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Deep Litter IMO Storage, BIO vs FMC, and Disease-Free Pigs

Drake answers Julia's question about storing IMOs and deep litter inside a 110-year-old stone barn: keep the microbes against a natural material like dirt or old litter, watch moisture, and they will simply go dormant in the cold. He separates his own terms from Master Cho's IMO5: compost-pile inoculant he now calls FMC (fermented mixed compost), and the living floor of a chicken or pig pen he calls BIO, both richer than a one-week IMO4 batch because the microbes have fermented for months at 108 to 115 degrees.

He makes the case for keeping animals: a pig or chicken turns food waste into finished compost in 24 to 48 hours, tends its own IMO pile by scratching and rooting, and needs only fresh bedding, feed, and water. His pigs eat banana stalks and about 800 pounds of papaya a week; the bananas he grew to feed them now sell to a local smoothie cafe. He ties this into never having lost a Korean natural farming pig pen to African Swine Flu or a chicken pen to bird flu, crediting the no-smell microbial system and airflow.

The second half covers health and immune system: lactic acid bacteria in laundry, drinking fermented plant juice and OHN, and taking an IMO bath by burying in a hot compost pile, around 115 degrees, to sweat and seed the skin with good microbes instead of using hand sanitizer. He closes with microbes cleaning diesel and petrochemical spills, and a tour of his YouTube channel, knffarm.com, and naturalfarminghawaii.net for recipes, courses, and farm tours.

Questions answered

  • 2:24 Julia's question: can I store IMOs in the deep litter inside a 110-year-old stone barn? — Store them against a natural material like dirt or old litter, keep moisture in check, and they go dormant, not die.
  • 6:05 What are the uses of IMO4? — Drake spreads IMO4 into new garden beds and soil treatment solution, and mixes it into animal feed.
  • 7:20 What's the difference between IMO5, FMC, and BIO? — Drake calls compost-pile IMOs FMC and calls the chicken or pig pen floor BIO, splitting apart what Cho lumps into IMO5.
  • 11:14 Why raise animals in a KNF system? — Animals compost food waste in 24 to 48 hours and turn their pens into deep litter that builds the best IMOs for you.
  • 20:07 How did Drake get into KNF? — He came from computer science and AI, then saw industrial farming killing the ocean and switched to natural farming around 2007.
  • 31:40 What does Drake consider real wealth? — Owning stable, productive land, not fiat currency printed with no relation to the earth.
  • 33:58 What is health? — Health is healthy soil and a strong microbiome, not sterilization or vaccines.
  • 35:48 Do KNF pigs get African Swine Flu, and do KNF chickens get bird flu? — No Korean natural farming piggery or chicken pen has ever been wiped out by swine flu or bird flu.
  • 40:50 What is an IMO bath? — Bury yourself in a hot compost pile, around 115 degrees, to sweat out pathogens and seed your skin with good microbes.
  • 44:45 How do microbes handle diesel and petrochemical spills? — Microbes like Bacillus eat diesel as food; covering a spill with hay and microbes cleans it up in a week or two.
  • 49:07 Do you have to eat the animals you raise for KNF? — No. Drake's vegan friend Logan uses composting worms instead of animals to get the same fertility.
  • 51:33 Where can people learn more KNF? — Drake's YouTube channel, knffarm.com, and naturalfarminghawaii.net have recipes, courses, and farm tours.

Topics: imo, imo4, imo5, fmc, bio, lab, deep litter, pigs, chickens, african swine flu, composting worms

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 I Ching: Approach
  2. 2:24 Storing IMO in a stone barn with goats and chickens
  3. 6:05 Uses of IMO4
  4. 7:20 Master Cho's IMO5: chicken/pig floor and FMC
  5. 11:14 Get animals for full sustainability: pigs in depth
  6. 19:15 Selling bananas
  7. 20:07 Drake's path into KNF
  8. 22:33 Our future is food
  9. 24:12 Trees are carbon sinks
  10. 26:32 Natural systems, algorithms, and the climate solution
  11. 31:40 Banking, wealth, and nature
  12. 33:58 What is health
  13. 35:00 Conventional vs KNF pigs; swine flu and bird flu
  14. 38:05 LAB, immune boosting, sanitizer, and IMO baths
  15. 43:38 Naturally farmed food and microbes cleaning water
  16. 46:12 KNF is simple to do
  17. 47:16 Exponential theory and stabilizing the planet
  18. 48:46 Wealth, animal welfare, and composting worms
  19. 51:33 Drake's YouTube channel overview
  20. 1:03:53 knffarm.com and naturalfarminghawaii.net

Transcript

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