LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR KOREAN NATURAL FARMING, KNF
PART 1: SOIL GROUNDWORK
Crops grow by following the nutritional cycle and digesting absorbed nutrients as they need them, in the necessary amount at each stage of growth. The basis of agriculture is to create an environment in which plants can absorb as much nutrients as they need at the proper time. Fertilizing gets in the way of this process.
When crops are exposed to too much or not enough nutrients, they are vulnerable to pests and disease. Each crop should be observed carefully and given the conditions they need to reach their full genetic potential.
In Natural Farming, crops are not fertilized. This is because they use microbes to digest and absorb nutrients, as happens in Nature. For this to be possible, to grow food without fertilizing, we must set up the system so that it can function properly, again, as happens in Nature. We are practicing “Natural Farming.” First and foremost is the laying the groundwork for the foundation of the soil.
THREE TYPES OF GROUNDWORK IN KNF
There are three types of groundwork in the Korean Natural Farming system.
Soil Groundwork
Seed Groundwork
Genetic Potential Groundwork
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.
Essentially, crops need soil that allows them to maintain vitality, reach maturity, and adapt to changing conditions as independent organisms. In modern agriculture, plowing and soil improvements are used to improve crops, but these techniques are fundamentally wrong.
DO NOT PLOW SOIL
This is the first step in building a soil foundation. Do not plow the soil. Nature uses microorganisms instead of machines. Therefore, humans only need to create an environment where microorganisms can live.
Through experience, farmers know that even though their soil may be hard, when it is covered with straw or other mulch, the state of the hard soil changes. Evaporation is slowed, direct sun is blocked, and the soils become a moist and proper place for fungi and microorganisms to live.
After that, roundworms appear that feed on the microbes. Then, earthworms appear that feed on the roundworms.
When thirsty, the earthworm can burrow 4-7 meters to find water. They eat about 20-30 liters of soil per year and fertilize the ground with their waste. This, in turn, brings in larger insects and small soil animals.
“Instead of the sharp iron clad of the tiller, sticky secreting materials and soft bodily movement of earthworms softly plow the soils and provide oxygen to the deepest part.” ~Master Cho Han-Kyu
This biological action opens up and expands the spaces for other microbes and small animals. This allows roots to take hold and raises the ground temperatures naturally. This action and the resulting improvements to soil continue endlessly.
Microorganisms, rather than plows, create a proper environment for plants and crops. Not only is this way cheaper, requiring less labor, it also produces soil quality that is infinitely better.
WEEDS, COVER CROPS, AND MULCH
Weeds and grasses are not always a problem for farmers and crops. Animal life, including humans, is only possible because weeds and grasses grow.
Nature exists in a state of harmony. This is also true for weeds. When observed, you can see patterns of how the species change with the seasons. They have an orderliness. Their seeds don’t germinate anywhere, only when certain conditions are met.
I can hear a cacophony of voices from readers right now saying, “Yeah, but…” I get it. Weeds can be problematic. So, how does Natural Farming solve this dilemma? Here is one example from my Tea Farm.
One weed I had in the tea field when I started was Gotu Kola, a highly medicinal plant that makes good herbal tea and is used in cooking. “Two leaves a day keeps old age away.” I decided to sell Gotu Kola when I discovered there was a local market for it.
However, as my soil improved, the Gotu Kola disappeared. I tried to cultivate it, but it did not like cultivation. It grew best in the poor soil I started with. My dead red clay was improving everywhere on the farm. I was, therefore, not able to grow Gotu Kola as a commercial crop.
Here is an example of a weed I wanted to grow but couldn’t do it commercially because I improved my soil.
LET THE WEEDS FIGHT IT OUT
Master Cho talks about “Fun Agriculture,” where the farmer lets weeds fight it out, and the farmer acts as the referee.
When I first started my commercial tea operation, I hired a soil expert to help me. This was before I met Master Cho. I knew, as an organic farmer, that I wanted some kind of cover crop. And since this was a commercial enterprise, I wanted to do it right, so I hired an expert.
His advice was to wait. He told me that as my soil changed, the cover crops that would work best would also change. I took his advice and let the weeds that showed up be the cover crops.
The one that was there in the beginning was Gotu Kola. It started to disappear as my organic soil improved. Once I met Master Cho and installed a soil foundation, the Gotu Kola disappeared completely.
