What preparation-making targets did Issue 026 recommend for self-reliance?

Issue 026 encouraged farmers to make their own BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound, also called Barrel Compost. Its plan proposed storing 50–100 or more finished BD 501 units, making 12–24 units of BD 500 in spring 2000, and completing one batch of BC in a barrel or brick pit so a practitioner could also help neighbors.

Why did Issue 026 recommend a brick-lined pit for Barrel Compound?

Barrel Compound is the same biodynamic preparation also called Barrel Compost; JPI uses the Barrel Compound name for its U.S. product. Issue 026 described bricks as widely available and more durable than wooden barrels. JPI built circular brick-lined pits with roughly the same internal volume as Peter Proctor’s 600 mm × 1 m × 150 mm rectangular pit, raised the brick sides about 150 mm above ground, mounded the excavated soil around them, and covered the pit with wood or slate.

What BD 506 dandelion-picking method did Abigail Porter describe?

Porter learned to distinguish first-day from second-day blossoms, favored dry first-day flowers, started around 10:30–11:00 in the sunniest areas, and saved shaded areas until later. She collected into a rolled paper bag, spread the blossoms promptly for airy drying, and reported that about four pounds of fresh blossoms dried to about one pound.

What did Walter Stuber say about the origin of Pfeiffer Compost Starter?

Stuber recalled that Ehrenfried Pfeiffer developed the Starter on Stuber’s farm while working to compost cow manure and other farm residues; the work produced something more than ordinary composting and became the Starter. Stuber later founded the General Compost Corporation in 1953 to make it under license.

Biodynamie appliquée archive

Applied Biodynamics — Issue 026 (Spring 1999)

Issue 026 addresses Y2K-era preparation self-reliance, a brick-pit BC method, JPI’s institutional threshold, Walter Stuber’s experience, and practical BD 506 dandelion harvesting.

30 décembre 2025 Published by The Josephine Porter Institute Download PDF

Featured archival image for Applied Biodynamics — Issue 026 (Spring 1999)

Issue 026 records rapidly growing demand for biodynamic preparations and presents a practical response: expand JPI production while training more farmers and gardeners to make BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound locally.

Download Issue 026 PDF

An excerpt from Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s New Directions in Agriculture opens the issue with a clear priority: make the benefits of the agricultural preparations available as widely as possible so the Earth may be healed and the nutritive quality of its produce improved.

Hugh J. Courtney’s “Y2K Preparedness and the Biodynamic Preparations” turns that priority into a self-reliance plan. The article encourages practitioners to make BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound, the U.S. product name JPI uses for the preparation also called Barrel Compost. It proposes keeping 50–100 or more finished BD 501 units on hand, making 12–24 BD 500 units in spring 2000, and completing a full BC batch in a barrel or brick pit so one practitioner could also support neighboring farms.

In “JPI at the Threshold,” Courtney documents the scale of that growing interest. About 5,000 cow horns had been buried for BD 500 the previous year, 8,000 were put down in fall 1998, and even that larger batch was expected to be insufficient through spring 2000. JPI paired expanded production with preparation-making seminars and a deliberate effort to help individual farms develop dependable local skill.

“Brick Pit BC (Thun Recipe Compost)” describes a durable low-technology method for making Barrel Compound. Bricks were widely available and longer-lived than wooden barrels, which could be destroyed by termites. Inspired by Peter Proctor’s Indian method, JPI built circular brick-lined pits with about the same internal volume as a 600 mm × 1 m × 150 mm rectangular pit, raised the brick sides about 150 mm above the soil, mounded the excavated soil around them, and covered the pit with a wooden lid or slate. The article reports that Pat Whelan was extremely pleased with both her brick-lined pit and its results.

Nick Franceschelli’s “Interview with Walter Stuber” preserves firsthand history from one of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s close American associates. Stuber recalled that Pfeiffer developed the Compost Starter on Stuber’s farm while setting out to compost cow manure and other farm residues. Stuber later founded the General Compost Corporation in 1953 to make Pfeiffer’s Biodynamic Compost Starter under license.

Malcolm Ian Gardner’s “The Innocent Dandelion—A Messenger from Heaven” explores dandelion form and its biodynamic significance. Abigail Porter’s “Efficient Dandelion Picking or How to Pick When Your Back Hurts” gives a complementary method for harvesting the blossoms used in BD 506. Porter learned to distinguish first-day from second-day blooms, favored dry first-day flowers, began around 10:30–11:00 in the sunniest areas, moved to shaded areas later, collected into a paper bag with its top rolled down, and spread blossoms promptly for airy drying. She reports that about four pounds of fresh blossoms dried to about one pound.

The issue also reviews Wilhelm Pelikan’s Healing Plants: Insights Through Spiritual Science, Volume 1, and Carol Williams’ Bringing a Garden to Life, recommending both as practical aids to plant observation, garden design, composting, and biodynamic work.

Articles

Partial Text from New Directions in Agriculture (E. Pfeiffer)
Interview with Walter Stuber (N. Franceschelli)
JPI at the Threshold (H. J. Courtney)
Y2K Preparedness and the Biodynamic Preparations (H. J. Courtney)
Brick Pit BC (Thun Recipe Compost) (H. J. Courtney)
The Innocent Dandelion—A Messenger from Heaven (M. Gardner)
Efficient Dandelion Picking or How to Pick When Your Back Hurts (A. Porter)
Book Review: Healing Plants: Insights Through Spiritual Science, Vol. 1 (M. Gardner)
Book Review: Bringing a Garden to Life (J. Muir)

Key Topics Covered

Preparation-making self-reliance through BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound.

Rapid growth in JPI’s BD 500 production and hands-on preparation seminars.

Durable brick-pit construction for Barrel Compound, also called Barrel Compost.

Walter Stuber’s firsthand account of the origin of Pfeiffer Compost Starter.

BD 506 dandelion blossom selection, harvest timing, containers, and prompt airy drying.

Repeatable Practice

Develop local competence to make BD 500, BD 501, and Barrel Compound, and keep enough finished material to help neighboring practitioners.
For the issue’s brick-pit BC method, match Peter Proctor’s approximate internal volume, raise the brick lining above ground, mound excavated soil around the sides, and cover the pit with wood or slate.
Select dry first-day dandelion blossoms, begin in the sunniest areas after the flowers have opened, and leave shaded areas until later.
Collect blossoms in a breathable paper bag and spread them promptly with ample airflow so their color and quality are preserved.