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BRV Vinegar, LAB Brewing Ratios, and Bamboo-Fed Baby Chicks

July 27, 2025 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens on vinegar: how long fruit pulp can ferment before straining (pour off once pH drops below 2.4), and how brown rice vinegar (BRV) and fruit vinegars like strawberry help tree flexibility, calcium absorption, and flip the body's pH from acidic to alkaline. He gives LAB brewing ratios for a 55-gallon batch — roughly equal parts molasses to LAB, brewed 48 to 72 hours, aerating 15 minutes on and 45 off. Sourdough starter and even kombucha can source lactobacillus, and LAB-inoculated clay balls can clean out a muddy pond. Horsetail cut in spring makes a silica-rich FPJ.

The rest of the episode revisits Master Cho's archival chicken-raising footage. Topics covered: sizing the pen and feeders to the birds' growth stage, a feed conversion ratio of about 100 grams feed to 25 grams weight gain, how to cut and massage bamboo leaf (split vertically like a banana peel, then crosswise) so chicks can digest it, feeding dry uncooked brown rice from day 0 to 21 to stretch their intestines, and giving bamboo leaf for only five minutes a day so chicks treat it as a treat. Reed, sugar cane leaf, and hemp leaf all work as bamboo substitutes.

Drake closes with two of Master Cho's non-core solutions: water-soluble phosphoric acid, made by burning sesame stems to charcoal and soaking 1-2 kilos in 100 liters of water for about seven days, then diluting 1:1000; and water-soluble potassium, made the same way but with coarsely ground tobacco stems instead of charcoal.

Questions answered

  • 8:02 How long can fruit pulp sit in vinegar before straining it off? — Pour it off once the pH drops below 2.4 and isolate just the vinegar.
  • 11:07 What does vinegar (BRV) do for trees and crops? — It boosts flexibility in trees prone to snapping and increases their absorption of nutrients like calcium.
  • 22:32 How long should you brew a 55-gallon batch of LAB tea? — Add roughly equal parts molasses to feed the bacteria and brew 48 to 72 hours, aerating 15 minutes every hour.
  • 28:06 Can sourdough starter be used as a LAB source? — Yes, starchy water collects lactobacillus from the air, so sourdough LAB works fine too.
  • 29:30 How do you clean a muddy pond with LAB? — Make LAB-inoculated clay balls or a solid bokashi and throw them in so they sink and remediate the muck from the bottom up.
  • 30:15 When is the best time to make FPJ from horsetail for silica? — In spring, when the young tips are just coming up, though it still works later in summer.
  • 32:33 How do you know when to size up a chicken pen? — Watch the chickens — when they're crowding and running into each other, give them more space, same as sizing clothes or a bed to a growing kid.
  • 38:59 What's a good feed conversion ratio for young chicks? — About 100 grams of feed produces 25 grams of weight gain, roughly 25 percent.
  • 44:07 What's the best way to cut bamboo leaf for chicks? — Split it vertically like peeling a banana, then cut the strips crosswise on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
  • 48:28 Why feed brown rice to baby chicks? — Dry, uncooked brown rice swells with moisture in the gut and stretches their intestines so they can digest anything later in life.
  • 54:09 What can substitute for bamboo leaf? — Reed, sugar cane leaves, or hemp leaves all work as substitutes.
  • 1:01:11 How long should chicks get access to the bamboo leaf feed? — Only about five minutes, so it stays a rare, valued treat instead of something they take for granted.
  • 1:02:03 How do you make water-soluble phosphoric acid? — Burn sesame stems to charcoal, bag it, and soak 1-2 kilos in 100 liters of water for about seven days, then dilute 1:1000.
  • 1:06:32 How do you make water-soluble potassium? — Grind tobacco stems coarsely, bag 1-2 kilos, and soak in 100 liters of water to dissolve out the potassium.

Topics: brv, vinegar, lab, fpj, horsetail, chicken raising, bamboo leaf, brown rice, phosphoric acid, potassium, pond remediation, clay balls

KNF Office Hours is a free live Q&A every Sunday at 9 AM HST. Bring your question to pureknf.org/learn/questions or join live.

In this episode

  1. 0:00 Welcome and I Ching reading
  2. 2:32 I Ching: obstruction and self-examination
  3. 6:30 Greeting viewers
  4. 8:02 Vinegar Q&A: fruit pulp and pH
  5. 16:52 BRV benefits: liver, poison, calcium
  6. 21:12 Wrapping up vinegar talk
  7. 21:58 Master Cho footage: sizing the chicken pen
  8. 22:32 LAB brewing ratios for a 55-gallon batch
  9. 29:30 Pond remediation with clay balls
  10. 30:15 Horsetail FPJ for silica
  11. 38:59 Chicken feed conversion ratio
  12. 44:07 Cutting bamboo leaf for chicks
  13. 48:28 Brown rice for gut stretching
  14. 54:09 Bamboo leaf substitutes
  15. 1:01:11 Feeding schedule: egg then bamboo at 10am
  16. 1:02:03 Water-soluble phosphoric acid from sesame char
  17. 1:06:32 Water-soluble potassium from tobacco stems
  18. 1:07:54 Closing thoughts

Transcript

Auto-transcribed with Whisper. Click any timestamp to play from there.

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