An Experimental Test of the Biodynamic Plant Peppers

摘要

In I924 Rudolph Steiner proposed a theory of weed control in lecture number six of the Agriculture Course (Steiner I924/I974). In these lectures Steiner used a commonly accepted definition of a weed: "Everything that grows at a place where you do notwant it." His method for controlling a weedy species is relatively simple. First, one collects the seeds of the weed and burns them until carbonized. Second, crush or grind the resulting substance to ash, to produce what is commonly referred to as a "pepper." Finally, scatter the pepper over the affected area. Steiner concludes that after two years of scattering the pepper that there will be a noticeable reduction in the population of the weed. He also states that "... after the fourth year you will see, if you continue sprinkling the pepper year by year, the weed will have ceased to exist on the field in question" (Steiner I924/I974: III).