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Plump, Slim, Plump Again: Feed Every Stage

Master Cho Han-kyu, interpreted by Kim Chang, Founder of Korean Natural Farming (Janong)

Spoken in Korean. Translated to English and checked line by line.

Cho walks through how a child goes plump, slim and plump again with age, and says young paprika, tomato, papaya, pigs and chicks should be raised plump too. Miss the balance at the changeover and the crop gets sick, so he has had his stage-by-stage chart translated for this level-3 seminar. Then fermentation heat (an IMO 4 pile runs 60-70 °C), a seminar notice, and an open Q&A: seawater 1:30 for all crops, salt blocks, no seawater nearby, and 'the crop is the professor'.

What they found

The question

Why does Cho say a crop has to be fed by its stage, and how widely does seawater 1:30 apply?

How they tested it

Last stretch of Thursday morning. Cho, seated, uses the ages of a growing child as his picture of the nutritive cycle, then says his stage-by-stage chart (the prescription handout) has been translated for this seminar. After a seminar notice and the lunch call, the floor opens for questions; Cho stands once to write 農場=大學 / 作物-教授 / 學生 農民 on the flip chart. The projector stays blank.

What was compared
  • Seawater (Minerals) for crops — 1 part seawater to 30 parts fresh water, the same for all crops. Cho's Korean; the interpreter only said 'He's trying to give you a prescription.'
  • No seawater nearby — Make your own seawater; Cho says there is a method and will teach it later. The interpreter and the room add 'from sea salt'. No amounts given.
  • Brought-in feed — A farmer asks whether feed from elsewhere can be fermented with microbes before feeding; Cho points to a slide for the evening session (not recorded). No method given here.
  • Chlorinated water — Let bleach-treated tap water sit a day, or overnight, before watering; rainwater is best. Given by the interpreter in English; no exchange with Cho is audible.
Results
  1. A newborn, plump or skin and bones, fills out on mother's milk by one or two years old.

    Cho: mother's milk is rich in protein. The start of his life-stage picture.

    ▶ 1:16:50 As spoken

  2. Raise young paprika, tomato and papaya so the plant fills out.

    'When they're young, you have to raise the plant so it fills out.'

    ▶ 1:17:44 As spoken

  3. Pigs and chicks too: plump when young, slim once grown, then fattened again.

    The interpreter dropped this livestock example.

    ▶ 1:18:07 As spoken

  4. People go plump at 2-4, slim at 5-6, plump at 10-13, slim at 14-16, plump then thin at 19-21.

    Cho's ages; the interpreter said 11-13 and 14-18. He carries the picture on into marriage.

    ▶ 1:18:41 As spoken

  5. Give nutrition matched to the stage, not more.

    Cho makes the point about children, then applies it to crops.

    ▶ 1:21:36 As spoken

  6. If the balance isn't kept at the changeover period (교대기), too much or too little growth brings disease.

    'At that stage it should grow true to its stage.'

    ▶ 1:22:12 As spoken

  7. Time each stage of paprika and tomato exactly and feed it then: a big harvest and no disease.

    Otherwise they get sick. So charts were made for fruiting crops.

    ▶ 1:22:36 As spoken

  8. Natural Farming has a chart of what to give at each growth stage, translated for this level-3 seminar.

    Cho had never presented it before. This is the nutritive-cycle prescription handout.

    ▶ 1:23:15 As spoken

  9. A plant's body changes with age just like a person's; feed it by its stage of life.

    ▶ 1:24:19 As spoken

  10. Microbial fermentation heat reaches 60-70 °C.

    Cho contrasts it with sun heat or hot-spring water at that temperature. The interpreter said 'up to 60 Celsius'.

    ▶ 1:27:23 As spoken

  11. An IMO 4 (Microbes 4) pile heats up to about 60 °C as it ferments.

    In Korea and Japan this waste heat is used as a 'microbe sauna'; afterwards the pile goes on the field. Slide promised for the evening.

    ▶ 1:28:34 As spoken

  12. Seawater 1:30 is the same for all crops.

    Cho: '1대 30으로 바닷물을 세운 다음에 모든 작물에 똑같이 해 줍니다.' On Saturday morning (session 6) he uses 1:25 for a weekly fruit-skin spray and steps the ripening spray 1:30, 1:25, 1:20.

