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Plum curculio and BD peppering
Posted by Alan Surprenant
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Alan Surprenant
Plum curculio and BD peppering
January 21, 2021 01:39AM Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 20
Maria Thun, German Biodynamic practioner has contributed much to all of us working to apply Rudolf Steiner’s insights and indications. Please refer to the Biodynamic or Josephine Porter Institute websites for a further explanation of peppering and Maria’s work. I have used peppering to move rats out of a chicken house and to relocate Japanese beetles 150 yards away from raspberries onto rosa rugosa. That really opened my eyes, after that happened I shaped my right hand into a pistol and blew across the top~ y’all know what I mean. In the spring of 2020 I wanted to start working with peppering to move Plum Curculio out of my 100 tree mixed fruit orchard. I set out PC pyramid traps in 3 orchards that bloom earlier than my hilltown location hoping to trap enough PC to continue with the peppering process and apply the pepper last spring. I was not able to trap enough PC to be able to continue the process last spring. I’m already scouting other blocks of trees to collect PC from this spring. I will continue on in my research and practical activity because I have seen it work before. This will help to eliminate Surround sprays which in my mind have questionable control in a wet spring. So many of Steiner’s indications have yielded such good results that I am encouraged to go on with this endeavor. Take organics and add the spirit of the earth and the spirit of the farmer and you get Biodynamics. Work with the seen and the unseen and you will relish in the results. I’m happy to talk with any orchardists about Biodynamics and/or peppering.

Brook Farm Orchard
Zone 5 in Massachusetts
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Mike Biltonen
Re: Plum curculio and BD peppering
January 22, 2021 07:25PM Registered: 10 years ago
Posts: 276
Ugh! I had a really beautiful response to this yesterday, but for some reason it didn’t post. Oh well. Anyway, yes I would love to engage in a conversation about peppering. I find it an absolutely fascinating though obscure biodynamic practice. One that really relies on the cosmos and one’s passion for biodynamic farming. So, Alan, what is your approach to peppering and how have you used this in the past [successfully or unsuccessfully]? I personally have studied it quite a bit but haven’t actually done any peppering – though I plan to do a lot of it this year. I’ll be starting with some weeds seeds and insects pests. I also collected some CAR galls and peppered them to be sprayed this season.

Mike Biltonen, Know Your Roots
Zone 5b in New York