Medicine (OHN): Five Herbs, Six Jars, Three Months
Kim Chang, Not stated (she teaches natural farming classes in Hilo; a former student, Dana, helps her) · USA (Hawaiʻi)
Part of the full session video: this talk runs from 51:28 to 1:12:43. Times below are the video's.
Kim Chang shows a crowd on the lawn how she makes Medicine (OHN): angelica, licorice and cinnamon soaked in beer, ginger and garlic packed with brown sugar, each in its own jar, then vodka poured on and poured off every two weeks, five times. She mixes the finished extracts two parts angelica to one part of each of the others and dilutes the mix 1 to 1,000. It takes about three months, and she says six half-gallon jars give a little over six gallons.
What they found
How do you make Medicine (OHN) at home from five herbs, and how do you mix and dilute it?
Herbs: angelica, licorice, cinnamon (dry, bought from online organic herb sellers, 'when you Google it') and ginger and garlic (fresh). Jars: six half-gallon glass jars, one herb per jar, two jars of angelica and one each of the other four; plus six extraction jars of about 2 gallons each ('twelve jars'). DRY HERBS. Step 1, rehydrate: put the dry herb loosely in the jar to one-third full; pour beer ('the cheapest one you can find', fresh, poured at an angle so it doesn't foam; in Korea they use rice wine, makgeolli) to cover the herb and bring the clear liquid line to half the jar; cover with breathable paper; leave 1 or 2 days. The herb swells to about the half line. Step 2, ferment: add brown sugar equal to the beer plus herb (light or dark both fine); you know it's equal when the jar reaches two-thirds, 'without any scale'. Cover with paper tied on (string or an exercise band), label with the herb and date ('October 1st, 2015, Angelica'), ferment one week. Stir with wood, never metal. Step 3: after one week fill the empty top third with vodka ('any 40% proof alcohol'; in Korea soju; she says Master Cho told them to use vodka here). Close the lid tight so the alcohol doesn't evaporate. Stir once a day, in the morning, for two weeks. Step 4: after two weeks pour off one-third of the liquid into the extraction jar, refill the empty third with vodka, stir daily two more weeks; repeat five times in all, about three months, stirring every morning the whole time. Keep each herb's extract separate. FRESH HERBS (ginger, garlic): chop or pound, toss with brown sugar and pack in layers like Food (FPJ); fill only to the neck because ginger gives a lot of liquid; it settles to two-thirds, then vodka and the same two-week pour-off cycle, five times. Amount of sugar for the fresh herbs: not stated in this clip. KEY RULE: line up all six jars at two-thirds so each gets the same one-third of vodka. COMBINE: two parts angelica, one part each of licorice, cinnamon, garlic and ginger, in any measuring container. USE: dilute 1 to 1,000 with water, for the soil or as a foliar spray; it goes into every mixture (soil treatment, vegetative, flowering, fruiting). Yield: 'a little over six gallons' from six half-gallon jars. Cost: 'about $200' for a batch, unless you make your own alcohol. Leftover herbs: make tea, then compost or feed to animals. Weights of herb, beer and sugar: not stated (all by jar level). Storage temperature: not stated.
- Dry herb jars (angelica x2, licorice, cinnamon) — Herb to 1/3 jar, beer to 1/2, 1–2 days; equal brown sugar to 2/3, one week; vodka to the top, sealed, stirred daily 2 weeks; pour off 1/3 and refill with vodka every 2 weeks, 5 times
- Fresh herb jars (ginger, garlic) — Chopped or pounded, layered with brown sugar like Food (FPJ), filled to the neck, settles to 2/3; then the same vodka and pour-off cycle
- Finished Medicine (OHN) — 2 parts angelica : 1 licorice : 1 cinnamon : 1 garlic : 1 ginger, diluted 1:1,000 in water for soil or foliar spray
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Dry herbs: one-third of the jar, beer to the half line, 1–2 days
Herb put in loosely; beer must cover it; wait for the foam to settle and read the clear line
▶ 52:40 Said and shown on the slides
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Equal brown sugar brings the jar to two-thirds
She uses the jar level instead of a scale to judge 'equal amount'
▶ 54:42 Said and shown on the slides
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Two parts angelica, one part each of the other four
So she keeps two angelica jars: six jars in all
▶ 56:27 As spoken
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Ferment with sugar one week, then fill the top third with vodka
Lid closed after the vodka goes in; stir once a day in the morning for two weeks
▶ 58:13 Said and shown on the slides
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Pour off one-third every two weeks, refill with vodka, five times
About three months for the whole batch; keep stirring daily throughout
▶ 1:00:50 Said and shown on the slides
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Six half-gallon jars give 'a little over six gallons'
So each herb needs an extraction jar of about two gallons
▶ 1:01:06 As spoken
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Dilute 1 to 1,000
She keeps 1:1,000 even as the stock gets stronger with age
▶ 1:04:57 As spoken
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Medicine goes into every mixture
Soil treatment, vegetative, flowering and fruiting-stage mixtures
▶ 1:04:20 As spoken
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Her 2013 batch still keeps
She shows a bottle she made in 2013 and says it doesn't go bad
▶ 56:52 Said and shown on the slides
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All six jars level at two-thirds before the vodka
So every jar gets the same one-third of alcohol
▶ 1:09:31 As spoken
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A batch costs about $200
Mostly alcohol; less if you make your own
▶ 1:02:48 As spoken
- A demonstration: steps were 'pretended' with jars made ahead, and no herb, beer or sugar was weighed.
