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120-Acre Land Restoration, IMO4 Rates, Cheap Microbe Recipe

After the I Ching reading on peace, Drake reads a listener email from German in Mexico, who has 120 acres, half forest and half meadow, wrecked by decades of tilling and chemical grain farming. Drake walks through turning it around: pick a bottom-line cash crop first (wild blackberries, apple cider and vinegar), then drench the land with the cheap microbe recipe, five gallons of water, a half cup of rich soil, a half cup of boiled potato, and five tablespoons of salt, to make fifty gallons of solution, backed by IMO4 at roughly 1,300 pounds per acre and biochar.

He covers turning crop waste into inputs: ferment fruit and plant scraps with brown sugar for a plant juice, then turn the leftover pulp into vinegar. For German's rundown chicken coop, he recommends ensiling feed onsite, moving birds in a pastured chicken wagon with IMO4 sprayed ahead of it, and trapping predators hard at the perimeter. He explains IMO4 (adapted IMO, for soil foundation) versus IMO5 (fermented mixed compost, for feeding plants once they're growing), and recommends bubbling IMO into a liquid tea for treating large acreage fast.

Other topics: where to mulch pine around a tree (at the drip line, not the trunk), how microbes mine sand, silt, and clay for minerals once fed soil solution, using a machine and tarps for a one-time groundbreaking before going no-till, and using seawater and calcium with a chisel plow to help flocculate hardpan soil.

Listener questions cover East Coast KNF instructor recommendations (Mike Hobbs in Pennsylvania, Aaron Englander in Maine), whether IMO4 soil foundation can cure bacterial wilt, and foliar spraying all the way through flowering using the KNF growth-cycle chart. Drake closes with updates on remote certification and the Pure KNF Foundation archive at knfsupport.com.

Questions answered

  • 23:32 How do I restore 120 exploited acres, half forest half meadow, back to health? — Get a bottom line crop first, then drench the whole property with the cheap microbe recipe and build with IMO4 and biochar.
  • 33:20 What do I do with crop waste from cash crops like apples and blackberries? — Ferment fruit and plant waste with brown sugar into a plant juice, then turn the leftover pulp into vinegar.
  • 34:06 My chicken coop has a concrete floor, bad protection, and no production. How do I fix it? — Ferment or ensile feed onsite, move chickens in a pastured wagon spraying IMO4 ahead of it, and trap predators hard on the perimeter.
  • 43:03 How much IMO4 should I apply per acre? — About 1,300 pounds per acre; his 800 pounds is close to right for a 0.75-acre blackberry patch.
  • 44:37 When is a good time to apply IMO4 before planting a blackberry orchard? — Spread IMO4 on the bare ground and water it in with soil solution before laying cardboard, corn straw, and pine needles on top.
  • 46:09 Should I add IMO5 instead of IMO4 to enrich the soil? — No, use IMO4 to build soil foundation first; save IMO5, fermented mixed compost, for after the plants sprout and start growing.
  • 47:39 Is it better to make liquid IMO for large-scale acreage? — Yes, bubble IMO with maintenance solution and LAB into a liquid tea so it covers ground fast on a big property.
  • 49:18 When is the best time to transplant berries, before or after the rainy season? — Plant right before the rains start so the soil foundation work lines up with the moisture the transplants need.
  • 58:51 Do you foliar spray all the way through flowering, and which formulas? — Yes, foliar spray straight through flowering, matching the formula to the plant's stage on the KNF growth-cycle chart.
  • 1:02:00 Would juniper wood work in a deep litter, no-smell pig pen floor? — Use big juniper logs for the bottom two-foot layer, but don't shred juniper into the top wood-chip layer, its resin is too strong.
  • 1:03:29 Do microbes really mine sand, silt, and clay for minerals? — Yes, IMO4 fed with soil solution cracks sand, silt, and clay apart over time and releases the minerals inside.
  • 1:06:59 Is it okay to do a mild groundbreaking with a machine and tarps before going no-till? — Yes, break the ground once to shape beds, then come right back with IMO4 and mulch and stay no-till from there on.
  • 1:11:26 Are there any KNF instructors on the East Coast? — Check out Mike Hobbs in Pennsylvania and Aaron Englander up in Maine.
  • 1:14:13 Can IMO4 soil foundation cure soil affected by bacterial wilt? — It won't guarantee elimination, but feeding the soil with LAB and IMO4 brings it back into balance so the wilt stops causing damage.

Topics: imo4, imo5, liquid imo, cheap microbe recipe, biochar, chicken wagon, lab, foliar feeding, bacterial wilt, no-till, chisel plow, blackberry

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. 1:49 I Ching Reading: Tài / Peace
  3. 3:37 Cho Philosophy: Sun, Water, Wind
  4. 7:23 Converting 120 Wasted Acres to KNF
  5. 11:56 Every Farm Needs a Bottom Line
  6. 17:22 KNF E-Book and Crop Waste Ferments
  7. 18:49 KNF Chickens: Feed, Wagon, Predators
  8. 21:38 Cheap Microbe Recipe for 120 Acres
  9. 24:06 Nine Vital KNF Solutions Explained
  10. 28:03 Prepping Soil for a Blackberry Orchard
  11. 30:30 IMO4 vs IMO5 for Building Soil
  12. 32:11 Liquid IMO for Large-Scale Use
  13. 36:16 Paddock Grazing and Manure with IMO
  14. 44:05 Foliar Feeding Through Flowering
  15. 47:52 IMOs Mining Sand, Silt, Clay for Minerals
  16. 51:12 No-Till Ground Breaking with Tarps
  17. 53:06 Chisel Plow, Seawater, and Calcium
  18. 55:18 East Coast KNF Instructor Directory
  19. 59:03 Curing Bacterial Wilt with IMO4
  20. 1:00:53 Pure KNF Foundation and Archive

Transcript

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

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