Sometimes, it can’t be said in just one article! Learn about the world of growing and become a better gardener in our featured series’ originally printed in Garden Culture Magazine.
Seeds, like all living things, have a lifespan. How long they last depends on factors including the seed variety and conditions during growth and processing. However, the way seeds are stored has an enormous impact on their vigor and longevity. Correctly preserving them will ensure your efforts to save seeds reaps long term rewards.
Let’s face it; the early stages of life are most crucial for pretty much any species on Earth. If the start of your life is all stress and turmoil, chances are you’re going to suffer for it at various points throughout your life. On the flip side, if you’re born with a silver spoon in your mouth and given all the opportunities you could ever desire, you are much more likely to become highly successful. Everyone might hate you for the unfair advantage you’ve had, but at least you will be warm and smug come winter while sleeping on your pile of money.
This hardy plant feels at ease pretty much everywhere and thrives in a wide range of climates and soil conditions. The poorer the soil it grows in, the stronger its potency and the scent of its oils will be. A garden weed by nature, it tends to spread quickly! If you are lucky enough to find yarrow growing in your gardens, think twice before throwing it on the compost pile. It is a powerful plant that has much to offer.
There are always a couple of things one can count on when starting a new project or endeavor. The first is to expect the unexpected. The other is to realize that what can go wrong, typically will go wrong. There are times when we get lucky, and it’s smooth sailing, but those times are rare.
Ancient homeopathy has certainly gained a lot of traction in today’s society. Herbal remedies have a huge market helping to cure anything from the common cold to an overly flaccid and lazy John-Thomas. There is almost no ailment that an ancient Chinese remedy can’t fix, using all sorts of weird and wonderful things to do it with.
If there is any one place where the complaints of organic gardeners differ to that of my wife, it is in relation to the speed of which particular practices occur. Much like my gardening friends, I am inclined to justify the opinion that a quick release is a much more preferable option to a longer one. The problem is, typical organic nutrients are bound up in carbon complexes and take much longer to release their special life-giving properties.
The Korean Natural Farming movement is one that has been steadily snowballing along for a good while now. Starting geographically from its roots in Korea, of course, it has slowly and surely gained momentum and spread throughout the entire world.
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are a particularly interesting group of bacteria that are one of the key components of a full-blown KNF regime. Why are they particularly interesting, I hear you ask? Well, they are one of the few groups of bacteria that are capable of functioning in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. “Anaerobic bacteria?” I hear you cry, “What the crikey-fuck do you want them for? That’s root disease territory isn’t it?” Well, yes, the majority of root diseases are anaerobic pathogens, but these bacteria are cut from an entirely different cloth, my friend.
If you’re looking to get into a more genuinely organic form of farming, then you are in the right place, my friend. Korean Natural Farming puts the ‘fun’ in the fundamentals of organic gardening. Okay, that might be an embarrassingly weak pun, but you know what I mean.
Creating a good IMO collection is the fundamental principle of successful KNF practice. Microbial soil fauna makes it all possible. This article shows you everything you need to know to harvest your beneficial microbes, courtesy of Korean Natural Farming.