- The six-gallon yield and $200 cost are her estimates, not measured on camera.
- Her health remarks (taking it for a cold) are personal use, not tested here.
- The clip ends mid-explanation about foliar spray; the Na Leo edit cuts to another station.
- How much sugar goes with the fresh ginger and garlic is not said in this clip.
- Read jar levels: herb to 1/3, beer to 1/2, sugar to 2/3, alcohol to the top.
- Keep two angelica jars so the 2:1:1:1:1 mix comes out even.
- Seal the lid once the alcohol is in, and stir with wood every morning.
- Label every jar with herb and date, and keep a calendar for the two-week pour-offs.
- Get extraction jars big enough: about four times the brewing jar.
- Mix the five extracts 2:1:1:1:1 and dilute 1:1,000 for soil or leaves.
Next to Master Cho's teaching
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Agrees
Five herbs, mixed 2:1:1:1:1 at use Cho mixes the extracts 2 angelica : 1 licorice : 1 cinnamon : 1 garlic : 1 ginger just before use. Once she said 'equal amount' (56:42), but she gave 2:1:1:1:1 three times.
Cho, Natural Farming Agricultural Materials (Recipe), p. 29–30
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Agrees
Dry herbs: beer to half, 1–2 days, equal sugar to two-thirds Cho: herb plus rice wine fills half the jar, brown sugar equal to that brings it to two-thirds, soju fills the last third. He measures the herb by weight (1/10 of the jar's volume, rice wine 3 times its weight); Kim fills one-third by eye. Cho's seminars also allow beer for rice wine.
Oriental-Herbal-NutrientOHN, p. 11–18
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Differs
One week with sugar; fresh herbs filled to the neck Cho ferments 4–6 days (5–7 in his OHN booklet) before the alcohol, so one week is at or just past his long end. For garlic and ginger he crushes them and fills only two-thirds; Kim fills to the neck and lets it settle to two-thirds, as in her Food (FPJ). Small differences, both workable, but two-thirds from the start is Cho's way.
Cho, Natural Farming Agricultural Materials (Recipe), p. 27
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Differs
Vodka, sealed lid, daily stir, five extractions Cho uses soju (30–35%) and his seminars allow vodka, so vodka agrees; so do the sealed lid, the morning stir for two weeks, and five extractions. The pour-off differs: Cho filters out all the liquid, returns one-third of it to the herbs and tops up with soju; Kim pours off one-third and tops up with vodka. Her way leaves more liquid on the herbs each round and yields less per pass.
Cho, Cho Han-Kyu's Natural Farming (Theory), p. 65
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Differs
Dilute 1:1,000, same ratio as it ages 1:1,000 is Cho's ratio. But Cho says OHN thickens in storage and years-old OHN should be diluted more. Kim keeps 1:1,000 always, and the ratio she gave for older stock was heard as '1 to 500', which would be stronger, not weaker; she may have said 1 to 1,500.
Cho, Natural Farming Agricultural Materials (Recipe), p. 29–30
“I made it in 2013 and then this became medicine, so it just stays a long, long time, it doesn't go bad.”
▶ 56:52
“Always use wood, no metal, yeah?”
▶ 58:31
“So when time to put vodka, every jar has a one-third of the same space. That's very important.”
