All Answers

What I have done is just run the garlic and ginger 1 more time to get the final levels right …..The thing I love most about KNF is its not a science where everything has to be perfect or u kill stuff its a method that has been evolving for 1000’s of yrs Nothing HAS to be exact if u don’t want it to be, a lil off here a lil off there no biggie …unless it has gone bad then no bad juju in the garden that goes in the compost and becomes great juju for the garden in time   Happy Experimenting

Thank you. I will buy the recomended book

theres a few diff ways to collect imos id try in your area to find a good shady tree with lots of activity and semi burry the collection box in the ground and cover well to hold in moisture …i do this in upstate NY to help not dry out as fast also u might have just waited to long to go back up the mountain and get your box ruffle 3 days is all it takes for me to get a good collection        …. happy imo hunting

Another recommendation is to make sure that you are burying the box into the soil and then cocooning it with leaf litter that is around. This will help hold in the moisture and with direct contact with the soil, it will ‘bond’ together and share the precious water.

I talked a lot about collecting microbes in the desert in these episodes of the Microbial Secret Society Podcast:

#24 Sam Bevans: Desert KNF, Israel, Farming without Water

#32 Sam Bevans & Mike Kaplin – Irrigation without “water”, Polymorphism, Bechamp

Rainbow,

Did you add 10x the milk to the volume of rice water you let ferment 7 days before? What kind of milk did you use. Did you leave it ferment in a cool/dark place? What is the temp in the room you let your culture sit?

PF,

You can always apply the maintenance solution to any plant/tree/flower, in any stage.

That is: BRV 500:1, FPJ 500:1 and OHN 1000:1.

FPJ are minerals/vitamins the plant you fermented.

BRV (brown rice vinegar) is the catalyst “lowers the pH of your solution to be more acidic”.

OHN (oriental health nutrient) which is (1p garlic or turmeric – you pick), 1p ginger, 1p cinnamon, 1pm licorice root, 2p angelica root that the dry ingredients are soaked in a beer/lager and then everything is fermented in brown sugar and tinctured in vodka(40%).

You just need to worry about FAA and LAB, it can cause overgrowth and smaller yields when used on mature plants.

BRV+FPJ+OHM is very safe and universal and a good defense against pathogens.

-Jay

Gagardner84,

Once you make FPJ and ferment it with brown sugar (my favorite is broadleaf plantain and dandelions) it will keep for 1 year, even longer sometimes. If you see mold, add more brown sugar. Store in a cool 65-70F place or keep in your fridge, with a cheese cloth lid to breath.

It should smell sweet, sometimes like BBQ even.

-Jay

There is a huge difference in terms of the fermentation that takes place. Adding too much sugar before fermentation retards (slows) it down. This can be a benefit when fermenting fruits, which are very high in moisture, because the extra water may make the fermentation happen too quickly, but this can be not so beneficial when doing plant material such as growth tips, because the excess sugar does not complete.

The recipe recommends about 1/3 to 1/2 the weight of plant matter, or in the case of fruits equal parts to 1.3x more sugar than weight. So in example, if I have 3 lbs of plant tips, I should add 1 lb of sugar, or if I have 3 lbs of fruit, I should add 3 lbs of sugar. This will ensure great fermentation.

To super saturate, which is the preservation method, this should be done after fermentation. Details can be found here.

I know that because of religious reasons, alcohol can be forbidden, but there is no way to tincture without an alcohol greater than 35%. Some folks have suggested using highly concentrated vinegar, but this does not operate the same way to extract the compounds you seek, nor does evaporating the alcohol before use, because the alcohol actually is necessary to deliver the compounds through the cell wall.

With this said, there may be a way to obtain and use denatured alcohol that is not fit for human consumption? I do not know the specific rules and guidelines for what is tolerable, only that the 35% or greater alcohol is a necessity for this solution.

To address your question specifically: The first alcohol (rice wine) is just to rehydrate dehydrated herbs. This can be avoided by using fresh herbs, assuming those can be obtained (it can be difficult for me). If fresh (wet) herbs are used, then just follow the KNF Food recipe by adding 1/3 the weight by sugar and fermenting for a few days before beginning the tincturing process.

You can not use less than 35% alcohol to create a tincture because it will not have enough chemical reaction to pull the compounds you want into solution. Here, we typically use 40% because that is what is commercially available, though technically it could be diluted slightly, so same goes if you can get a higher percentage, dilute it to 35% before tincturing.