Indigenous Micro Organisms
Indigenous Micro Organisms, or IMOs, are tiny colonies of life that are found and propagated from the immediate vicinity of the growing location. Because they come from the location you are trying to cultivate, they are already naturally adapted to your climate and can easily go to work in a symbiotic relationship with the plants. IMOs provide natural fertilizer for the plants and burrow deep to loosen soil providing a no-till super environment.
Contents
1 Indigenous Microorganisms
1.1 Why indigenous
1.2 IMO is the basis for making fertile land
1.3 Material circulation
1.4 Commercialization of microorganisms
1.5 Power of the indigenous
1.6 Restore the pristine nature
1.7 Bamboo forest and leaf molds abound in IMO
2 Using the IMOs
2.1 Use IMOs continuously
2.2 Diversity is essential
2.3 Use the tough guy
2.4 the Power of Diversity
3 How to collect IMOs
3.1 Collecting from forest
3.2 Collecting from leaf mold
3.3 Collecting from bamboo stumps
3.4 Collecting from rice-paddy
Indigenous Microorganisms
Why indigenous
Natural farming rejects foreign microorganisms. It also rejects microorganisms that are produced mechanically or artificially or purely separated to simply increase their market values. No other microorganism adapts with the same strength and effectiveness except for the indigenous microorganisms ( IMO ) that have lived in the local area for long time. The domestic farmers who are used to buying commercial microorganisms are amazed at the effectiveness of homemade IMO. The spread of IMOs and FPJ is giving a new vision for environment-friendly agriculture in Asia. We can make the microorganisms, which are considered one of the most important materials in sustainable agriculture, at home.
IMO is the basis for making fertile land
Farming is not conceivable without land. Therefore, adding strength and fertility to land is the number one priority. What is a fertile or proper land? In the light of the research done by scholars so far, about 700 kilograms of microorganisms are found to live in 0.1 hectare of land for non- contaminated field although it varies depending on how much organic material is contained in the land. Out of these, 70~ 75% is fungus and 20~25% bacteria and 5% small animals.
Assuming 80% of their body are water; the dry weight is about 140 kg. Out of dry weight, carbon (C) accounts for 70 kg and nitrogen (N) accounts for 11 kg. As the suggested nitrogen fertilizer per 0.1 ha is about 10 kg. The amount of natural nitrogen is equivalent !
100 million to 1 billion numbers of various microorganisms live in 1 gram of soil. In the size of one human foot print,3,280 aphids, 479 fleas,74,810 nematodes, and 1,845 small earthworms live in harmony; helping the growth of plants on the surface of land.
For a successful environment-friendly agriculture, making soil condition that is close to the above is important.
In order to make the soil condition as mentioned above, adequate condition and food for the microorganisms and small animals is essential.
When you cover hard land with straw mats or straws for 7 to 10 days, you will see white fungus and the land becomes soft and wet. This environment never fails to attract earthworms. Without having to add microorganisms artificially but simply by providing environment for the microorganisms to live in, the land recovers strength on its own. In proper environment, the fungus (microorganism) grows first. Nematodes that feed on these microorganisms are then attracted. Earthworms, mole crickets moles will follow. These organisms and animals, in a harmony, improve the soil condition and help the growth of plants. 90% of the microorganisms that are beneficial to plants live within 5 cm from surface.
When the land is covered by organic material such as rice straws, ideal condition of 7:3 ratio of shade to sun will be formed.
In such shady condition, water is kept from evaporation and the land is protected from direct sunlight. In order to form this environment, various methods are applied including rice straw or leaf mulching, wild grass cultivation (Mulching) and rye sowing.
You will see from the mountains and fields in nature that the land becomes fertile from top to bottom, not bottom to top. Therefore, it is recommended that organic fertilizers and organic materials be applied on the surface of land in the form of mulching.
Material circulation
Microorganisms do most of the material circulations in nature. They break or compose materials. To microorganisms, nothing is impossible. There are 2 major functions of microorganisms. First is to decompose and convert complex organic compounds such as dead bodies of plants and animals, secretion, excretion, and organic fertilizers into simple compounds so that material circulation is possible. Inorganic nutrients are also decomposed by microorganisms and become highly activated; easily absorbable by plants. Weak microorganism means improper material circulation.
Secondly, the microorganisms create complex or organic compounds by synthesis. Microorganisms produce various materials including anti-biotic substances, enzymes and lactic acids. These suppress various disease and promote chemical reaction in the soil. Without the enzymes, the complex chemical reaction cannot occur at such high speed. When sunlight strikes the leaves, it takes less than 1 second to produce one molecule of carbohydrate. Most chemical reaction in the land or plants is not likely to occur without the enzyme working as catalyst. Some microorganisms self create nutrients with energy from sunlight. Some microorganisms fix nitrogen from air and enrich the land.
Many more exist and function in the soil which we are not aware of. Modern scientific advancement has only revealed less than 10% of the world's microorganisms. The soil and its microorganisms is still an area full of mysteries.
Commercialization of microorganisms
As more research is done on microorganisms, more effort are made to commercialize their effects such that large amounts of microorganisms are imported from foreign countries and sold in the domestic market. This is regrettable. How can microorganisms be commercialized?
Commercialization is only possible when you can expect continued sales and demand. Continued sales would mean short-lived effectiveness of the microorganisms sold commercially. Those microorganisms sold in stores are, indeed, short-lived and effective for short-term. This is because foreign microorganisms will perish in the local soil.
As more emphasis is put on environment-friendly agriculture, various microorganism products will fill the market. As a farmer myself, I would like to clearly state these messages to the farmers : " The best microorganisms come only from the local environment. What you need is what is around."
Power of the indigenous
IMOs are a historic product -- trained, survived and adapted to the local environment for thousands or years. They withstand extreme climatic conditions. Given the proper temperature and climate, they will powerfully perform their functions. Artificially made or imported microorganisms do not persevere in harsh environments and die, resulting in short-term effect only.
Microorganisms that are made in factories or greenhouses where temperature and moisture are kept constant are only effective in similar environments; but NOT when the environment is changed. In the greenhouse, there is no typhoon, drought or flood but real life farming has to deal with all kinds of unexpected environments. In Natural farming, we suggest farmers grow and use microorganisms in normal temperature as you will understand when you practice using IMOs. I firmly believe there is no better alternative than to use the locally available IMOs.
Restore the pristine nature
Some farmers perceive microorganisms as fertilizers or vitamins such that they give microorganisms to the land at the time they think suitable with the expectation of simple and short-lived effect. In the short run, this may give them the result they want. However, in the long run, it can disrupt the balance of pristine eco-system of microorganisms.
Natural Farming does not recommend using microorganisms for a particular function. We believe it is better to restore the pristine state, the basic diversity and primitive powers. We have to understand that ever more complicated and mechanical (artificial) way of thinking in farming is only making farming more difficult. The excretion from plants differs in quality and amount by season and age. In turn, the type and amount of microorganisms that live on such excretion also change by seasons.
Bamboo forest and leaf molds abound in IMO
If you would look at brushwood fences, bamboo frost or valleys of mountain where leaves are piled, you will see white bodies of microorganisms. Microorganisms find their best living environment on their own. Farmers in the past would make fertilizer by collecting soil containing decomposed leaves or grass sheets. Below the decomposed leaves or grass sheets, abounds IMO.
IMOs are easily found and collected in the bamboo forest, forest with deciduous trees, grassroots and decomposed leaf molds,etc. In NF we collect and grow and these IMOs in many different ways. The treasure is very near; where we are.
Using the IMOs
Loss of diversity in microorganisms means loss of resistance to disease. Continued use of indigenous microorganisms not only makes soil and plant healthy but also helps prevent diseases.
Use IMOs continuously
After practicing NF for 2-3 years, you can get lazy in collecting and making IMOs. This laziness begins with the premature decision that the fields have improved so tiresome IMO are no longer necessary. So people come to think that a little bit of rice or lactic acid bacteria would suffice. But this is far from true.
The most important thing in soil is the primitive diversity and power of indigenous microorganisms. Farmers who fail to use IMOs properly cannot expect to see continued results. Relying on few substances such as rice wine, although they are natural, can contribute to disrupting the balance.
Diversity is essential
Mordern science faced a dilemma as it found more about microorganisms. At first, microorganisms were classified into classes: the good and the bad. Scientists tried to selectively use the beneficial ones. Many of the bacteria products you see in the market are results of such efforts.
However, further research revealed that it is very difficult to classify microorganism by their benefit and harm as they are correlated. You hardly get a sustained, long-term, safe effect that you desired by selectively using microorganisms. It would be fair to say, "Indigenous microorganisms are the simplest yet wisest method."
Use the tough guy
Anyone who has used IMOs would have observed the differences in the performance of IMOs collected from different sites. It is also different by the altitude and soil fertility. If you want to add some tough guys into your IMO collected from your vicinity, bring some from the high mountain or uncontaminated pristine nature with high vital energy.
the Power of Diversity
The better sterilized your soil is, the less microorganisms you have. Disease-causing bacteria can explode its propagation in such "vacuum of power." Lively and diverse micoorganisms will check and balance each other. Diseases do not come to you; you only bring them in. Rice absorbs large amount silicic acid. Silicic acid hardens the rice's body. Reed, bamboo, purple eulalia, lophatherum gracile have similarly hard bodies. The roots of these plants produce a special root acid that dissolves (and absorbs) silicic acid. Around the roots, there are also plenty of microorganisms that dissolve silicic acid. In turn, if you collect leaf or soil from reed, bamboo, purple eulalia, lophatherum gracile fields, it will greatly help your rice crops.
In the northern hemisphere, the northern face of a mountain has a lot of psychrophiles, and the southern face has mesophiles and thermophiles. In the northern face, there are no high-temperature bacteria with fermentation temperature above 70; however you will have better chance of finding them on the southern side. Low-temp bacteria will help your crops in cloudy weather, long rains, and low temperature. High-temp bacteria will help you in sunny weather, drought, and high temperature. So what do we do? Bring leaf mold and soil from all directions of the mountain, the summit, the valley and the drench. Mix/culture it in rice bran.
How to collect IMOs
Download "How to Cultivate Indigenous Microorganisms" in pdf format by CTHAR "[[1]]"
The IMOs can be collected by various methods. It can be collected from hills and mountains using steamed rice with low moisture ( hard- boiled ), decomposed leaves and bamboo stumps. It is possible to collect, to a certain extent, particular types of microorganisms.
Collecting from forest
Fill a wooden lunch box (or any natural material like hala basket etc ) with hard- steamed rice. The rice should not be packed deeper than 7 cm (about little less than 3 inches ). This is for air supply. Without sufficient air supply, anaerobic microorganism will be collected. Anaerobic microorganisms are more commonly recommended.
cover the lunchbox with rough paper ( so air can get through )and tie it ti the box rubber band.
Bury the lunchbox in the local bamboo field or decomposed leaf molds in the hills. Cover with leaves. Be careful that the leaves press the paper to touch the rice surface.
Cover plastic sheet on the leaves above the lunchbox to prevent rain from getting through.
At 20 C or 70 F, it will take about 4 to 5 days ( faster when hotter ) for the IMOs to fill up the box. Move this rice ( this is called IMO 1 ) to the clay pot.
Mix crude ( or brown ) sugar with the IMO 1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is called IMO 2 ).
Cover the clay pot with paper and tie with rubber band.
Collecting from leaf mold
Go to the hills forests, valleys, you will find leaf molds full of white hypha. Collect this IMO mold. Deciduous tree forests are better because evergreen forest have less microorganisms.
