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Jadam Sulfur Safety, Muscovado vs Brown Sugar, Dioxin Cleanup

June 26, 2022 · by Drake Weinert

Guest Kahn, who trained in natural farming in the Philippines starting in 2008, joined to talk about bringing KNF to Vietnam, where she works with farmers across 13 provinces raising rice, coffee, black pepper, goats, and chickens. She and Drake discussed Agent Orange dioxin still sitting in Vietnam's soil and rainwater, the cancer and birth defect rates in heavily sprayed areas, and how IMO microbes, biochar, and mushrooms (citing a Fort Bragg study) can break the dioxin down.

On pest control, Drake said Jadam sulfur is OMRI-listed and genuinely organic, but should be used as a last resort against an outbreak, not sprayed routinely, since the residue shows up on leafy greens harvested within two weeks. He suggested following any sulfur spray with a microbe drench so the soil rebalances, especially in soil already loaded with dioxin, aluminum, and iron.

They also worked through Kahn's sugar question: muscovado, Vietnam's least-refined sugar, has the same dryness as brown sugar, so it still osmotically draws juice out of plant material for FPJ and FFJ, and shouldn't need the extra supersaturation step if used within a week. They sketched out a simple test comparing pH and alcohol content across sugar types. Drake closed by explaining why Jadam skips sugar and relies on putrefaction instead of fermentation, aiming at farmers who can't afford sugar, while Master Cho's methods use sugar and stay gentle enough to feed livestock.

Questions answered

  • 21:22 How does Christian faith connect to natural farming? — Kahn said Christians are called to be stewards of the earth, which lines up with natural farming's care for the land.
  • 23:04 What are the biggest challenges facing Vietnamese farmers? — A generation gap: older farmers stay in survival mode and chase chemicals for quick wins, while younger farmers with internet access are starting to look at natural methods.
  • 26:18 Are there still lasting effects from Agent Orange in Vietnam? — Yes, dioxin is still in the soil and shows up orange in rainwater each rainy season, and cancer and birth defect rates are high in heavily sprayed areas.
  • 28:20 Can natural farming help clean up dioxin-contaminated land? — Kahn said IMO microorganisms and their ability to break down the dioxin from Agent Orange is what drew her to natural farming in the first place.
  • 31:58 Can mushrooms clean up dioxin in soil? — Drake cited a Fort Bragg study where mushrooms were grown to help clean dioxin out of contaminated soil.
  • 37:00 How does natural rice farming compare in yield to chemical rice farming? — A Korean province growing KNF rice sowed less seed per hectare but got more grain per head; Kahn is aiming for 10 tons per hectare versus Vietnam's average of 5-6, with India's SRI method reaching up to 22.
  • 39:39 Why don't farmers stick with natural farming after training? — Kahn said early training changed behavior but not worldview, so farmers gave up at the first obstacle; changing values first made the switch stick long-term.
  • 45:36 What's the most beloved KNF solution among Kahn's Vietnamese farmers? — OHN, the fermented herbal medicine, which Kahn said cured a stubborn workshop attendee's week-long cough after he finally tried it.
  • 51:04 Is Jadam sulfur truly organic? — Drake said yes, it's OMRI-listed and one of the oldest pesticides around, but it should be a last resort for outbreaks, not a routine spray.
  • 56:45 Does adding sulfur cause problems in soil already high in dioxin, aluminum, and iron? — Drake said the fix is more microbes: follow any sulfur application with a microbial drench so the soil balances back out.
  • 1:00:28 Can muscovado sugar substitute for brown sugar in FPJ and FFJ? — Drake said yes, what matters is dryness for the osmotic draw, not refinement, so muscovado should work fine, especially within a week without needing supersaturation.
  • 1:09:16 What is the bionutrient meter and how does it work? — It's a prototype scanner that reads plant secondary metabolites like polyphenols on crops such as beets, kale, and lettuce to gauge nutrient density.
  • 1:14:09 Why does Jadam call sugar bad while Master Cho's KNF depends on it? — Drake said Jadam skips sugar to stay cheap for farmers who can't afford it, relying on putrefaction instead of fermentation, while Cho's sugar-based methods are gentler and safe enough to feed livestock.

Topics: jadam sulfur, muscovado, fpj, ffj, ohn, agent orange, dioxin, imo, rice farming, bionutrient meter, vietnam, bioremediation

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 - Hexagram 22, Grace
  3. 5:52 Julia's spraying video from her Finland greenhouse
  4. 9:42 Post Up Media's KNF farm in Panama
  5. 16:00 Guest Kahn: farming in Vietnam
  6. 21:22 Christianity and KNF stewardship
  7. 23:04 Challenges facing Vietnamese farmers
  8. 26:18 Agent Orange, dioxin, and cancer
  9. 28:20 Natural farming for bioremediation
  10. 31:58 Cleaning dioxin with mushrooms and humic acid
  11. 34:36 Who Kahn works with
  12. 37:00 KNF rice farming in Korea
  13. 39:39 Shifting farmers from chemical to KNF
  14. 43:34 Building confidence with KNF success stories
  15. 45:36 Vietnamese farmers' favorite KNF solution
  16. 51:04 Is Jadam sulfur truly organic?
  17. 1:00:28 Muscovado vs brown sugar
  18. 1:09:16 Bionutrient meter and nutrition testing
  19. 1:14:09 Why Jadam skips sugar but KNF depends on it

Transcript

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

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