@greenbeans506 composting and natural farming

[GMan]

I’ll try and read everything you guys post! I have to get myself going on it this year. I started last year and could never find any large glass jars for making my stuff. Buying large glass jars isn’t an option… they want $20-$30 for a gallon size jar.

Anyway, I really want to get moving on this. I live in a really great place because it’s so rural and not really any farming going on to speak of. So, no pesticides in everything. I’m gonna harvest some soil samples from the forests. I’ve found places where the top 8-10 inches is just humus and microbes. You can see the life, all in it. It should be really easy here once I get my legs under me. peace

[HeadyBearAdventures]

Okay this is link inception @GMan , but the first one is a link to a post that has a link to the KNF book for free, and the second one will take you to a post with a link to the JADAM book (written by the original guy’s son).
They aren’t brilliantly written, but the concepts and recipes are all there for you explore. It’s a great jumping off point.

Question about making on fertilizer mix

@Patriots781 here’s a free PDF download of Master Cho’s Korean Natural Farming manual, and a little bio on him:

Question about making on fertilizer mix

And here is a free PDF of the JADAM manual: The guy who started JADAM is the son of the KNF guy, they are similar but not the same, the main difference is that one uses brown sugar and other inputs for ferments and the other does not. Permies.org is a great site if you want to read about permaculture techniques and theory, lots of smart folks over there. I think these comments do a good job of clarifying some questions for me, maybe they’ll be helpful for you too: https://permies.com/c/grow…

JADAM in particular is ultra cheap and easy, and doesn’t require all the sugar/ molasses/jars you need for KNF

[greenbeans506]

@gman as @HeadyBearAdventures said, JADAM is a great place to get started stuff is made mostly out of ingredients you can find in your yard. And done in 5gal buckets

Market farmer from Sweden that I follow has a great video on making Fish hydrolysate - https://youtu.be/xBssH4fbzoQ

[GMan]

I was gonna start last year with the Jadam and got hung up on them saying to use glass rather than plastic, lol… I think I have the book downloaded already. I had done a little reading and watched some Chris Trump vids a little, so I got the general concept down and I’m convinced that I can make everything I need from right around me. We have lots of great natural weeds so I should have a gold mine to tap into.

Thanks for the links! I’ll check them out. Maybe I can get things rolling this weekend. Store bought nutrients are a major burden for my almost nonexistent budget. Plus, I’ve let enough plants (volunteers) grow without any input by me, and they grow fine and bud fine, too. I’m sure certain inputs at the correct time do enhance things like terps and resin, but they will grow on their own in the ground.

Thanks again! I’ll be around reading and can really use the extra support to get me going and answer questions. peace

[Heritagefarms]

We have 6 cows, 70 chickens, 3 pigs, 2 horses, 4 miniature horses , 2 donkeys , 6 miniature donkeys, 5 goats, 2 mules, and a few ducks. It’s not a large scale production ranch , it’s actually some wealthy peoples property who own it just to own it and I somehow got lucky and got hired to run the garden and keep things maintained around the place.
The compost pile grows faster then I can maintain it at times.
Worms are a gardeners best friend . I have a few old bathtubs set up as worm farms and throw a hand full of them in the compost pile when staring it. by the time the compost is ready it’s also completely full of worms, like 5-10 worms per shovel scoop.

[HeadyBearAdventures]

Hey, just to clarify: C. Trump primarily applies KNF solutions from what I’ve seen, which is different than JADAM.
What @greenbeans506 said is true: JADAM is cheaper, more intuitive, and much less hands on work… just like nature (except that we put nature in 5 gallon buckets)!

[Elpolloloco]

Thanks for posting; lots of great info and discussions!

I’m going to try and get my friend to start a pile for his veg garden!

I also gotta say it’s refreshing to see people on an Internet forum this day and age have a difference of opinions that ends with humility and friendship… not that I expected anything less from ya’ll on OG but just saying

May I ask your preference on compost tea inputs / recipes?

I have some worm castings, molasses, and my friend just made a bubbler / aerator so I wanted to help him jump start his veggie garden. He already amended the soil so mainly looking to add some good microbes!

