides seed-saver organizations and reference books; records JPI news; and reviews A. A. Danzer’s _The Invisible Power Within Foods_, which uses pictorial crystallization to compare formative qualities in organic and nonorganic foods. ## Articles - Saving Seeds for Security and Vitality: Three Perspectives from Harald Hoven, Beth and Nathan Corymb, and Steven Adams — Abigail Porter - How I Came to Save Seeds and the Tools I Use — Marjory House - Understanding Moon Rhythms — Abigail Porter - Increasing Tomato Seed Viability with Valerian (BD 507): L.A. Rotheraine’s Approach - In Memory of Peter Proctor: August 28, 1928–June 8, 2018—One Man, One Cow, One Planet — Mary Maruca - Seed Savers Resources - What’s New at JPI? Look… — Pat Frazier - _The Invisible Power Within Foods: A Comparison of Organic and Nonorganic_, by A. A. Danzer — reviewed by Mary Maruca ## Key Topics Covered - Open-pollinated seed and locally adapted farm varieties - Parent-population size and genetic breadth - Four to six annual BD 500 applications in intensive seed production - BD 501 timing after establishment and through seed ripening - Moon-phase and constellation-led field calendars - Corrective cultivation when planting misses the preferred calendar window - BD 508 and repeated BD 501 in humid seed-ripening weather - Monthly combined field sprays in wet bioregions - Fruit, leaf, and storage-seed harvest timing - BD 507 tomato-seed fermentation and cleaning - Multi-decade selection of locally adapted seed lines - Pictorial crystallization and formative food-quality comparison ## Related JPI Resources - [Download Issue 094 PDF](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-094) - [Biodynamic calendars](https://go.jpibd.org/calendars) · [calendar guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-calendar) · [cosmic rhythms guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-cosmos) · [Stella Natura Planting Calendar](https://go.jpibd.org/calendar-stella) - [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 505 Oak Bark](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-505) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-505) - [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) - [BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [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) - [Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course](https://go.jpibd.org/book-agriculture-course) - [Preparation guides and instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-preparations) ## Citation _Applied Biodynamics_, Issue 094, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Fall/Winter 2018–2019. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 501, BD 502-507, Seeds and Propagation, Weather and Climate --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-094-fall-winter-2018)