Fwd: What is Fermented Plant Juice ?
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From: Kim CS Chang <kimrealt...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 6:36 AM
Subject: What is Fermented Plant Juice ?
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< What is FPJ ? >
Generally, plants are composed of blood, chlorophyll and fiber.Plus
there are about 100,000 to 150,000 microorganisms per 1 cm* of leaf.
Most of them are lactic acid bacteria and yest.
Fermented plant juice (FPJ) is fermented extract of the plants'blood
and chlorophylls. Brown sugar is used to extract the essence through
osmotic pressure.
Therefore, FPJ is a rich enzyme solution full of these bacteria;
invigorating plants and animals.
It is interesting to note that chlorophylls don't dissolve in water or
oil but in weak alcohol. Microorganism in the process of fermentation
of making FPJ produce small quantity of alcohol; extracting the
chlorophyll.
* FPJ and Kimchi
Koreans have enjoyed Kimchi ( Korean- style pickled vegetables) for a
long time. Kimchi, which is made by adding variety of spices and
condiments to vegetables, is not only a food source rich in nutrition,
but also helps digestion. Abundant lactic acid bacteria in the kimchi
soup do this job. That is why Korean will begin their meal with one
spoon of Kimchi juice.
Some smart farmer tried to apply Kimchi in farming. My father was one.
My father never threw away leftover Kimchi juice ( very sour ), but he
always poured the leftover into container filled with human feces and
added water. He then used it as fertilizer. Crops grew healthy and
strong. So I came to think ' if human feces treated with Kimchi juice
are good for crops, why not apply it directly?' and did some
experiments. I applied diluted Kimchi juice to crops; I tested to see
whether hot pepper seeds in old sour Kimchi would germinate: I dipped
hot pepper seeds in Kimchi Juice for a while then sowed to see the
effects. The results were more than expected. Diluted Kimchi juice
made hot papers healthy; the old seeds; and the dipped seeds were also
healthy.
I further ventured to use various plants for Kimchi ingredients. FPJ
was invented based on such experience. It is basically switching the
salt of Traditional Kimchi with brown sugar.
* Mugwort and Dropwort
Mugwort and dropwort are the two basic FPJs. I got the hint of using
mugwort and dropwort also from our Korean ancestors. Traditionally, a
woman who has just given birth was bathed with mugwort broth water. If
you take a look at Korea's great medical encyclopedia " Dong Eui Bo
Gam', mugwort is known as the ' ladies' plant', good for woman. It
took me some years to understand exactly why.
After studies on my own, I learnt that mugwort is rich with iron while
dropwort is affluent with manganese. Since mugwort is rich with iron,
it is the perfect food to be given to a woman who has just given birth
or who is on her menstrual cycle ( during these times, a woman's body
is depleted with iron ). Moreover, manganese in dropwort stimulates
the peripheral nervous system that accelerates the process of cell
division. This in turn, causes wounds to heal more quickly.
Iron and manganese are substances that are nor only important to
human, but they are also essential minerals in plants' process of
growth. Therefore, I thought extracting these micro nutrients from
mugwort and dropwort would bring fourth satisfactory results in my
crops.
* Beast ingredients are everywhere
Once again, we emphasize that philosophy of Natural Farming is for the
farmers to produce their farming inputs by themselves instead of
relying on the market. Same applies for FPJ. All things created by
nature having energy not to mention plants. Plants with vivid energy
are everywhere. One can utilize variety of weeds, crops' remnants, and
wild plants from mountains or sea as ingredients for making FPJ. any
plants full of vital power are good.It is particularly effective to
use green plants that to grow first in spring or those that remain
green longest in late fall. Fast growing bamboo shoots and arrowroot's
are also good. In the southern tropical areas, banana, papaya, mango,
Kangkong and Bapoom have strong vital power. Lateral buds of all
plants contain high growth hormones; excellent for FPJ.
< What to collect >
*Strong against cold and well- growing in spring.
It is recommended that you choose plants that are strong against cold
and well-growing in spring, for instance mugwort and dropwort. Both
plats are abundant in Korea, they are found everywhere. Mugwort is
strong against both cold and heat. Herbicide might weaken it for a
while, but it is so vigorous that it recovers. We want to deliver this
power of the mugwort to our crops. Traditionally, Koreans have made
numerous use of mugworts including cooking, medicine and bath.
Dropwort is also easily available. It alleviates and promotes
urination. Plus, dropwort is full of calcium and manganese, which are
good for blood circulation and stimulate peripheral nerve. Dropwort
will give a same result to the crops. if the crops are sprayed with
FPJ dropwort. Therefore, Natural Farmers shall make sure mugwort and
dropwort FPJ are always ready.
* Fast-growing and vigorous
When making FPJ, it important to use plants that grow fast. The fast
developing plants have growth hormones that are very active, which
means that the plants have a lot of energy. This characteristic can
improve any weaknesses and recover health problems.
