Applied Biodynamics — Issue 098 (Fall/Winter 2020–2021)

Applied Biodynamics, Issue 98 (Fall 2020/Winter 2021) honors JPI founder Hugh J. Courtney through firsthand accounts from colleagues, students, preparation makers, farmers, and educators. It also preserves affirmative field observations, practical results, and the wide reach of his preparation teaching.

Read or download the complete Issue 098 PDF

Positive Results and Practical Legacy

The Evergreen Elm horticulture-therapy garden provides the issue’s clearest two-season result. In 1991, the volume and quality of its biodynamically grown vegetables won eleven ribbons from fourteen county-fair entries in major vegetable categories. In 1992, after work with biodynamic compost, Thun Barrel Compost, intensive intercropping, and Hugh Courtney’s silica-spray guidance, the garden won eighteen ribbons from twenty-one vegetable entries. The Philadelphia Inquirer also featured one of its tomato plants.

Larry Mabe records a striking observation from Courtney’s early sequential-spray work during the third year of the severe 1988 drought. Courtney applied the preparations in sequence over two days on water and leaf days with the intention of attracting rain. After the largest preparation in the sequence was sprayed, rain fell on the farm and the surrounding Woolwine area.

The issue also preserves Courtney’s positive observation from a milk-and-honey spray inspired by folklore and his Bible reading. He used it when plants were under insect pressure or otherwise stressed and reported a dramatic increase in beneficial insects together with a decline in harmful insects.

In “501,” Courtney presents horn silica as an important silica-cosmic balance for the strong limestone or earthly polarity he observed in North America. His work encouraged wider use of BD 501 Horn Silica and BD 508 Horsetail, four consecutive summer burials of horn silica, twenty-minute potentized 501 5X and 500(X), seed soaks, individual compost preparations as foliar sprays, and careful place-specific observation.

Courtney’s teaching became practical at substantial scale. Laura Riccardi-Lyvers applied the preparations to 735 field acres to meet Demeter certification standards. Lloyd Nelson carried the work into a preparation service and a 244-acre Demeter-certified ranch, market garden, and orchard. Joseph Brinkley’s path led to vineyard leadership at Bonterra, farming 900 acres of organic and biodynamic wine grapes in Northern California. Courtney’s intensive workshops typically welcomed thirty to forty students from the United States and other countries, creating new farmers, preparation makers, consultants, and educators.

The issue documents Courtney’s role in expanding access to BD 501, BD 508, Prepared 500, the Hugo Erbe preparations, Biodynamic Tree Paste, Pfeiffer Compost Starter, and Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray. It also records seasonal workshops, regional preparation groups, and direct farm feedback as a durable learning culture.

The source uses the traditional name Barrel Compost for the Thun preparation. It is the same preparation JPI calls Barrel Compound in the United States.

Articles in This Issue

• “In Memoriam: Hugh J. Courtney, July 8, 1932–June 15, 2020” — Clay Wesson
• “Honoring Hugh Courtney” — Abigail Porter
• “Honoring Hugh Courtney” — additional memorial contributions
• “501” — Hugh Courtney
• “Hugh Courtney’s Legacy: The Elders”
• “Hugh Courtney’s Legacy: From Students to Educators”
• “JPI’s Newest Board Member: Mike Biltonen” — Clay Wesson
• Online conference notice: “Seeding the Spirit of Stewardship”

Key Topics Covered

• Hugh J. Courtney’s preparation-making, teaching, and institutional legacy
• Evergreen Elm’s successful 1991 and 1992 county-fair results
• Sequential spraying during the severe 1988 drought
• The milk-and-honey spray’s reported insect-balancing result
• Horn silica BD 501 in North American geographic conditions
• BD 501 5X and BD 500(X) twenty-minute stirring formats
• Seed soaks, foliar preparations, and pest-pepper field work
• Regional preparation groups and the Fellowship of Preparation Makers
• Students carrying biodynamic work into hundreds of farm acres
• Pfeiffer Compost Starter and Field & Garden Spray continuity

Related JPI Resources

• BD 501 Horn Silica · instructions
• BD 508 Horsetail · instructions
• Sequential Spray Kit · instructions
• Pfeiffer Compost Starter · instructions
• Pfeiffer Field & Garden Spray · instructions
• BD 500 Horn Manure · instructions
• BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set · instructions
• Making and Using Biodynamic Preparations

Citation

Applied Biodynamics, Issue 98, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Fall 2020/Winter 2021.