The system was so balanced that it controlled a massive infestation, the biggest I had ever seen, without intervention. I literally did nothing. Honestly, had I come home a couple of days later, I would not have even known. I didn’t even take a picture because I thought it would only get worse, not go away! Many people begin Natural Farming expecting suggestions on fertilizing, novel ways to control pests and diseases, recipes, and schedules. The real shift happens when you s

This series of articles on How to Start KNF is not meant to give you recipes. It’s meant to teach you how to cook. So far, we have covered the basics on how to start practicing KNF. This is a quick review of the basics before we cover more advanced concepts. Level one of How to Start KNF focuses on setting up the systems. It’s about setting goals, learning skills, and starting things that take time to be ready for use. IMO is the foundation of the soil, and the foundation of

The part of the plant and stage of development determine what biological response the signal promotes. For example, tender leaf tips direct leaf growth, underdeveloped fruit directs fruit development, and ripe fruit promotes ripening. Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) is prepared through a series of steps designed to extract, preserve, and stabilize plant biochemical signals for storage and use. Each step serves a specific purpose in the fermentation cycle. Successful FPJ begins wi

I had to throw away my first Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ), and I was doing everything right. Once I identified the cause, the solution was simple, and it changed how I teach fermentation. We know we want to create an input that signals our crops what to do, whether that’s green vegetative growth or ripening fruit, so that we get crops with better quality and higher yields. That’s what a Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) does. As a Master Cho certified teacher of Korean Natural Farmi

A 21-nautical-mile stretch of water could trigger a global famine. The Strait of Hormuz controls up to half the world’s fertilizer. The Ukraine war is also a major disruption, and we’ve hit Peak Fertilizer. Cheap, mined minerals are over, and our food system is fragile. What if you could opt out without buying a single bag of fertilizer? It’s a method where you become the supply chain by harnessing the biology already on your land. We’ll get to the solution in a moment. But h

The purpose of Fermented Plant Juices (FPJ) is to capture and preserve the biochemical profile (hormones, enzymes, and cofactors) to direct growth using Biochemical Signaling Technology. Plant material is collected and fermented at defined growth stages, then applied to crops to trigger corresponding growth responses. FPJ directs plant growth. It is important to clean (rack) and store FPJ properly to preserve these qualities. Racking, or separating the fermented serum (FPJ) f

People tend to assume that plants need fertile soil in order to grow well. But that’s not really how nature works. The place where conditions matter most is right around the plant’s roots, the small zone of soil where roots, microbes, and nutrients interact. This zone is called the rhizosphere. Essentially, the rainforest's amazing output isn't due to nutrient-rich soil. It comes from a living biological system that constantly cycles nutrients right where plants need them, ar

Yes, KNF is cheap & easy. In this article, I am showing how little is required to practice KNF, not what it looks like when you do everything. Success does not depend on using every input or technique. Each point here shows how KNF can be simple and cost-saving, challenging the belief that it is complicated or expensive. I also commented on what it looks like if you do want to do everything in the system. KNF was designed for people with little to no money or resources. It ha

In Nature, plants grow abundantly without applied fertilizers. They do so through circular, self-reinforcing systems that recycle nutrients, build organic matter, and make minerals biologically available. These systems run on living soil. When they are intact, fertility is generated internally rather than imported from the outside. Farmers who grow food without fertilizers, whether on small plots or broad-acre land, share this same foundation. They begin by establishing biolo

POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY occurs when soil is lacking potassium. Even when sufficient potassium is present, if the soil contains high levels of lime and magnesium, the plant still suffers from potassium deficiency because these elements suppress potassium absorption. Potassium deficiency can also easily occur in sandy soil, which has less humus, because potassium is readily leached from sandy soil, as with nitrogen. Using a soil foundation with Indigenous Micro-Organisms (IMO)

How are minerals used in KNF if soil amendments are not a regular part of crop establishment and management? In a word, the answer is Seawater. This is not the only source of mineral elements in KNF, but it is the most important. There was a pasture in Hawaii that was doing poorly, with a lot of weeds, but very little edible grass and forage. A livestock expert and KNF practitioner had the rancher apply seawater to the pasture. Nothing else was done, but everything changed. G

Observing the Vital Forces is the foundation of Natural Farming Management, guiding when and how we act, rather than forcing outcomes. By attuning ourselves to sunlight and heat, moisture and water, air and wind, we can respond to Nature’s cues instead of relying on artificial inputs. In KNF, we attune ourselves to these elemental rhythms instead of relying on fixed schedules or synthetic inputs. Sunlight changes with the seasons and the time of day. Moisture varies with humi

You want to apply once a week (no more) at the right time of day. Apply the misted formulas an hour (or two) before sunset. This avoids using the inputs during photosynthesis (when the plants cannot utilize the formula's biochemistry), it avoids the heat of the day, and it gives the moisture time to evaporate, so that plants don’t go to bed wet, which can entice molds and blights to form. There are two ways you can set up your weekly chores to apply BST. When I started using

Korean Natural Farming (KNF) is a systems technology to grow food in ways that mimic Nature. In this series for beginners, we have already looked at Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ), and we learned about the Nutritive Cycle and how to use FPJs to follow the patterns of the life cycle of plants. Now we deepen our understanding of the system by creating a basic formula to apply at each different stage of growth. We are developing a system. In order to mimic Nature, we always want to

Noni flower and forming fruit These seven Core Elements summarize the practice of Korean Natural Farming (KNF) as a comprehensive system...

1. Soil Foundation using IMO Technology Establish a living soil by using cultivated Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO) that restore and sustain natural soil function and fertility. This allows plants to live in their Natural State, drawing nutrition on demand through symbiotic relationships with soil biology. As in Nature, balanced nutrition leads to fewer pests and disease, improved health, quality, nutrition, and increased yields.

embracing for example, the “pigness of the pig.” For this reason, when building the bedding system for pigs, they need an extra layer of logs that other animals do not need. We will look at the construction of an Inoculated Deep Litter System (IDLS) for pigs, then discuss how to build the system for other animals. Ideally, all bedding systems should be installed on a dirt floor. This provides minerals for both animals and microbes and a connection between Nature and the barn

Just like we use IMO to inoculate soil, we can install IMO into the bedding of barns and other animal enclosures to create living floors. The concept is to install a floor that mimics a healthy forest floor made of leaf litter and spongy soil, which composts all organic matter quickly and efficiently. It’s easy to make. We build a bedding system with sufficient organic matter and inoculate it with high concentrations of soil biology, IMO, taken from healthy local soil. The

IMO, Indigenous Micro-Organisms, is the foundational technology of Korean Natural Farming. It is the application of high concentrations of soil biology taken from healthy, local soil. It is installed as a complete ecosystem. MO is efficient because: 1. Soil biology is installed in high concentrations. 2. The soil ecology is installed as a complete, intact ecosystem. 3. A single application can be enough. It allows plants to live in their Natural State and acquire their own nu

IMO Culture KNF CULTIVATION OF IMO-4 & IMO-5 WHAT IS IMO-4? In Korean Natural Farming, the product known as IMO-4, or simply IMO...