Sequential Spraying: Illusion, Remarkable Coincidence, or Reality?
Applied Biodynamics Issue no. 8, Winter 1993
Hugh J. Courtney
Sequential spraying was developed by myself, almost accidentally, in the early summer of 1988 when it appeared that we were about to face a third year of blistering drought. Frustrated by that possibility, I reasoned that surely there had to be something in biodynamic agriculture that could relieve or at least ameliorate the damage to our pastures, hayfields and gardens. After all, had not Steiner in the Agriculture Course (Lecture 5, especially p. 89) suggested that the preparations could help the plant attract to itself from the environment what was needed for its best growth? I thought surely, if one knew precisely what preparations to use, then relief should be available somehow—that is, if one assumes that biodynamics really is valid and truly works. In my case, however, I did not have the wisdom to know the precise preparations to use.
At this point in my work, I was convinced that it would be fairly difficult to cause harm with the preparations, even if one used them in a situation that did not necessarily seem appropriate. The worst thing in such a case would be that their effects could be reduced or made negligible. So, I chose to use all nine of them. The six compost preparations were applied in the form of the Barrel Compost (Thun recipe) along with BD 500, 501, and 508. I reasoned that I should commence in the evening with Barrel Compost, since the generally accepted biodynamic practice is to begin with the compost preparations. I followed the next morning with BD 508 and, since I had been very much impressed with the work of Lilly Kolisko and already had some on hand, I chose to use the fermented version of 508 as detailed in her work, Agriculture of Tomorrow. In the evening of the second day, I applied BD 500. On the morning of the third day, I sprayed the BD 501(c), which is a crystal silica material found in a matrix of rectorite, a clay-like substance. I had been experimenting with this form of 501 and had been very pleased with the results, so it was an obvious choice for me.
Since I was treating hayfields, and was very interested in the water element anyway, I chose to apply the sequence in a leaf period, which turned out to be just before the full moon on June 26, 27, and 28 in 1988. Sometime within the following night, we received a nice, lengthy soaking rain that totaled around .9 inch.
My first reaction was one of total awe at the result. I next had a sense of thankfulness that my trust, belief, or faith in the preparations was confirmed. Then the logical mind took over and began to label the results simply as coincidence that would not necessarily be duplicated were one to try the sequence again.
Later on that summer, the drought tendency gave signs of returning. I repeated the sequence on hayfields during a leaf period in July, and experienced a similar result. The sense of awe, that a person could change a weather pattern, was followed this time by an awareness that this technique required a very responsible attitude and was not an activity to be engaged in thoughtlessly.
Later that fall, after a rainless month of October (and the threat of forest fires), the sequence was applied once again. This time I enlisted the services of John Carlson, who had come to help me with the preparations for a time. The spraying was done on hayfields. Again it was applied principally during a leaf period, and again it was followed by rain of the most beneficial kind. Because of my poor record keeping, I can not give exact dates or actual precipitation results, but I at least had a witness this time.
In March 1989, John Carlson and I were in Kimberton, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the visit of Maria Thun to this country. We decided that the newly acquired BD headquarters property could benefit from a treatment of the preparations. With the consent of Rod Shouldice (BDA’s executive director at that time), we proceeded to treat the property with the sequential spraying technique. Since we were there for only a short time, it seemed a good idea to apply all the preparations. We did not record exact times and dates of application but we have calculated that it took place on March 10 to 12 (during fruit, flower, and root periods successively). It was completed less than a week after an eclipse of the Sun, two weeks prior to Easter and 10 days prior to Full Moon, or 8 days prior to the Spring Equinox.
We were aware that the previous growing season in Kimberton had been a dry one, at least from the complaints expressed by the CSA vegetable gardeners. However, the 1989 growing season in Kimberton was among the wettest in recent memory, and Kerry Sullivan told me not to use the sequence in the Kimberton area when I visited.
That same year in Woolwine, we had less than 1.25 inches from May 7 to May 31. So from June 1 to 3, we repeated the sequence. Then on the morning of June 4, we added the milk and honey spray as a kind of finishing touch to the sequence, even though we had received a nice .2 inches of rain during the night of June 3 to 4. The rainfall amounts subsequently were as follows: June 4–trace; June 5–.5 inch; June 6–1.25 inch; June 7– .9 inch; June 8–1.3 inch; June 9–1.55 inch; June 10–trace. This period was followed by a couple of dry days. Then, for the remainder of the month, we alternated between modest precipitation for 2 to 3 days, interspersed with one or two dry days. The most remarkable result was that almost all of the rain occurred during the night, and was of the gentle, steady type, rather than a cloudburst, leaving the day sunny and bright, with gardens and fields still able to be worked.
This sequence at the beginning of June was applied during fruit and root periods, with the bulk of it, including the milk and honey part, taking place during the root (earth element) period. It may also be noted that it took place just prior to and during the new moon. For the rest of the growing year, we experienced considerable precipitation, and were more concerned about reversing the rain impulse. (An interesting aspect in the following years during lengthy dry spells has been that the plants in our gardens showed only minimal stress from lack of moisture even though gardens elsewhere in the area were totally burned out. This has been without consistent sequential spraying.)
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