Applied Biodynamics — Issue 003 (Spring 1993)

Issue 003 (Spring 1993) brings together seasonal understanding, a four-year JPI farm record, repeatable vegetable-garden methods, Hugh Courtney’s preparation teaching, and a practical research program designed to compare biodynamic applications across farms.

Issue Overview

“The Lenten, Easter, Spring Season” — Candace Coffin. Coffin relates Lent, Easter, the equinoxes, solstices, and seasonal festivals to Rudolf Steiner’s image of the Earth’s yearly breathing. Spring is presented as an outward movement expressed in new plant growth, summer as full exhalation, autumn as the beginning of an inward movement, and winter as the season in which life forces are held within the Earth. She connects that yearly rhythm with the winter burial of BD 500 and BD 502–506 and with the farmer’s attentive observation of seasonal change.

“A Farm Report” — Nick Franceschelli. Franceschelli reviews work on about 50 acres of JPI meadow and hay land from 1989 through 1992. He reports using Barrel Compound—the preparation called Barrel Compost in this issue—together with BD 500, BD 501, and fermented BD 508. JPI uses the name Barrel Compound in the United States because regulations govern what may legally be sold as compost. The report records a strong flush of red clover, wild white clover, hop clover, and vetch in spring 1991; reports that pasture grasses improved after grazing, compost, and biodynamic sprays; and notes that visitors saw the fields looking markedly better than in 1989. Franceschelli describes early applications of Barrel Compound and BD 500, coarse droplets directed toward moist soil, BD 501 soon afterward, and a goal of emptying the sprayer within an hour of finishing the stir.

JPI source note: After I stir Preparation 500, how quickly should I spray it—within one hour or within three?

• Issue 003 — Nick Franceschelli: “My goal is always to empty the sprayer within an hour of finishing stirring.”
• Podolinsky: Spray Preparation 500 within one hour where possible.
• Pfeiffer: BD 500 is strongest within three hours and should never be left overnight.

Practical direction: Spray immediately after the full hour of stirring. Three hours is the outer historical strength window, not a reason to delay.

Research-question context: The separate four-hour wording later in Issue 003 belongs to its 1993 question about the shelf life of pre-potentized BD 500X. The one-hour wording in the neighboring BD 500X question is the stirring duration. Current JPI practice for freshly stirred BD 500 is immediate application. See JPI’s Horn Manure (BD 500) instructions.

“The Vegetable Gardens at JPI” — Gisela Franceschelli. The garden column supplies clear, repeatable procedures. The potting mix uses equal parts vermiculite, perlite, and peat moss or Pro-Mix. Chamomile tea for moistening the mix uses three tablespoons of dried flowers in two quarts of boiled rainwater, steeped for 20 minutes; the tea is described as helping to prevent damping-off. Garden beds are shallowly cultivated, cover crops are incorporated, and Barrel Compound is sprayed before planting. For a BD 505 seed bath, the article calls for stirring in warm rainwater for one hour and soaking seeds for 15–30 minutes; direct-sown seeds are sprayed in the furrow. Planting-day choices are referenced to the Stella Natura calendar, and readers are invited to share their own results so the practical record can grow.

“Biodynamic Preparations” — Hugh Courtney. This is the second part of the lecture begun in Issue 002, with the final part promised for the June issue. Courtney interprets the preparations through geographic, mineral, elemental, plant-organ, and human-organism relationships. Drawing on his experience, he encourages North American practitioners to make fuller use of the cosmic preparations, especially BD 501 and BD 508, and emphasizes careful preparation storage.

“Practical Biodynamic Research” — Hugh Courtney. Courtney proposes a collaborative JPI research program in which practitioners record exact stirring and spraying times, dates, weather, the plant organ treated, identical plot management, and qualitative observations. The goal is to build comparable practical evidence across different farms. JPI offers research forms and, beyond each participant’s ordinary practice, the needed preparations apart from shipping.

The Five Proposed Research Questions

1. Can BD 500 and Barrel Compound be stirred and sprayed together with the same effect as separate applications? The proposed design uses a stirred-water control, a separate-treatment plot, a combined-treatment plot, the same crop, and otherwise identical management.
2. Is pre-potentized BD 500X stirred for 20 minutes as effective as regular BD 500 stirred for one hour? The proposed comparison again uses a control and identical crop treatment.
3. Does pre-potentized BD 500X retain its effectiveness longer than the four-hour period discussed for regular BD 500? The question is included as an invitation to develop a practical field method.
4. Can potentized BD 501 produce a useful effect with a shorter stir? The proposal compares regular BD 501 with JPI’s potentized version using the same kind of control and treatment structure.
5. Does sequential spraying support moisture during drought? Courtney reports that significant rainfall followed more than 90 percent of over 100 applications. The program asks participants to record the complete spray sequence, timing, and before-and-after weather so results can be compared across locations.

“Words of Encouragement” — Candace Coffin. Coffin closes with Rudolf Steiner’s reported reassurance to Herbert Hahn that enthusiasm can substitute for maturity, offering encouragement to practitioners who are growing into the knowledge and commitment of biodynamic work.

Why This Issue Matters

Issue 003 joins positive field observations with practical methods for building a stronger evidence base. Its farm report records visible improvements over four years, its garden article gives procedures another grower can repeat, and its research program sets out controls, consistent treatment, precise timing, weather records, and shared reporting. Together these articles show biodynamics as an active practice of observation, comparison, and continual learning.

Articles

• The Lenten, Easter, Spring Season — Candace Coffin
• A Farm Report — Nick Franceschelli
• The Vegetable Gardens at JPI — Gisela Franceschelli
• Biodynamic Preparations — Hugh Courtney
• Practical Biodynamic Research — Hugh Courtney
• Words of Encouragement — Candace Coffin

Key Topics Covered

• Seasonal festivals and the Earth’s annual breathing cycle
• Four years of preparation use on JPI meadow and hay land
• Positive pasture, clover, compost, and preparation observations
• Sequential spraying and a reported rainfall pattern after more than 100 applications
• Potting mix, chamomile tea, BD 505 seed baths, and transplanting
• Geographic and cosmic relationships among the preparations
• Preparation storage and fuller use of BD 501 and BD 508
• Controls, consistent treatment, timing, weather, and plant-organ reporting
• Five practitioner research questions for 1993 and beyond

Read the complete Issue 003 PDF

Citation

Applied Bio-Dynamics, Issue 003, Spring 1993. Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Woolwine, Virginia.