KNF, or Korean Natural Farming is a practice that is gaining more popularity among organic growers as it seeks to use naturally occurring plants and microorganisms to help plants grow.
It generally uses the magic and alchemy of plant extracts made using mostly brown sugar, vinegar or alcohol to extract the goodies out of the plants. The output is often a liquid of some sort that is very concentrated, and therefore potent, and highly available to plants. Suggested usage rates are 1:1000. I generally go a bit stronger at 1:750 which works out to about 1tsp per gallon (1/4 tsp/L). A little goes a long way. So, 1 gallon of extract will make 750 gallons of infused water to feed your plants.
In her excellent thread ( Emmie's Backyard Fermented Plant Extracts From Dandelions! ) @Emilya shows how to make and store these magic elixirs. In it, she highlights the "Mighty Dandelion." Dandelion is one of the major "plant accumulators," which are plants known for their ability to mine and store a wide variety of nutrients and minerals in the flowers, leaves , stems and roots. Other significant plant accumulators include comfrey, stinging nettle, and dill.
Below I show the numbers sourced from a book called "The Regenerative Growers Guide to Garden Amendments" by Nigel Palmer. In it he goes into detail on the why's and how's of plant extracts, including those using brown sugar, water, vinegar and alcohol. Each has its place and I'd refer you to the above linked thread for Emilya's tutorial to make your own.
If you were going to use a single plant to make extracts to feed your plants, dandelion is a great choice. Stored in its leaves, flowers, and roots are a wide variety of minerals in a pretty good balance and at levels that are higher than most plants.
However, based on the data listed below, I'm going to suggest a couple of ways to improve on her "Mighty Dandelion" by using a combination of two different plants. These combinations provide even higher levels of most of the important goodies, are easier to harvest, and provide a much larger mass at harvest time which will provide for more liquid end product for those with larger plants and gardens.
My favorite combinations are (1) Comfrey/Horsetail Fern, and (2) Stinging Nettle/Chickweed, although a good single source input is actually cow bone extract from vinegar and, of course, what is considered to be the best of the best, a brown sugar fermented fish extract made from deep ocean blue fish like mackerel or sardines.
Comfrey/Horsetail Fern is my favorite combination. Comparing the average of the two combined plants to dandelion, they are higher in P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and about equal in Si, and S. They are also much lower in Cl, Na and Al (which I consider a good thing). AND, at harvest time, a single comfrey plant can be equal to many dozens of dandelion plants providing much more mass for your end product. And the other, Horsetail Fern, is super simple to harvest with your bare hands.
My second favorite is S.Nettle /Chickweed. This two plant combo is about equal in P, but higher in K, Ca, Mg, Fe, S, Na, and lower in Si, Cl, and Al. The challenge I have with this one is it is super high in Fe, Cl, and Na, with the Fe at levels that are many multiples above where most plants are and I wonder if it is too much. This combo is also easy to harvest in large amounts.
Cow bones by themselves are high in P, K, Ca, MG, and Na, while a bit light on Fe, and Si.
Or, you could simply do single plant extracts from any of those shown and know generally what your goodies list is.
Keep in mind that the table comes from a lab analysis the original author had done and YMMV. The numbers are in ppm, using brown sugar to make an fpj (fermented plant juice), except for the cow bones which are extracted with vinegar.
.................................P.............K..........Ca..........Mg..........Fe.........Si...........S.............Cl...........Na.........Al...
Fish (FAA)............836.8......1,013....718.8.......105.7.....2.57.....0.29....127.2......1,000.....109.3.......1.31
Comfrey..............270.8.......1,025....31.52......34.15.....2.06.....15.4......8.32............80.......0.58......0.31
Horsetail Fern.......42.1.......876.5....358.1......90.92.....6.74.....28.8....56.79.........300.......1.11......1.15
.....(av).................156.45.....950.75...194.81.....62.53.......4.4......22.1....32.51........190.......0.84......0.73
S.Nettle...............35.34..........376........861.........141.....1.57.....24.6.....70.17.....1,050......0.55.........0.9
Chickweed..........205.2.......1,277......6.84.......13.52...163.9.....13.5......18.88.......250....54.47......3.07
....(av).................120.27.......826.5.....433.8.....77.26...82.74....19.05.....44.53.......650....27.51......1.98
Dandelion......... ....128...........485........143......53.4.......3.17.......28.........33.5....1,340......3.25.......2.51
Dill.......................155.2........1,157.....167.5....55.35.......6.19.......7.6......46.24.......275......4.89......0.45
Cow Bones ........509.2........618.8.....1,691....453.5.....1.39......4.66.......24.81.........26.....95.44.......1.3
It generally uses the magic and alchemy of plant extracts made using mostly brown sugar, vinegar or alcohol to extract the goodies out of the plants. The output is often a liquid of some sort that is very concentrated, and therefore potent, and highly available to plants. Suggested usage rates are 1:1000. I generally go a bit stronger at 1:750 which works out to about 1tsp per gallon (1/4 tsp/L). A little goes a long way. So, 1 gallon of extract will make 750 gallons of infused water to feed your plants.