When I met Master Cho, he said that we should “let the weeds fight it out.” So, that is what I started to do. I let weeds grow that didn’t choke out the tea or weren’t obnoxious in other ways. I acted as the referee.
The mimosa (sleeping grass) was the worst because of the irritating thorns. I removed them by getting a hold of the taproot and pulling it out. There are no thorns on the roots, so I would carefully lift the sprawling branches of the mimosa, usually with a hand sickle, to get to the base of the tap root. I would then either pull out the taproot or cut it with the sickle.
It also didn’t like being mowed short, so I would always drop the mower deck on the tractor and shave them close to the ground when I found a patch in the pasture.
When I started using this method, letting the weeds fight it out, what came up in succession and that I let stay, were weeds that grew prostrate. Many of them had tiny flowers, which it turns out, are excellent in bringing in things like predatory wasps.
Some of these wasps are very tiny, so they need tiny flowers. Some of the weeds, like Ola‘a Beauty (Torenia sp.), had larger flowers that made beautiful leis. They brought in larger pollinators. By letting the weeds fight it out, I increased my biodiversity, not just in the ground cover but also in the beneficial insects and other small animals.
Soon, the tea field had so much life that it looked like it was moving. I even had honey bees at a time when the local populations around me had crashed. The weeds became a living, or green mulch.
MULCH
Again, weed seeds do not germinate anywhere, only when certain conditions are met. Seeds covered by 4-5 times their volume cannot sprout. Therefore, covering weed seeds with enough mulch will keep them from sprouting and growing.
However, if the mulch is removed and the field plowed, weed seeds are essentially cultivated, and they become a perpetual problem.
Instead, the Natural Farmer covers the field with straw or leaves. In places where this is not possible, cover crops are planted. Master Cho gives the example of sowing rye or clover during the fall, where the next year’s crop is to be planted. This controls weeds while they grow and offers biomass for mulching since they can be cut and left in the field.
In the spring, before the crop is planted, the rye can be 120-130 centimeters (about 50 inches) tall, a significant amount of mulch. It also has deep roots, which improve soil conditions. This way, the field has added organic matter rather than added herbicides. The soil is improved rather than degraded with toxins. Chemical farming is not natural. Natural Farming generates conditions where soil biology thrives.
VINYL MULCH
Some people try to avoid using chemicals by using vinyl mulch instead. However, the argument can be made that if the soil is rendered uninhabitable by weeds, it is also unhealthy for crops.
Vinyl covering causes extreme daily differences in temperature. It can cause the soil to be 50-90 degrees Celsius (122-194 F) during the day and 7-16 degrees C (44-60 F) during the night. This wide swing in soil temperatures is not good for any crop, nor is it good for the soil biology.
We think it looks good because all we see are the leaves of the crops above the ground, but we ignore the harm being done to the roots. We need to recognize when soil is suffering. Soil is a legacy we need to preserve, not just for ourselves but for future generations.
IMO IS THE MEDICINE
When we see soil diseases, we need to recognize that they are symptoms of sick soil. We need to ask why the soil and crops have these symptoms. We need to stop fighting the symptoms and understand the cause.
Salt accumulation and toxins from using chemical fertilizers and pesticides are major causes of soil diseases, as is tilling. The microbial balance of the soil is disrupted, and the soil becomes sick. This is the state of most agricultural soils in the world at this time.
The medicine to heal sick soil is to bring balance to the soil biology. This is how Indigenous Micro-Organisms (IMO) are the medicine to heal the world’s soils. These organisms allow the soil biology to self-cultivate; they perpetuate themselves. They also diversify the species of microorganisms that have lost their diversity.
SOIL GROUNDWORK
For the Soil Groundwork in KNF, soils are covered with organic matter, such as straw and leaves, to provide living spaces for the microbes. The soil is inoculated with high concentrations of local, healthy, complete soil ecosystems by applying IMO.
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 application of IMO includes a spray that contains lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and (FPJ), Fermented Plant Juice, which leads to softer soils and establishes relationships between plant roots and microbes.
The deteriorated soil is then brought back into a healthy state with a new stability. This stability is extended to humans. When humans and soil cooperate, when soils are treated with compensation and gratefulness rather than exploitation and robbery, then the soils give back to the farmer.
This is how farmers can enjoy stability. This stability comes from engaging in the balance of Nature rather than fighting and controlling.
GROUNDWORK FOR KNF
This Series is continued in Part 2
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