Making Biodynamic Barrel Compound Together

A good workshop often begins with a good question. In this case, we asked, “How can we make a Biodynamic Barrel Compound pit on yet another site?” In conjunction with the Chesapeake Biodynamic Network (CBDN) and Michael Judge (JPI board member), and promoted by the Josephine Porter Institute, Patrick Dodson and Jenny Ewren facilitated a practical, hands-on workshop on making Barrel Compound on August 23, 2026, at Warring Family Farm in Woodbine, Maryland.

By every account, the workshop was a success. Twenty-three people arrived with experience, curiosity, and questions about biodynamics, nutrition, herbalism, insects, soil health, and fertility. The Warrings welcomed everyone with warmth and generosity, creating a hospitable setting where new and familiar faces could learn side by side. Their invitation and outreach also brought new people into the circle, widening the community around biodynamic practice.

The gathering was well attended, well prepared, full, and very welcoming. People especially valued the observation exercises, clear handout, participant questions, thoughtful timing, and hands-on preparation work. In a follow-up email, the Warrings shared photographs and described the gathering as a great workshop. Their invitation to return for future workshops made clear that the day opened a new door and is the beginning of a relationship we hope to cultivate long into the future.

Learning through observation and action

The day balanced explanation, careful observation, and direct participation. The group first examined Barrel Compound at different stages of completion, developing a shared sense of how the material changes over time. Participants then turned to the new pit: a circular structure built from 81 bricks, nine layers of nine bricks each. In dry areas, such a pit can be sunk the full nine bricks deep (as in Mexico); in wetter areas, it should be only half-buried (as in Virginia)—about four and a half bricks deep—to reduce the risk of waterlogging. Coarse pea gravel is suitable for lining the base for good drainage.

We began with 25 gallons of fresh cow manure. To it, the group added 1000g of basalt—“new earth” created by volcanoes—along with 200g finely ground eggshells, the addition of some nettles soaked in water (to make a "fortified" BC incorporating some of the benefits of Goldstein's Nettle Compound Preparation NCP into BC), and a handful of mature Barrel Compound. The mature compound acts much like a sourdough starter, bringing an already transformed substance into a new batch, making sure that the past is always included in what we nurture for the future.

Working together and taking turns, participants used flat shovels to chop, spread, gather, and turn the manure. Every five minutes, the direction changed, alternating clockwise and counterclockwise for a full hour. It was demanding work, but sharing the labor turned the task into a common rhythm.

After mixing, half the material was placed into the pit and tamped smooth. A complete set of biodynamic compost preparations—yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, and dandelion—were added in five openings. At the same time, valerian preparation was stirred into two gallons of water for 20 minutes, repeatedly forming a deep vortex and then reversing direction. The valerian water and remaining mixture were added in stages before a second set of preparations completed the process.

The pit was finished to allow airflow under its lid, and a perforated copper pipe was inserted, reaching to the bottom (an addition from Stewart Lundy's approach to making BC). Once covered and protected, the new Barrel Compound is left to continue its transformation. A summer pit generally takes at least two months to mature. When ready, the material will have a pleasant, earthy smell and enough moisture to be formed into balls.

What today meant for biodynamics

This is what biodynamics can look like as a living, communal practice. It is more than a list of ingredients or a sequence of instructions. Biodynamics asks people to observe closely, work with their hands, attend to relationships among substances, and consider the farm as a living whole.

In making Barrel Compound together, we transformed a question into shared practical experience and new relationships. Animal, mineral, plant, water, season, place, and human effort met in one process. The practical and the contemplative are not separate in applied biodynamics: chopping, stirring, observing, listening, and filling the pit became a collective act of care for the material, for one another, and for the land that will receive the preparation.

That feeling of community is perhaps the workshop’s deepest success. People arrived with different interests and levels of experience, yet everyone contributed to the same work, each in their own ways.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to the Warrings for the question that began the day and for their gracious hospitality. We are also deeply grateful to Jerry Nuckols and his cows in Rockville, Virginia, for the gift of healthy manure. And we thank every person who observed, asked, taught, chopped, stirred, photographed, shared food, and helped bring the workshop to life.

Thank you to all who participated. We hope you can join us for the next workshop.