ALTERNATIVES TO IMO

Leaves as IMO Substitute

ALTERNATIVES TO IMO

Sometimes people struggle with making IMO. I think one of the main issues is when they treat the pile like compost instead of what it is, the cultivation of soil microbes, although there can be other factors.

To practice Natural Farming, the goal is to have a solid Soil Foundation with high concentrations of local soil biology. And while IMO is the best technology to achieve that goal, there are other methods.

Leaf Mold

Leaf mold is fallen leaves in a composting state. It is the natural state of a forest floor. Leaves can be used directly, but it is better if they are already in a composted or composting state, such as leaf mold.

Leaf mold can be added directly to planting soil. It is best to also use the soil underneath the composting leaves.

Collect leaf mold from spots where you would collect IMO-1.

Using leaf mold is an ancient technique that enhances soil. However, the microbial concentrations will not be as high as when using IMO technology, and large amounts of leaf mold are needed.

Original IMO

Leaf mold can also be used instead of IMO-2 to inoculate an IMO pile. Add leaf mold with the underlying soil to a pile of inoculant, such as rice bran, and cultivate the pile as if you were making IMO-3. This was the original method for cultivating Indigenous Micro-Organisms.

This method can be easier, especially if collecting IMO-1 is problematic, but the concentrations of soil microbes are lower. It is, however, still a significant improvement and a step up from simply adding leaf mold to the soil directly.

Henry’s Leaf Compost

Fallen leaves have been used to improve soil for countless eons. They can be very abundant in temperate climates in the fall. But they have problems. Since they are not decomposed at all, they will have few microbes to add to the soil. And since microbes are the goal of the Natural Farmer, this is far from ideal.

Leaves are also problematic when wet from rain or watering. When wet, the leaves stick together in clumps. This creates anaerobic conditions and prevents the leaves from decomposing.

Problems with freshly fallen leaves are solved when the leaves are composted. Composting also incorporates soil microbes.

I have mentioned before that my first Natural Farming teacher was not Master Cho. It was my grandfather, Henry. He developed an elegant and efficient, low-labor method for composting leaves. This was how he added microbial activity to his soils.

Meeting Master Cho and seeing firsthand how much better his IMO technology is was a significant factor in my decision to adopt Korean Natural Farming (KNF).

I will describe my grandfather’s leaf composting method for those who may be struggling with making IMO but still want to build a Soil Foundation, and don’t want to spend a lot of time and effort composting leaves.

Henry set up his leaf composting area under some trees, a natural forest-like environment. This kept the piles in dappled sunlight, the perfect conditions for building microbial-rich soil from leaves. It also kept the setup out of sight.

He made a row of three screens made from framed welded wire. Each frame had braces to hold it up at an angle, about 45 degrees. The first screen was a one-inch screen, the middle screen was a half-inch, and the final screen was a quarter-inch screen.

There was a pile next to the largest screen. This was the place to put any fallen leaves whenever they could be collected.

Once in a while, he would throw the collected leaves on the biggest screen. If they fell through, they would remain under the biggest screen, and the leaves that were too big to fall through would be returned to the original pile.

Once in a while, he would throw the leaves in the pile under the biggest screen onto the middle screen. If they fell through, they would remain under the middle screen, and the leaves that were too big would be returned to the pile under the big screen.

Once in a while, he would throw the leaves in the pile under the middle screen onto the smallest screen. If they fell through, they would remain under the smallest screen, and the leaves that were too big would be returned to the pile under the middle screen.

Once the leaves were under the smallest screen, they were composted and ready to use. Because they were smaller in size and composted, they would never stick together. And because they had rotted on a forest-like floor, they were full of biology.

Composting leaves is another ancient technique, but Henry’s system closely resembles how leaves compost in a forest, in Nature, and is faster and much less work than composting leaves in conventional piles or bins. It also offers a place to put fresh leaves and a pile that is always ready to use.

Again, the concentration of microbes is not comparable to IMO, but Henry’s Leaf Compost is a low-labor way to quickly compost leaves to get soil biology into your planting soil.

CONCLUSION

IMO is the heart and soul of KNF. It establishes high concentrations of soil biology as a complete ecosystem from locally collected microbes.

These microbes can be used for the Soil Foundation, allowing plants to grow in their Natural State and obtain their nutrition on demand using symbiotic relationships with the soil microbes.

It is used as the inoculant for Inoculated Deep Litter Systems, allowing animals to live in clean spaces, with no visible manure, smell, or flies, and less disease.

IMO is also added to animal feed for improved gut health, digestion, immunity, and vitality.

If you have trouble with IMO technology, there are methods to build a soil foundation, which will allow you to grow food with Natural Farming techniques.

While they are not as efficient and concentrated as IMO, there are other methods. It is best to improve the soil with as much healthy biology as possible, regardless of the approach.