Applied Biodynamics — Issue No. 053 (Summer 2006)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 053 (Summer 2006) follows Peter Proctor from Hohepa Farm in New Zealand to preparation-making schools, farms, and village networks in India. His account emphasizes direct field observation, preparation quality, practical farmer education, and food quality.

BD 500 made the work visible to neighboring farmers

At Hohepa, neighbors first noticed the quality of the milk, vegetables, fruit, flowers, and apples. An experienced dairy farmer invited Proctor to work on his commercial farm after tasting the apples. After BD 500 was applied, Proctor and the farmer observed improved soil structure, water-holding capacity, earthworm activity, grass quality, and cattle response. The farmer then welcomed other growers to see the land and learn to read these changes for themselves.

A distributed biodynamic learning network in India

Proctor's first Indian visit in 1993 grew into a broad program of preparation sites, courses, farms, and farmer associations. Beginning in 1997, agricultural graduates came from across India to Kodaikanal for intensive practical courses, then carried their learning back to their home regions as teachers and consultants.

Near Mysore, a severely degraded 300-acre property was brought into fertile production with bananas, coconuts, vanilla, and other tropical crops. Other projects cultivated preparation plants in the Himalayan foothills, developed a diversified forty-acre biodynamic farm in Gujarat, supported village cotton growers, and connected preparation making with regional compost programs.

Proctor's direct transition sequence

Proctor recommends beginning the preparations promptly with reliable stirring, mixing, and spraying systems; making abundant compost; discontinuing herbicides and hard synthetic fertilizers; and building biological balance. In the first year, a farm can obtain preparations from an experienced source. In the second year, it can begin making its own preparations with biodynamically managed ingredients and clean water.

Preparation quality joins sensory judgment and field results

For BD 500, Proctor looks for transformed horn manure that holds together, has a living earthy smell, and often carries white actinomycete growth. He connects these qualities with what happens after application. As a striking example, he describes a rundown forty-acre coffee garden affected by leaf rust that was renewed biodynamically; its Nandanvan Royal coffee won international competitions for five consecutive years.

Cowpat pit preparation extends compost work

The issue gives a compact cowpat pit method related to Barrel Compound. A shallow pit about two by three feet and up to one foot deep is lined on the sides, but not the bottom, with untreated wood and filled with firm cow manure. Five sets of BD 502–507 are placed into the manure, BD 507 valerian is stirred separately in water and poured over the pit, and breathable sacks with a rigid lid protect the material.

After about four weeks, the transformed material can be stirred with BD 500 and sprayed. Proctor reports that one pit batch can inoculate about twenty compost heaps using forty gallons of spray per heap, applied bucket by bucket as the pile is layered. This made preparation work practical across large village compost programs.

Food quality gives farmers a strong economic foundation

Proctor describes taste, vitality, and farmer prosperity as powerful carriers of biodynamics. He cites premium biodynamic wheat earning 800 dollars per ton when prevailing prices were 150 to 200 dollars, and he points to winegrowers who recognized preparation use in the quality of the wine. In his account, better food creates a direct encounter with biodynamics and helps farmers continue the work.

Read the original ten-page issue PDF.