“We exist to restore life through microbial awareness, education and action.”

The Short Version

The Pure KNF Foundation is a Hawaii-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that teaches people how to grow food and restore land using Korean Natural Farming — a practice where farmers make their own biological solutions from locally available materials. No expensive products. No chemical dependency. Just knowledge, microorganisms, and what nature already provides.

We’re small. We’re serious. And we’ve been doing this since 2019.

What is Korean Natural Farming?

KNF is a system of agriculture developed by Master Cho Han-kyu in South Korea. The core idea is simple but powerful: instead of buying expensive commercial solutions, farmers can cultivate indigenous microorganisms from their own land and create biological solutions from common materials — rice, fruit, fish, herbs, seawater, and forest soil.

These aren’t theoretical concepts. They’re practical recipes that farmers around the world use every day to grow healthier crops, rebuild degraded soil, and break free from the cycle of buying products they can’t afford.

KNF works with nature’s biology instead of against it. The microorganisms in your local environment are already adapted to your conditions. You just need to learn how to collect them, multiply them, and put them to work.

Why This Foundation Exists

Here’s the problem: small farmers everywhere are being priced out of agriculture. Commercial biological products cost money most growers don’t have. Chemical inputs degrade soil over time. And the knowledge to do things differently? It’s scattered, often behind paywalls, and rarely available in English.

KNF changes that equation. When a farmer can make their own inputs from rice wash water, local fruit, and forest microorganisms, the economics of farming shift dramatically. The power moves from the manufacturer back to the grower.

But someone has to teach it. Someone has to validate it. Someone has to build the community around it.

That’s us.

How We Got Here

It started with KNF Office Hours — weekly live sessions where practitioners could learn KNF techniques, ask questions, and connect with others doing the same work. Those sessions reached people on every continent. Farmers in Africa, gardeners in Europe, homesteaders across the Americas — all learning together.

As the community grew, it became clear that this needed a formal home. A nonprofit that could hold the mission, fund the work, and build something lasting.

The Pure KNF Foundation was incorporated in the State of Hawaii on September 17, 2019. Drake Weinert, Jennifer Weinert, and Suze Gudmundson signed the founding documents. We received our 501(c)(3) determination, adopted bylaws, and got to work.

What We Do Now

Educate. Office Hours still runs every week. Monthly meetings in Hilo bring the local community together. An instructional video series is in production. And the Spirit of Master Cho — an AI-powered knowledge base built from years of Office Hours transcripts — makes Master Cho’s teachings searchable and accessible.

Research. Our Research Committee, chaired by published author Erik Degunther, runs structured projects that bring scientific rigor to KNF practices. We partner with UH CTAHR and the County of Hawaii R&D department. Members participate through community science projects.

Certify. The KNF Certification Program establishes standards of excellence for practitioners. It’s how we ensure quality and build credibility for the practice.

Build community. With 28 associate members, 670+ users in our broader community, and practitioners on every continent, we’re building a global network of people who share knowledge, results, and support.

Our Support

The ARIA Foundation has been our primary funder since the beginning, providing annual grant support that keeps our programs running. Membership dues and donations round out our funding. We keep costs low — our technology infrastructure is almost entirely self-hosted, and every board position is volunteer and unpaid.

The Vision

A world where any farmer, anywhere, can regenerate their land using knowledge and locally available materials. Where soil gets better every season instead of worse. Where the answer to “how do I grow healthier food?” doesn’t start with “buy this product.”

That world is already being built, one farm at a time.

Join Us

Whether you’re a backyard gardener curious about microorganisms or a commercial farmer looking for a better way — there’s a place for you here. Start here if you’re new to KNF, check out our programs, or just jump into the community.

The soil is waiting.