Medicine — Herbal Nutrient

What is Medicine?

Medicine is a fermented extract made from five aromatic or medicinal herbs, fermented in brown sugar and then drawn out and preserved in alcohol. The aromatic compounds in these herbs are extracted through osmotic fermentation and become the active ingredients.

What does it do?

Medicine works on three levels: pest deterrent (aromatic volatiles make the plant inhospitable), immune activator (triggers the plant's own defensive chemistry), and microbe activator (shifts soil community toward beneficial organisms).

The five herbs

Master Cho's five are garlic, ginger, licorice root, angelica and cinnamon bark. Don't swap them: asked whether cinnamon leaves could replace the bark, he said no. Fresh local bark or root of the same plant is fine, even better than dry. Turmeric can be added to the five, but never used in place of ginger (Kim Chang's rule).

How is it made?

Master Cho ferments each herb in its own jar. Soak the dry herbs (angelica, cinnamon, licorice) in beer or rice wine for a day or two; crush the fresh garlic and ginger. Add an equal weight of brown sugar, fill each jar two-thirds, cover with paper and ferment 3–7 days. Then fill the last third with soju or vodka (30–35%) and leave it about two weeks. Seal it tight for storage; old Medicine is diluted more. Mix the five just before use, two parts angelica to one part each of the others, and dilute 1:1000. Spray in the late afternoon, about two hours before sunset.