# Applied Biodynamics — Issue 095 (Spring/Summer 2019) **By JPI Admin** · 2025-12-31 Issue 095 is a practical guide to biodynamic transition under changing weather. It combines a candid perennial-orchard case study with precise preparation recipes, regional farm observations, biodiversity strategies, and JPI’s whole-farm design work. Its recurring method is strong: establish a baseline, apply preparations in a clear sequence, observe biological response, and revise the farm plan over multiple seasons. In **“Rose Hill’s Transition from Conventional to Biodynamic Orchards,”** Mike Biltonen follows a nearly 100-acre Hudson Valley fruit farm through its first intensive transition year. The orchard’s early vigor was followed by heavy summer rain, heat, cedar apple rust, brown rot, Marssonina leaf blotch, fruit rots, plum curculio, codling moth, apple maggot, and premature defoliation. The experience sharpened a five-part transition assessment: understand the regional pest complex; evaluate the whole orchard ecosystem; document tree, rootstock, root, fruit, and soil health; review the former fertilizer and pest-management program; and assess the farm’s overall vitality. The Rose Hill framework is measurable. Use basic and comprehensive soil tests on a repeating schedule to track pH, organic matter, cation-exchange capacity, cation balance, macro- and micronutrients, soil structure, biology, and pathogen pressure. Map host plants and inoculum sources; remove fruit mummies and diseased debris; record variety and rootstock susceptibility; inventory pollinators, birds, beneficial insects, water flow, hedgerows, ponds, and wild areas; and photograph fixed trees and blocks. This gives [BD 500](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-500), compost, biodiversity plantings, sequential sprays, and nutrition work a reliable baseline. **“Biodynamic Tools for Weather Extremes”** supplies exact field methods. For excessive moisture, the sequential spray ends with the silica side: [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) in the afternoon, [BD 508](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-508) the following morning, BD 500 that afternoon, and [BD 501](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-501) the next morning. For drought, exchange the positions of BD 508 and BD 501 so the final spray is BD 508. An optional nourishment pair follows the same polarity: one pint milk in 3.5 gallons water in the afternoon, then one ounce honey in 3.5 gallons water the following morning, each stirred and applied in the normal biodynamic way. The issue gives two BD 508 recipes. For fresh tea, simmer one unit—one cup or 1.5 ounces dry chopped horsetail—in one gallon of rain or spring water for 20 minutes; cool, strain, and spray straight or diluted at sunrise or in the evening. For a stored ferment, simmer one cup dry horsetail in one gallon for one hour, cool it in glass or glazed clay, cover loosely, and keep it cool, dark, and away from electrical fields for 10–14 days until the characteristic sulfurous aroma develops. Strain, store cool and dark, dilute one part ferment to nine parts water, stir for 20 minutes, and spray the soil in the evening; one unit treats up to three acres. Tree care is organized as a two-stage annual rhythm: apply [Tree Paste](https://go.jpibd.org/product-tree-paste) after leaf fall to protect bark through winter and help moderate premature warming, then apply it again with late-winter pruning to cover wounds and help delay early bud activity. During the growing season, full-strength concentrate—optionally combined with fermented BD 508—can be brushed onto cleaned borer or bark damage. A sprayable dilution can cover trunks, scaffold limbs, and canopy, while Tree Paste remains useful after hail, rodent, or deer injury. For frost response, spray [BD 507](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) in the evening before a predicted frost and repeat the following morning after a severe event. The issue also records a d10 BD 507 seed bath used for winter greenhouse greens at 7,000 feet in Taos, where the grower reported a 50–100% yield increase, and orchard reports in western Colorado where well-timed BD 507 protected substantial portions of fruit crops through late spring frost. The repeatable record is straightforward: bud or crop stage, forecast and actual minimum, spray time, treated and reference blocks, visible damage, recovery, fruit set, and yield. **“A Biodynamic Farm’s Response to Climate Change”** emphasizes diversity and the self-contained farm organism. Stefan Hagopian’s mulberries extended market harvest, attracted birds away from other crops, produced with modest irrigation, and supplied summer fodder after green pruning. Regional survey responses add useful operating details: Winter Green Farm applies all preparations multiple times yearly across 171 acres; Singing Creek Farm uses two preparation sets in compost—one at building and another after the first turn—mixes Barrel Compound with BD 500 each spring, and adjusts BD 501 and BD 508 to heat and wetness; Avena Botanicals brings 20 years of BD 500, BD 501, [compost-preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set), and [Three Kings](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8) practice to 2½ acres of medicinal herbs. **“Permadynamics: JPI’s Marriage of Permaculture and Biodynamics”** applies these lessons to JPI’s Floyd farm. The design integrates preparation production, research, education, and demonstrations with water catchment, swales, keyline work, composting, green building, edge habitat, diverse tree and meadow communities, animals, birds, insects, and a protected wild area. The issue closes by honoring Pierre Masson, reviewing Janisse Ray’s _The Seed Underground_, and presenting L. A. Rotheraine’s reflection **“Humans and Seeds.”** ## Articles - Rose Hill’s Transition from Conventional to Biodynamic Orchards: A Work in Progress — Mike Biltonen - Biodynamic Tools for Weather Extremes — Abigail Porter - A Biodynamic Farm’s Response to Climate Change — Stefan Hagopian - Climate Change on Biodynamic Farms: Survey Responses - Permadynamics: JPI’s Marriage of Permaculture and Biodynamics — Pat Frazier - Honoring Pierre Masson - _The Seed Underground_ — book review by Mary Maruca - Humans and Seeds — L. A. Rotheraine ## Key Topics Covered - Five-part baseline for perennial-orchard transition - Tree, rootstock, pest, inoculum, soil, and biodiversity mapping - Soil organic matter, CEC, cation balance, and biological testing - Wet-weather and drought sequential-spray orders - Fresh and fermented BD 508 recipes - Two-stage annual Tree Paste care - BD 507 frost response and d10 seed-bath observations - Milk-and-honey nourishment sprays - Farm diversity as production, habitat, fodder, and market resilience - Regional preparation schedules and climate records - Permaculture water and habitat design joined with biodynamic rhythms - Seed sovereignty and preparation-maker legacy ## Related JPI Resources - [Download Issue 095 PDF](https://go.jpibd.org/ab-095) - [Sequential Spray Kit for Weather Extremes](https://go.jpibd.org/kit-sequential) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-sequential) - [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) - [BD 507 Valerian](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-507) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bd-507) - [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) - [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) - [Barrel Compound](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bc) · [guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-bc) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bc) - [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) - [BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set](https://go.jpibd.org/product-bd-502-507-set) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-bd-502-507) - [Three Kings Preparation](https://go.jpibd.org/product-erbe-8) · [ritual guide](https://go.jpibd.org/guide-erbe-8) · [instructions](https://go.jpibd.org/instructions-erbe-8) - [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 095, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Spring/Summer 2019. **Tags:** Applied Biodynamics Archive, BD 502-507, BD 508, Orchards and Perennials, Weather and Climate --- > Source: [The Josephine Porter Institute](https://www.jpibiodynamics.org/blogs/applied-biodynamics/applied-biodynamics-issue-095-spring-summer-2019)