Dip hard-steamed rice in solution of FPJ ( fermented plant juice) diluted 1,000 times. Warm it then leave it to cool.
mix this rice with the leaf mold. Leave for one night.
mix this compound into rice bran (or wheat mill ) for propagation. Cover the rice bran with straw to promote IMO growth.
You can add FPJ ( fermented plant juice ), FAA ( fish amino acid ), mineral A, etc. to boost process.
Collecting from bamboo stumps
Choose a bamboo tree in the center of the bamboo forest. Slice the trunk at 10 cm from the ground obliquely. Cut it so that inner part is lower than the outer part so that the bamboo juice will not leak out.
Fill in hard-boiled rice in the bamboo cavity: rice should be higher than the brim.
Put a wooden lunch box C cedar ) over the stump.
Cover the box with leaves.
Cover with plastic sheet and then put a weight on top so it won't fly away.
In 3-5 days, red, white, yellow, black and all sorts of bacterias will have gathered. Juice from bamboo will also be collected.
Cut the stump. Pour the rice in clay pot ( this is IMO 1 ).
Mix crude ( or brown ) Sugar with IMO1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is IMO@ ).
Collecting from rice-paddy
After harvest, cover the rice stump with rice lunchbox immediately after cutting. The lunchbox faces downward.
Cover with steel wire net to prevent mouse.
Cover with plastic sheet to prevent rain.
After approximately one week, IMO will have gathered.
Pour the rice clay pot ( this is IMO1).
Mix crude ( or brown) sugar with the IMO1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is IMO2).
Cover the clay pot with paper, and tie with rubber band.
When you collect microorganism from rice paddies, in contrast to the microorganisms collected from bamboo forest or leaf molds, you can get a lot of anaerobic microorganisms. In particular, you can collect a large quantity of ; carbohydrates; and bacillus subtitles that disintegrates strong fibers such as straws and straws and reeds. Theses two mocroorganisms have outstanding decomposing power.
But when the fermentation temperature goes up above 70 C, they not only convert protein into amino-acid into ammonia. In such case, the nutrients are lost to the air. Therefore, the fermentation temperature should be maintained at below 50 C. Lactic acid bacteria feed on sugar and amino acid made by bacillus licheniformis and bacillus subtilis.
Adding lactic acid bacteria can lower the temperature.
Fermented Plant Juices
1 What are Fermented Plant Juices?
1.1 FPJ and Kimchi
1.2 Mugwort and Dropwort
2 Collecting ingredients to make FPJ
2.1 What to collect
2.1.1 Strong against cold and well- growing in spring
2.1.2 Fast-growing and vigorous
2.1.3 Of the season
2.1.4 FPJ from the same plant
2.2 How to Collect
2.2.1 Avoid excessive sunshine and rainfall
2.2.2 Just before sunrise
2.2.3 Visit the site in prior
2.2.4 Quickly snap the growing points
2.3 Some notes on materials
2.3.1 Container
2.3.2 Brown sugar
2.3.3 Stone Weight to extract air
2.3.4 Cover lid
3 How to make FPJ
What are Fermented Plant Juices?
Generally, plants are composed of blood, chlorophyll and fiber. Plus there are about 100,000 to 150,000 microorganisms per 1 cm* of leaf. Most of them are lactic acid bacteria and yeast.
Fermented plant juice (FPJ) is fermented extract of the plant's blood and chlorophyll. Brown sugar is used to extract the essence through osmotic pressure.
Therefore, FPJ is a rich enzyme solution full of these bacteria; invigorating plants and animals.
It is interesting to note that chlorophyll doesn't dissolve in water or oil but in weak alcohol. Microorganism in the process of fermentation of making FPJ produce small quantity of alcohol; extracting the chlorophyll.
FPJ and Kimchi
Koreans have enjoyed Kimchi ( Korean- style pickled vegetables) for a long time. Kimchi, which is made by adding variety of spices and condiments to vegetables, is not only a food source rich in nutrition, but also helps digestion. Abundant lactic acid bacteria in the kimchi soup do this job. That is why Korean will begin their meal with one spoon of Kimchi juice.
Some smart farmer tried to apply Kimchi in farming. My father was one. My father never threw away leftover Kimchi juice ( very sour ), but he always poured the leftover into container filled with human feces and added water. He then used it as fertilizer. Crops grew healthy and strong. So I came to think 'if human feces treated with Kimchi juice are good for crops, why not apply it directly?' and did some experiments. I applied diluted Kimchi juice to crops; I tested to see whether hot pepper seeds in old sour Kimchi would germinate: I dipped hot pepper seeds in Kimchi Juice for a while then sowed to see the effects. The results were more than expected. Diluted Kimchi juice made hot papers healthy; the old seeds; and the dipped seeds were also healthy.
I further ventured to use various plants for Kimchi ingredients. FPJ was invented based on such experience. It is basically switching the salt of Traditional Kimchi with brown sugar.
Mugwort and Dropwort
Mugwort and dropwort are the two basic FPJs. I got the hint of using mugwort and dropwort also from our Korean ancestors. Traditionally, a woman who has just given birth was bathed with mugwort broth water. If you take a look at Korea's great medical encyclopedia " Dong Eui Bo Gam', mugwort is known as the ' ladies' plant', good for woman. It took me some years to understand exactly why.
After studies on my own, I learned that mugwort is rich with iron while dropwort is affluent with manganese. Since mugwort is rich with iron, it is the perfect food to be given to a woman who has just given birth or who is on her menstrual cycle ( during these times, a woman's body is depleted with iron ). Moreover, manganese in dropwort stimulates the peripheral nervous system that accelerates the process of cell division. This in turn, causes wounds to heal more quickly.
Iron and manganese are substances that are nor only important to human, but they are also essential minerals in plants' process of growth. Therefore, I thought extracting these micro nutrients from mugwort and dropwort would bring fourth satisfactory results in my crops.
Collecting ingredients to make FPJ
The Best ingredients are everywhere!
Once again, we emphasize that philosophy of Natural Farming is for the farmers to produce their farming inputs by themselves instead of relying on the market. Same applies for FPJ. All things created by nature having energy not to mention plants. Plants with vivid energy are everywhere. One can utilize variety of weeds, crops' remnants, and wild plants from mountains or sea as ingredients for making FPJ. any plants full of vital power are good.It is particularly effective to use green plants that to grow first in spring or those that remain green longest in late fall. Fast growing bamboo shoots and arrowroot's are also good. In the southern tropical areas, banana, papaya, mango, Kangkong and Bapoom have strong vital power. Lateral buds of all plants contain high growth hormones; excellent for FPJ.
What to collect
Strong against cold and well- growing in spring
It is recommended that you choose plants that are strong against cold and well-growing in spring, for instance mugwort and dropwort. Both plats are abundant in Korea, they are found everywhere. Mugwort is strong against both cold and heat. Herbicide might weaken it for a while, but it is so vigorous that it recovers. We want to deliver this power of the mugwort to our crops. Traditionally, Koreans have made numerous use of mugworts including cooking, medicine and bath.
Dropwort is also easily available. It alleviates and promotes urination. Plus, dropwort is full of calcium and manganese, which are good for blood circulation and stimulate peripheral nerve. Dropwort will give a same result to the crops. if the crops are sprayed with FPJ dropwort. Therefore, Natural Farmers shall make sure mugwort and dropwort FPJ are always ready.
Fast-growing and vigorous
When making FPJ, it important to use plants that grow fast. The fast developing plants have growth hormones that are very active, which means that the plants have a lot of energy. This characteristic can improve any weaknesses and recover health problems.
Bamboo shoots are typical example. You can almost see the shoots growing after rain. Because they grow very fast, you must collect them timely. Remove soil, but not the outer skin. Bamboo shoot FPJ, along with mugwort and dropwort FPJ, can be used to increase the effect of vegetative growth when diseases weaken crops.
There are other plants besides bamboo shoots that are great ingredients for FPJ. There are cucumber, strawberry and kiwi. Lateral buds of cucumbers are used for cucumbers. A cucumber grows from 1 gram to 10 gram in just 10 days. However, it is weak to cold and disease. So we use its lateral bud for making FPJ. If you cut about 50 cm above cucumber's roots during last part of Harvest season, and then hang cucumbers' stem upside down in a bottle, cucumbers' juice will seep out. This cucumber juice is also good for face care. It is said that the extracted can be stored up to 3 years, and the juice will maintain its original quality without any discoloration or losing flavors.
Of the season
All FPJ ingredients have the right season for collection. This stands true for sea plants too. For example, seaweed is best when collected in March to April. If you cannot obtain sufficient amount in one season, prepare a lot the previous year. Note that the FPJ made in spring is used throughout the year. Make plenty. It is also recommended to use wild plants have much vigorous energy which is key to a good FPJ. They are also easier to get large quantities.
FPJ from the same plant
Apart from the wild ones, you can also use the plant against the plant itself. We give back to the plant what it has produced. You can use what otherwise would have been waste; tomato lateral buds and leaves, squash and sweet potato vines, crops eaten by insects or overgrown, picked fruits or buds, unmarketable and other agricultural byproducts.
How to Collect
Avoid excessive sunshine and rainfall
If the day is clear due to the hot rays of the sun, then moisture level of plants may be low. And even if more brown sugar is added to the plants,osmotic pressure might fail to extract the juice. If the hot weather continues, but you must make FPJ, then you can water the plat one day before picking.
You should also avoid picking plants during or immediately after rainfall because rain wash away lactic acid bacteria and yeast on the leaves. If you make FPJ during this time, the Juice can become sticky and thick, and won't ferment well. This is the same reason why we try no to wash the ingredients before fermentation. It is wise to pick plants tow days after rain. Microorganisms on leaves have been washed away on the day or the day after rain. But after 2 days, they are restored. Soil has plenty of moisture and so does the plant; good for making FPJ.
Just before sunrise
The plants must be collected just before sunrise; that is when plants have the most nutrients. Plants have anabolism ( photosynthesis ) and catabolism. When the Sun is up, anabolism is primary; from about 3 p.m. to next day's sunrise, catabolism is active. This means in early morning just before sunrise, the plants contains the most nutrients and vitality. Ingredients with dew on them also give you more volume. It is better to make FPJ quickly after plucking the plants.
Visit the site in prior
It is usually dusky and dark out side right before dawn, making the process of searching for plants a little hard. Therefore, it is smart to do a prior on- the-spot-survey of the area where you will pick plants. For example, if this coming season is the 'Season of clematis berries' , then you should've already taken note of the clematis abundant area last year.
I should also mention that Natural Farming should be done in collaboration between husband and wife. It is because men tend to be less particular and careful in gathering necessary resources for NF.
Make your wife crazy about Natural Farming! Then everything will work out very smoothly. You will be able practice stable NF with plenty of plants in the storage. Natural Farming is another method that a married couple can do together while having fun. Since mugwort and dropwort is needed every year, it is smart to plant small amount of mugwort and dropwort in a section of your field. Mugwort and dropwort are very prolific plants, so they will grow well when planted. So you don't have to travel far to obtain them.
Quickly snap the growing points
You should pick the growing point for making FPJ. Thoughts on how much below the growing point snap depend on each individual. For example, if you pick plants very lengthy, you may easily obtain a lot of quantity, however, the growing point's portion will be small. For cucumbers, it is best to use about 10 cm in length from the growing point; however, this usually doesn't give enough quantity. So some people use about 20 cm from the growing point.It is best to use the picked plants immediately. As soon as you pick the plant, its liveliness and energy start to diminish.If you ignore to take care of picked plants for a long time, then the plants will start to dry. And if this happens, even if you make FPJ with the dried out plants, only small amount of juice will be extracted.
