Applied Biodynamics — Issue 007 (Spring 1994)

Issue 007 (Spring 1994) is a practical reference issue: Hugh Courtney compiles seed-soak instructions and a crop table, surveys eleven growers' spring routines, publishes two explicitly anecdotal treatment observations, and presents the Evergreen Elm Selke cherry-tomato hill method. A short public handout explains biodynamics, while the editor and board report on JPI's institutional plans.

Issue Overview

“Seed Soaks with the Biodynamic Preparations” — Hugh Courtney. Courtney presents seed baths as a way to help purchased seed enter a biodynamic system and reports higher germination and fruit set as commonly observed benefits. He also states an important source limitation: the English-language material he used was secondary, while original European research had not yet been translated. The issue supplies recommendations, not the underlying datasets.

General Seed-Soak Method

• BD 500 is stirred for the usual one hour; BD 507 for 10-20 minutes, depending on the source followed.
• For a small quantity of seed, one unit of a compost preparation may be placed in one or two pints of water, stirred vigorously for up to five minutes, left for 20-24 hours, and stirred briefly again before use.
• Most seed is soaked for 10-15 minutes. Hard-coated seed may take longer, but peas and beans can lose their seed coats and germination if left too long.
• Drain or lift out the seed, dry it on absorbent material, and plant within 24-48 hours if possible.

The crop table records many specific pairings and many question marks. Courtney's quick rule maps legumes and brassicas mainly to BD 503, lettuce crops to BD 505, and most fruit crops other than legumes to BD 507. It also lists exceptions, combined preparations, and a Barrel-Compost/water/whole-milk soak for beets. The table is a 1994 working reference, not a validated universal prescription.

“Spring in the Biodynamic Garden” — Hugh Courtney. Recorded conversations with eleven growers—from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Utah, and California—show considerable variation. Growers used BD 500, Barrel Compost, BD 507, and BD 508 at different frequencies and for different site problems. Time, money, rainfall, season length, soil, greenhouse schedules, and fixed harvest days often limited implementation.

The survey preserves useful methods: mowing hairy-vetch cover crop and transplanting tomatoes directly into the residue; applying BD 508 at first visible growth on a wet site; diluted chamomile tea mist for damping-off; sequential spraying on a multi-day schedule; grass paths sized to tractor traffic; compost before cover crops; and valerian sprays when severe frost was expected. It is a methods inventory based on interviews, not a comparison with common measurements or controls.

“Biodynamic Agriculture” — James Marquardt. This public-facing handout gives a brief history from Rudolf Steiner's 1924 agriculture lectures, describes compost and field preparations, and contrasts a nutrient-substance model with the anthroposophical idea of formative forces. It is an advocacy and orientation text, not a protocol or scientific review.

“Practical Observations” — Hugh Courtney. Courtney explicitly calls these reports “interesting anecdotes” and says they should not be treated as conclusions. In the first, tomato plants were watered with a 20-minute mixture of Barrel Compost, BD 500X, and BD 507; when BD 507 ran short, a second batch omitted it. The next morning, flea beetles on the BD 507 group were dead while beetles on the other group were sluggish but alive. Both groups improved over the following days, and Courtney notes that the treatment may have coincided with the insects' natural cycle.

The second report follows a Selke cherry tomato that had lost leaves after repeated BD 501 and BD 507 use. A mixture of one unit each of BD 504 and BD 505 in six gallons of water was stirred for 20 minutes and applied twice at roughly one quart per plant. Courtney reports new leaf growth and, later, less frost damage in treated plants than nearby untreated plants. The comparisons were improvised, treatments and contexts were not standardized, and the article again refuses an absolute conclusion while requesting replications.

“The Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato and Evergreen Elm Recipe for Planting Using B.D. Compost Starter” — L. A. Rotheraine. The tomato-hill method begins with an 18-inch-deep, 20-36-inch-wide hole in full sun and builds a mound two to three feet above ground, at least 20 inches high after settling and at least 12 inches wide at the top. Layers alternate organic refuse with soil, or mix roughly 60-70 percent refuse/manure with 30-40 percent finished compost or soil.

One teaspoon of Pfeiffer Biodynamic Compost Starter is moistened to a coffee-ground consistency and left 12-24 hours in a warm, dark, dry place. The activated starter is mixed into four to five gallons of unchlorinated water and stirred through about seven vortex reversals for one to two minutes. Roughly a dozen holes are made at varied depths, the hill receives three to five gallons of tonic, and one-half to three-quarters of the tomato stem is buried. The plant receives about one-quarter gallon at the roots, is mulched, and is kept consistently moist without wetting the leaves or removing suckers. Reported 12-foot plants and yields above 2,500 tomatoes are historical claims from this intensive, high-organic-matter system, not controlled comparisons.

Editorial and Institutional Notes

The front-page verse and editor's letter introduce the gnomes, undines, sylphs, and fire spirits of anthroposophical elemental teaching and link them to root, leaf, flower, and fruit processes. JPI's annual-board report lists land-ownership restructuring, an assistant director, nonprofit status, computerized accounting, new Pfeiffer products, an architect, and a future building for preparation production, education, workshops, and research.

Why This Issue Matters

Issue 007 is valuable as a 1994 working manual and field archive. It records exact times, volumes, dimensions, crop pairings, and practical constraints, while repeatedly admitting when evidence is secondary, a treatment was improvised, or a conclusion would be premature. Readers can reproduce the procedures, but the reported outcomes should be treated as prompts for testing rather than established effects.

Contents

• Seed Soaks with the Biodynamic Preparations — Hugh Courtney
• Seed Soaks with Biodynamic Preparations crop table
• Spring in the Biodynamic Garden — Hugh Courtney
• Biodynamic Agriculture — James Marquardt
• Practical Observations — Hugh Courtney
• The Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato and Evergreen Elm Recipe — L. A. Rotheraine
• Letter from the Editor and Annual JPI Board Meeting

Key Topics Covered

• Seed-soak stirring, standing, soaking, drying, and planting windows
• Crop-to-preparation pairings, exceptions, and unknowns
• Eleven growers' spring methods and operational constraints
• Cover crops, compost, damping-off, frost, and fungal-pressure practices
• An accidental BD 507 side-by-side observation
• BD 504/505 leaf-regrowth and frost anecdotes
• Selke tomato-hill dimensions, material ratios, tonic, and watering
• JPI's 1994 organizational and building plans

Download Issue 007 PDF

Citation

Applied Bio-Dynamics, Issue 007, Spring 1994. Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Woolwine, Virginia.