Applied Biodynamics — Issue 039 (Winter 2002–2003)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 039 (Winter 2002–2003) gathers rich practitioner experience with Hugo Erbe’s Three Kings Preparation and Hugh Courtney’s milk-and-honey garden spray. The issue presents preparation making, Epiphany application, spiritual intention, farm and garden observations, beneficial insects, plant recovery, crop vigor, and community practice.

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Three Kings: protection, gratitude, and renewal

JPI introduces Three Kings as Hugo Erbe No. 8, made from gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Contributors describe New Year’s Eve trituration, Epiphany stirring, outward perimeter spraying, prayer, fragrance, and the sense of forming a protective spiritual boundary around a farm, orchard, garden, or home.

On a Quebec orchard, a group walked the full perimeter twice through deep snow, experiencing the application as a joyful renewal of commitment to the land. At the Natural Orchard Research Area, Bill Vose describes Three Kings as a powerful gestural tool for strengthening the farm individuality and an annual occasion for gratitude to the trees and land.

Favorable farm and garden reports

Contributors report lush plants, a stronger sense of containment around the land, and a groundhog moving away after the boundary application. At Blueberry Gardens, the writer observed a noticeably weak place where the perimeter had not been completed; that nearby patch later had severe Japanese beetle damage and poor berry growth, while the main protected area remained in good condition.

In Albuquerque, a community preparation group reported that early and late frosts caused no problem, strawberries fruited after frost, and garden plots produced bumper crops of tomatoes and apple stars despite record drought. Lucy Gregory reports increased garden animal diversity after Three Kings, including frogs, lizards, raccoons, snakes, opossums, and many kinds of birds.

Other contributors describe the fragrant preparation as creating a lively, energetic blanket around the land, encouraging regular biodynamic spray work, bringing neighbors together, and deepening attention to the elemental world.

The ordinary biodynamic preparations come first

Traditional Hugo Erbe guidance recommends establishing the land with BD 500, BD 501, BD 502–507, and BD 508 before applying Three Kings. JPI regards this as the preferred sequence, especially for land new to biodynamics.

Courtney’s milk-and-honey spray

Hugh Courtney traces the spray to a 1969 crape myrtle covered each year with a black, sooty substance. After he thoroughly sprayed the tree with diluted milk, ladybird larvae covered the black material within 24 hours. Over the following days the black coating disappeared, the leaves became healthy green, and the tree recovered. He later added honey and repeatedly noticed sudden increases in beneficial insects, including syrphid flies, lacewings, parasitic wasps, praying mantids, and ladybird beetles.

The historical formula is one part milk to nine parts water. Honey may be added at about one part per 100 parts of total spray, using warm water to dissolve it. The mixture is stirred for 20 minutes in the customary biodynamic manner and applied as a medium-to-fine mist.

Additional milk-and-honey observations

Emigdio Ballon reports that applying the spray to forty acres of alfalfa improved crop quantity and left virtually no evident alfalfa-weevil damage. Helena Beck reports that leaf curl disappeared and new fruit appeared after a first application to stressed trees; after a later application, leaf health improved and water use declined. Courtney presents the spray as an easily applied emergency tool for plant stress and insect pressure.

Key Topics Covered

• Three Kings preparation making, group stirring, Epiphany application, and perimeter walking
• Spiritual protection, gratitude, farm individuality, community, and renewed attention to land
• Reported frost resilience, bumper crops, animal diversity, plant vigor, and protected boundaries
• The nine-preparation foundation before Three Kings
• Courtney’s milk-and-honey formula, crape-myrtle recovery, and beneficial-insect observations
• Alfalfa and stressed-tree reports using the milk-and-honey spray

Explore Related Resources

• Three Kings preparation and application guide
• Three Kings Preparation
• Barrel Compound and its application instructions
• BD 500 Horn Manure and the BD 500 instructions
• BD 501 Horn Silica

Articles

• The Three Kings Preparation—Sharing the Experience
• The Milk and Honey Spray—Another Interesting Tool (H. J. Courtney)
• JPI’s 2003 Preparation-Making Seminar Notice
• Ten-Year Applied Biodynamics Back-Issue List

Citation

Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 39, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Winter 2002–2003.