However, when one must go into a deep forest to obtain, for example, wild clematis or wild grapes, it will take long time before making FPJ. In this case, take along some FPJ with you; as you pick the fruits, dip them slightly. This forms a film outside the fruit, preventing the escape of nutrients and energy.
Some notes on materials
Container
You should either use a clay pot or a wooden container made with Japanese cedar. Avoid using stainless steel, iron,or plastics. Clay pot is good because it is not prone to temperature changes particularly in summer. However the downhill is that if the jar is too large, it is very heavy, which makes handling and washing the jar after-use very difficult. Therefore, it is important to choose a jar that is not too large. Small opening is recommended. If the opening is small, then less air will contact the juice, thus promoting the fermentation process, Also, when the liquid rises to the top and all ingredients are fully soaked. If the opening is wide, the liquid will not rise above the ingredients; the surface will become dry and fungus may appear.
For Japanese cedar containers, 18 to 36 liter size are adequate. It is also convenient to use a wine barrel with a knob on the bottom because you can easily retrieve the solution.
It is most convenient if you have jars and cedar containers in variety of sizes. Different FPJ may need different size containers. To practice NF properly, you will need 5 to 10 containers of various sizes. Most of other NF inputs also need such containers. If you cannot obtain a clay pot or cedar barrel.\, you may use plastic or glass containers. But quality of NF inputs made in these containers will not be as good. And remember to shade glass containers with black cloth or paper since sun ray should be blocked.
Brown sugar
Large amount of brown sugar are used for FPJ. Remember that when the ingredient has lot of moisture ( as in summer citrus, fruits, flowers etc ), you need to add in more brown sugar. Brown sugar needed is about 1/3 to 1/2 weight of original ingredients and in cases of ingredients with high water content,1/2 weight of the original ingredients should be used. However, if you use Philippine crude sugar, it is necessary to increase the quantity used.
If it is totally impossible to obtain brown sugar, then you may use white sugar. However, refined sugar does not have much minerals or vitamins; fermentation process will be different and FPJ will be low quality. Brown sugar should be used. What is even better is crude sugar. You can also mix sun dried salt with sugar. Of course refined white salt should be avoided. Molasses contains too much water; it is not goods for generating osmotic pressure.
Stone Weight to extract air
After putting all ingredients in a container, you need a stone to extract air.
Since plants' juice are extracted by osmotic pressure, not by a physical force,it is necessary to make brown sugar and ingredients to closely contact together. So a stone shall be placed on top of the container. The size of a stone should depend on the thickness of ingredients and their sugar content.
You can also use plastic bag filled with water instead of a stone. This method is advantageous as it perfectly adheres to the plants and applies an even weight. But you must be careful that it does not get torn. Use thick ones or two layers.
The weight should be removed after air has been extracted; maybe after one day.
Cover lid
A cover is needed to prevent insects. Porous paper are ideal. It must let air in and out. Newspapers are not good because they have ink on the surface. you may use cloth but it is easy for small animals to get in and wrinkles can accumulate dust. Remember to write the date and ingredients on the paper. You need this information.
How to make FPJ
Collect the ingredients.
Shake off dirt from the collected ingredients. Do not wash in the water; you will also wash away the useful microorganisms. If ingredients are too big, then cut them in adequate sizes (about 5 to 10 cm). This is to increase content surface and promote osmotic pressure. And remember that you do not mix different kinds of ingredients in one container! Only one ingredient goes in one container.
Measure the weight of the ingredient. Measure the weight of brown sugar. Brown sugar should be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the weight of the ingredient. You should add or subtract sugar according to the plant's moisture level.
Put the ingredients plus brown sugar in a large wide container and mix them with your hands. Cover with paper and leave for 1 or 2 hours.
Put the mixture into the clay pot. It should fill up the about 3/4 of the jar. It is important that the jar is not too full or under full. The empty space is not empty, it contains air necessary for reacting with the ingredients; you need a precise amount of air.
Put on the weight.
Put on cover and tie it on the jar.
Remove the weight after one or two days; after air has escaped. Put on cover again.
Put the jar in a cool and shaded place. Do not open,move or stir the ingredients during process of fermentation.
If juice is not extracted well, add sun-dried natural salt. Salt promotes the extraction. When you use salt, make sure that it does not exceed 1/3 of the sugar amount. And remember that if you add salt, the FPJ is not good for beverage!
Bacterial IMO Recipe
Bacterial IMO are used primarily for grass and leafy type plants. They are collected from grasslands or patches of bamboo.
Yields: 3 gallons
Contents
1 Gather Ingredients
2 Gestate the IMO
3 Propagate and Concentrate IMO
4 Dilute and Store
Gather Ingredients
Collect a five gallon bucket of leaf litter from bamboo trees. It is best to grab undisturbed bunches of leaves to get good microbial activity. Cook 4 cups of white rice.
Gestate the IMO
Spread the rice one inch thick in a plastic tupperware storage container. Cover the rice with a thin layer of the collected leaf litter. If the litter is dry, water LIGHTLY. Loosely cover the rice and litter with a tshirt. Put the container out of direct sunlight.
Propagate and Concentrate IMO
Once the rice is covered in a thick mold layer, remove the leaf litter from the rice. Put the moldy rice in a five gallon bucket and add 30% brown sugar. Fill with water up to the 3 gallon line and cover the bucket with the tshirt. Put the bucket out of direct sun light.
Dilute and Store
After a week the mixture can be diluted 20:1 with water and put into smaller containers. Bacterial IMO must be stored out of direct sunlight and will last up to one year. Storage in the refrigerator is optimal.
Fermented Fruit Juice Recipe
How to make FFJ
Gather 3 different fruits such as Banana, Papaya, and Guava. The fruits should be fully ripe ones, picked or fallen.
Wash and disinfect a 5 gallon bucket in the sun.
Add equal parts of fruit until the bucket is two-thirds full.
Add cane juice until the fruit is covered.
Mash the fruit with your foot.
Cover the container with a tshirt
In summer fermentation completes in 4-5 days, in winter in 17-18days.
After completion, strain out the fruit and compost it.
Mix some brown sugar into the liquid and store in cool shaded place.
When there is not sufficient amount of fruits, you may add supplementary ingredients such as spinach roots,wild yam,potato,Chinese cabbage,cabbage,cucumber,zucchini,and Chines radish. ( However, use persimmon only for persimmon and citrus for citrus. These two are not good to be used on other crops because of the cold and sour character)
Use FFJ diluted 1,000 times after changeover period of your crops. It is excellent for re energizing: for your crops, livestock and human alike. It will also help keep your family's health when consumed regularly.
Oriental Herbal Nutrient
How to make OHN
Prepare Angelica acutiloba, Cinnamon bark, Licorice, garlic and ginger (2:1:1:1:1). Garlic and ginger are supplementary ingredients.
The three main ingredients are sold in dry state.Put the three main ingredients in tree separate jars and fill up with rice wine or beer so that they are completely soaked. Fill up2/3 of the jars. The amount of rice wine should be such that it fully wet the ingredients but not too much. Let it absorb moisture for 1 or 2 days.
Garlic and ginger don't need wetting process. Crush them and put in separate jars.
Add brown sugar to the five jars equivalent to the weight of ingredients ( =plant= rice wine).
Cover with porous paper and tie it with rubber band. Leave for 3-5 days for fermentation.
After fermentation, pour distilled liquor into the remaining 1/3 space of the five jars. Stir with stick.
For long storage lid must be sealed tight with no air passing through.
Stir everyday morning.
Add the juice from 5 jars for use in 2 : 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio.
OHN makes crops healthy; it is used throughout the early, vegetative, changeover and fruiting stages. Basic dilution ratio is 500-1,000. When crops are week, mix/apply FPJ (500), BRV (500) and OHN (1,000). When plants have soft rot or anthracnose, add water-soluble calcium (WCA 1,000) to the this solution.
Charcoal
Biochar is a fine-grained charcoal-like material produced through pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the heating of biomass to temperatures of 300-600°C under air-deprived conditions. Through pyrolysis, the feedstock changes chemically to form structures that are much more resistant to microbial degradation than the original material. Many different sources of organic matter can be used as a feedstock for this process, including residues from forests or crop production, from animal production (manures), and from green waste streams, such as yard wastes. Biochar-like materials produced through forest fires are already a significant part of the global soil carbon cycle.
Contents
1 How does biochar sequester carbon?
2 Why is biochar valuable?
3 What do we need to know/do?
4 Biochar Details
How does biochar sequester carbon?
Because biochar is much more stable than other forms of biomass-derived carbon in soil, it remains in the soil for much longer.
Biochar is 1.5-2 orders of magnitude more stable in soils than uncharred material and has mean residence times of hundreds to thousands of years.
The “saturation point” for biochar additions to soil would be significantly greater compared to other additions from organic matter.
Why is biochar valuable?
Biochar is a very stable form of carbon and can thus be used to sequester CO2.
Biochar can be made from waste materials, including those (e.g., manure or green wastes) that may otherwise produce even more potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases.
Biochar production results in energy generation, which can also be integrated into sustainable local-scale operations such as the heating of farm buildings.
Biochar’s addition to soils can enhance soil fertility and retention of agrochemicals.
What do we need to know/do?
The technology and scientific knowledge is ready to implement the necessary steps to thoroughly develop biochar systems at a meaningful scale.
This will be necessary in order to understand biochar best practices, demonstrate field-scale soil health benefits for different agroecosystems.
Soil carbon sequestration, including biochar carbon sequestration must be recognized under carbon trading schemes.
Robust guidelines must be developed to ensure that any integration of biochar into carbon trading schemes is truly additional, sustainable, and does not result in the “leakage” of greenhouse gas emissions.
Biochar must not be seen as a replacement for dramatic reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions.
Biochar Details
Biochar is a fine-grained charcoal-like material that is produced through the heating of biomass under air-deprived conditions. This process is called pyrolysis. A wide variety of organic matter sources can be used as a feedstock for this process, including residues from forests or crop production, from animal production (manures), and from green waste streams, such as yard wastes. Upon pyrolysis at relatively low temperatures of 300-600°C, the chemical properties of biomass carbon change to form structures that are much more resistant to microbial degradation in comparison to the original organic matter. Thus, materials that would rapidly release carbon dioxide and other potent greenhouse gases as they decompose, are transformed into a material that degrades much more slowly, thereby creating a long-term carbon sink (Figure 1). Such thermally altered material is about 1.5 to 2 orders of magnitude more stable in soils than uncharred organic matter.1,2 Biochar has mean residence times of several hundreds to several thousands of years in soils.
The mechanism behind carbon sequestration through biochar in soils is very straightforward because stabilization is to a large extent a function of its intrinsic chemical stability. This is in contrast to uncharred organic matter, where soil carbon accrual primarily relies on a range of interactions between the mineral matrix and the organic matter. Therefore, the level at which soil carbon stores saturate8 and cease to sequester additional carbon is greater for biochar than for uncharred crop or forestry residues.
Biochar is a familiar substance in soil. Most soils already contain char that was generated during vegetation fires throughout the past several thousand years. These chars are estimated to make up several percent of total soil organic carbon worldwide,9,10 which, in turn, is about twice the size of the atmospheric carbon pool.11 Biochar soil management increases the amount of such naturally existing chars, which have been found to provide beneficial health and productivity properties to soil.
