Applied Biodynamics — Issue 037 (Summer 2002)
Issue 037 documents JPI’s year-long BD 502 yarrow workflow, distinguishes interpretation from measurable outcomes, and follows one farm’s preparation-making efforts.
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Applied Biodynamics Issue 037 (Summer 2002) is a detailed making-and-meaning issue centered on BD 502 Yarrow. Patricia Smith documents JPI’s year-long preparation cycle; Hugh Courtney explores yarrow through Steiner’s spiritual-scientific framework; Christy Korrow reports how one Kentucky farm built preparation-making capacity; and a review of Maria Thun’s Gardening for Life connects preparations with broader garden practice.
JPI’s historical BD 502 workflow
The issue records observable harvest and process controls. Yarrow flower heads are selected after they begin to rise from their flat disc shape and the petals turn downward. JPI clipped the florets nearly free of coarse stem to reduce punctures, reserving stems and leaves for a tea. Blossoms could be used fresh or dried, although the article preferred material from the current year.
In the documented protocol, a verified stag bladder was inflated, dried, then softened before stuffing. The blossoms were moistened until a squeezed handful released only a drop or two, then packed firmly enough that finger pressure left no depression. The filled sheath was sewn, protected with cheesecloth, exposed outdoors from early summer to autumn, inspected, and buried after the autumn equinox in a marked, well-drained pit. JPI recovered it after St. John’s Day, June 24, the following summer. A thin sheath membrane and light-brown, feathery contents were the stated completion indicators. Finished material was screened and kept cool, dark, breathable, and protected from drying.
This is a historical JPI protocol involving animal tissue. Anyone making preparations today should also follow current wildlife, transport, slaughter, sanitation, and biosecurity requirements. Good records—plant source and harvest stage, sheath source, dates, moisture, packing, exposure, burial site, recovery condition, storage, and batch identity—make the work teachable and repeatable.
Meaning, claims, and evidence
In “Achillea millefolium Esoterica,” Courtney interprets yarrow in relation to potassium, sulfur, protein formation, and what Steiner described as living or cosmic forces. Those spiritual-scientific claims express the essay’s framework; Issue 037 does not test them experimentally. A science-positive reading keeps the framework visible while evaluating agricultural outcomes separately through controlled compost comparisons, maturity tests, soil measurements, crop response, and replication.
From purchasing preparations to making them
Christy Korrow’s Dogwood Spring Farm report is a practical capacity audit. The farm already had manure, horns, quartz, nettle, valerian, dandelion, and oak; it identified chamomile, yarrow, animal sheaths, crocks, and a root cellar as constraints. The response combined on-farm production, transparent supplemental sourcing, regional cooperation, group work sessions, and continued reliance on JPI for timing and quality guidance. Self-sufficiency is presented as a staged learning process, not isolation.
The review of Maria Thun’s Gardening for Life covers BD 500, BD 501, Barrel Compost, rotation, green manures, plant extracts, weed and pest ashes, and BD 508 horsetail. Calendar and planetary recommendations are best treated as testable scheduling hypotheses: record the timing, use matched comparisons, and evaluate the results under local conditions.
Key Topics Covered
BD 502 yarrow identification, flower maturity, harvesting, drying, deer-bladder preparation, filling, burial, recovery, storage, and labeling.
Material losses, contamination risks, process records, finished yield, and batch comparison.
Yarrow’s spiritual-scientific meanings and proposed effects, distinguished from controlled evidence.
Dogwood Spring Farm’s transition from purchasing preparations toward local making and shared skills.
Garden practice, calendars, and preparation use as prompts for observation rather than substitutes for measurement.
Repeatable Practice
- Confirm yarrow species and record flowering stage, harvest date and weather, fresh weight, trimming, drying, and stored weight.
- Label every bladder and batch; record source, condition, fill weight, stitching, hanging, burial site and depth, dates, soil, weather, recovery, losses, and finished yield.
- Compare finished batches for moisture, aroma, contamination, storage stability, and performance under the same compost or field protocol.
- Build regional self-reliance by documenting material sources, trained makers, tools, annual schedule, storage, and backup plans.
Explore Related Resources
- BD 502 Yarrow and the BD 502 overview
- BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set
- BD 506 Dandelion
- BD 508 Horsetail and the BD 508 overview
- Barrel Compound and its application instructions
- Agriculture: Spiritual-Scientific Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture
Articles
- How to Make the Yarrow Preparation (BD 502) (P. Smith)
- Achillea millefolium Esoterica (H. J. Courtney)
- Prep Making Efforts at Dogwood Spring Farm (C. Korrow)
- Book Review: Gardening for Life—The Biodynamic Way (A. Petty, D. Petty, and C. Watts)
Citation
Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 37, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Summer 2002.
