NATURAL FARMING Anywhere at any Scale DO NATURAL FARMING AT ANY SCALE In South Korea, where Master Cho developed Korean Natural Farming KNF, a husband and wife typically care for 3 cows, 10 pigs, and 500 chickens by themselves with no outside help. They probably have an orchard and some row crops as well. These farmers said their incomes doubled or tripled when they switched to KNF. Farming can be hard work and making money is often difficult. Natural Farming is the idea of l

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 8 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Polyculture, Hedgerows, IPM POLYCULTURE: COMPANION PLANTING & PLANT DIVERSITY Nature grows wild. It’s true. Nowhere in Nature will you see endless acres of a single species of plant. A wild grassland, for example, may not look like anything but a sea of grass from the top of a hill. But once you start looking up close you will see many different species of grasses and similar plants. You will find some plants growing pros

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 7 PLANTING STRATEGIES PLANTING & TRANSPLANTING Natural Farming utilizes specific techniques for planting and transplanting in order to ensure the plants grow as strong as possible. They are planted where they will grow best naturally, and they are planted in concert with other plants in a diverse ecosystem, making crops are less susceptible to pests and disease. Proper planning means less work in perpetuity. Poor planning can be costly and labor

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 6 SOIL INTEGRITY Beyond No-Till Creating and maintaining Soil Integrity does more than increase yields, quality and health. Good soil is integral to a healthy environment. A healthy Natural Environment is a system that promotes diversity, a system where Nature in all its myriad of forms can flourish, a system that mitigates the carbon cycle in our favor. We want to develop a Natural System that is complete as possible, as close as possible to he

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 5 NO WASTE, MATERIAL CYCLYING & THE POWER OF NATURE Natural Farming is an environmentally friendly growing system, with zero emissions, with all wastes recycled. It is a food production system that conserves water and conserves carbon. Since the soil has high levels of healthy, vibrant microbes the organic matter is quickly converted to soil. The bodies of microbes and small soil creature can be about 80% water, and one per gram of soil can hold

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 4 OBSERVATONS AND NATURAL PATTERNS One of the main things that Master Cho talks about is observing Nature. This he says, is the way to find the answers. Sepp Holzer, a world renowned Permaculture Master from Austria, in known for telling people to “Read the Book of Nature.” How does one do that? ​ Many people understand how important observing Nature is, many even understand why that is important, but few understand how to observe Nature, especi

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 1 NATURAL FARMING ABUNDANCE Natural Farming is the idea of creating food abundance by mimicking nature and working with natural processes, rather than trying to control nature. In essence you are turning much of the work of growing food over to Nature. For example, having healthy, abundantly living soil where worms do the tilling rather than tractors. Or using Integrated Pest Management and Species Diversification to develop a more balanced, mo

WHAT IS NATURAL FARMING? Part 2 300 YEAR OLD PERMACULTURE FOOD FOREST This majestic tropical Food Forest has been a family garden for over 300 years. Basically everything in this lush landscape is edible and useful. Fruit and nut trees, root crops and fresh greens, spring-fed streams packed with water taro and watercress, full of small fish and fresh water shellfish. The gardens are wildly interspersed with flowers and herbs, trees for building materials and fiber. Medicine