Biochar production and its application to soil provide several additional important value streams beyond direct climate change mitigation. These include waste management, energy production, and soil improvement. As a waste management strategy, biochar can be produced from a variety of feedstocks that would otherwise constitute a financial and environmental liability. For example, in agricultural regions with high phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the soils and water, animal manures could be pyrolysed as a waste management strategy to prevent eutrophication. In many situations, compost, landfill or animal manure operations often generate large amounts of methane and nitrous oxide. By pyrolysing materials such as lawn clippings or biomass from forest thinning for fire prevention, the production of these even more potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases would be effectively mitigated at the same time as the carbon is sequestered in soil.
A second value stream arises from bioenergy generated during biochar production. Between 2 and 7 units of energy can be produced for each unit of energy invested during the life cycle of various biochar systems. Biochar production can be paired with local heat generation such as a system where poultry manure is pyrolysed on-farm to heat barns and the resulting biochar is applied to fields.
The third value stream is the improvement of soil quality upon biochar additions. Crop yields can be significantly increased in soils that have productivity constraints. These may arise from degradation of soil organic matter or years of nutrient extraction through cultivation. The resulting losses of agrochemicals such as fertilizer nutrients, herbicides and pesticides can be mitigated by biochar’s ability to retain these compounds.14,15,16,17,18 Subsequently, fertilizer use efficiency is increased. In its ability to improve several key properties of soils, biochar is particularly effective not only because it delivers these values for a longer period of time, but also because it has a greater effect per unit of carbon added to soil.20 Improved soil fertility also provides better resilience against climate change. Taken together, these three sources of value have the potential to enhance food and energy security while also combating climate change.
Figure 2: Biochar value streams including biomass use, energy generation and soil enhancement.21
Deliberate biochar additions to soils have a number of implications for carbon trading. Additionality can be demonstrated because biochar is currently not actively produced or added to soils to any appreciable extent (less than 1% global penetration). However, it would still be critical to determine what the carbon stocks and flows would have been under the baseline system and to ensure that no greenhouse gas “leakage” would occur. For example, the land-use effects of large-scale biofuel-style plantations22 for biochar production or the removal and use of crop residues necessary to protect soil from erosion would likely make such systems inappropriate for biochar production to achieve net carbon sequestration. Measurement and verification of biochar sequestration is facilitated by the fact that the amount of carbon added at any one time is easily measured or calculated, and does not need to accumulate over time. Verification of lasting sequestration is possible because biochars bear a chemical signature that can be distinguished from other organic matter in soils. Furthermore, sequestered biochar carbon would not be released to the atmosphere due to changes in land management, fires, or deforestation, making it a strong candidate as a reliable carbon sequestration agent, with a mean residence time of several hundred to thousands of years.
The national or global potential of biochar to help mitigate climate change is only theoretical at this point, because too few biochar systems exist at scale of implementation. Conservative modeling of the technical potential place biochar as an approach to contribute on the order of 1Gt carbon removals annually by 2050 (considering only limited biomass feedstock availability and only carbon sequestration impacts).23 Such widespread adoption of biochar systems will require sustainability criteria, since the climate change mitigation value of biochar arises from several connected sources including energy and agriculture. The potential for climate mitigation is highly variable from one biochar system to the next due to different feedstocks, scales, and applications13,24 which requires careful evaluation. Biochar must be integrated into existing food production systems and not be an alternative to food production, make use of already developed best-management practices such as no-tillage or conservation agriculture, and, for efficiency, build on residue collection systems that are already in place.
While few fully implemented modern biochar systems exist worldwide, the necessary engineering and science capacity is available to evaluate a diverse set of biochar systems at scale of implementation in the near term. In fact, biochar science has rapidly evolved even over the past 12 months.25 Evaluation does not rely on a fundamental advance in science, but on the application and adaptation of existing science. The underlying technology is robust and sufficiently simple to make it applicable to many regions globally.
Current hurdles to implementation are: availability of pyrolysis units at sufficient maturity to allow all necessary research and development, and, as a direct consequence, a lack of demonstrated carbon trading activities; of sufficient development of best biochar practices at scale of implementation, including farm scale; and of demonstration of soil health benefits for the full spectrum of agroecosystems. The distributed nature of biochar systems and the potential for variability between systems create significant opportunities for sustainability, but also hurdles to widespread adoption, regulation, and financial viability.
Establishment of policies at national and international levels is required to remove hurdles to implementation and support full evaluation of biochar systems. Mechanisms for carbon trading that recognize soil carbon sequestration, including biochar sequestration, need to be put into place. Methodologies must include full life cycle accounting of emissions balances to deliver net climate benefits. The entire value chain of mitigation approaches must be recognized, to reward those activities that have multiple environmental and societal benefits. Biochar must not be an alternative to making dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions immediately, but it may be an important tool in our arsenal for combating dangerous climate change.
Fish Amino Acid Recipe
Fish Amino Acid (FAA) is a high Nitrogen natural farming input. Nitrogen is important in early growth because it is a building block of DNA, which is necessary in rapid cell division.
To make FAA
Put fish waste in a durable container
Mix in about 20% of the volume of brown sugar
Add in a few chopped papayas
Fish waste are the heads, skeletons, and other non-edible parts of the fish, usually obtainable for free from the local fish processing facility. 20% brown sugar will ensure that your end product is super good. You can add less sugar if you can't afford 20%, and I've heard of people making FAA with no sugar at all, so use your discretion. The papaya is optional, but with it's addition, the papayan enzyme is a natural meat tenderizer and will turn the FAA to liquid within days instead of the typical year. If after a few days the FAA is not liquid, try adding more papaya. I put about 25 into 30 gallons of fish waste and sugar, it worked really well.
Plants and Materials used for Bio Nutrients and Beneficial Indigenous Micro-Organisms
HORSETAIL (Equisetum arvense)
Silica is used in Natural Farming as fermented plant juice (FPJ) and sprayed on leaves in combination with other FPJ's as a natural fungicide. The water repelling properties of silica help shed the water and reduce fungus.
The sterile leafy stems of common horsetail, Equisetum arvense, are used worldwide for medicine. The fertile temporary strobili-bearing stems when young were allegedly eaten by the Romans. Fertile and young vegetative shoots of the Giant horsetail, E. telmatiea, were an important Spring food for Coast Salish Peoples on the North Pacific Coast from Oregon to Alaska (Pojar and Mackinnon). Excessive consumption of raw horsetails is thiamine suppressive and GI-disruptive.
Only the emergent stems of horsetail are used for medicine.
I could find no reference to medicinal use of the usually deeply-buried tuberous rhizomes. The primary medicinal uses of horsetails are as a source of silica and for urinary/reproductive problems (Turner).
Horsetails as a Source of Silica Horsetails are the most-heavily silicified land plants, 5-10% dry weight silica.
Equisetum plants use silica plates for stem structural stiffening instead of woody reinforcement. These plates are only loosely interconnected and can present a hazard when inhaled during the garbling of dried stems. (One acute episode of silica particulate dust is usually manageable by resident lung macrophages, with silica being expelled in excretory sputum; in some individuals, the silica is reworked into delicate hollow spherical globes.) Chronic exposure to sharp silica particles induces silicosis (chronic fibrosis), COPD and occasionally primary lung cancer.
If mature silicified horsetail stems are placed in a small kiln with an observation port and watched while all of the organic material is burned away, exquisite delicate three-dimensional replicas of the stems will remain until they shatter when the kiln is moved or the door opened. They strangely resemble the magical cities of glass pictured on the first paperback edition of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.
Silica in mature horsetails is only barely available for extraction in water or hydroethanol. It is opaline silica glass. In dried mature stems, especially, the silica is insoluble.
We need silica for bone and tooth formation, and the maintenance of healthy skin, and mucopolysaccharide structures.
In studies done at UCLA , electron probe analyses of elemental species present just before bone began to form in fetal rats showed the presence of silicon before any calcium or phosphorous. As bone formation actually began with the deposition of calcium phosphate, the silicon vanished. Silicon may need to be present for successful tissue mineralization to both begin and successfully progress.
Dissolved silica is therapeutically useful to aid bone formation in growing children, especially adolescents who are complaining of (probably) very real pains associated with overnight bone elongation episodes. In adolescent humans long bones can elongate by up to 2 cm overnight. I urge parents to indulge youth who are actually presenting growing pains, by allowing their respective children to stay in bed to allow completion of bone remineralization after an elongation episode.
Similarly, silica aids bone repair subsequent to fractures and splintering due to injuries from falling, impact trauma and vehicular collisions. In the latter bone remodeling and repair can take many months.
Painful teething in children can be helped with horsetail syrup, 5-10cc, 2x daily.
To successfully extract available silica from horsetail, live young actively growing stems are used to prepare a thick syrup; in them, silica is still in solution waiting to be deposited as structural plates. Silica tends to be insoluble at pH below 7.2-7.4. The pH of honey is 7.4-7.8. Quickly cut-up soft green stems and place in very warm (100-110oF) honey, 1 part horsetail to 3 parts warm honey and keep at circa 100oF for several days, stirring several times daily. The high honey sugar content will burst equisetum cells and preserve the contents from microbial growth
Brinker (1995) suggests that some silica may be extractable from dried mature horsetail stems. Fresh juice from either young plants of Cleavers (Galium aparine) or nettles (Urtica spp.) also tends to be rich in silica.
Practical Hawai'ian Considerations
by drake
To clarify things, IMO is IMO. There are no numbers associated with Indigenous MicroOrganisms. What Master Cho calls IMO1-5 are, in fact, a really sweet IMO bokashi that utilizes a waste stream in Korea with great efficiency. Koreans have mountains of rice hulls in every village. We, Hawai'ians have to use jet fuel to get hulls here, so let's rethink this.
Master Cho's collection method of IMO up to IMO2 is what I consider IMO. At this point, I take that sugary goup and I mix it in a plastic five gallon bucket with rain water, a local resource we have plenty of. If I put 4 cups of cooked rice out to collect IMO, I will mix it with 4 cups of brown sugar and 3 gallons of water. After a week, I will strain the solids out of the bucket, then I leave this bucket in my shed for storage and pour out small amounts, of this now liquid IMO, when I need them.
In Hawai'i, we have a tropical environment where weeds thrive and good sources of manure are not hard to come by. If you mix 70% carbon, ie dried out weeds and 30% nitrogen, ie manure and 1% IMO and juices and make sure the pile has a consistent 65% moisture content, you will get a 101% ten day super compost chock full of IMO conceptually identical to Master Cho's IMO5. This is what I recommend after a year of practicing natural farming. The mill run is sweet, but not in sync with the philosophy of using what is at your feet. The only case I would use mill run is for animal feed, and I hope to feel ashamed of saying so in the near future. Grow moringa, grow.
To make the IMO mix I sell at the market, I take 1 liter of liquid from IMO collected in the forest near my house, 1 liter of liquid from IMO collected in the pasture near my house, and 2 liters of LAB (see Cho's preparation, it's spot on) and mix that with 40 liters of water and throw in a handful of brown sugar. This is a 1/10 ratio of IMO (I consider the LAB an IMO, it's just a specific type of IMO. In general, IMO from the forest is fungal, IMO from the pasture is bacterial, and LAB is da kine everywhere) to water, and the handful of sugar is because microbial health is a function of food, if there is plenty of food there is no stress and the microbes are good, no food they freak out and pathogens eat them and take over, pathogens cause sickness, so make sure there is the right amount of food. My resulting mix is similar to what is known as EM, or effective microbes, because in this 2 LAB to 1 fungal and 1 bacterial ratio IMO are able to assist in many applications.
I use this IMO all over. I sometimes drink it. With a cane juicer, and a bit more discipline, I may be able to eliminate my dependency on buying bags of brown sugar to make my potions, and become the mythical sustainable man.
