The heart of the Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray is deceptively simple.
Developed during a time of utmost secrecy around the biodynamic preparations, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer cultivated what I describe as a carefully crafted “smoke screen” to reinforce the protection of the biodynamic preparations themselves. He took microbiological samples from biodynamic preparations, soils, and excrement. He maintained and cryptically labeled these isolated microbes, but as Pfeiffer himself says, these microbes were never the essence of the Field and Garden Spray. The real activities of the Field Spray are driven by the biodynamic preparations, which are no secret anymore. But many have asked: what is the Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray? While this remains a proprietary recipe maintained by the individuals at the Josephine Porter Institute, much can be shared to glimpse the complexity and amount of attention that goes into this singular soil remedy.
The Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray was developed as an all-in-one remedy to get the biodynamic preparations out over as much land as possible without demanding that anyone using them “believe” anything about biodynamics or anthroposophy. Crafted for large-scale production particularly in the United States of America, this approach to biodynamics works through an empirical approach: first, seeing the practical results. Only secondarily, investigating the ideas behind the practical effects — and that, only at one’s own initiative. For many of us, the fact that something works is enough. But for some of us, we want to know why something works.
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s approach to practical life drew deeply from the wellsprings of what Rudolf Steiner shared, yet Pfeiffer rarely writes in terms of the “etheric” at all. Even those who worked closely with him confirm that he was often silent on such matters. His mission seems to have been bound up with demonstrating spiritual-scientific truths within practical reality — not “proving” the existence of the etheric world or “convincing” people to believe in this or that. We can be grateful for Pfeiffer’s efforts in bringing biodynamics to North America in particular, where we often prefer to see the external proof before considering the philosophy behind a given approach.
Regarding microbes in the preparations, Pfeiffer writes:
“The proper use of thes [sic] preps. is essential for the starter. People may find imitations by discovering and rebreeding the bacteria, but those will never grow as fast and as effectively as if used and grown with the preps action. In this fact I see the best protection of our formula. Also the effects of the starter on compost or field soil is as important of [sic] not more than the use of the bacteria alone. The use of the bacteria is about the same, if without the BD preps. as one would use crude oil instead of a highly refined oil for a gasoline engine. Always remember that the preps. have been used since 1922 with an established effect and that the addition of the bacteria is only a re-inforcement of their action.”
The simple fact is that bacteria break down what plants have built up out of the cosmos — they do not primarily produce sugars, but rather break down plant materials, manures — particularly carbohydrates. But we should remember that the most nitrogen-rich thing in natural soils are the innumerable corpses of bacteria. As they live and die, they unlock NPK in the soil. The more biologically active a soil can be kept, the more appropriately dynamic the NPK levels become. Bacteria belong to the realm of decomposition and not the world of what Steiner refers to as “etheric formative forces” which are the powers of building up new life. Their excretory products leave behind all sorts of vitamins that are essential for plants, and their mortal remains bring available nitrogen to plants. This is necessary for a plant to be well established in the earth so that it can receive the influences from the cosmos. Bacteria are not “bad” — research demonstrates how essential good microbes are for healthy soil and animal metabolism. But these microbes have a specific task. One can think of bacteria as “probiotics” and consider the biodynamic preparations as “prebiotics” providing the appropriate nourishment so that the right microbes can thrive.
Without suitable food, it doesn’t matter if a field is inoculated with microbes. They will initially seem to benefit the field, but without ongoing appropriate nourishment, they will die out. Imagine if you moved cows to a dead field with no vegetation. Initially, the presence of the animals would appear to improve the field, but without food, any imported animals will quickly perish. The same is true of bacteria on the farm. In biodynamics, we aim not merely to have the right bacteria but to take one step back from microbes and provide the nourishment necessary for ideal microbiological diversity. In Steiner’s own words, “If we think that by inoculating the manure with these bacteria we shall radically improve its quality, we are making a complete mistake. Externally there may seem at first to be an improvement, but in reality, there is none.”1
Pfeiffer indicates that “Should anyone of them [the microbial strains] get lost it can be ‘recovered’ from the original source material.” Moreover, because almost all of these microbial specimens were isolated from the ingredients added to the Pfeiffer Field and Garden Spray, they already exist as indigenous microorganisms within every batch of Pfeiffer produced.
There are key microbiological organisms that Pfeiffer himself, given the limitations of science at the time, admits he was not able to isolate. He expressly asks that these be added if they are later found. For example, Pfeiffer was not able to isolate a microbe suitable for the metabolism of fat (oils) but microbiological research has grown exponentially since Pfeiffer’s time. Because of the insights of exoteric science, the Pfeiffer process has been improved.
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