I saw some recipes calling for liquid kelp but it’s pricy and I already have some kelp meal - maybe we have what we need already…

[greenbeans506]

@GMan

got hung up on them saying to use glass rather than plastic

Glass is said to be best (I am not sure why, but my guess would be microplastics?) But onne of the main ideas in natural farming is to do things as cheaply as you possible, and as Chris Trump says “use what you got”. With the JADAM inputs glass isn’t practical, you need to use a significant amount more for JADAM inputs (50ml/L for JLF) compared to KNF inputs (2ml/L for FPJ) so bigger batches in 5gal buckets or the big 55gallon barrels is usually what’s recommend.

Always happy to discuss any questions or issues @GMan JLF is the cheapest fertilizer + inoculant you can make. It’s weeds in a bucket, with a handful of leaf mold soil that can be picked up out of the woods, and fill it up with water. That’s it! Let it sit and ferment.

Cheers,

-greenbeans

[greenbeans506]

@Heritagefarms

I have a few old bathtubs set up as worm farms

What do you use for bedding in them? Do you use red wigglers? I’ve been wanting to get into this sort of worm composting

[greenbeans506]

Here’s some recipes for you @Elpolloloco

They are from the book ‘Regenerative Soil’ written by Matt Powers. It is the most inclusive book I’ve read on the subject, breaks down every aspect of organic growing/farming in a easy to read way. Highly highly recommend this book to anyone. It has a steep price tag but the knowledge you will get makes it worth it.

These amounts are based on 55gallon drums so divide the amounts by 10 if doing in a 5 gallon buckets

As you can see here there is many options beyond liquid kelp for microbe food in tea! I would make these without the liquid kelp

[Elpolloloco]

Thanks @greenbeans506 ill take a look at the book and appreciate the share!

[Heritagefarms]

Leaf litter and some hay seems to work well , and yeah I collected some native red tiger worms and they are thriving, there all over the garden now, they multiply really fast.

[greenbeans506]

Good plan with the native worms, Ive always been concerned to use red wigglers, then have them end up in the soil and possibly mess with the natural ecology. I don’t know the exact species that we have around here but it isn’t the composting worms, it’s just regular earth worms.

I’ve thought of a way to collect the worms easily (but haven’t actually tried it yet). If you’ve ever mixed a batch of soil and let it ‘cook’ for a few weeks sitting on a tarp then move the tarp you’ve probably noticed a ton of worms under it. I think it has to do with the nutrients leeching through the tarp and into the soil that attracts microbes and worms below (plus the weight of the tarp).

My idea is to sprinkle a bit of alfalfa meal, maybe a couple other organic amendments, directly on the ground then cover with a tarp and put some rocks or dirt on the tarp to weigh it down, come back in a few days, remove the tarp and collect the worms, possibly could do this over and over to get a good batch for the compost or worm bin. Practically I don’t know if this will work, but will be giving it a shot this summer.

[GMan]

@greenbeans506

‘Regenerative Soil’ written by Matt Powers

I’d love to find a cheap copy of that book! Is it in paperback, by chance?

I created a small corner of my back yard (last house I lived at) to try to farm the local worm herd. I was cleaning the yard up and the flower beds and thats when I discovered the worms. So, I just created different levels where they could come up and eat and go back under for shelter. I moved not long after that and missed the chance to go back to get them.

I think I’ll try doing that here, too. As long as it’s mostly in the shade they seem to like it. How do you know if they are composting worms or not? I thought they all were.

[greenbeans506]

I believe it’s only in hardcover unfortunately

I don’t know a whole lot about worms, but I think composting worms are just species that are best in a worm farm breaking down food scraps. The only species I know of that’s a composting worms is the red wiggler. People will buy those, to start a worm farm. But bringing in a new species that might not be native to your area, could be bad for the local worms etc. So I think it’s best to just use what you have in your backyard.

[Heritagefarms]

There are a few types of composting worms , red tiger worms are native in my area but you won’t find them regularly unless there is some manure piled up. Different types of worms inhabit different types and depths of soil.