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Pig Feed From Dairy Waste, IMO Collection, Water-Soluble Calcium

Drake feeds his pigs waste milk and bread from a food distributor, since commercial feed and alfalfa are short. He pours finished LAB starter into 30-gallon trash cans of milk at about 600 ml per can to make KNF protectors, and skims off curds within two to three days.

He shows a side project: a food taco (raised planter) wired to four moisture sensors and a camera on an ESP8266 microcontroller, logging watering and soil moisture to a Ruby on Rails site he built.

Viewer videos follow. Rainbow Possum Farm reports LAB protector sprays saved a peach crop from fungal infection. Julia from Finland shows making water-soluble calcium from toasted eggshells, pouring vinegar in slowly to avoid overflow, and collecting IMOs buried under broadleaf trees so the soil microbes populate the box. Drake answers a mugwort FPJ that stayed dry: add about ten percent salt and harvest mugwort in spring when it is vigorous.

He closes on Mal's question about whether IMOs alone can run a farm, tying the answer to Master Cho's rule of right food, right time, right amount, and gives an update on the Certification Committee working through Robert's Rules toward a farmer directory.

Questions answered

  • 14:54 Mitchell: do your pigs eat stored feed or mostly food scraps and farm byproducts? — Drake caches waste milk, bread, and eggs from a food distributor and turns the milk into KNF protectors right away.
  • 19:13 What ratio of LAB starter do you add, and does it have sugar in it? — About 600 ml of finished LAB into a 30-gallon trash can of milk, and yes, it still has sugar in it.
  • 42:28 Should IMO collection boxes be buried in the soil or left sitting on top? — Dig the box down into the soil under a broadleaf tree so you collect soil microbes, not just surface ones.
  • 45:32 Adrian: my mugwort FPJ won't turn to liquid and got drier over the week, how do I fix it? — Add about ten percent salt to the mix and harvest mugwort in spring when the plant is most vigorous.
  • 48:37 HJ's Divine Hands: LAB mixed with brown sugar has clear stuff on top, what is it, should I toss it? — Use protectors quicker or refrigerate them to stop temperature swings, and trust your nose, if it smells bad, don't use it.
  • 52:12 Mal: if IMOs create good soil conditions on their own, why apply all the other solutions? — True, but applying the solutions helps establish the microbes faster, like supplying good workers instead of leaving them to figure it out alone.
  • 56:30 Mal: can you make good IMO without any of the other KNF inputs? — Yes, but Master Cho's rule of right food, right time, right amount means combining all nine core solutions gets the best results.
  • 1:01:09 What's the status of the KNF Certification Committee and farmer directory? — The committee is following Robert's Rules of Order and bylaws while building the requirements for the upcoming directory.

Topics: lab, imo, fpj, wca, pig feed, mugwort, imo collection, fungal disease, certification committee, moisture sensor

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 Intro and Welcome
  2. 1:22 I Ching Reading - Biting Through
  3. 8:16 Wild pigs raid the farm, fence breach story
  4. 13:37 Viewers checking in, sending videos
  5. 15:23 What Drake feeds his pigs, feed shortage
  6. 19:13 LAB starter ratio and sugar content
  7. 20:52 Food taco hooked to a moisture sensor
  8. 31:00 Rainbow Possum Farm results video
  9. 36:27 Making WCA, water-soluble calcium
  10. 42:28 Collecting IMOs
  11. 45:40 Making FPJ from mugwort
  12. 46:15 Back to IMO collection
  13. 48:30 LAB storage, clear layer on top
  14. 49:25 10-gallon spray setup, auto-diluter
  15. 50:32 Flower garden photos
  16. 52:03 Why use all the KNF solutions
  17. 54:23 Korea demo farms self-sufficiency
  18. 56:30 Can good IMO be made alone
  19. 1:01:09 Certification committee, directory update
  20. 1:02:58 Thanks and sign-off

Transcript

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

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