Natural Farming, often called Korean Natural Farming (KNF), is a method of raising domesticated plants and animals that utilizes the resilience of the most robust microbes available. Rediscovered and pioneered by Cho Han Kyu (Master Cho), KNF techniques have been championed as a solution to unsustainable farming practices that rely on synthetic fertilizers and harmful pesticides. Master Cho’s son, Youngsang Cho, further developed KNF and created JADAM Ultra Low-Cost Organic Farming.
Natural Farming and Indigenous Microorganisms
The foundation of natural farming techniques draws it’s power from indigenous microorganisms—powerhouse microbes that have adapted to survive and thrive in your exact environment. These are found most effectively in undisturbed deciduous forests underneath the accumulated leaf litter.
Two Methods for Harvesting Indigenous Microorganisms
Rice+Box+Forest=IMO1
This technique uses cooked rice to collect microorganisms from an undisturbed forest.
IMO1 (Indigenous Microorganisms 1) are attracted to the simple carbohydrates in white rice. Put cooked white or brown rice in a box and cover with thin cloth (to keep dirt and bugs out). Then place this box nestled in with the leaf litter in a forest. Leave it for several days, checking occassionally, if able, to make sure the box has not been disturbed and that microbes are developing.
Once you can see white and other colorful fuzzy cultures growing, it’s time to take the rice box home. From here, you can preserve it with brown sugar (equal weight to your rice) and store in jars in a cool dark place (IMO2).
JADAM Microorganism Solution (JMS)
This technique uses potato, water, and salt to culture collected leaf mold soil containing microorganisms. It is our preferred method because of how easy it is in comparison to IMO collection; although purists would say IMO is a stronger culture for the garden. Nevertheless, we have seen our soil benefit tremendously from regular JMS application!
Learn how to make JMS in this video!
How to Use Indigenous Microorganisms in Your Garden
JMS is the simplest to make and use. Simply water in the liquid microbial solution—undiluted if soil drench, diluted 1:10 in water if on plants. Use this helpful PDF to keep track of your microbial solution application and dilution rates!
IMO1 can be turned into IMO2, which can be turned into IMO3, which can be turned into IMO4, which can be turned into IMO5. This lengthy and complicated process often prohibits home gardeners from engaging with IMO production. We hope to explore this technique more in the future.
What are the Benefits of Natural Farming Practices in Your Garden?
There are two primary reasons you would want to apply JMS or IMO to your soil: tilth and nutrient bioavailability.
Tilth
Indigenous microorganisms are capable of breaking up compact soil over a short period of time. It’s hard to know exactly how it all works (we’re not scientists…scientists probably know) but we see the results! Soil that was previously hard as a rock has loosened up for us so that we can dig in it without a shovel. Tilth is essential for plants to be able to sink their roots down deep. Which brings us to the second major benefit…
Nutrient Bioavailability
As crazy as it sounds, plants and microbes are participants in a complex economy within the soil.
Plants send roots down into the soil and then exude small amounts of fluid that attract microbes. Microbes feed on the root exudates and in return transport valuable nutrients to the plant. Microbes are masters of processing and breaking down organic matter into raw nutrients.
Needless to say, you want a lot of these guys in the ground! An inch is a long way to travel if you’re only a couple micrometers long (a thousandth of a millimeter). We want these microbes covering every square centimeter of the soil, so that wherever we plant a flower or a tomato plant, there are nutrients available to them.
