Biodynamics Turning 100

Looking back on 2023 and toward the next century

This article is too long to fit in an email, so please click to see the full piece!

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2023 was a year of unprecedented growth for the Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics (JPI).

• We hired our new preparation maker and land steward Ben Nommay.

  

  Ben Nommay explainorating

• We introduced our own herd of cattle as permanent residents at the JPI farm.

  

  Cute AND functional

• We acquired our own hay-cutting equipment and now bale our own hay from clean neighboring fields treated with biodynamic preparations.

Ben Nommay has been making hay while the sun shines

• We had a private concert with bluegrass musician Colin Cutler

  

  Colin Cutler in action. (Biodynamic hay cut and stacked by Ben Nommay in background)

• We’ve doubled biodynamic preparation production.

505 Oak Bark burial demonstration at JPI in Floyd, VA

• We expanded picture-forming method analysis (chromatography) for improved quality control and preparation assessment

Making lots of chromas at JPI, a way to “see” what’s normally invisible about soil qualities. We are planning to build a Sensitive Crystallization lab: donate to support this ongoing research.

• We revisited and enhanced our proprietary Pfeiffer™ Field and Garden Spray based on Pfeiffer’s detailed instructions after reviewing hundreds of pages of confidential notes by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer.

  

  Darkness transforming into light. Pfeiffer transformation!

• We received the donation of a custom stained glass window of a pelican from Stewart’s independent study group.

  

  This belongs in a new laboratory, which has yet to be funded.

• We ran new rhizobox trials comparing root mass variations under different treatments, in the style of Jochen Bochemühl.

  

  A glimpse of one rhizobox trial of beans treated with and without biodynamic preparations

• We expanded biodynamic herb plantings at the JPI farm.

• We planted out wildlife habitat perennials and restored wild areas.

• We hosted both our annual spring and autumn workshops.

  

  If you can enjoy stuffing poop in horns, you can enjoy just about anything!

• We’ve raised $31,879 in 2023, thanks to your generous donations.

• JPI sponsored the 2023 BDA Conference in Colorado and served as the official bookstore.

JPI bookstore at the 2023 BDA conference. Photo Credit: Broken Banjo Photography

• We hosted a booth at the Virginia Biological Farming Conference (VABF) where Stewart presented talks on biodynamics to likeminded biological farmers.

JPI Creative Director Stewart Lundy presenting about Biodynamics at 2023 VABF (Virginia Biological Farming Conference)

• We received the gift of architectural designs for JPI’s upcoming infrastructure projects

Preliminary architectural designs for on-site housing so that guests at our workshops, interns, and farm staff can reside within the JPI farm organism itself. This is not a small project and donations are welcome.

• We participated in the Chesapeake Biodynamic Network’s 2023 regional conference

  

  We visited the Christian Community in College Park, MD as well as the School of Life Yoga Center in Bethesda, MD. Stewart Lundy presented and M Mueller grounded us in our cosmic situation with verses from Rudolf Steiner and astronomical orientations.

• We launched our Substack account and are now promulgating biodynamic ideas around the world, migrating Applied Biodynamics online.

• SteinerBooks is releasing a new book in 2024 from JPI, compiled from the best of Applied Biodynamics with a new introduction by Stewart Lundy.

Believe it or not, there’s more to come!

For those of you who donated to JPI this year, thank you so much. As a 501(c)(3), the Josephine Porter Institute is dedicated to renewing the earth and educating individuals in practical biodynamics. Your support helps our efforts grow exponentially. We really can’t do this without you.

Hank the farm dog thanks you too!