For a lot of people that end up gravitating toward using No-till living soil products they inevitably learn about Korean Naturally Farming. I've always wondered why so many no-till users end up down the KNF rabbit hole. Yes they work very well together, and it seems the perfect fit, but I feel it's that DIY spirit that is in the people that were open enough to try using no-till living soil products in the first place. We aren't the type to be told what and how to do things, thus we tend to create our own path in our gardening journey.
Using KNF inputs works well for most organic gardens. The staple product everyone starts to use when getting into Korean Natural Farming is Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum. LABS helps to unlock nutrients in the soil that my otherwise take longer to break down. It really is a magical product. It will take a normal organic garden from good, to great. There are numerous products on the market that are marketed as living microbes in a bottle, but to be honest, LABS can't be beat. I haven't used another bottled microbe product in so many years I can't even remember what the last bottle was.
Once you bring LABS into the garden the natural progression is to work with Fermented Fruit Juices or FFJ. Fermented Fruits Juices are fermented fruits that you extract the liquid, and use it as a type of fertilizer. For those die hard Master CHO followers, or JADAM followers, there is no deviating form the recipes promoted by both. As one not to follow any rules, I have experimented over the years and came up with a recipe I personally use in my gardens during flower. It doesn't follow anyone's rules, and the die hards may roast me, but I don't really give two fucks. It works. Period.
Fermented Fruit Juice Recipe:
1- part Avocado
1- part carrot
2- parts mango
2- parts banana
¼ to 1 - cup of Lactic Acid bacteria serum Depending on the volume of your bucket
*Equal amounts of organic turbinado sugar by weight
Cut your fruits into small pieces, and weigh them, then place the fruits into a bucket. Now weigh out the same weight in sugar as what your fruits weighed. If your fruit weighed 5lbs, then add 5lbs. Of sugar.
Mix all of the contents into your bucket, and there's really no need to smash or mush the fruits. Now when done without the LABS there can be a rotting smell. So I personally add ¼ cup of LABS to a ½ to 1 gallon mix. It will cut the smell down, and all you will be left with is a sweet sugar smell with fruit undertones.
I use to use a fermenting bucket that I would make to ferment these in, but now I just use a bucket without a lid, and I take a paper towel or a thin towel and lay it over the top of the bucket to keep pests and critters out. You can tie around the edge of the bucket to help keep the towel on with some twine or rubber band.
Once a day I like to stir the bucket for roughly 2 weeks. After about 3 to 4 days you should see the liquid extracting from the fruits, and a sludge start to build up. It will get thinner and thinner the closer to 2 weeks it gets. Sometime between 2 and 3 weeks the mix will be done, and you can strain off the chunks of fruit. Your should be left with a sugary fruit liquid that your plants are going to love. I have a colander that fits over a bucket that I just pour one bucket into the other bucket, and wait for the colander to fully drain.
When using this recipe I use ½ ounce per gallon of water soil drenched during flower. I have used it once per week, and tried every other week, and have settled on using it every other week in conjunction with LABS. When used with LABS your plants should be a super deep green, and grow robust. The terpenes should punch you in the face as flower progresses.
This is a simple method to help improve the health of your garden all while staying more self-sufficient. I prefer to use organic produce, but you can use your judgment. At my local grocery store they only sale organic produce. They also have a shelf of fruit that isn't the best to eat, but is perfect for this. It's usually $2 per bag of fruit. It makes my FFJ pretty damn cheap to make, and my plants love me for it.