    ▶ 1:35:35 As spoken

  13. Far from the sea? Make your own seawater.

    Cho says there is a method and it will be taught later.

    ▶ 1:37:15 As spoken

  14. Feeding for seed is a little different from feeding for fruit.

    Cho gave no method; the interpreter: he would have to visit the farm and taste the soil first.

    ▶ 1:39:39 As spoken

  15. The farm is the university, the crop is the professor, the farmer is the student.

    Cho's answer to 'how often should I apply seawater to healthy soil?', written on the flip chart. The crop tells you.

    ▶ 1:42:31

  16. In drought, grass turns acidic; seawater brings it back to neutral before it is fed to livestock.

    The interpreter corrected a questioner who thought it was about nutrient uptake.

    ▶ 1:44:14 As spoken

  17. Seawater does not replace salt blocks: animals lick the block to replenish salt, and the block has other things mixed in.

    So salt blocks are still used for livestock.

    ▶ 1:44:56 As spoken

  18. If you make salt water, use pure salt.

    Cho's Korean is partly unclear; the interpreter said 'use pure ocean water' and that processed salt like the block is not the same.

    ▶ 1:46:04 As spoken

  19. This seawater teaching is for crops, not for giving to livestock.

    Cho, after a farmer said she adds seawater to her goats' water.

    ▶ 1:47:40 As spoken

Hold it loosely
  • Cho says IMO 4 fermentation heat is used to treat people, including cancer; this was not tested and we don't repeat it as advice. His ages for children's weight are his own observation, not measured.
  • The chart itself is not shown on video; Cho says it will be gone through in an evening session (Thursday evening was not recorded).
  • Several promised answers (making seawater, fermenting brought-in feed, storing IMO 3, feeding for seed) were deferred to later sessions.
  • In the Q&A much of the talk is the interpreter's English with short Korean relays; Cho's own words are not always separable.
For your farm
  • Raise young crops and young stock well filled out, then feed each stage for what it is.
  • Watch the changeover from growth to fruiting: too much or too little at that turn brings disease.
  • Minerals (seawater) go on at 1:30 for all crops; inland farmers can make their own seawater.
  • Keep salt blocks for livestock; the seawater spray is for crops.
  • Let the crop teach you how often: the farm is the university, the crop the professor.

Next to Master Cho's teaching

  • Agrees

    Crops need different nutrition at each life stage The nutritive cycle as in Janong: crops need different nutrients according to their life cycle. The plump-slim ages for children are new here.

    Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 116

  • Agrees

    Seawater 1:30, the same for all crops CGNF's seawater sheet gives 1/30 as the standard dilution and 1/30, 1/25, 1/20 to enhance ripening, the same steps Cho gives on Saturday morning (session 6), where he also uses 1:25 for a weekly fruit-skin spray. So 'the same for all crops' is the general rule, not the ripening or fruit-skin rule.

    Seawater-and-Fermented-Seawater, p. 1–5

  • Agrees

    Use real seawater or pure salt, not refined salt Janong says refined salt is not good, sun-dried salt is better, and the rule is seawater itself.

    Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2010 draft), p. 51

“Even crops have a life cycle. You have to follow according to their life cycle.”

▶ 1:24:29

“The farm is the university, the crop is the professor, and the farmer is the student.”

▶ 1:43:04

“What I'm talking about is not giving seawater to livestock. It's giving it to the crops.”

▶ 1:47:40

In this talk

  1. 1:16:11Plump and slim: life stages in people, animals and crops
  2. 1:21:36Feed the stage or get sick; the new chart
  3. 1:25:44Microbe heat and the IMO 4 sauna (health claims)
  4. 1:31:02Admin: Korea tour, December seminar, lunch notice
  5. 1:32:45Q&A: seawater 1:30 for all crops, chlorine, IMO 3
  6. 1:35:50Q&A: salt blocks, no seawater nearby, imported feed, seed crops
  7. 1:41:36Q&A: how often seawater? The farm is the university
  8. 1:43:51Q&A: drought, salt blocks, pure salt, crops not livestock
  9. 1:48:28Lunch break: 'E hoʻi'

Transcript

English translation, checked against the Korean as spoken.