Applied Biodynamics — Issue No. 102 (Winter 2021)

Applied Biodynamics, Issue 102 (Winter 2021) presents winter as a season of preparation, renewal, and consciously ordered work. The issue follows JPI’s autumn preparation-making, Abigail Porter’s oak and BD 505 profile, a decade of practical archive learning, and Stephen Decater’s community-farm legacy.

Read or download the complete Issue 102 PDF

Positive Work Reported in This Issue

Emily Sepulveda describes JPI’s autumn preparation-making cycle in concrete terms. The team filled 100 cow horns with manure, filled 100 sausages with chamomile, filled 15 deer bladders with yarrow, buried 75 pounds of nettle, packed dandelions into eight hand-stitched peritoneum pillows, and placed ten cow skulls filled with white oak bark near the river. This coordinated work prepares the materials for their winter transformation and the next growing season.

The article connects this production rhythm with associative economics. Advance commitments help JPI synchronize preparation making with the real acreage and needs of farms and gardens, bringing materials, labor, winter planning, and spring distribution into one purposeful cycle.

Abigail Porter completes her preparation-plant series with oak. JPI uses North American white oak, Quercus alba, as the source for BD 505. The article presents oak bark’s living calcium as an ordering influence that moderates overly lush, watery growth, strengthens plant boundaries, and supports resistance to disease and pests. BD 505 carries this quality into the compost pile, while oak-bark decoctions are described for wet conditions, seedlings, and crops benefiting from stronger form.

Current research adds a positive laboratory finding to this oak-bark context. A 2026 Italian study reported that a BD 505 sample made with European oak bark ranked highest among the tested preparations for ABTS-measured antioxidant activity and stimulated selected composting bacteria, including Aeribacillus pallidus. JPI’s finished BD 505 uses North American white oak and is applied with the complete BD 502–507 compost preparation set.

The issue’s winter notes form an active seasonal program. Tree Paste belongs after leaf drop or before sap flow when temperatures are above freezing; BD 507 valerian supports plants around frost; Three Kings Preparation is traditionally prepared across New Year’s Eve and applied on Epiphany; seed burial works with the Holy Nights or the coldest part of February; and winter is a fruitful time to study the coming year’s biodynamic calendar.

In “Ten Years: Reflections and Inspirations,” Porter surveys a decade of Applied Biodynamics field learning. Her retrospective connects calendar trials, community-supported farms, closed-loop grain and cattle operations, intensive urban growing, cooperative farm structures, seed saving, compost methods, preparation making, sequential sprays, drought resilience, and preparation retrieval timing. The archive shows practical knowledge growing through observation, shared records, interviews, experiments, and farmer-to-farmer exchange.

The issue also records JPI’s organizational renewal and honors Stephen Decater, whose Live Power Community Farm joined biodynamics, draft-horse power, gratitude, community, and long-term stewardship of the land.

Articles in This Issue

• From the Editor — Mary Maruca
• Changing Leaves, Changing Rhythms — Emily Sepulveda
• President’s Report — Clay Wesson
• Heal Yourself, Heal Your Garden (Part 5): Oak — Abigail Porter
• Ten Years: Reflections and Inspirations — Abigail Porter
• Crossing the Threshold — Stephen Decater
• Make Your Plans for the 2022 Fellowship Conference in Ithaca, NY

Key Topics Covered

• JPI’s large-scale autumn preparation-making and winter burial rhythm
• Associative economics for coordinating preparation production and demand
• White oak, living calcium, and BD 505 compost preparation
• Positive laboratory findings for an oak-bark BD 505 sample
• Winter use of Tree Paste, BD 507, and Three Kings Preparation
• Holy Nights seed burial and winter calendar study
• Ten years of practical learning from diverse biodynamic farms and trials
• Stephen Decater’s community-farm and draft-horse legacy

Related JPI Resources

• BD 505 Oak Bark · guide · compost-set instructions
• BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set
• Biodynamic Tree Paste · instructions
• BD 507 Valerian · guide
• Three Kings Preparation · instructions
• Biodynamic calendars · calendar guide
• 2026 BD 505 laboratory study

Citation

Applied Biodynamics, Issue 102, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Winter 2021.