▶ 1:09:52
“Because it takes so long, it's better to make some last long time.”
▶ 1:07:47
In this talk
- 51:33Tail of her fruiting advice
- 51:38The five herbs
- 52:04Dry herbs vs. fresh herbs
- 52:28Step 1: soak the dry herbs in beer
- 54:42Step 2: equal brown sugar, up to two-thirds
- 56:16Two parts angelica, six jars
- 58:13Ferment one week under paper; label it
- 59:32Step 3: fill with vodka, close the lid, stir daily
- 1:00:50Pour off a third every two weeks, five times
- 1:03:54Mix 2:1:1:1:1; used in every mixture; 1 to 1,000
- 1:05:32A question, and a recap of the steps
- 1:07:06Stir, shake, jar size
- 1:07:59Fresh herbs: ginger and garlic with brown sugar
- 1:09:31Line all six jars up at two-thirds
- 1:11:02How to mix and dilute
Transcript
Transcribed and checked by hand against the recording. Click any time to play from there.
51:32 Kim Chang: maybe one month before you harvest and then two weeks before you harvest. I'm going to teach you Oriental herbal nutrient. We call it OHN. The OHN has five ingredients. The one is Angelica and the licorice. Licorice is like this. It's the root crop, yeah? And then cinnamon and then ginger and garlic. And And the Angelica licorice cinnamon is dry ingredient, so we need to prepare first step to rehydrate. And then this garlic and ginger is fresh ingredients, so we make it like how to make fermented plant juice.
52:26 That's the first step for these two. So to rehydrate, in Korea we use rice wine, but we don't have rice wine here. We call it makgeolli. So dry ingredient, we put it on a one-third of any jar. So you can use different size of jar, but the dry ingredient, you just put it loosely, one-third of this jar, like this. And then you fill it up with beer. We use beer instead of wine.
53:03 Audience: Any kind of beer?
53:05 Kim Chang: Yeah, and cheapest one you can find. So this one with the beer, we cover, totally cover the dry ingredient. And then fill it up to half of the jar. And then we let it cover with a breathable material, let it sit one or two days for rehydrate. Yeah? So, but they, when you pour the beer, it bubbles a lot, so you need to wait and then this line, clear line should go to half of this jar.
53:48 Audience: Fresh beer, not stale beer.
53:50 Kim Chang: Yeah, freshy beer. I hope so.
53:52 Audience: Makes a difference.
53:53 Kim Chang: I have no idea. I'm not a drinker, so I don't know, but I call that much.
53:58 Audience: Well, a stale beer wouldn't bubble as much.
54:00 Kim Chang: Bubble is much. So I'm smart.
54:02 Audience: Is it part of the process?
54:03 Kim Chang: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a good idea.
54:05 Audience: And then . It's mainly just .
54:09 Kim Chang: Oh, pouring the angle like this?
54:11 Audience: Yeah, almost like wine. And if you turn them more, you pour them in a little too much bubble.
54:15 Kim Chang: OK. So let's say this is one or two days we rehydrate it, finish rehydrate. We're pretending right now, yeah? But I need to pour a little bit more to make a half filled. And then when one or two days later it's going to expand, it's going to fill up to here, the dry material. And then second step is to ferment with brown sugar, to equal amount of brown sugar. So this mixture, beer and the dry material, to make equal amount of brown sugar. When you put equal amount of brown sugar, it will go up to two-thirds of this jar.
55:04 That will tell you that you put equal amount of brown sugar. That way, without any scale, you know you put it in equal amount of brown sugar. Okay, let me pretend this is two days old. So I'm going to put the brown sugar, okay?
55:33 Audience: Does it matter what brown sugar?
55:35 Kim Chang: Yeah, it doesn't matter. They have a dark brown and this one is light brown. If you have a wide mouth funnel, it will be so much easier. Maybe I use smaller one. Oh gosh. Thank you, Dana. Dana took my class two years ago, and she is thriving now with the natural farming, growing all kinds of stuff. And then the Angelica, when we mix, after we finish, this is ready to extract.
56:23 I brought it. We need to use two parts of Angelica, one part of licorice, one part of cinnamon, one part of garlic, one part of ginger. So you need to make two bottles of Angelica. All those five ingredients mixed up, equal amount, it makes an OHN. Like here, this one. I made it in 2013 and then this became medicine so it just stays a long long time it doesn't go bad.
