Applied Biodynamics — Issue 083 (Winter 2013–2014)
Issue 083 follows Pat Frazier’s closed-loop, high-altitude farm practice; maps a regional preparation-center strategy; reports Enzo Nastati’s two five-day Homeodynamic seminars; and records JPI’s first six months in Floyd.
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Applied Biodynamics No. 83 is a record of farm-organism development, preparation regionalization, and institutional succession. Hunter Francis’s lead interview with Pat Frazier moves from the daily scale of one high-altitude homestead to a national plan for preparation access; the companion reports document JPI’s first six months in Floyd and Enzo Nastati’s first North American Homeodynamic seminars.
In “Mile High Biodynamics and New Horizons with Pat Frazier,” Frazier describes Peace and Plenty Farm at 6,800 feet on Colorado’s Western Slope. Of thirty acres, eight are cleared: two are intensively cultivated for fruits and vegetables and six carry cows, goats, and chickens. Woodland, streams, orchard guilds, perennials, medicinal plants, herbs, and row crops complete the organism. More than half the household’s food and all farm fertility were being produced on site. Adding one milk cow grounded the system through daily care, manure for BD 500 Horn Manure, and a closed fertility cycle.
Frazier’s preparation practice responds confidently to the region’s high, dry, light-filled conditions. A silted streambed supplied the sandy burial site she sought for BD 501 Horn Silica. She sprayed 501 frequently to strengthen the plants’ light-carrying capacity, grew and sprayed BD 508 Horsetail as a complementary silica-bearing plant preparation, and made abundant BD 500 to bring the balancing earthy, deepening gesture. Within the same valley, altitude varied by 1,000–2,000 feet, suggesting a practical comparison between high, sandy locations for silica work and lower, mature bottomland for earth-oriented preparations such as nettle and horn manure.
The farm’s community work provides a repeatable educational model. Roughly forty people gathered for preparation making and seasonal festivals, winter classes ran weekly for six to eight weeks, and the 2012 Fellowship conference drew more than one hundred participants and nine leading speakers. Three nearby farms had achieved Demeter certification, and about half of inquiries came from commercial growers. Practice, teaching, and seasonal making reinforced one another.
Frazier explains that the Fellowship of Preparation Makers began as “The Future of Preparation Makers” when Hugh Courtney announced his wish to retire. Its education, research, and conference committees reported to a coordinating Sub Group 2 representing about ten regions. The regionalization plan preserves complementary strengths: local groups develop preparations attuned to place, while JPI maintains national-scale supply, material access, education, distribution, and the proprietary Pfeiffer formulas. Farmer-to-farmer comparison and deep training provide the shared quality culture needed for regional growth.
JPI’s new twenty-five-acre farm was being designed specifically for preparation work, including on-site preparation plants and dedicated Pfeiffer infrastructure. In “JPI Update,” Abigail Porter records the planting of valerian and nettles, winter improvements to the barn, new burial work, website development, a growing workshop schedule, and a lease with an option to purchase. These steps supported uninterrupted supply while preparing a permanent educational and production home beside biodynamic neighbors. JPI continues to provide Pfeiffer Compost Starter and Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray for both new practitioners and larger operations.
In “Enzo Nastati Comes to North America,” Pat Frazier reports on two five-day seminars introducing the Homeodynamic Method, an extension of Steiner’s biodynamic indications adapted to individual farms and present-day conditions. Thirty participants met in Paonia, Colorado, and twenty-five met at Foxhollow Farm in Kentucky. Day sessions addressed degraded water, drought, humus building in alkaline soils, preparation making, compost quality, water vitality, and seed germination; evening work developed the spiritual foundations. A potentization exercise using previously made preparations was then carried into autumn preparation work in Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Together, these articles give a coherent growth strategy: close fertility loops on the farm, select preparation sites in relationship with local soil and climate, compare materials across nearby elevations, teach through seasonal community work, and connect regional making with a dependable national center for education, products, and distribution.
Articles
- Mile High Biodynamics and New Horizons with Pat Frazier — Hunter Francis interviews Pat Frazier
- Enzo Nastati Comes to North America — Pat Frazier
- JPI Update — Abigail Porter
Key Topics Covered
- Thirty-acre farm organism at 6,800 feet
- Two acres of crops, six acres of pasture, and integrated woodland
- On-farm food, manure, herbs, and fertility cycles
- Dairy cow as the grounding center of farm fertility
- Sandy streambed burial site for BD 501
- Balancing BD 501 and BD 508 with BD 500
- Preparation comparisons across 1,000–2,000 feet of elevation
- Seasonal classes, festivals, and community preparation making
- Four-committee Fellowship structure and ten-region representation
- Regional preparation centers and national distribution continuity
- Twenty-five-acre JPI production farm and Pfeiffer infrastructure
- Two five-day Homeodynamic seminars and regional potentization work
Citation
Applied Biodynamics, Issue 083, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Winter 2013–2014.