Indigenous Micro Organisms, or IMOs, are tiny colonies of life that are found and propagated from the immediate vicinity of the growing location. Because they come from the location you are trying to cultivate, they are already naturally adapted to your climate and can easily go to work in a symbiotic relationship with the plants. IMOs provide natural fertilizer for the plants and burrow deep to loosen soil providing a no-till super environment.
Contents
1 Indigenous Microorganisms
1.1 Why indigenous
1.2 IMO is the basis for making fertile land
1.3 Material circulation
1.4 Commercialization of microorganisms
1.5 Power of the indigenous
1.6 Restore the pristine nature
1.7 Bamboo forest and leaf molds abound in IMO
2 Using the IMOs
2.1 Use IMOs continuously
2.2 Diversity is essential
2.3 Use the tough guy
2.4 the Power of Diversity
3 How to collect IMOs
3.1 Collecting from forest
3.2 Collecting from leaf mold
3.3 Collecting from bamboo stumps
3.4 Collecting from rice-paddy
Indigenous Microorganisms
Why indigenous
Natural farming rejects foreign microorganisms. It also rejects microorganisms that are produced mechanically or artificially or purely separated to simply increase their market values. No other microorganism adapts with the same strength and effectiveness except for the indigenous microorganisms ( IMO ) that have lived in the local area for long time. The domestic farmers who are used to buying commercial microorganisms are amazed at the effectiveness of homemade IMO. The spread of IMOs and FPJ is giving a new vision for environment-friendly agriculture in Asia. We can make the microorganisms, which are considered one of the most important materials in sustainable agriculture, at home.
IMO is the basis for making fertile land
Farming is not conceivable without land. Therefore, adding strength and fertility to land is the number one priority. What is a fertile or proper land? In the light of the research done by scholars so far, about 700 kilograms of microorganisms are found to live in 0.1 hectare of land for non- contaminated field although it varies depending on how much organic material is contained in the land. Out of these, 70~ 75% is fungus and 20~25% bacteria and 5% small animals.
Assuming 80% of their body are water; the dry weight is about 140 kg. Out of dry weight, carbon (C) accounts for 70 kg and nitrogen (N) accounts for 11 kg. As the suggested nitrogen fertilizer per 0.1 ha is about 10 kg. The amount of natural nitrogen is equivalent !
100 million to 1 billion numbers of various microorganisms live in 1 gram of soil. In the size of one human foot print,3,280 aphids, 479 fleas,74,810 nematodes, and 1,845 small earthworms live in harmony; helping the growth of plants on the surface of land.
For a successful environment-friendly agriculture, making soil condition that is close to the above is important.
In order to make the soil condition as mentioned above, adequate condition and food for the microorganisms and small animals is essential.
When you cover hard land with straw mats or straws for 7 to 10 days, you will see white fungus and the land becomes soft and wet. This environment never fails to attract earthworms. Without having to add microorganisms artificially but simply by providing environment for the microorganisms to live in, the land recovers strength on its own. In proper environment, the fungus (microorganism) grows first. Nematodes that feed on these microorganisms are then attracted. Earthworms, mole crickets moles will follow. These organisms and animals, in a harmony, improve the soil condition and help the growth of plants. 90% of the microorganisms that are beneficial to plants live within 5 cm from surface.
When the land is covered by organic material such as rice straws, ideal condition of 7:3 ratio of shade to sun will be formed.
In such shady condition, water is kept from evaporation and the land is protected from direct sunlight. In order to form this environment, various methods are applied including rice straw or leaf mulching, wild grass cultivation (Mulching) and rye sowing.
You will see from the mountains and fields in nature that the land becomes fertile from top to bottom, not bottom to top. Therefore, it is recommended that organic fertilizers and organic materials be applied on the surface of land in the form of mulching.
Material circulation
Microorganisms do most of the material circulations in nature. They break or compose materials. To microorganisms, nothing is impossible. There are 2 major functions of microorganisms. First is to decompose and convert complex organic compounds such as dead bodies of plants and animals, secretion, excretion, and organic fertilizers into simple compounds so that material circulation is possible. Inorganic nutrients are also decomposed by microorganisms and become highly activated; easily absorbable by plants. Weak microorganism means improper material circulation.
Secondly, the microorganisms create complex or organic compounds by synthesis. Microorganisms produce various materials including anti-biotic substances, enzymes and lactic acids. These suppress various disease and promote chemical reaction in the soil. Without the enzymes, the complex chemical reaction cannot occur at such high speed. When sunlight strikes the leaves, it takes less than 1 second to produce one molecule of carbohydrate. Most chemical reaction in the land or plants is not likely to occur without the enzyme working as catalyst. Some microorganisms self create nutrients with energy from sunlight. Some microorganisms fix nitrogen from air and enrich the land.
Many more exist and function in the soil which we are not aware of. Modern scientific advancement has only revealed less than 10% of the world's microorganisms. The soil and its microorganisms is still an area full of mysteries.
Commercialization of microorganisms
As more research is done on microorganisms, more effort are made to commercialize their effects such that large amounts of microorganisms are imported from foreign countries and sold in the domestic market. This is regrettable. How can microorganisms be commercialized?
Commercialization is only possible when you can expect continued sales and demand. Continued sales would mean short-lived effectiveness of the microorganisms sold commercially. Those microorganisms sold in stores are, indeed, short-lived and effective for short-term. This is because foreign microorganisms will perish in the local soil.
As more emphasis is put on environment-friendly agriculture, various microorganism products will fill the market. As a farmer myself, I would like to clearly state these messages to the farmers : " The best microorganisms come only from the local environment. What you need is what is around."
Power of the indigenous
IMOs are a historic product -- trained, survived and adapted to the local environment for thousands or years. They withstand extreme climatic conditions. Given the proper temperature and climate, they will powerfully perform their functions. Artificially made or imported microorganisms do not persevere in harsh environments and die, resulting in short-term effect only.
Microorganisms that are made in factories or greenhouses where temperature and moisture are kept constant are only effective in similar environments; but NOT when the environment is changed. In the greenhouse, there is no typhoon, drought or flood but real life farming has to deal with all kinds of unexpected environments. In Natural farming, we suggest farmers grow and use microorganisms in normal temperature as you will understand when you practice using IMOs. I firmly believe there is no better alternative than to use the locally available IMOs.
Restore the pristine nature
Some farmers perceive microorganisms as fertilizers or vitamins such that they give microorganisms to the land at the time they think suitable with the expectation of simple and short-lived effect. In the short run, this may give them the result they want. However, in the long run, it can disrupt the balance of pristine eco-system of microorganisms.
Natural Farming does not recommend using microorganisms for a particular function. We believe it is better to restore the pristine state, the basic diversity and primitive powers. We have to understand that ever more complicated and mechanical (artificial) way of thinking in farming is only making farming more difficult. The excretion from plants differs in quality and amount by season and age. In turn, the type and amount of microorganisms that live on such excretion also change by seasons.
Bamboo forest and leaf molds abound in IMO
If you would look at brushwood fences, bamboo frost or valleys of mountain where leaves are piled, you will see white bodies of microorganisms. Microorganisms find their best living environment on their own. Farmers in the past would make fertilizer by collecting soil containing decomposed leaves or grass sheets. Below the decomposed leaves or grass sheets, abounds IMO.
IMOs are easily found and collected in the bamboo forest, forest with deciduous trees, grassroots and decomposed leaf molds,etc. In NF we collect and grow and these IMOs in many different ways. The treasure is very near; where we are.
Using the IMOs
Loss of diversity in microorganisms means loss of resistance to disease. Continued use of indigenous microorganisms not only makes soil and plant healthy but also helps prevent diseases.
Use IMOs continuously
After practicing NF for 2-3 years, you can get lazy in collecting and making IMOs. This laziness begins with the premature decision that the fields have improved so tiresome IMO are no longer necessary. So people come to think that a little bit of rice or lactic acid bacteria would suffice. But this is far from true.
The most important thing in soil is the primitive diversity and power of indigenous microorganisms. Farmers who fail to use IMOs properly cannot expect to see continued results. Relying on few substances such as rice wine, although they are natural, can contribute to disrupting the balance.
Diversity is essential
Mordern science faced a dilemma as it found more about microorganisms. At first, microorganisms were classified into classes: the good and the bad. Scientists tried to selectively use the beneficial ones. Many of the bacteria products you see in the market are results of such efforts.
However, further research revealed that it is very difficult to classify microorganism by their benefit and harm as they are correlated. You hardly get a sustained, long-term, safe effect that you desired by selectively using microorganisms. It would be fair to say, "Indigenous microorganisms are the simplest yet wisest method."
Use the tough guy
Anyone who has used IMOs would have observed the differences in the performance of IMOs collected from different sites. It is also different by the altitude and soil fertility. If you want to add some tough guys into your IMO collected from your vicinity, bring some from the high mountain or uncontaminated pristine nature with high vital energy.
the Power of Diversity
The better sterilized your soil is, the less microorganisms you have. Disease-causing bacteria can explode its propagation in such "vacuum of power." Lively and diverse micoorganisms will check and balance each other. Diseases do not come to you; you only bring them in. Rice absorbs large amount silicic acid. Silicic acid hardens the rice's body. Reed, bamboo, purple eulalia, lophatherum gracile have similarly hard bodies. The roots of these plants produce a special root acid that dissolves (and absorbs) silicic acid. Around the roots, there are also plenty of microorganisms that dissolve silicic acid. In turn, if you collect leaf or soil from reed, bamboo, purple eulalia, lophatherum gracile fields, it will greatly help your rice crops.
In the northern hemisphere, the northern face of a mountain has a lot of psychrophiles, and the southern face has mesophiles and thermophiles. In the northern face, there are no high-temperature bacteria with fermentation temperature above 70; however you will have better chance of finding them on the southern side. Low-temp bacteria will help your crops in cloudy weather, long rains, and low temperature. High-temp bacteria will help you in sunny weather, drought, and high temperature. So what do we do? Bring leaf mold and soil from all directions of the mountain, the summit, the valley and the drench. Mix/culture it in rice bran.
How to collect IMOs
Download "How to Cultivate Indigenous Microorganisms" in pdf format by CTHAR "[[1]]"
The IMOs can be collected by various methods. It can be collected from hills and mountains using steamed rice with low moisture ( hard- boiled ), decomposed leaves and bamboo stumps. It is possible to collect, to a certain extent, particular types of microorganisms.
Collecting from forest
Fill a wooden lunch box (or any natural material like hala basket etc ) with hard- steamed rice. The rice should not be packed deeper than 7 cm (about little less than 3 inches ). This is for air supply. Without sufficient air supply, anaerobic microorganism will be collected. Anaerobic microorganisms are more commonly recommended.
cover the lunchbox with rough paper ( so air can get through )and tie it ti the box rubber band.
Bury the lunchbox in the local bamboo field or decomposed leaf molds in the hills. Cover with leaves. Be careful that the leaves press the paper to touch the rice surface.
Cover plastic sheet on the leaves above the lunchbox to prevent rain from getting through.
At 20 C or 70 F, it will take about 4 to 5 days ( faster when hotter ) for the IMOs to fill up the box. Move this rice ( this is called IMO 1 ) to the clay pot.
Mix crude ( or brown ) sugar with the IMO 1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is called IMO 2 ).
Cover the clay pot with paper and tie with rubber band.
Collecting from leaf mold
Go to the hills forests, valleys, you will find leaf molds full of white hypha. Collect this IMO mold. Deciduous tree forests are better because evergreen forest have less microorganisms.
