The ratios will apply to any type of measuring unit whether it be metric or american.
However, if you are looking for quick conversions into metric, like how much to add per liter, I have written a handy app for mobile that will do the calculations on the fly.
As I expand and develop the book more fully, there will be conversion tables as well.
- drake answered 6 years ago
When I am making banana vinegar following this recipe, often times material will float to the surface. The material will grow in to what is called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), often also called the ‘mother’ of vinegar. These SCOBY take the form of thick, impenetrable, slimy disks that typically float on the surface.
Even though this material ‘rots’ a little bit, mostly what is happening is fermentation rather than putrefaction which can be detected by observing the (perhaps) pleasant smell versus a repulsive putrid smell. The microbes will slowly be digesting the material into alcohol and then vinegar over a 2-3 month process. The microbes associate with fermentation are often compatible with human health, while the microbes of putrefaction often are pathogenic and disease oriented in nature.
Placing a breathable lid such as a cloth over the container opening will keep bugs out preventing further contamination.
- drake answered 6 years ago
The sugar cap is not necessary for fermenting plant juice to make KNF Food. The sugar cap is used when fermenting fruit juice because fruit tends to have a higher concentration of sugars and moisture, so it needs the additional sugars to create osmotic pressure to pull the liquid out of the cells before fermenting.
The recommended sugar to plant material weight is 1:1/3-1/2, so 1 kilo of plant material would be mixed with between a third to a half kilo of brown sugar. When making from fruit, the recommended sugar ratio is 1:1, so one kilo of fruit to one kilo of sugar, with a portion of the sugar reserved to make a sugar cap.
Adding a sugar cap to less sweet plant material increases the osmotic pressure too much and retards fermentation.
- drake answered 6 years ago
Fermenting plant juice to make KNF Food is done with strictly one plant at a time. Other recipes for making KNF Food from fruits use 3 or more.
The reason for only using one plant material at a time is in the stage of fermentation, to make it as clean and efficient as possible. The microbes colonizing the plant’s surface are designed to digest it and break that specific plant down as it naturally sloughs off cells, so when you mix them with sugar and cause the juice to come through the cell boundary, these microbes do really well. However, if you have multiple plants, the microbes from one plant are really good at digesting their own plant the are only okay at digesting a different plant. When the microbes mix with multiple plants and the resulting fermentation is only so-so.
The best way to combine KNF Food made by fermenting plant juice is to mix the different KNF Food solutions right before using them. So where a recipe calls for 1:500 of KNF Food, I can put in 1:1000 of one plant material and 1:1000 of another plant material. Both of these together will make 1:500 dilution.
The other thing to note is that different parts of the plant correspond with different phases of the plant growth. In the early vegetative stage, it is best to apply KNF Food made from plant tips, as the plant starts to enter puberty, it is best to use KNF Food from flowers, and as the fruit starts to ripen a KNF Food made from fruit will have added benefit.
- drake answered 6 years ago
- last active 6 years ago
The soil formula is specifically for the soil to feed the biology while inoculating with KNF Microbes. This process builds what KNF refers to as soil foundation.
Each solution can be used as a foliar spray or soil drench for good effect. Typically I drench at 100 gal/acre, while I foliar spray at 25 gal/acre. For me the spraying is easier with the setup I have. Many folks prefer to apply via a fertigation setup.
- drake answered 6 years ago
Layers of mold can grow on top of KNF Food made by fermenting plant material and sometimes if they are not super saturated with sugar after the extraction of juice, they will continue to ferment and may grow a mold on top.
This is a sign that the solution is not stable and is slowly degrading. To stop it from degrading and fully arrest fermentation, equal volumes of brown sugar should be added to super saturate the solution. Every water molecule will be bound with a sugar molecule and thus when microbes go to metabolize the solution, they are retarded by the sugar and eventually become inactive.
- drake answered 6 years ago
Zinc and other Micronutrients are present in KNF Minerals, also called diluted seawater.
Seawater is typically applied as a soil drench at 1:30~1:20, or if you are using sea salt you can reconstitute it to a 1:30 dilution by mixing 1g per liter of water. The drench rate is 100gal/acre in deficient soils.
This can also be combined with other KNF Foods made from fermented plant material that are known to be high in zinc.
- drake answered 6 years ago
There is a great explanation of KNF Medicine made of oriental herbal nutrients on Natural Farming Hawaii
- drake answered 6 years ago
Somewhat counter productive when you weigh cost to benefit. KNF Police also known as lactic acid bacteria are almost omnipresent in the environments within the Milky Way. Their diversity is based on multiplying with each other in the starch rich collection water, and also partly based on the amount naturally collected from the environment.
To strengthen them, the last stage of adding brown sugar to the mix to super saturate the solution for preservation also acts to activate the lactic acid bacteria present.
- drake answered 6 years ago