Applied Biodynamics — Issue 036 (Spring 2002)
Issue 036 presents Hartmut von Jeetze’s comparison-based farm judgment, a national preparation-making meeting, and practical reviews on sky observation and water stewardship.
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Applied Biodynamics Issue 036 (Spring 2002) brings together three kinds of practical inquiry: Nick Franceschelli’s long interview with biodynamic farmer and Camphill practitioner Hartmut von Jeetze; Dana Pauly’s report from the first nationwide U.S. meeting devoted specifically to preparation making; and reviews of tools for sky observation and water stewardship.
Learning by comparison, not assumption
Von Jeetze traces his agricultural education from a biodynamic childhood near Koberwitz through formal training on a well-run conventional farm and later work in Scotland, New York, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. His central method is straightforward: learn competent farm practice, compare systems under real conditions, and judge by observations that can be recorded over time. He names soil tilth, surface crusting and erosion, earthworm activity, silage loss and feed quality, crop keeping quality, plant vigor, pest pressure, and the timing and sequence of field work as useful evidence.
The interview’s examples are valuable precisely because their limits are visible. Von Jeetze recalls obtaining a comparable turnip crop in Scotland with roughly 3–3.5 tons of composted manure per acre rather than the much heavier manure rates he had known elsewhere; a row-and-a-half comparison between saved biodynamic Russet seed potatoes and purchased Russets; and a jar demonstration in which clear lime water caused a strong precipitate when mixed with horsetail tea. These are experienced observations and demonstrations, not controlled trials. They become stronger starting points when growers repeat them with matched plots, consistent measurements, documented inputs, and more than one season.
Preparation making as a shared quality practice
Dana Pauly reports that at least 43 people from farms and organizations across the United States and Canada met in Copake, New York, on February 15–17, 2002. The group focused on practical questions: how much preparation to use, how to assess quality, how the farm individuality should shape making, where herbs, sheaths, and horns should come from, how experiments should be shared, and what roles regional groups, the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, and JPI should play. Participants compared samples and planned further regional coordination. Read today, the report is an early blueprint for transparent sourcing, batch records, peer comparison, and repeatable field evaluation.
Observation tools and wider context
The issue also reviews Brian Keats’s Northern Star Calendar, Liesbeth Bisterbosch’s Star and Planet Almanac 2002, and William E. Marks’s The Holy Order of Water. The calendar reviews stress direct sky observation, time-zone awareness, rainfall records, and the fact that different calendars may use different constellation boundaries. The water review is presented as a spiritually framed appeal for stewardship; its historical and scientific claims should be assessed separately, while its call to observe and protect water remains practical.
Key Topics Covered
Hartmut von Jeetze’s farm history, competent conventional practice, biodynamic comparison, soil observation, livestock, and social forms.
The first nationwide U.S. preparation-making meeting, regional coordination, shared quality questions, and training.
Preparation practice as a cooperative craft supported by transparent methods and comparable observations.
Planting calendars and sky guides as observation tools, not automatic proof of causal effects.
Water quality, watershed stewardship, and the difference between spiritual interpretation and measurable conditions.
Repeatable Practice
- Define a farm question and compare matched fields, crops, or management periods rather than relying on a single impression.
- Record preparation source, batch, storage, dose, water, stirring, application, timing, weather, and all other management differences.
- Use regional meetings to compare protocols, retain samples and records, and publish both successful and unsuccessful outcomes.
- For sky or water observations, predefine dates and measures and compare them with local weather, soil, crop, and water-quality data.
Explore Related Resources
- BD 500 Horn Manure and the BD 500 application instructions
- BD 508 Horsetail preparation and the BD 508 overview
- BD 502–507 Compost Preparation Set
- Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture: Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture
Articles
- An Interview with Hartmut von Jeetze (N. Franceschelli)
- Preparation Making Meeting February 15–17, 2002 (D. Pauly)
- Book Review: Northern Star Calendar—Easter 2002–2003 Easter (H. Courtney)
- Book Review: Star and Planet Almanac 2002—Monthly Guide to the Sky at Night (H. Courtney)
- Book Review: The Holy Order of Water—Healing Earth’s Waters and Ourselves (P. Clutts)
Citation
Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue No. 36, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Bio-Dynamics, Spring 2002.