Dip hard-steamed rice in solution of FPJ ( fermented plant juice) diluted 1,000 times. Warm it then leave it to cool.
mix this rice with the leaf mold. Leave for one night.
mix this compound into rice bran (or wheat mill ) for propagation. Cover the rice bran with straw to promote IMO growth.
You can add FPJ ( fermented plant juice ), FAA ( fish amino acid ), mineral A, etc. to boost process.
Collecting from bamboo stumps
Choose a bamboo tree in the center of the bamboo forest. Slice the trunk at 10 cm from the ground obliquely. Cut it so that inner part is lower than the outer part so that the bamboo juice will not leak out.
Fill in hard-boiled rice in the bamboo cavity: rice should be higher than the brim.
Put a wooden lunch box C cedar ) over the stump.
Cover the box with leaves.
Cover with plastic sheet and then put a weight on top so it won't fly away.
In 3-5 days, red, white, yellow, black and all sorts of bacterias will have gathered. Juice from bamboo will also be collected.
Cut the stump. Pour the rice in clay pot ( this is IMO 1 ).
Mix crude ( or brown ) Sugar with IMO1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is IMO@ ).
Collecting from rice-paddy
After harvest, cover the rice stump with rice lunchbox immediately after cutting. The lunchbox faces downward.
Cover with steel wire net to prevent mouse.
Cover with plastic sheet to prevent rain.
After approximately one week, IMO will have gathered.
Pour the rice clay pot ( this is IMO1).
Mix crude ( or brown) sugar with the IMO1 in 1:1 ratio ( this is IMO2).
Cover the clay pot with paper, and tie with rubber band.
When you collect microorganism from rice paddies, in contrast to the microorganisms collected from bamboo forest or leaf molds, you can get a lot of anaerobic microorganisms. In particular, you can collect a large quantity of ; carbohydrates; and bacillus subtitles that disintegrates strong fibers such as straws and straws and reeds. Theses two mocroorganisms have outstanding decomposing power.
But when the fermentation temperature goes up above 70 C, they not only convert protein into amino-acid into ammonia. In such case, the nutrients are lost to the air. Therefore, the fermentation temperature should be maintained at below 50 C. Lactic acid bacteria feed on sugar and amino acid made by bacillus licheniformis and bacillus subtilis.
Adding lactic acid bacteria can lower the temperature.
Fermented Plant Juices
1 What are Fermented Plant Juices?
1.1 FPJ and Kimchi
1.2 Mugwort and Dropwort
2 Collecting ingredients to make FPJ
2.1 What to collect
2.1.1 Strong against cold and well- growing in spring
2.1.2 Fast-growing and vigorous
2.1.3 Of the season
2.1.4 FPJ from the same plant
2.2 How to Collect
2.2.1 Avoid excessive sunshine and rainfall
2.2.2 Just before sunrise
2.2.3 Visit the site in prior
2.2.4 Quickly snap the growing points
2.3 Some notes on materials
2.3.1 Container
2.3.2 Brown sugar
2.3.3 Stone Weight to extract air
2.3.4 Cover lid
3 How to make FPJ
What are Fermented Plant Juices?
Generally, plants are composed of blood, chlorophyll and fiber. Plus there are about 100,000 to 150,000 microorganisms per 1 cm* of leaf. Most of them are lactic acid bacteria and yeast.
Fermented plant juice (FPJ) is fermented extract of the plant's blood and chlorophyll. Brown sugar is used to extract the essence through osmotic pressure.
Therefore, FPJ is a rich enzyme solution full of these bacteria; invigorating plants and animals.
It is interesting to note that chlorophyll doesn't dissolve in water or oil but in weak alcohol. Microorganism in the process of fermentation of making FPJ produce small quantity of alcohol; extracting the chlorophyll.
FPJ and Kimchi
Koreans have enjoyed Kimchi ( Korean- style pickled vegetables) for a long time. Kimchi, which is made by adding variety of spices and condiments to vegetables, is not only a food source rich in nutrition, but also helps digestion. Abundant lactic acid bacteria in the kimchi soup do this job. That is why Korean will begin their meal with one spoon of Kimchi juice.
Some smart farmer tried to apply Kimchi in farming. My father was one. My father never threw away leftover Kimchi juice ( very sour ), but he always poured the leftover into container filled with human feces and added water. He then used it as fertilizer. Crops grew healthy and strong. So I came to think 'if human feces treated with Kimchi juice are good for crops, why not apply it directly?' and did some experiments. I applied diluted Kimchi juice to crops; I tested to see whether hot pepper seeds in old sour Kimchi would germinate: I dipped hot pepper seeds in Kimchi Juice for a while then sowed to see the effects. The results were more than expected. Diluted Kimchi juice made hot papers healthy; the old seeds; and the dipped seeds were also healthy.
I further ventured to use various plants for Kimchi ingredients. FPJ was invented based on such experience. It is basically switching the salt of Traditional Kimchi with brown sugar.
Mugwort and Dropwort
Mugwort and dropwort are the two basic FPJs. I got the hint of using mugwort and dropwort also from our Korean ancestors. Traditionally, a woman who has just given birth was bathed with mugwort broth water. If you take a look at Korea's great medical encyclopedia " Dong Eui Bo Gam', mugwort is known as the ' ladies' plant', good for woman. It took me some years to understand exactly why.
After studies on my own, I learned that mugwort is rich with iron while dropwort is affluent with manganese. Since mugwort is rich with iron, it is the perfect food to be given to a woman who has just given birth or who is on her menstrual cycle ( during these times, a woman's body is depleted with iron ). Moreover, manganese in dropwort stimulates the peripheral nervous system that accelerates the process of cell division. This in turn, causes wounds to heal more quickly.
Iron and manganese are substances that are nor only important to human, but they are also essential minerals in plants' process of growth. Therefore, I thought extracting these micro nutrients from mugwort and dropwort would bring fourth satisfactory results in my crops.
Collecting ingredients to make FPJ
The Best ingredients are everywhere!
Once again, we emphasize that philosophy of Natural Farming is for the farmers to produce their farming inputs by themselves instead of relying on the market. Same applies for FPJ. All things created by nature having energy not to mention plants. Plants with vivid energy are everywhere. One can utilize variety of weeds, crops' remnants, and wild plants from mountains or sea as ingredients for making FPJ. any plants full of vital power are good.It is particularly effective to use green plants that to grow first in spring or those that remain green longest in late fall. Fast growing bamboo shoots and arrowroot's are also good. In the southern tropical areas, banana, papaya, mango, Kangkong and Bapoom have strong vital power. Lateral buds of all plants contain high growth hormones; excellent for FPJ.
What to collect
Strong against cold and well- growing in spring
It is recommended that you choose plants that are strong against cold and well-growing in spring, for instance mugwort and dropwort. Both plats are abundant in Korea, they are found everywhere. Mugwort is strong against both cold and heat. Herbicide might weaken it for a while, but it is so vigorous that it recovers. We want to deliver this power of the mugwort to our crops. Traditionally, Koreans have made numerous use of mugworts including cooking, medicine and bath.
Dropwort is also easily available. It alleviates and promotes urination. Plus, dropwort is full of calcium and manganese, which are good for blood circulation and stimulate peripheral nerve. Dropwort will give a same result to the crops. if the crops are sprayed with FPJ dropwort. Therefore, Natural Farmers shall make sure mugwort and dropwort FPJ are always ready.
Fast-growing and vigorous
When making FPJ, it important to use plants that grow fast. The fast developing plants have growth hormones that are very active, which means that the plants have a lot of energy. This characteristic can improve any weaknesses and recover health problems.
Bamboo shoots are typical example. You can almost see the shoots growing after rain. Because they grow very fast, you must collect them timely. Remove soil, but not the outer skin. Bamboo shoot FPJ, along with mugwort and dropwort FPJ, can be used to increase the effect of vegetative growth when diseases weaken crops.
There are other plants besides bamboo shoots that are great ingredients for FPJ. There are cucumber, strawberry and kiwi. Lateral buds of cucumbers are used for cucumbers. A cucumber grows from 1 gram to 10 gram in just 10 days. However, it is weak to cold and disease. So we use its lateral bud for making FPJ. If you cut about 50 cm above cucumber's roots during last part of Harvest season, and then hang cucumbers' stem upside down in a bottle, cucumbers' juice will seep out. This cucumber juice is also good for face care. It is said that the extracted can be stored up to 3 years, and the juice will maintain its original quality without any discoloration or losing flavors.
Of the season
All FPJ ingredients have the right season for collection. This stands true for sea plants too. For example, seaweed is best when collected in March to April. If you cannot obtain sufficient amount in one season, prepare a lot the previous year. Note that the FPJ made in spring is used throughout the year. Make plenty. It is also recommended to use wild plants have much vigorous energy which is key to a good FPJ. They are also easier to get large quantities.
FPJ from the same plant
Apart from the wild ones, you can also use the plant against the plant itself. We give back to the plant what it has produced. You can use what otherwise would have been waste; tomato lateral buds and leaves, squash and sweet potato vines, crops eaten by insects or overgrown, picked fruits or buds, unmarketable and other agricultural byproducts.
How to Collect
Avoid excessive sunshine and rainfall
If the day is clear due to the hot rays of the sun, then moisture level of plants may be low. And even if more brown sugar is added to the plants,osmotic pressure might fail to extract the juice. If the hot weather continues, but you must make FPJ, then you can water the plat one day before picking.
You should also avoid picking plants during or immediately after rainfall because rain wash away lactic acid bacteria and yeast on the leaves. If you make FPJ during this time, the Juice can become sticky and thick, and won't ferment well. This is the same reason why we try no to wash the ingredients before fermentation. It is wise to pick plants tow days after rain. Microorganisms on leaves have been washed away on the day or the day after rain. But after 2 days, they are restored. Soil has plenty of moisture and so does the plant; good for making FPJ.
Just before sunrise
The plants must be collected just before sunrise; that is when plants have the most nutrients. Plants have anabolism ( photosynthesis ) and catabolism. When the Sun is up, anabolism is primary; from about 3 p.m. to next day's sunrise, catabolism is active. This means in early morning just before sunrise, the plants contains the most nutrients and vitality. Ingredients with dew on them also give you more volume. It is better to make FPJ quickly after plucking the plants.
Visit the site in prior
It is usually dusky and dark out side right before dawn, making the process of searching for plants a little hard. Therefore, it is smart to do a prior on- the-spot-survey of the area where you will pick plants. For example, if this coming season is the 'Season of clematis berries' , then you should've already taken note of the clematis abundant area last year.
I should also mention that Natural Farming should be done in collaboration between husband and wife. It is because men tend to be less particular and careful in gathering necessary resources for NF.
Make your wife crazy about Natural Farming! Then everything will work out very smoothly. You will be able practice stable NF with plenty of plants in the storage. Natural Farming is another method that a married couple can do together while having fun. Since mugwort and dropwort is needed every year, it is smart to plant small amount of mugwort and dropwort in a section of your field. Mugwort and dropwort are very prolific plants, so they will grow well when planted. So you don't have to travel far to obtain them.
Quickly snap the growing points
You should pick the growing point for making FPJ. Thoughts on how much below the growing point snap depend on each individual. For example, if you pick plants very lengthy, you may easily obtain a lot of quantity, however, the growing point's portion will be small. For cucumbers, it is best to use about 10 cm in length from the growing point; however, this usually doesn't give enough quantity. So some people use about 20 cm from the growing point.It is best to use the picked plants immediately. As soon as you pick the plant, its liveliness and energy start to diminish.If you ignore to take care of picked plants for a long time, then the plants will start to dry. And if this happens, even if you make FPJ with the dried out plants, only small amount of juice will be extracted.
