Applied Biodynamics — Issue 005 (Fall 1993)

Issue 005 (Fall 1993) pairs a short Michaelmas reflection with an extensive interview about ten years of farm transition and Hugh Courtney's experience-based directions for making BD 500. The interview is valuable because it records equipment, timing, weather constraints, unresolved problems, and changes in practice; it remains one farmer's retrospective account rather than a controlled comparison.

Issue Overview

“The Season of Michaelmas” — Gisela Franceschelli. Franceschelli reads autumn's falling leaves, ripening seeds, and visible decline as a seasonal summons to strengthen human will. The piece presents Michaelmas as a time to meet increasing demands with conscious action rather than passivity.

“Interview with Steve Moore” — Nicholas Franceschelli; transcribed by Gisela Franceschelli. Moore describes a 60-acre lemon, avocado, and vegetable farm in Carpinteria, California, with roughly 35 cropped acres and about 30 under intensive management. Trained in agricultural engineering and environmental systems analysis, he returned to the family farm in 1981 and began moving away from chemical management in early 1983. The old lemon orchard had been managed for decades with herbicide, no tillage, and aerial urea; when first cultivated, Moore says its soil broke into concrete-like slabs.

Moore's transition began with Pfeiffer compost starter in horse-manure piles, followed by the compost preparations, BD 500, BD 501, Barrel Compost, and later fermented BD 508. He repeatedly says biodynamics must deepen sound farming rather than replace it. His reported benefits include better-structured soil, compost customers returned to buy, positive feedback on produce, and aphids that were rare and short-lived. He also reports persistent flea beetles, severe gopher damage, aging trees, and practical conflicts between farming schedules and ideals. These observations are not supported by control plots, and Moore acknowledges that several explanations remained intuitive or untested.

Moore's Spray Program

• Whole-farm rhythm: BD 500 and BD 501 were normally applied across the orchard and garden twice a year, in fall and spring, over two or three days.
• BD 500: Moore sought moist but not waterlogged soil, typically in February or October. He stirred in a 60-gallon, solar-warmed tank for one hour, then applied with a tractor-mounted single fan jet at roughly 12-15 psi, taking about one to one-and-a-half hours per batch.
• BD 501: He began around 5:00 a.m. and tried to finish by 8:00 a.m. A modified mist sprayer directed a fine plume about 20 feet upward so it settled over the crop. He reports application near three gallons per acre across most intensively managed ground.
• BD 508: During wet late winter and spring, fermented BD 508 was sprayed weekly on about two vegetable acres. Moore says onion fungus appeared later and progressed more slowly, but was not eliminated. He also states that no comparable area was left unsprayed.
• Barrel Compost and Prepared 500: Barrel Compost was used as cover-cropped beds returned to production. Prepared 500 was tried on bare ground, but Moore explicitly says it was too early for an observation.

Moore followed a planting calendar for sowing when weather and workload allowed, but could not align fixed harvest days or every cultivation with it. He suspected planetary rhythms might matter, yet said he had not kept the records needed to study the question. He also recounts rain after sequential spraying while laughing at the coincidence and describing himself as skeptical; the issue supplies no controlled weather analysis.

“Recipe for Making BD #500” — Hugh Courtney. Courtney warns that the basic formula—cow horns filled with manure, buried through winter in good soil, and opened in spring—is deceptively simple. He says one horn yields about two and one-half units on average. His preferred practice uses fresh manure from lactating cows receiving at least half their forage as hay, screens it through one-half-inch mesh, packs it tightly into fresh horns, and places the horns roughly 18 inches to 2.5 feet deep in soil that is neither too sandy nor too clayey.

Courtney distinguishes Rudolf Steiner's brief instructions from JPI's working preferences. JPI preferred burial before Advent or at least before the winter solstice and digging around Ascension Day, while acknowledging that each year differs. Courtney recommends a well-chosen, preparation-treated pit; aged biodynamic compost if the soil is poor; and an immediate layer of milled peat before replacing fertile soil. His claim that peat protects against radioactivity belongs to the author's historical biodynamic rationale and is not evidence established in the article. He encourages practitioners to compare other preparation makers' methods and learn by making the preparation themselves.

Other Archival Notes

The issue congratulates Evergreen Elm for 23 ribbons from 25 entries at the 1993 county fair, including 17 first places, and announces the 1994 Stella Natura calendar. It also explains JPI's associative-contract model and a Michaelmas fundraising commitment.

Why This Issue Matters

Issue 005 offers an unusually candid record of farm practice: the operator gives usable application details, names failures and tradeoffs, separates observations from areas he had not studied, and insists that preparations do not substitute for competent farming. Courtney's recipe is similarly useful when read as a record of JPI's 1993 experience and preferences—not as proof that every explanatory claim has been tested.

Articles

• The Season of Michaelmas — Gisela Franceschelli
• Interview with Steve Moore — Nicholas Franceschelli; transcribed by Gisela Franceschelli
• Recipe for Making BD #500 — Hugh Courtney

Key Topics Covered

• Michaelmas, autumn, and disciplined action
• Transition from chemical orchard management beginning in 1983
• Good farming as the foundation for biodynamic practice
• Reported soil, compost, produce, and aphid observations
• Persistent flea beetles, gophers, aging trees, and weather constraints
• BD 500 and BD 501 equipment, timing, pressure, and coverage
• Weekly fermented BD 508 use and the absence of a control area
• Practical limits of planting-calendar and sequential-spray claims
• Horn, manure, burial-site, packing, and timing choices for BD 500

Download Issue 005 PDF

Citation

Applied Bio-Dynamics, Issue 005, Fall 1993. Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Woolwine, Virginia.