In her excellent thread ( Emmie's Backyard Fermented Plant Extracts From Dandelions! ) @Emilya shows how to make and store these magic elixirs. In it, she highlights the "Mighty Dandelion." Dandelion is one of the major "plant accumulators," which are plants known for their ability to mine and store a wide variety of nutrients and minerals in the flowers, leaves , stems and roots. Other significant plant accumulators include comfrey, stinging nettle, and dill.
Below I show the numbers sourced from a book called "The Regenerative Growers Guide to Garden Amendments" by Nigel Palmer. In it he goes into detail on the why's and how's of plant extracts, including those using brown sugar, water, vinegar and alcohol. Each has its place and I'd refer you to the above linked thread for Emilya's tutorial to make your own.
If you were going to use a single plant to make extracts to feed your plants, dandelion is a great choice. Stored in its leaves, flowers, and roots are a wide variety of minerals in a pretty good balance and at levels that are higher than most plants.
However, based on the data listed below, I'm going to suggest a couple of ways to improve on her "Mighty Dandelion" by using a combination of two different plants. These combinations provide even higher levels of most of the important goodies, are easier to harvest, and provide a much larger mass at harvest time which will provide for more liquid end product for those with larger plants and gardens.
My favorite combinations are (1) Comfrey/Horsetail Fern, and (2) Stinging Nettle/Chickweed, although a good single source input is actually cow bone extract from vinegar and, of course, what is considered to be the best of the best, a brown sugar fermented fish extract made from deep ocean blue fish like mackerel or sardines.
Comfrey/Horsetail Fern is my favorite combination. Comparing the average of the two combined plants to dandelion, they are higher in P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and about equal in Si, and S. They are also much lower in Cl, Na and Al (which I consider a good thing). AND, at harvest time, a single comfrey plant can be equal to many dozens of dandelion plants providing much more mass for your end product. And the other, Horsetail Fern, is super simple to harvest with your bare hands.
My second favorite is S.Nettle /Chickweed. This two plant combo is about equal in P, but higher in K, Ca, Mg, Fe, S, Na, and lower in Si, Cl, and Al. The challenge I have with this one is it is super high in Fe, Cl, and Na, with the Fe at levels that are many multiples above where most plants are and I wonder if it is too much. This combo is also easy to harvest in large amounts.
Cow bones by themselves are high in P, K, Ca, MG, and Na, while a bit light on Fe, and Si.
Or, you could simply do single plant extracts from any of those shown and know generally what your goodies list is.
Keep in mind that the table comes from a lab analysis the original author had done and YMMV. The numbers are in ppm, using brown sugar to make an fpj (fermented plant juice), except for the cow bones which are extracted with vinegar.
.................................P.............K..........Ca..........Mg..........Fe.........Si...........S.............Cl...........Na.........Al...
Fish (FAA)............836.8......1,013....718.8.......105.7.....2.57.....0.29....127.2......1,000.....109.3.......1.31
Comfrey..............270.8.......1,025....31.52......34.15.....2.06.....15.4......8.32............80.......0.58......0.31
Horsetail Fern.......42.1.......876.5....358.1......90.92.....6.74.....28.8....56.79.........300.......1.11......1.15
.....(av).................156.45.....950.75...194.81.....62.53.......4.4......22.1....32.51........190.......0.84......0.73
S.Nettle...............35.34..........376........861.........141.....1.57.....24.6.....70.17.....1,050......0.55.........0.9
Chickweed..........205.2.......1,277......6.84.......13.52...163.9.....13.5......18.88.......250....54.47......3.07
....(av).................120.27.......826.5.....433.8.....77.26...82.74....19.05.....44.53.......650....27.51......1.98
Dandelion......... ....128...........485........143......53.4.......3.17.......28.........33.5....1,340......3.25.......2.51
Dill.......................155.2........1,157.....167.5....55.35.......6.19.......7.6......46.24.......275......4.89......0.45
Cow Bones ........509.2........618.8.....1,691....453.5.....1.39......4.66.......24.81.........26.....95.44.......1.3
