Applied Biodynamics — Issue 063 (Winter 2008–2009)

Issue 063 is a method-restoration and advisory issue, focused on reviving a practical, observation-driven instrument developed in the mid-20th century to guide farms transitioning toward biodynamic practice. Rather than introducing new preparations or techniques, the issue centers on how farms are studied, described, and advised.

In “Restoring a Useful Legacy from Ehrenfried Pfeiffer,” Hugh Courtney recounts the discovery and reconstruction of a comprehensive farm questionnaire found among papers associated with Josephine Porter and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. The document was originally used by Pfeiffer to prepare for on-site farm visits, allowing him to form a working picture of soils, landscape, water movement, crop rotations, animals, buildings, and surrounding ecology before arriving.

Courtney documents the provenance of the materials: papers acquired during the 1980s and 1990s as JPI assumed stewardship of biodynamic preparations and related equipment. Multiple completed questionnaires—filled out by farmers decades earlier—demonstrated consistent structure and depth, suggesting a systematic advisory approach. The article explains that the restoration process involved updating language and categories while preserving the questionnaire’s intent: eliciting a verbal landscape profile sufficient to guide site-specific recommendations.

The questionnaire is explicitly grounded in Rudolf Steiner’s insistence that plant growth be understood in relation to geological foundations and regional context. Questions probe soil types, drainage patterns, slope orientation, wind exposure, nearby woods, watercourses, animal housing, manure handling, and historical land use. The method relies on descriptive completeness, not numerical modeling, and is designed to precede any recommendations regarding preparations or management changes.

A historical example from Helen Philbrick is quoted to illustrate Pfeiffer’s advisory practice. Pfeiffer’s diagnosis of a failing peach tree—traced not to the tree itself but to fungal activity on nearby fence posts—demonstrates how landscape-level observation informed targeted intervention. The account underscores the questionnaire’s purpose: enabling advisors to see beyond isolated symptoms by reconstructing the farm’s relational context.

The issue frames the revised questionnaire as part of JPI’s Farmer-to-Farmer Advisory Service, intended to support modest, dialog-based guidance rather than consultancy at scale. Courtney emphasizes that the document is offered for use and critique, inviting further refinement by experienced growers.

Complementing the restored questionnaire, “Books and Lectures by Pfeiffer Available from JPI” catalogs Pfeiffer’s major works and teaching materials. The list functions as a methodological library rather than a promotional insert, positioning Pfeiffer’s writings as reference tools for soil observation, composting, weed interpretation, and long-term fertility assessment. The inclusion reinforces continuity between advisory practice and primary sources.

Across the issue, biodynamics is presented as a discipline of careful description, iterative guidance, and situational judgment, where tools such as questionnaires enable repeatable advisory processes without prescribing uniform outcomes.

Articles

• Restoring a Useful Legacy from Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (H. Courtney) 
• Farmer-to-Farmer Advisory Service Questionnaire
• Books and  Lectures by Pfeiffer Available from JPI 

Key Topics Covered

• Restoration of a historical farm advisory questionnaire
• Diagnostic use of descriptive farm data prior to intervention
• Landscape and geological context in crop assessment
• Advisory preparation through off-site study
• Historical farmer response rates and feedback
• Case example of landscape-level diagnosis
• Integration of questionnaire into a peer advisory service
• Methodological continuity with Steiner’s agriculture lectures
• Availability of Pfeiffer’s reference works for practitioners

Citation

Applied Biodynamics, Issue 063, Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics, Winter 2008–2009.