57:08 Actually they call it tincture, yeah, that's what we are doing with OHN.
57:17 Audience: So when you're filling one of these, it's just one particular dry ingredient?
57:21 Kim Chang: Yes, one particular. So when you're making this one, you need six jars. You've got two jars for Angelica, and each jar for the other four ingredients. Just a little bit more.
57:42 Audience: So each ingredient is rehydrated the same way?
57:44 Kim Chang: Yeah, only dry one. Dry ingredient is Angelica licorice and cinnamon. It'll still work with it like this. Yeah, okay, that's good. So this one filled equal amount of sugar. Even you can see it, you know, with this amount and this beer and the dry ingredient, it makes equal amount going up to two-thirds of the jar, yeah. Then you need to ferment for two, I mean one week. You need a stir stick. Yeah, we got a stir stick.
58:19 Dana: Here.
58:20 Kim Chang: Oh, she has everything. Okay, it's all here. And then you stir it.
58:25 Audience: You want to use wood, not metal?
58:29 Kim Chang: Yeah. Absolutely. Always use wood, no metal, yeah?
58:34 Audience: So we've already let it sit in here for a day or two.
58:39 Kim Chang: Yeah, we are pretending. It takes three months to finish this product. And then you tie it with a breathable material.
58:54 Dana: Oh, you get her. You get the scissors. Something else I found that's good is the exercise bands. You get a nice tight seal. I know what I'm talking about here.
59:14 Kim Chang: Yeah, and then you need to write a date, yeah? October 1st, 2015, Angelica. So one week later, this empty space, we're fermenting one week, yeah? Then this empty space, we add vodka. Any 40% proof alcohol you can use. In Korea they use soju. But we don't have it, so Master Cho said just use vodka.
1:00:01 But when you go to other country, they just use whatever available in 40 volume. So I'm gonna pretend again. This is the, oh I don't have to. So this is one, have to one week fermentation. This one is, oh God, somebody open this for me. So we add the vodka in there already, yeah? So empty space is filled with vodka. Then you need to close the lid. Otherwise all the vodka is going to evaporate. Then every day for two weeks, you stir once.
1:00:50 And then after two weeks, you extract one third of liquid in a different jar. So you need actually this half gallon jar. makes about little over six gallon of OHN. So each bottle you need about two gallon of the jar, two gallon size, yeah? So we have to, after two weeks, you put in the, let's just, I show you. Oh, I need a strainer, I didn't have a, okay, let's just do this. I'm gonna just pretend again.
1:01:36 I never bring my string up. Don't spill this one, it's the expensive one. Can somebody hold this for me? So I can use two hands.
1:02:06 Audience: And the angelica can be found where?
1:02:10 Kim Chang: You can buy through the online organic herb, you can find it when you Google it. Okay and then, then you refill with this empty space, one-third space with vodka again. Every two weeks. two weeks you are doing the same thing for five times. You probably spend about $200 after you finish.
1:02:54 Audience: Unless you make your own alcohol.
1:02:56 Kim Chang: Yeah, unless you make your own alcohol. So this one is the extra one, Angelica. Always write down there what it is, okay? Otherwise you're gonna be all mixed up. Even this one I have to... And then put it together like this, but this jar has to be double size or... No, no, but two gallon jar is safer. Okay, so Angelica. Every two weeks. October 1st and 2015. So when you do this one, you need a calendar.
1:03:44 So from this point, you need to make every two weeks extraction, extraction. You know, every two weeks, you will make it three months. So when you extract all this one each ingredient is here right and then you mix two part of Angelica one part of each ingredient makes OHN, this product, and this is a medicine. It makes your plant strong grow strong and this is essential mixture we always use all the mixture. When we have a soil treatment or vegetative growth mixture
1:04:30 or flowering mixture or fruiting stage mixture, we always use this one. And even when you're sick, like you have a catch cold, you consume this or you will help you. You will take away your sickness. Especially when you don't have a strength it will help you to bring back your strength back that's that's why we use this one on our lifestyle and the plant. But you dilute with the 1 to 1,000 ratio. See, I just, I don't know if you guys can remember, this one, oops, where is it. Yeah, every year they
1:05:17 get a quarter stronger yeah and that's the prep this is a preparation for the um dry ingredient yeah and then now this is the uh fresh ingredient
1:05:31 Audience: Can I ask one question about every two weeks? So, um, we're letting the brew with the brown sugar go for two weeks, stirring once a day, and then once we know...
