Field Notes
Letter from the President
In this Michaelmas 2026 letter, JPI president Teresa O’Shaughnessy shares the move of packing and shipping to Perennial Roots Farm and introduces the people carrying the work forward. The update renews JPI’s commitment to accessible preparations while honoring a season of rest for its Floyd...
From the Field Notes archive
Latest writing
Fall 2023: Biodynamic Community & Skill Building Opportunities
As the 2023 growing season turns toward autumn, Russell Blackstone invites the biodynamic community to learn and gather together. This historical roundup connects regional preparation workshops, Michaelmas celebrations, and a national conference with the value of friendship, shared practice, and learning from elders.
Read the article
Your Darkness Shall be Turned into Light
Stewart Lundy follows the plant from dark, nourishing soil toward light, flower, and fruitful renewal. Compost, horn manure, horn silica, and cover crops become part of a larger meditation on balance, generosity, and transforming the inheritance of the past into future life.
Read the article
The Cashmores
At Nyonger in Western Australia, the Cashmore family brought biodynamic care to 4,800 acres of challenging country. Jon Bradshaw’s profile follows recovering salt-affected land, softer soils, deeper roots, and a practical farming system built around prepared horn manure, sheep, and close observation.
Read the article
Cosmic Journal #007
September 2023 opens with ripening fruit, shifting transplanting rhythms, and preparation work for changing conditions. Cosmic Journal #007 follows the Moon through the crop signs and considers horn silica and sequential spraying as part of an attentive transition toward autumn.
Read the article
Demeter International Colloquium on Biodynamic Preparations
This 2023 colloquium invitation brings the animal’s role in biodynamic preparations into focus. Angela Hoffman of Sekem and Stewart Lundy of JPI were invited to share experience from Egypt and the United States, linking healthy farm relationships with the quality of preparation materials.
Read the article
Fanning the Flame of Life with Biodynamics
Stewart Lundy pictures soil fertility as a living fire that needs nourishment, air, and attentive tending. Compost, horn manure, valerian, and horn silica each enter this exploration of stored vitality, fresh sunlight, and the yearly renewal of the farm’s life.
Read the article
The Embroidery of the Spirit
A garden can be read as an embroidery of living forces. Stewart Lundy uses the image of needle, thread, canvas, and guiding design to explore how spirit, vitality, and matter work together—and how sensitive care for plants can grow from perceiving their greater whole.
Read the article
Cosmic Journal #006
Cosmic Journal #006 turns from summer abundance toward autumn preparation. Alongside August 2023’s crop and spray windows, it invites early planning for cover crops and recalls Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s attention to horn-manure burial near the autumn equinox.
Read the article
Biodynamics and Lunar Gardening: Finding Rhythm
Lunar phases and the ascending and descending Moon offer distinct rhythms for the garden. Russell Blackstone shares how he brings them together with the constellations, using transplanting time, seasonal planning, and reflective pauses to cultivate a more conscious relationship with daily farm work.
Read the article
Cosmic Journal Entry #005
Late July 2023’s Cosmic Journal follows summer abundance toward an August supermoon. Evening horn manure, morning horn silica, transplanting, and thoughtful pauses accompany the Moon’s passage through the crop signs, with special attention to wet conditions and horsetail preparation.
Read the article
Old King Farm
Mary Maruca visits the world of Old King Farm through an interview with Dr. Orest Pelechaty. Biodynamic mentorship, Tibetan Buddhist practice, medicinal plants, wildlife habitat, and community learning meet on a 102-acre Vermont landscape devoted to caring for land and people together.
Read the article
Pest and Weed 'Peppers' Revisited
Stewart Lundy revisits biodynamic pest and weed peppers through the living processes already at work in nature. Seed formation, moisture, fire, field mice, and nutrient cycling offer a wider view of how farmers can work consciously toward diversity and balance in the garden.
Read the article