Maria Thun's plant-based preparations: what they are – and why they do not comply with Demeter
Plant-based preparations are Maria Thun's sheathless alternative to the classic compost preparations – with wooden containers instead of animal organs. Important: they are not recognised under the Demeter standards.
The plant-based preparations are a special case in the biodynamic world: a purely plant-based variant of the compost preparations developed by Maria Thun that does without animal sheaths. Instead of a stag's bladder, cattle intestine or animal skull, the medicinal plants are filled into containers made of particular types of wood and matured in the soil. Anyone looking into them should know one point up front: plant-based preparations are not recognised as regular preparations under the Demeter standards.
The idea behind them
The background is the wish for a form of preparation without animal organs — for example for reasons of availability, processing or ideological reservations about the animal sheaths. For this, Maria Thun assigned each of the medicinal plants a type of wood that, in her system, corresponds to particular planets; the plants are buried in the soil in containers made of this wood instead of being sewn into an animal sheath. The exact wood and planet assignments come from Thun's own work.
Why they do not comply with Demeter
Here the facts are clear, and they are the actual reason for this article: forms of preparation that differ fundamentally from the forms originally given by Rudolf Steiner are not recognised under the Demeter requirements — the plant-based, sheathless preparations are explicitly among them. They may be applied for research purposes in addition to the regular preparations, but they do not replace them. A Demeter farm therefore does not meet its preparation obligation with plant-based preparations.
The reason lies in the logic of the method: for Steiner, the animal sheath is not an arbitrary container but an essential part of the preparation's effect. Leaving it out means leaving the form Steiner described — regardless of how one rates the plant-based variant in practice.
Putting it in context
Plant-based preparations are therefore less a finished recommendation than a subject of research and discussion within the biodynamic movement. Anyone who wants to experiment can do so — but should be aware that they are moving outside recognised Demeter practice and that the regular compost preparations are not replaced as a result.
Frequently asked questions
What are plant-based preparations?
A sheathless, plant-based variant of the compost preparations developed by Maria Thun: the medicinal plants mature in containers made of particular types of wood instead of in animal organ sheaths.
Are plant-based preparations recognised by Demeter?
No. They differ from Steiner's original forms and are not recognised as regular preparations under the Demeter standards; at most they are permitted additionally for research purposes.
Do they replace the classic compost preparations?
No. For the Demeter preparation obligation, the regular compost preparations with an animal sheath are what count.