Skip to main content
← Back to Office Hours

JADAM Microbe Solution, Hemp Composting, Wagyu-Angus Cattle

A new class runs January 13 to 19, 2024, and one cottage is still open. Moose, a K&NF grad, just moved to Asheville and is now certified to teach in North Carolina. The Pure KNF Foundation's associative membership is close to launch but not ready yet. One scholarship went out this year, to Pedro, who traveled from Brazil.

Drake now has seven cows: two dairy cows (a Guernsey and a Guernsey-Holstein calf), two Red Angus, and three Wagyu. A Red Angus bull is breeding the Wagyu cows into calves he's calling Wangus. Poor rotation lets cows destroy the best sugarcane and grass first, so paddocks get split and rotated through the year. Wild pigs broke through a neighbor's weak fence line, crossed a sweet potato field left full of culled tubers, and tilled up pasture and lawn.

For 2024 Drake plans to cover Young Song Cho's JADAM method, what he calls disgustingly cheap microbes: water, dirt-filled socks, potato-filled socks, and a little salt, fermented in a trash can. Hemp stalks and mulch break down fast with heavy fungal action and make strong compost, especially ground up and mixed into IMO 1/2 plus IMO 4 tea. For hemp bedding, he points to hempbedding.org, run by his friend Mowgli in Michigan.

Near the end, a viewer asks about a plant Drake looks up on the spot: Jerusalem artichoke, also called Mexican sunflower or tree marigold, good for raising fertility in depleted soil and worth fermenting.

Questions answered

  • 16:18 What's the status of the Pure KNF Foundation membership launch? — It's close but not fully ready; they're writing tight requirements before building the associative membership.
  • 31:49 Is the January course fully booked? — No, one cottage is still open and he keeps class size small on purpose.
  • 33:22 Does the foundation offer scholarships for the course? — Only one scholarship went out this year, to Pedro from Brazil; email the foundation's contact page to ask.
  • 34:51 How many cows do you have now? — Seven: two dairy cows, two Red Angus, and three Wagyu, with a Red Angus bull breeding the Wagyu into 'Wangus' calves.
  • 38:04 What happens with poor cattle rotation? — Cows snap and destroy the best sugarcane and grass first and leave the junk, so paddocks need rotation.
  • 41:58 What's going on with the wild pigs? — They broke through a weak neighbor fence, crossed a sweet potato field full of culls, and tilled up the pasture and lawn.
  • 48:07 What is 'disgustingly cheap' KNF? — Young Song Cho's JADAM microbe solution: water, dirt-filled socks, potato-filled socks, and a bit of salt, fermented in a trash can.
  • 51:10 Is hemp good for compost solutions? — Yes; hemp stalks break down with strong fungal activity, and ground hemp mixed with IMO 1/2 plus IMO 4 tea makes excellent compost.
  • 55:24 Where can I get hemp bedding for animals or mulch? — Try hempbedding.org, run by his friend Mowgli in Michigan; most usable hemp waste otherwise comes from Canada or France.
  • 1:02:20 What is this plant with white flowers he looked up? — Jerusalem artichoke, also called Mexican sunflower or tree marigold; it raises fertility in depleted soil.

Topics: jadam, disgustingly cheap microbes, hemp, imo, wagyu, red angus, cattle rotation, wild pigs, composting, jerusalem artichoke

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 Christmas Eve office hours
  2. 2:04 I Ching: Gathering Together
  3. 11:24 New course, Jan 13-19, 2024
  4. 14:42 Thor and Microbial Secret Society podcast
  5. 16:18 Pure KNF Foundation membership launch update
  6. 19:32 Looking at other nonprofits for inspiration
  7. 31:49 Is the course booked up?
  8. 33:22 Scholarships and Pedro's story
  9. 34:51 Cow count and Wangus breeding
  10. 38:04 Pasture rotation management
  11. 41:58 Wild pigs breaking through fences
  12. 46:21 What to cover in KNF in 2024
  13. 48:07 Disgustingly cheap JADAM microbe solution
  14. 51:10 Composting hemp with IMO
  15. 55:24 Hemp bedding source: hempbedding.org
  16. 59:20 Hemp seeds and composting
  17. 1:00:09 Notebook review idea for 2024
  18. 1:02:20 Jerusalem artichoke / Mexican sunflower
  19. 1:03:49 Sign-off and Christmas wishes

Transcript

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

Share