MASTER CHO’S METHOD OF GROWING FOOD
It is said that if someone wants to lose weight by dieting, they must choose one diet and follow just that one diet. Trying every diet will make you a professional dieter, not skinny. The method for growing food that was developed by Master Cho is like a diet. It is a specific set of actions that work synergistically as a holistic technology. It is a working engine, not a toolbox. NATURE IS THE TEMPLATE The method Master Cho developed to grow food uses Nature as a template. In the wild we have incredible, productive living systems. The goal, rather than subverting Nature as modern agriculture does, is to have a productive system that runs like Nature to produce food for people. The system Master Cho developed to mimic Nature is actually quite straight forward. SOIL & NUTRIENTS All nutrients are held in the soil. Soil tests tell you what nutrients are present in a form available for plant uptake, not what is actually in the soil. In general all soils should contain all elements needed to support life. Some of those elements are chemically bound but they are still part of the system. MICROBES Microbes are the primordial life forms. They produce conditions that allow plants to exist. Plants lead to conditions that support animals. All living things exist together in an elegant circular bio-energetic system. Microbes are the key to the function of these circular living systems. Microbes are the engines that run all life on Earth. There is an entire universe in the soil. The foundation of Master Cho’s system is to install an entire soil ecosystem into the soil in extremely high levels. The soil should be teaming with life, and should be an entire, dynamically balanced soil ecosystem. LOCAL IMO The specific life forms and the diversity that inhabit a particular area depend on the material state and composition of the soil as well as local conditions, both short (weather) and long term (climate). Soil biology is location specific. Thus the system uses soil biology collected from local areas. Indigenous Micro Organisms, IMO, is a technology developed by Master Cho to collect, amplify, and install local soil biology as an intact ecosystem from the local area. MULCH Mulch is organic matter, the bodies of dead and dying plants. This organic matter feeds the microbes that run the system. Mulch also protects soil from wind and water erosion, and suppresses the growth of weeds, those plants that do not provide a direct benefit. OCEAN WATER & MINERALS Ocean water, when taken as a whole, contains all elements found on earth in corresponding ratios. All life on Earth is based on the specific elements in ratios found in the ocean. Sea Water, SW, is given to plants and animals to ensure that any element needed will be found in the system, and will be in ratios that are balanced. (Significant deficits are addressed using Bacterial Mineral Waters.) SOIL FOUNDATION Between the soil substrate and the use of Sea Water all nutrition that plants need are contained within the system. Soil biology makes those elements and nutrients available as needed in an elegant biochemical dance that takes place between all living beings. Thus fertilization is not necessary. This is the Soil Foundation: the installation of complete and robust local soil biology, the use of mulches to protect and feed the soil biology, and the continual addition of highly dilute Sea Water. DIRECTED GROWTH The role of the Grower is to allow Nature to grow the food yet direct the growth toward healthy human food. This Directed Growth is made possible by designing the growing system to balance the Vital Forces for maximum benefit, and direct the life stage of plants using inputs based on the Nutritive Cycle. VITAL FORCES Vital Forces are balanced by designing for proper airflow, and the conservation or dissipation of heat, water, moisture and sunlight. NUTRITIVE CYCLE The Nutritive Cycle is directed by applying a light foliar spray, which is adjusted weekly, providing the biochemistry associated with the stage of growth the plant is moving into. If fast vigorous growth is desired, a foliar formula based on fast growing vegetative plant material is offered. The biochemistry in these individually fermented inputs include hormones, enzymes, cofactors and other biochemicals that signal the microbes and the plants to interact, synergistically, to produce the desired effects. The nutrients needed are contained within the Soil Foundation. Fertilization is not needed. Plants feed themselves. They turn the energy in sunlight into biochemicals, using soil microbes, which make nutrients available on demand. Just like in Nature. Be Like Nature™. This is the system Master Cho developed. The Soil Foundation provides structure, a source of elemental chemistry, and a home for the microbes, the engine of the system, to live. The mulch shelters the soil and feeds the soil biology. Minerals come from the weekly addition of a formula containing Sea Water. The growth is directed by planting in a design to optimize the Vital Forces, and by using Directed Biochemistry, giving plants the biochemistry from plants that are doing what we want the plant to do.
Headline photo credit:
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COMFarmer Samson Delos Reyes walks through rows of kalo at David Wong's Waianae farm. Wong is using a system called natural farming developed in South Korea that has his kalo towering overhead and producing huge basil bushes.