Applied Biodynamics — Issue 057 (Summer 2007)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 057 (Summer 2007) documents an Oregon family farm moving toward food self-reliance, Maria Mihok's woodland-healing observations, and coordinated St Johns Day and Michaelmas preparation work across farms and regions.

Download Issue 057 PDF

Feeding a family the biodynamic way

Leonard Ablieter began with eight acres in Oregon, a 9,000-square-foot garden, neglected pasture, an orchard, limited equipment, and a desire to feed his family from the land. His account follows the work through three seasons and connects biodynamic practice with vivid harvest, flavor, and storage results.

In the first season he built straw-bale compost bins, broadcast red clover and vetch, planted part of the garden, sowed buckwheat on the remainder, and began using Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray. A deer fence protected the work.

By the second season, cows, hens, a goat, neighboring horse manure, a tunnel greenhouse, fruit-tree pruning, and local biodynamic guidance had begun turning the property into a more complete farm organism. Buckwheat that had reached knee height in 2004 grew shoulder high in 2005, and earthworms became abundant. Ablieter used Pfeiffer Compost Starter in the livestock area, composted the accumulated manure and spoiled hay, incorporated the compost preparations and BD 500, followed the sowing calendar, and saved seed.

No-till compost beds and abundant harvests

By year three, enough compost was available to cover full beds. Ablieter shifted to a no-till system: compost over the existing vegetation, soaker hoses, woven weed barrier, planting holes at measured intervals, and broadfork aeration without turning the soil. This practical system let one person manage high production.

• Walla Walla onions, leeks, and beets grew successfully in clusters through measured openings.
• Head lettuces were large and flavorful, and cabbages formed solid heads weighing five to seven-and-a-half pounds.
• Broccoli supplied the family from late May through October, corn reached eight feet, and Scarlet Runner beans supplied both green and dry beans.
• Ever-bearing strawberries produced large, flavorful fruit from May 15 until frost.
• Only about 10 to 20 percent of the bumper apple crop showed worms, and the family made about 100 gallons of cider.
• Red cabbage remained crisp inside through April, yellow apples kept until late March, and Newton Pippins remained in good condition into May.
• In 2007, production repeated strongly and in places exceeded the previous season.

Ablieter credits biodynamic growing with the garden's exceptional flavor and keeping quality. Apart from flour, salt, oil, vinegar, and other basic staples, the farm supplied nearly everything the family ate.

Healing a wounded woodland

Maria Mihok moved onto thirteen acres in New York where heavy logging had left deep ruts, damaged trees, blocked passages, abandoned timber, and a wounded atmosphere. She began by clearing selected obstructions, listening carefully to each place, and restoring respectful relationship with the land.

After learning about biodynamics through JPI, Mihok applied Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray over about six acres, treating selected areas twice. She experienced the most damaged places becoming peaceful, light, and welcoming after spraying and felt the influence extend beyond the exact spray boundary.

She also installed Tree Harmonizers around focal trees. One week after treating a maple that had been almost completely defoliated by tent caterpillars, she reported that the caterpillars had disappeared from the maple and from surrounding trees. She presents the preparation work as a practical way to help the land return to harmony and balance.

From Three Kings to an Earth-wide spray impulse

Jennifer Greene traces the worldwide initiative to a 1999 experience with Three Kings Preparation. Applied on January 5 and again on Three Kings Day, it brought a marked atmospheric change from rigid and closed to supple, responsive, and open. That experience helped inspire simultaneous preparation work across many regions.

The initiative joins exact local practice with shared human intention. Each farm responds to its climate, soil, season, and etheric conditions, while the participating community holds a common purpose: nourish elemental life, strengthen harmonious weather rhythms, and serve the Earth through coordinated work.

The 2007 Michaelmas sequence

The issue gives a historical Michaelmas sequence for properties where all nine foundational preparations had already been used:

• Michaelmas eve: stir Barrel Compound for 20 minutes and spray.
• Michaelmas morning: stir BD 504 Stinging Nettle with the Michaelmas Preparation for one hour and spray.
• Michaelmas evening: stir BD 500 Horn Manure for one hour and spray.
• The following morning: rest after the three principal sprays, or add fermented BD 508 Horsetail, Hugo Erbe No. 9 Harmonizing Preparation, or another preparation called for by the place.

The St Johns Day worldwide spray

The shared 2007 St Johns rhythm began Friday evening with BD 500 stirred for 60 minutes, continued Saturday afternoon with Barrel Compound stirred for 20 minutes, and culminated at dawn Sunday with BD 501 Horn Silica stirred for 60 minutes. Fermented BD 508, stirred for about 10 minutes, could follow on Monday.

Nancy and Gordon Poer put the initiative into large-scale practice at White Feather Ranch in California. Nineteen people participated. The group stirred more than 150 gallons, sprayed 45 gallons each of BD 500 and Barrel Compound across the ranch, and shared 60 gallons with neighboring farmers. With granite-derived soil rich in silica, they used Equisetum on St Johns Day and described the shared work as a strong experience of community, gratitude, and service to the Earth.

Hugh Courtney notes that JPI normally places Barrel Compound before BD 500 and considers BD 508 especially important in the Western Hemisphere. For the worldwide event, he supported the announced order so participating sites could work in one resonant sequence.

Key topics covered

• Three years of an eight-acre Oregon family farm developing through compost, cover crops, livestock, no-till beds, seed saving, storage, and preparation use.
• Specific harvest, flavor, pest, and keeping-quality results that supported household food self-reliance.
• Woodland healing through physical clearing, attentive relationship, Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray, and Tree Harmonizers.
• Three Kings, Michaelmas, and St Johns Day preparation initiatives.
• Large-volume communal preparation work at White Feather Ranch.
• Shared intention, local judgment, practical application, and worldwide biodynamic community.

Explore related resources

• Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray, guide, and instructions
• Pfeiffer Compost Starter and instructions
• Three Kings Preparation and instructions
• Barrel Compound and instructions
• BD 500 Horn Manure and instructions
• BD 501 Horn Silica and instructions
• BD 504 Stinging Nettle, BD 508 Horsetail, and BD 508 instructions
• Hugo Erbe No. 9 Harmonizing Preparation and instructions

Articles

• Feeding a Family the Biodynamic Way by Leonard Ablieter
• Healing a Wounded Woodland by Maria Mihok
• New Sequential Spray Initiative for Michaelmas by Jennifer Greene
• Worldwide Communal Biodynamic Spray Initiated by Christy Korrow
• Participating in the St Johns Day Worldwide Spray Initiative by Nancy and Gordon Poer

Citation

Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 57, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Summer 2007.