However, when one must go into a deep forest to obtain, for example, wild clematis or wild grapes, it will take long time before making FPJ. In this case, take along some FPJ with you; as you pick the fruits, dip them slightly. This forms a film outside the fruit, preventing the escape of nutrients and energy.
Some notes on materials
Container
You should either use a clay pot or a wooden container made with Japanese cedar. Avoid using stainless steel, iron,or plastics. Clay pot is good because it is not prone to temperature changes particularly in summer. However the downhill is that if the jar is too large, it is very heavy, which makes handling and washing the jar after-use very difficult. Therefore, it is important to choose a jar that is not too large. Small opening is recommended. If the opening is small, then less air will contact the juice, thus promoting the fermentation process, Also, when the liquid rises to the top and all ingredients are fully soaked. If the opening is wide, the liquid will not rise above the ingredients; the surface will become dry and fungus may appear.
For Japanese cedar containers, 18 to 36 liter size are adequate. It is also convenient to use a wine barrel with a knob on the bottom because you can easily retrieve the solution.
It is most convenient if you have jars and cedar containers in variety of sizes. Different FPJ may need different size containers. To practice NF properly, you will need 5 to 10 containers of various sizes. Most of other NF inputs also need such containers. If you cannot obtain a clay pot or cedar barrel.\, you may use plastic or glass containers. But quality of NF inputs made in these containers will not be as good. And remember to shade glass containers with black cloth or paper since sun ray should be blocked.
Brown sugar
Large amount of brown sugar are used for FPJ. Remember that when the ingredient has lot of moisture ( as in summer citrus, fruits, flowers etc ), you need to add in more brown sugar. Brown sugar needed is about 1/3 to 1/2 weight of original ingredients and in cases of ingredients with high water content,1/2 weight of the original ingredients should be used. However, if you use Philippine crude sugar, it is necessary to increase the quantity used.
If it is totally impossible to obtain brown sugar, then you may use white sugar. However, refined sugar does not have much minerals or vitamins; fermentation process will be different and FPJ will be low quality. Brown sugar should be used. What is even better is crude sugar. You can also mix sun dried salt with sugar. Of course refined white salt should be avoided. Molasses contains too much water; it is not goods for generating osmotic pressure.
Stone Weight to extract air
After putting all ingredients in a container, you need a stone to extract air.
Since plants' juice are extracted by osmotic pressure, not by a physical force,it is necessary to make brown sugar and ingredients to closely contact together. So a stone shall be placed on top of the container. The size of a stone should depend on the thickness of ingredients and their sugar content.
You can also use plastic bag filled with water instead of a stone. This method is advantageous as it perfectly adheres to the plants and applies an even weight. But you must be careful that it does not get torn. Use thick ones or two layers.
The weight should be removed after air has been extracted; maybe after one day.
Cover lid
A cover is needed to prevent insects. Porous paper are ideal. It must let air in and out. Newspapers are not good because they have ink on the surface. you may use cloth but it is easy for small animals to get in and wrinkles can accumulate dust. Remember to write the date and ingredients on the paper. You need this information.
How to make FPJ
Collect the ingredients.
Shake off dirt from the collected ingredients. Do not wash in the water; you will also wash away the useful microorganisms. If ingredients are too big, then cut them in adequate sizes (about 5 to 10 cm). This is to increase content surface and promote osmotic pressure. And remember that you do not mix different kinds of ingredients in one container! Only one ingredient goes in one container.
Measure the weight of the ingredient. Measure the weight of brown sugar. Brown sugar should be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the weight of the ingredient. You should add or subtract sugar according to the plant's moisture level.
Put the ingredients plus brown sugar in a large wide container and mix them with your hands. Cover with paper and leave for 1 or 2 hours.
Put the mixture into the clay pot. It should fill up the about 3/4 of the jar. It is important that the jar is not too full or under full. The empty space is not empty, it contains air necessary for reacting with the ingredients; you need a precise amount of air.
Put on the weight.
Put on cover and tie it on the jar.
Remove the weight after one or two days; after air has escaped. Put on cover again.
Put the jar in a cool and shaded place. Do not open,move or stir the ingredients during process of fermentation.
If juice is not extracted well, add sun-dried natural salt. Salt promotes the extraction. When you use salt, make sure that it does not exceed 1/3 of the sugar amount. And remember that if you add salt, the FPJ is not good for beverage!
Bacterial IMO Recipe
Bacterial IMO are used primarily for grass and leafy type plants. They are collected from grasslands or patches of bamboo.
Yields: 3 gallons
Contents
1 Gather Ingredients
2 Gestate the IMO
3 Propagate and Concentrate IMO
4 Dilute and Store
Gather Ingredients
Collect a five gallon bucket of leaf litter from bamboo trees. It is best to grab undisturbed bunches of leaves to get good microbial activity. Cook 4 cups of white rice.
Gestate the IMO
Spread the rice one inch thick in a plastic tupperware storage container. Cover the rice with a thin layer of the collected leaf litter. If the litter is dry, water LIGHTLY. Loosely cover the rice and litter with a tshirt. Put the container out of direct sunlight.
Propagate and Concentrate IMO
Once the rice is covered in a thick mold layer, remove the leaf litter from the rice. Put the moldy rice in a five gallon bucket and add 30% brown sugar. Fill with water up to the 3 gallon line and cover the bucket with the tshirt. Put the bucket out of direct sun light.
Dilute and Store
After a week the mixture can be diluted 20:1 with water and put into smaller containers. Bacterial IMO must be stored out of direct sunlight and will last up to one year. Storage in the refrigerator is optimal.
Fermented Fruit Juice Recipe
How to make FFJ
Gather 3 different fruits such as Banana, Papaya, and Guava. The fruits should be fully ripe ones, picked or fallen.
Wash and disinfect a 5 gallon bucket in the sun.
Add equal parts of fruit until the bucket is two-thirds full.
Add cane juice until the fruit is covered.
Mash the fruit with your foot.
Cover the container with a tshirt
In summer fermentation completes in 4-5 days, in winter in 17-18days.
After completion, strain out the fruit and compost it.
Mix some brown sugar into the liquid and store in cool shaded place.
When there is not sufficient amount of fruits, you may add supplementary ingredients such as spinach roots,wild yam,potato,Chinese cabbage,cabbage,cucumber,zucchini,and Chines radish. ( However, use persimmon only for persimmon and citrus for citrus. These two are not good to be used on other crops because of the cold and sour character)
Use FFJ diluted 1,000 times after changeover period of your crops. It is excellent for re energizing: for your crops, livestock and human alike. It will also help keep your family's health when consumed regularly.
Oriental Herbal Nutrient
How to make OHN
Prepare Angelica acutiloba, Cinnamon bark, Licorice, garlic and ginger (2:1:1:1:1). Garlic and ginger are supplementary ingredients.
The three main ingredients are sold in dry state.Put the three main ingredients in tree separate jars and fill up with rice wine or beer so that they are completely soaked. Fill up2/3 of the jars. The amount of rice wine should be such that it fully wet the ingredients but not too much. Let it absorb moisture for 1 or 2 days.
Garlic and ginger don't need wetting process. Crush them and put in separate jars.
Add brown sugar to the five jars equivalent to the weight of ingredients ( =plant= rice wine).
Cover with porous paper and tie it with rubber band. Leave for 3-5 days for fermentation.
After fermentation, pour distilled liquor into the remaining 1/3 space of the five jars. Stir with stick.
For long storage lid must be sealed tight with no air passing through.
Stir everyday morning.
Add the juice from 5 jars for use in 2 : 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio.
OHN makes crops healthy; it is used throughout the early, vegetative, changeover and fruiting stages. Basic dilution ratio is 500-1,000. When crops are week, mix/apply FPJ (500), BRV (500) and OHN (1,000). When plants have soft rot or anthracnose, add water-soluble calcium (WCA 1,000) to the this solution.
Charcoal
Biochar is a fine-grained charcoal-like material produced through pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the heating of biomass to temperatures of 300-600°C under air-deprived conditions. Through pyrolysis, the feedstock changes chemically to form structures that are much more resistant to microbial degradation than the original material. Many different sources of organic matter can be used as a feedstock for this process, including residues from forests or crop production, from animal production (manures), and from green waste streams, such as yard wastes. Biochar-like materials produced through forest fires are already a significant part of the global soil carbon cycle.
Contents
1 How does biochar sequester carbon?
2 Why is biochar valuable?
3 What do we need to know/do?
4 Biochar Details
How does biochar sequester carbon?
Because biochar is much more stable than other forms of biomass-derived carbon in soil, it remains in the soil for much longer.
Biochar is 1.5-2 orders of magnitude more stable in soils than uncharred material and has mean residence times of hundreds to thousands of years.
The “saturation point” for biochar additions to soil would be significantly greater compared to other additions from organic matter.
Why is biochar valuable?
Biochar is a very stable form of carbon and can thus be used to sequester CO2.
Biochar can be made from waste materials, including those (e.g., manure or green wastes) that may otherwise produce even more potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases.
Biochar production results in energy generation, which can also be integrated into sustainable local-scale operations such as the heating of farm buildings.
Biochar’s addition to soils can enhance soil fertility and retention of agrochemicals.
What do we need to know/do?
The technology and scientific knowledge is ready to implement the necessary steps to thoroughly develop biochar systems at a meaningful scale.
This will be necessary in order to understand biochar best practices, demonstrate field-scale soil health benefits for different agroecosystems.
Soil carbon sequestration, including biochar carbon sequestration must be recognized under carbon trading schemes.
Robust guidelines must be developed to ensure that any integration of biochar into carbon trading schemes is truly additional, sustainable, and does not result in the “leakage” of greenhouse gas emissions.
Biochar must not be seen as a replacement for dramatic reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions.
Biochar Details
Biochar is a fine-grained charcoal-like material that is produced through the heating of biomass under air-deprived conditions. This process is called pyrolysis. A wide variety of organic matter sources can be used as a feedstock for this process, including residues from forests or crop production, from animal production (manures), and from green waste streams, such as yard wastes. Upon pyrolysis at relatively low temperatures of 300-600°C, the chemical properties of biomass carbon change to form structures that are much more resistant to microbial degradation in comparison to the original organic matter. Thus, materials that would rapidly release carbon dioxide and other potent greenhouse gases as they decompose, are transformed into a material that degrades much more slowly, thereby creating a long-term carbon sink (Figure 1). Such thermally altered material is about 1.5 to 2 orders of magnitude more stable in soils than uncharred organic matter.1,2 Biochar has mean residence times of several hundreds to several thousands of years in soils.
The mechanism behind carbon sequestration through biochar in soils is very straightforward because stabilization is to a large extent a function of its intrinsic chemical stability. This is in contrast to uncharred organic matter, where soil carbon accrual primarily relies on a range of interactions between the mineral matrix and the organic matter. Therefore, the level at which soil carbon stores saturate8 and cease to sequester additional carbon is greater for biochar than for uncharred crop or forestry residues.
Biochar is a familiar substance in soil. Most soils already contain char that was generated during vegetation fires throughout the past several thousand years. These chars are estimated to make up several percent of total soil organic carbon worldwide,9,10 which, in turn, is about twice the size of the atmospheric carbon pool.11 Biochar soil management increases the amount of such naturally existing chars, which have been found to provide beneficial health and productivity properties to soil.
