Applied Biodynamics — Issue 013 (Fall 1995)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 013 (Fall 1995) combines a long interview with Missouri farmer Richard Okorn, Chris Stearn’s case for garden records, Dennis Klocek’s labor-intensive clay treatment, and the surviving continuation of a nutrition article on fats and oils.

Richard Okorn’s farm practice

Nicholas Franceschelli interviews Okorn, who had farmed near Napoleon, Missouri since 1960. The introduction describes roughly ninety acres of erosive loess soil, with about fifty acres used for agriculture, and an unusually broad workload: crops, dairy, milling, processing, preparation-making, equipment, and delivery.

Okorn explains that he moved from ecological agriculture and entomology toward biodynamics through Rosina Arndt, old Biodynamics issues, Steiner’s agriculture lectures, and anthroposophy. He says he questioned the Pfeiffer Compost Starter before deciding to make the preparations himself.

For field work, Okorn reports spraying BD 500 horn manure on cultivated soil before planting, sometimes from a knapsack while a tractor-mounted disk follows. He applies BD 501 horn silica to plants and inserts the BD 502–507 compost preparations into compost, repeating them if a pile sits a long time. He describes gradually producing his own horns, herbs, and animal sheath materials.

The farm account includes open-pollinated corn, soybeans, wheat, red clover, hay, seed cleaning, compost spreading, and periodic rest in volunteer vegetation. Sweet clover is described as a deep-rooted soil builder whose effect remained visible for years. Okorn says saved wheat baked well and once tested at 17.1% protein, but no laboratory report or comparative field data are printed. These observations offer clear variables for farm records: rotation, seed source, compost use, soil condition, protein testing, yield, and baking quality.

Observation and record-keeping

In “What Row Was It In????” Chris Stearn argues that memory reshapes the story of a season and that a garden journal is the minimum tool for cumulative learning. Suggested records include variety, planting date, seed source, disease and insect response, preparation applications, rainfall, weather, sketches, and even brief impressions.

Stearn says records sharpen observation, preserve context across years, support variety choices, and help reveal recurring patterns. He also summarizes secondary claims about fertility, sperm quality, and a rabbit-feeding comparison. Those reports are not reproduced with full methods or primary data here and should not be treated as established by this newsletter.

“The Heart of Clay” is a case report, not a trial