1:05:42 Kim Chang: That's the third stage, after you add the... Okay, first stage, rehydrate dry ingredient. Put beer up to half of the bottle. Second stage, put the equal amount of brown sugar. It will go up to the two-thirds of the jar. And then you put a paper and ferment one week. After one week, you add a vodka to the top. and then you need to stir every day for two weeks once a day in the morning but they were after you put a vodka in it you need to close the lid you cannot leave like this yeah because alcohol is gonna all evaporate yeah and then after
1:06:30 two weeks you extract yeah like this and then after two weeks you extract like this for five times. Then it's finished, that product, for dry ingredient. Then you compost what's left over? Or you can make a tea out of it. There's nothing to throw them away. It's better to make tea and you drink it and then those matured then you compost or feed your animal. They love it.
1:07:06 Audience: So that first extraction, are you still stirring every morning?
1:07:09 Kim Chang: Oh yes.
1:07:10 Audience: For the whole three months?
1:07:11 Kim Chang: Yes, three months, yes.
1:07:12 Audience: Since it's got a sealed lid on it, can you shake them or do you need to stir?
1:07:19 Kim Chang: Some people shake, still works, but because this is a small jar, it works, but you cannot shake it, you know, gallon or... When you're getting better, you're going to use a bigger jar. This is a beginner's jar, yeah? But still, after you finish all these five ingredients, you will have over six gallons of OHN. Yeah, because it takes so long, it's better to make some last long time. So that's how we deal with dry ingredients. The fresh ingredient is first step, we just chop it.
1:08:06 I forgot to bring my cutting knife. Oh, OK. You can chop it or you can pound it, either way. Can you grab a knife from the kitchen?
1:08:19 Audience: Here's a knife.
1:08:21 Kim Chang: Oh, yeah. OK. So let's just do, oh gosh. I knew I'm going to, yeah, you don't mind? OK. So, I don't know who watched the fermented plant juice in the morning. We chop and then we mix with the brown sugar. And then we fill it, you know, layer by layer. Fill it with this brown sugar and the ginger. We put it in and then layer with the sugar. and then we keep doing the same thing, fill it up to here. But the ginger has a
1:09:08 lots of liquid, do not fill it up to top, just maybe to the neck, yeah? Because this this one will do the osmotic pressure, give lots of liquid and then this jars is going to go up to two-thirds. And the one really important thing, when we put the sugar in this dry ingredient, the level goes up to two-thirds. When we make it, we line up all together, ginger and garlic, all these six bottles. Make sure everyone has a two-thirds of the jar lined up equally. So So when time to put vodka, every jar has a one-third of the same space.
1:10:00 That's very important. So with the fresh ingredient is a similar like fermented plant juice and then we fill it up and then when this one go to two-thirds, then we add a vodka and then after that is same thing. You stir every day for two weeks and then you extract the liquid and then you refill with the vodka on empty space and then you stir two weeks again for five times.
1:10:31 Audience: So you use these twelve jars in order to do this?
1:10:38 Kim Chang: Yes.
1:10:39 Audience: You've got six of the brewing and six of the extract.
1:10:43 Kim Chang: The extracting jar has to be at least two gallon. This is half gallon, because after this thing, after you actually, it's gonna come a six gallon or more. So each jar need to be about two gallon. Yeah?
1:11:02 Audience: Is it important to keep each extraction separate?
1:11:04 Kim Chang: Yes, it's better. Yes, and then when you use it, How to mix is really really easy. With any size of container, Angelica is two times. So you put this one in two, and then the other one, one, one. Then mixture is perfect. Because two times, two parts Angelica, the other is one part. That's how you mix after you finish.
1:11:37 Audience: So you said that the dilution rate is 1 to 1000, but I hear that it also gets stronger.
1:11:44 Kim Chang: Yes.
1:11:45 Audience: So then how do you change your ratio going forward?
1:11:50 Kim Chang: Well, you can maybe one year later, you can use as a 1 to 500, something like that. But I just use same ratio all the time.
1:12:04 Audience: Even though it gets stronger every year?
1:12:06 Kim Chang: Yeah, but you don't have to use 1 to 1,000 ratio because it's getting stronger. But you dilute with 1,000 times of water. So, yeah, it's still easy. Or spray. That's you using in the mixture. And then you can feed on our soil or spray foliar. And when you use spray foliar, it's ten times less water.