Biochar production and its application to soil provide several additional important value streams beyond direct climate change mitigation. These include waste management, energy production, and soil improvement. As a waste management strategy, biochar can be produced from a variety of feedstocks that would otherwise constitute a financial and environmental liability. For example, in agricultural regions with high phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the soils and water, animal manures could be pyrolysed as a waste management strategy to prevent eutrophication. In many situations, compost, landfill or animal manure operations often generate large amounts of methane and nitrous oxide. By pyrolysing materials such as lawn clippings or biomass from forest thinning for fire prevention, the production of these even more potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases would be effectively mitigated at the same time as the carbon is sequestered in soil.
A second value stream arises from bioenergy generated during biochar production. Between 2 and 7 units of energy can be produced for each unit of energy invested during the life cycle of various biochar systems. Biochar production can be paired with local heat generation such as a system where poultry manure is pyrolysed on-farm to heat barns and the resulting biochar is applied to fields.
The third value stream is the improvement of soil quality upon biochar additions. Crop yields can be significantly increased in soils that have productivity constraints. These may arise from degradation of soil organic matter or years of nutrient extraction through cultivation. The resulting losses of agrochemicals such as fertilizer nutrients, herbicides and pesticides can be mitigated by biochar’s ability to retain these compounds.14,15,16,17,18 Subsequently, fertilizer use efficiency is increased. In its ability to improve several key properties of soils, biochar is particularly effective not only because it delivers these values for a longer period of time, but also because it has a greater effect per unit of carbon added to soil.20 Improved soil fertility also provides better resilience against climate change. Taken together, these three sources of value have the potential to enhance food and energy security while also combating climate change.
Figure 2: Biochar value streams including biomass use, energy generation and soil enhancement.21
Deliberate biochar additions to soils have a number of implications for carbon trading. Additionality can be demonstrated because biochar is currently not actively produced or added to soils to any appreciable extent (less than 1% global penetration). However, it would still be critical to determine what the carbon stocks and flows would have been under the baseline system and to ensure that no greenhouse gas “leakage” would occur. For example, the land-use effects of large-scale biofuel-style plantations22 for biochar production or the removal and use of crop residues necessary to protect soil from erosion would likely make such systems inappropriate for biochar production to achieve net carbon sequestration. Measurement and verification of biochar sequestration is facilitated by the fact that the amount of carbon added at any one time is easily measured or calculated, and does not need to accumulate over time. Verification of lasting sequestration is possible because biochars bear a chemical signature that can be distinguished from other organic matter in soils. Furthermore, sequestered biochar carbon would not be released to the atmosphere due to changes in land management, fires, or deforestation, making it a strong candidate as a reliable carbon sequestration agent, with a mean residence time of several hundred to thousands of years.
The national or global potential of biochar to help mitigate climate change is only theoretical at this point, because too few biochar systems exist at scale of implementation. Conservative modeling of the technical potential place biochar as an approach to contribute on the order of 1Gt carbon removals annually by 2050 (considering only limited biomass feedstock availability and only carbon sequestration impacts).23 Such widespread adoption of biochar systems will require sustainability criteria, since the climate change mitigation value of biochar arises from several connected sources including energy and agriculture. The potential for climate mitigation is highly variable from one biochar system to the next due to different feedstocks, scales, and applications13,24 which requires careful evaluation. Biochar must be integrated into existing food production systems and not be an alternative to food production, make use of already developed best-management practices such as no-tillage or conservation agriculture, and, for efficiency, build on residue collection systems that are already in place.
While few fully implemented modern biochar systems exist worldwide, the necessary engineering and science capacity is available to evaluate a diverse set of biochar systems at scale of implementation in the near term. In fact, biochar science has rapidly evolved even over the past 12 months.25 Evaluation does not rely on a fundamental advance in science, but on the application and adaptation of existing science. The underlying technology is robust and sufficiently simple to make it applicable to many regions globally.
Current hurdles to implementation are: availability of pyrolysis units at sufficient maturity to allow all necessary research and development, and, as a direct consequence, a lack of demonstrated carbon trading activities; of sufficient development of best biochar practices at scale of implementation, including farm scale; and of demonstration of soil health benefits for the full spectrum of agroecosystems. The distributed nature of biochar systems and the potential for variability between systems create significant opportunities for sustainability, but also hurdles to widespread adoption, regulation, and financial viability.
Establishment of policies at national and international levels is required to remove hurdles to implementation and support full evaluation of biochar systems. Mechanisms for carbon trading that recognize soil carbon sequestration, including biochar sequestration, need to be put into place. Methodologies must include full life cycle accounting of emissions balances to deliver net climate benefits. The entire value chain of mitigation approaches must be recognized, to reward those activities that have multiple environmental and societal benefits. Biochar must not be an alternative to making dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions immediately, but it may be an important tool in our arsenal for combating dangerous climate change.
Fish Amino Acid Recipe
Fish Amino Acid (FAA) is a high Nitrogen natural farming input. Nitrogen is important in early growth because it is a building block of DNA, which is necessary in rapid cell division.
To make FAA
Put fish waste in a durable container
Mix in about 20% of the volume of brown sugar
Add in a few chopped papayas
Fish waste are the heads, skeletons, and other non-edible parts of the fish, usually obtainable for free from the local fish processing facility. 20% brown sugar will ensure that your end product is super good. You can add less sugar if you can't afford 20%, and I've heard of people making FAA with no sugar at all, so use your discretion. The papaya is optional, but with it's addition, the papayan enzyme is a natural meat tenderizer and will turn the FAA to liquid within days instead of the typical year. If after a few days the FAA is not liquid, try adding more papaya. I put about 25 into 30 gallons of fish waste and sugar, it worked really well.
Plants and Materials used for Bio Nutrients and Beneficial Indigenous Micro-Organisms
HORSETAIL (Equisetum arvense)
Silica is used in Natural Farming as fermented plant juice (FPJ) and sprayed on leaves in combination with other FPJ's as a natural fungicide. The water repelling properties of silica help shed the water and reduce fungus.
The sterile leafy stems of common horsetail, Equisetum arvense, are used worldwide for medicine. The fertile temporary strobili-bearing stems when young were allegedly eaten by the Romans. Fertile and young vegetative shoots of the Giant horsetail, E. telmatiea, were an important Spring food for Coast Salish Peoples on the North Pacific Coast from Oregon to Alaska (Pojar and Mackinnon). Excessive consumption of raw horsetails is thiamine suppressive and GI-disruptive.
Only the emergent stems of horsetail are used for medicine.
I could find no reference to medicinal use of the usually deeply-buried tuberous rhizomes. The primary medicinal uses of horsetails are as a source of silica and for urinary/reproductive problems (Turner).
Horsetails as a Source of Silica Horsetails are the most-heavily silicified land plants, 5-10% dry weight silica.
Equisetum plants use silica plates for stem structural stiffening instead of woody reinforcement. These plates are only loosely interconnected and can present a hazard when inhaled during the garbling of dried stems. (One acute episode of silica particulate dust is usually manageable by resident lung macrophages, with silica being expelled in excretory sputum; in some individuals, the silica is reworked into delicate hollow spherical globes.) Chronic exposure to sharp silica particles induces silicosis (chronic fibrosis), COPD and occasionally primary lung cancer.
If mature silicified horsetail stems are placed in a small kiln with an observation port and watched while all of the organic material is burned away, exquisite delicate three-dimensional replicas of the stems will remain until they shatter when the kiln is moved or the door opened. They strangely resemble the magical cities of glass pictured on the first paperback edition of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.
Silica in mature horsetails is only barely available for extraction in water or hydroethanol. It is opaline silica glass. In dried mature stems, especially, the silica is insoluble.
We need silica for bone and tooth formation, and the maintenance of healthy skin, and mucopolysaccharide structures.
In studies done at UCLA , electron probe analyses of elemental species present just before bone began to form in fetal rats showed the presence of silicon before any calcium or phosphorous. As bone formation actually began with the deposition of calcium phosphate, the silicon vanished. Silicon may need to be present for successful tissue mineralization to both begin and successfully progress.
Dissolved silica is therapeutically useful to aid bone formation in growing children, especially adolescents who are complaining of (probably) very real pains associated with overnight bone elongation episodes. In adolescent humans long bones can elongate by up to 2 cm overnight. I urge parents to indulge youth who are actually presenting growing pains, by allowing their respective children to stay in bed to allow completion of bone remineralization after an elongation episode.
Similarly, silica aids bone repair subsequent to fractures and splintering due to injuries from falling, impact trauma and vehicular collisions. In the latter bone remodeling and repair can take many months.
Painful teething in children can be helped with horsetail syrup, 5-10cc, 2x daily.
To successfully extract available silica from horsetail, live young actively growing stems are used to prepare a thick syrup; in them, silica is still in solution waiting to be deposited as structural plates. Silica tends to be insoluble at pH below 7.2-7.4. The pH of honey is 7.4-7.8. Quickly cut-up soft green stems and place in very warm (100-110oF) honey, 1 part horsetail to 3 parts warm honey and keep at circa 100oF for several days, stirring several times daily. The high honey sugar content will burst equisetum cells and preserve the contents from microbial growth
Brinker (1995) suggests that some silica may be extractable from dried mature horsetail stems. Fresh juice from either young plants of Cleavers (Galium aparine) or nettles (Urtica spp.) also tends to be rich in silica.
Practical Hawai'ian Considerations
by drake
To clarify things, IMO is IMO. There are no numbers associated with Indigenous MicroOrganisms. What Master Cho calls IMO1-5 are, in fact, a really sweet IMO bokashi that utilizes a waste stream in Korea with great efficiency. Koreans have mountains of rice hulls in every village. We, Hawai'ians have to use jet fuel to get hulls here, so let's rethink this.
Master Cho's collection method of IMO up to IMO2 is what I consider IMO. At this point, I take that sugary goup and I mix it in a plastic five gallon bucket with rain water, a local resource we have plenty of. If I put 4 cups of cooked rice out to collect IMO, I will mix it with 4 cups of brown sugar and 3 gallons of water. After a week, I will strain the solids out of the bucket, then I leave this bucket in my shed for storage and pour out small amounts, of this now liquid IMO, when I need them.
In Hawai'i, we have a tropical environment where weeds thrive and good sources of manure are not hard to come by. If you mix 70% carbon, ie dried out weeds and 30% nitrogen, ie manure and 1% IMO and juices and make sure the pile has a consistent 65% moisture content, you will get a 101% ten day super compost chock full of IMO conceptually identical to Master Cho's IMO5. This is what I recommend after a year of practicing natural farming. The mill run is sweet, but not in sync with the philosophy of using what is at your feet. The only case I would use mill run is for animal feed, and I hope to feel ashamed of saying so in the near future. Grow moringa, grow.
To make the IMO mix I sell at the market, I take 1 liter of liquid from IMO collected in the forest near my house, 1 liter of liquid from IMO collected in the pasture near my house, and 2 liters of LAB (see Cho's preparation, it's spot on) and mix that with 40 liters of water and throw in a handful of brown sugar. This is a 1/10 ratio of IMO (I consider the LAB an IMO, it's just a specific type of IMO. In general, IMO from the forest is fungal, IMO from the pasture is bacterial, and LAB is da kine everywhere) to water, and the handful of sugar is because microbial health is a function of food, if there is plenty of food there is no stress and the microbes are good, no food they freak out and pathogens eat them and take over, pathogens cause sickness, so make sure there is the right amount of food. My resulting mix is similar to what is known as EM, or effective microbes, because in this 2 LAB to 1 fungal and 1 bacterial ratio IMO are able to assist in many applications.
I use this IMO all over. I sometimes drink it. With a cane juicer, and a bit more discipline, I may be able to eliminate my dependency on buying bags of brown sugar to make my potions, and become the mythical sustainable man.