HOW TO KNF GROUNDWORK
Welcome to How to KNF Level 2, the guide to Korean Natural Farming for beginners. Let’s review what was covered in Level 1.
In “How To KNF-Level 1” the goals are:
Collect IMO, Indigenous Micro-Organisms, and make a pile of IMO-4.
Start the long-term inputs:
BRV or BV, (Brown Rice Vinegar or Banana Vinegar)
FAA, (Fish Amino Acids), and
OHN (Oriental Herbal Nutrient)
Start planning and start a field log.
You should now have a jar of IMO-2 and a pile of IMO-4 ready to install.
You should have Makgeolli aging into BRV (Brown Rice Vinegar) or Banana FPJ (Fermented Plant Juice) aging into BV (Banana Vinegar).
You should have FAA (Fish Amino Acid) fermenting.
You should have OHN (the ingredients you have available) in the process of being extracted.
You should be planning exactly what you want to do with KNF and what you will need to get there.
And you should have started a Field Log, and you should be recording in it every day.
Because you now have IMO ready to install, you are now ready to move from Level 1, Prep, on to Level 2, Foundational Groundwork.
HOW TO KNF LEVEL 2: GROUNDWORK
The first step to doing the Groundwork for Korean Natural Farming is understanding exactly what it is, and why it is important.
Plants in the wild grow by following a cycle of nutrition, absorbing specific nutrients as they need them, in the necessary amount at each stage of growth, and as the weather and seasons progress. With Natural Farming, we want to follow the pattern of Nature. Fertilizing gets in the way of this process.
The basis of agriculture is to create an environment in which plants can absorb as much nutrients as they need at the proper time. The best science can approximate those needs, but scientific recommendations are based on controlled trials and statistical averages and can’t adapt to changing conditions and needs in the “real world” in real time.
The grower tries to apply the science but never quite gets it right. Because the goal of commercial agriculture is to make money, most err on the side of too much in an attempt to maximize yields. Too much or too little, one imbalance leads to more imbalances because the biochemistry of each element is interlinked.
When crops are exposed to too much or not enough nutrients, they are vulnerable to pests and disease. This is why we see so many in agriculture, and why the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and so on continues to climb.
By trying to provide crops with fertility, modern agriculture increases pests and disease, as well as soil degradation and erosion year on year. In modern agriculture, the health of the soil is ignored, with the thinking that any shortfalls or infestations can be overcome by simply applying more manufactured products.
Poor soil leads to poor plant health, which leads to more inputs that create more nutritional balances, which leads to more pests and disease, causing the grower to apply even more pesticides.
And so the cycle continues. This insidious cycle degrades the environment, crop health, and, ultimately, human health.
Each crop should be observed carefully and given the conditions they need to reach their full genetic potential. In Natural Farming, crops are not artificially fertilized. Rather, they are given the conditions they need to regulate their own nutrition.
They are able to do this when we use an intact ecosystem of microbes to absorb nutrients on demand. This is the Natural State of plants.
For this to be possible on the farm or garden without fertilizing, we must give plants the conditions they need to live in their Natural State. This is the practice of “Natural Farming.” Groundwork is the development of the Natural State.
In Korean Natural Farming, Master Cho Han-Kyu teaches three types of Groundwork in his system. Because Animal Integration is also fundamental to his system, we cover that here as well.
Soil Foundation is the first step. Seed and genetic activation are combined into the second step, and Animal Integration becomes the third step.
GROUNDWORK IN KNF
There are three types of groundwork in the Korean Natural Farming system.
1. Soil Groundwork
2. Seed Groundwork
3. Genetic Activation Groundwork
Plus: Animal Integration
1. Soil Groundwork
The most important thing to do, and the first, is to lay the groundwork for the soil. We want to create soil that will allow crops to grow, with healthy roots that can absorb nutrients, and a healthy environment that allows crops to absorb the exact nutrients they need, in the right amount, and at the proper stage of development. This is their Natural State.
For this to be a truly Natural State, we also want this to take place in an intact soil environment, which can only develop where soil is disturbed as little as possible. A well-developed mycelial network benefits plants by allowing resource sharing and a collective immune and danger warning system.
For the Soil Groundwork in KNF, soils are inoculated with IMO, giving them high concentrations of a local, healthy, complete ecosystem soil biology. These organisms will establish relationships with plants that allow them to regulate their nutrition on demand.
The IMO is not a set of targeted microbes but rather an entire, stable soil ecosystem taken from local soils. Installing an intact soil ecosystem is what offers stability and allows microbes to establish quickly.
The IMO crumbles are then watered in with a dilute solution called Soil Treatment Solution, SOS, which encourages the establishment of the soil biology from the IMO, which leads to softer soils and establishes relationships between plant roots and microbes.
Then, the IMO is covered with organic matter, such as straw and leaves, to protect the microbes from solar radiation. These steps give plants the conditions to live in their Natural State.
2. Seed and Genetic Groundwork
As a twig is bent, so grows the tree.
Seeds that are bred for improved harvest and human commerce are not bred to be strong plants. They are unable to absorb nutrients well. We are left with seed stocks that fit modern agricultural requirements, not the nutritional requirements of humans or the requirements of the plants themselves.
