Komohana Research and Extension Center, Hilo, Hawaiʻi · October 1–3, 2015

Natural Farming Symposium 2015

A day of talks and hands-on skill shares in Hilo, a day of panels, then farm tours and a film. 25 recordings: nine talks including Drake Weinert's keynote, six demonstrations on the lawn, eight panels, a short ceremony and hallway interviews. Every one is checked line by line and boiled down to what was made, what was measured and what was only told.

Read what it all adds up to →

Also on the record: Konkuk 2016

Topics microbes soil economics policy health taro culture food pigs scale protectors research biochar fermentation minerals school gardens Clear

2 talks on “earthworms”

John Caverly ("Ginger John") ·USA (Hawaiʻi) ·6 min

How Microbes Brought the Worms Back to Old Cane Land

A Hilo-side farmer opens the Microbes (IMO) skill share on the lawn with his own story. His old cane land at Onomea had no earthworms and nothing would grow; after he began making Microbes with Dr. Park, seedlings given Microbes outgrew his organic mix, and 500 lb of IMO-4 laid under a diseased kalo field was followed two weeks later by worms everywhere. He says he has bought no organic fertilizer in seven years and that it takes about 40 days to go from rice to bagged IMO-4.

Found Seedlings given Microbes were plainly bigger in two weeks

bananas earthworms microbes mulch soil taro

Dr. Hoon Park ·USA (Hawaiʻi) ·13 min

Four Jobs Microbes Do in Soil, and Why Local Ones Win

Dr. Hoon Park, under a tent on the skill-share lawn, explains why Microbes (IMO) matter in soil. He says your own local microbes outlast lab-made ones like EM, and goes through four jobs they do: decomposition, catalysis, revitalization (bringing earthworms) and disease suppression. He ends with charcoal as a home for IMO-4, Master Cho's tree seedlings in the Mongolian desert, and his main point: look at the roots and revive the soil.

Found Basil to first harvest in 3–4 months instead of about 6

basil biochar disease earthworms microbes soil