Applied Biodynamics — Issue No. 105 (Autumn 2022)

Download Issue 105 PDF

Issue 105 follows the farm organism from practical autumn work to the disciplined perception that guides it. It pairs a fall report from JPI with Aspen Moon Farm’s account of scaling a biodynamic vegetable operation, a season-by-season field protocol, and a study of how the farmer develops the farm as a living sense-organ.

Mike Biltonen’s “News From the Farm—A Fall Update” records JPI’s expanding capacity: fencing nearly eight acres for permanent cattle integration, renewing in-person workshops, and strengthening the team that makes, tests, packs, and teaches the preparations. The cattle complete a practical fertility cycle by grazing plant residues, returning manure to the land, and supplying material for compost and preparation work.

Erin Dreistadt’s “Aspen Moon Farm: Hope, Passion, and a Bit of Crazy” shows biodynamics at market-garden scale. From a first half-acre and a good market day of $300, Aspen Moon grew to care for 99 acres while cultivating about 25 acres annually. Whole blocks rest in cover crops for one or two years; the balance supports grazing, buffers, insectary strips, riparian habitat, roads, housing, packing, and sales. The farm uses BD 500, BD 501, Barrel Compound, fermented nettle and comfrey teas, all six compost preparations, and livestock as coordinated parts of one farm organism.

Stewart Lundy’s “Fall Practices for a Biodynamic Garden” gives an actionable autumn sequence: finely chop crop residues, cultivate lightly to half-incorporate them, spray Barrel Compound, apply BD 500 to cover crops in the evening and just before cultivation, graze suitable residues, and prepare compost for spring. Imported compost can be brought in during fall, inoculated with the six compost preparations, and aged through winter. The article also reports Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s comparison in which BD 500-treated legumes formed more and larger nodules and fixed more nitrogen than untreated cover crops.

In “Growing the Sense-Organ of the Farm: Thoughts from The Philosophy of Freedom,” Lundy presents observation as a cultivated agricultural capacity. A young farm first receives structure; a mature farm increasingly expresses its own individuality. Repeated observation across seasons—winter as a time of thought, summer as differentiated feeling—helps the farmer recognize patterns, form sound concepts, and particularize biodynamic principles for the place.

Articles

• News From the Farm—A Fall Update — Mike Biltonen
• Aspen Moon Farm: Hope, Passion, and a Bit of Crazy — Erin Dreistadt
• Fall Practices for a Biodynamic Garden — Stewart Lundy
• Growing the Sense-Organ of the Farm: Thoughts from The Philosophy of Freedom — Stewart Lundy

Key Topics Covered

• Eight-acre fencing project and permanent cattle integration at JPI
• Farm fertility cycles connecting grazing, manure, compost, and preparations
• Aspen Moon Farm’s growth from one-half acre to 99 acres in care
• Annual cultivation of about 25 acres within long cover-crop rotations
• Insectary strips, riparian habitat, buffers, livestock, and farm infrastructure
• Coordinated use of BD 500, BD 501, Barrel Compound, compost preparations, and plant teas
• Autumn chopping and partial incorporation of crop residues
• Evening BD 500 application immediately before soil cultivation
• Fall preparation and winter aging of imported compost
• Matched cover-crop comparisons using legume nodulation and nitrogen fixation
• Seasonal observation as a repeatable farm-management discipline
• The farm organism’s development toward a distinct individuality

Repeatable Practice

1. Map the fields, grazing areas, habitats, infrastructure, and current rotations before autumn work begins.
2. Chop residues, half-incorporate them, and record the field, date, soil condition, and treatment.
3. Apply Barrel Compound and evening BD 500 in matched areas, keeping an untreated comparison strip where practical.
4. At the next crop stage, compare emergence, biomass, root development, legume nodule number and size, soil tilth, and moisture.
5. Repeat photographs and observations from the same locations through winter and summer, then use the record to refine the next rotation.

Explore the Preparations

• BD 500 Horn Manure, BD 500 guide, and application instructions
• BD 501 Horn Silica, BD 501 guide, and application instructions
• Barrel Compound, Barrel Compound guide, and application instructions
• BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set and compost-preparation instructions
• Pfeiffer Compost Starter, overview, and application instructions
• How Biodynamic Planting Calendars Work and the Stella Natura Planting Calendar
• Making and Using Biodynamic Preparations
• Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course

Citation

Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 105, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Autumn 2022.