1. Seeds need a strong genetic background. Weak plants make weak seeds. Seeds grown under severe conditions, yet are strong enough to thrive, have superior adaptability and digesting power, and their vitality is strong.
Seeds are ideally chosen from strong, locally adapted plants, with good genetics, grown in the worst conditions on the property.
2. Seeds need to germinate and develop using nutrients from the seed leaf (cotyledon/endosperm). Seedlings should receive no fertilizer until the seed leaf is lost to ensure the seeds use their embryonic nutrition.
This is like the egg yolk for birds that allows baby birds to survive without food while waiting for the other birds in the nest to hatch, and as they learn to eat.
It’s also like the colostrum, which is the first milk mammals produce after birth. This yellowish fluid, made during the first few days post-delivery, is packed with antibodies, proteins, and growth factors that protect newborns and boost their immune system. It gradually transitions to regular breast milk over several days.
3. Germination in contact with soil ensures that seeds use their embryonic nutrition and establish relationships with soil biology needed to grow in their Natural State.
Master Cho discovered this when studying in Japan. The rice farmers would sprout their rice indoors in warehouses, and when planted in the rice paddy, the rice was unable to form symbiotic relationships with soil microbes.
As plants age from young seedlings, they become less receptive to new symbiotic relationships due to three main barriers: tougher root surfaces that block microbial entry, reduced chemical signals that attract beneficial microbes, and physiological changes that make the plant less responsive to symbiotic relationships.
SEED FOUNDATION
In Natural Farming seeds are taken from plants growing in less fertile soil. While these plants are not the best in terms of yields, their seeds are healthy, their vitality is strong, and they can grow in sub-optimal conditions.
When more fragile seeds are used, they can be vitalized with a liquid seed treatment to help them grow healthy. This Seed Treatment Solution (SES) is easy to make from locally obtained plant materials.
Using an SES treatment on seeds builds resistance to seedling blights, wilts, and damping off. It helps seeds with weaker genetic vitality to establish symbiotic relationships with soil biology. The treatment has also been used to eliminate the need for grafting, an expensive and time-consuming practice.
Seeds are then planted in contact with living soil in conditions that allow them to utilize their embryonic nutrition. This will start seeds in conditions that most closely match their Natural State. When seeds are started in this way the genetics that are activated allow the plant to grow in ways that promote plants to reach their genetic potential.
PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING
We have already discussed the importance of letting seeds germinate in contact with the soil. Ideally, that will happen where the plant is to grow and live its life. This is not always possible, however, and sometimes plants need to be transplanted.
This was true for my tea plants. They needed to be kept in a nursery for a year before they were mature enough to be planted out in the field. Master Cho developed techniques that harden plants to be strong and develop their genetic potential when transplanted.
Best transplanting practices for any size operation employ these concepts:
Install IMO on planting soil one week before planting
Drought-stress the transplant for a few days before transplanting
Soak in dilute Seed Solution (SES) before planting out
Disturb the transplanting hole as little as possible (Doughnut Transplant Technique)
Water in with dilute Seed Solution (SES)
Cover with mulch
3. Animal Integration
To use the Power of Nature to grow food, you need all three major forms of life on earth: Plants, Animals, and Microbes. Life is energized by the sun, but organic matter, minerals, and gases are recycled by the integration of three major divisions of life.
We all depend on each other. Land without all three, Plants, Animals, and Microbes, is not Natural.
Animals can do work beyond recycling organic matter, minerals, and gases, just by being what they are. They can eat weeds and grass, food scraps and crop residues, produce manure, prepare soil for planting, and so on. They also balance ecology on the land, which can promote habitat for wildlife.
The actionable items for this step depend on what animals are being included and how many. However, there are three main issues to consider.
1. The infrastructure is very important. This includes barns and coops, fencing, and feed supplies.
2. Animal bedding should be inoculated with IMO and the coop or barn should be set up with an Inoculated Deep Litter System, IDLS.
3. Most farms and gardens can be improved with the use of worm bins and/or Black Soldier Flies (BSF). If you are not doing larger, omnivorous animals, such as chickens or pigs, these are highly recommended.
It can take a while to establish animal infrastructure or improve what is already on site. Start planning and working towards those improvements now.
Don’t get any animals until all their infrastructure is in place, including housing, bedding, water, feed, fencing, and other control methods.
Do not get all your animals at once. Start slow, only one species of animal at a time with a small number until you get used to caring for them.
Find a way to feed the animals you have with your available resources. If you want more animals, increase your production of feed for them before getting more animals.
If you already have animal housing, learn how to build a proper Inoculated Deep Litter System, IDLS. The requirements are different for each animal. Once the proper bedding is installed, inoculate it with IMO.
Figure out what material you will be using for the bedding. The IDLS system will probably need more bedding material added about once per month. Find a resource for the bedding that does not require buying anything.
Start a worm bin or a Black Soldier Fly bin, especially if you are not going to have other animals or if you are not going to have any omnivorous animals, such as pigs or chickens. Both Worm and Black Soldier Fly bins are inoculated with IMO.
Worms are a bit picky and sensitive, but Black Soldier Flies will consume anything that has ever been previously alive. If you are going to choose one, choose Black Soldier Flies.
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