Bamboo shoots are typical example. You can almost see the shoots
growing after rain. Because they grow very fast, you must collect them
timely. Remove soil, but not the outer skin,\. Bamboo shoot FPJ, along
with mugwort and dropwort FPJ, can be used to increase the effect of
vegetative growth when diseases weaken crops.
There are other plants besides bamboo shoots that are great
ingredients for FPJ. There are cucumber, strawberry and kiwi. Lateral
buds of cucumbers are used for cucumbers. A cucumber grows from 1 gram
to 10 gram in just 10 days. However, it is weak to cold and disease.
So we use its lateral bud for making FPJ. If you cut about 50 cm above
cucumber's roots during last part of Harvest season, and then hang
cucumbers' stem upside down in a bottle, cucumbers' juice will seep
out. This cucumber juice is also good for face care. It is said that
the extracted can be stored up to 3 years, and the juice will maintain
its original quality without any discoloration or losing flavors.
* Of the season
All FPJ ingredients have the right season for collection. This stands
true for sea plants too. For example, seaweed is best when collected
in March to April. If you cannot obtain sufficient amount in one
season, prepare a lot the previous year. Note that the FPJ made in
spring is used throughout the year. Make plenty. It is also
recommended to use wild plants have much vigorous energy which is key
to a good FPJ. They are also easier to get large quantities.
* FPJ from the same plant
Apart from the wild ones, you can also use the plat against the plant
itself. We give back to the plant what it has produced. You can use
what otherwise would have been waste; tomato lateral buds and leaves.
squash and sweet potato vines, crops eaten by insects or overgrown,
picked fruits or buds,unmarketable and other agricultural byproducts.
< Hoe to Collect >
* Avoid excessive sunshine and rainfall
If the day is clear due to the hot rays of the sun, then moisture
level of plants may be low. And even if more brown sugar is added to
the plants,osmotic pressure might fail to extract the juice. If the
hot weather continues, but you must make FPJ, then you can water the
plat one day before picking.
You should also avoid picking plants during or immediately after
rainfall because rain wash away lactic acid bacteria and yeast on the
leaves. If you make FPJ during this time, the Juice can become sticky
and thick, and won't ferment well. This is the same reason why we try
no to wash the ingredients before fermentation. It is wise to pick
plants tow days after rain.
Microorganisms on leaves have been washed away on the day or the day
after rain. But after 2 days, they are restored. Soil has plenty of
moisture and so does the plant; good for making FPJ.
* Just before sunrise
The plants must be collected just before sunrise; that is when plants
have the most nutrients. Plants have anabolism ( photosynthesis ) and
catabolism. When the Sun is up, anabolism is primary; from about 3
p.m. to next day's sunrise, catabolism is active.
This means in early morning just before sunrise, the plants contains
the most nutrients and vitality. Ingredients with dew on them also
give you more volume. It is better to make FPJ quickly after plucking
the plants.
* Visit the site in prior
It is usually dusky and dark out side right before dawn, making the
process of searching for plants a little hard. Therefore, it is smart
to do a prior on- the-spot-survey of the area where you will pick
plants. For example, if this coming season is the 'Season of clematis
berries' , then you should've already taken note of the clematis
abundant area last year.
I should also mention that Natural Farming should be done in
collaboration between husband and wife. It is because men tend to be
less particular and careful in gathering necessary resources for NF.
Make your wife crazy about Natural Farming! Then everything will work
out very smoothly. You will be able practice stable NF with plenty of
plants in the storage. Natural Farming is another method that a
married couple can do together while having fun.
Since mugwort and dropwort is needed every year, it is smart to plat
small amount of mugwort ans dropwort in a section of your field.
Mugwort and dropwort are very prolific plants, so they will grow well
when planted.So you don't have to travel far to obtain them.
* Quickly snap the growing points
You should pick the growing point for making FPJ. Thoughts on how much
below the growing point snap depend on each individual. For example,
if you pick plants very lengthy, you may easily obtain a lot of
quantity, however, the growing point's portion will be small.
For cucumbers, it is best to use about 10 cm in length from the
growing point; however, this usually doesn't give enough quantity. So
some people use about 20 cm from the growing point.It is best to use
the picked plants immediately. As soon as you pick the plant, its
liveliness and energy start to diminish.If you ignore to take care of
picked plants for a long time, then the plants will start to dry. And
if this happens, even if you make FPJ with the dried out plants, only
small amount of juice will be extracted.
However, when one must go into a deep forest to obtain, for example,
wild clematis or wild grapes, it will take long time before making
FPJ. In this case, take along some FPJ with you; as you pick the
fruits, dip them slightly. This forms a film outside the fruit,
preventing the escape of nutrients and energy.
< Some notes on materials >
* container
You should either use a clay pot or a wooden container made with
Japanese cedar. Avoid using stainless steel, iron,or plastics.
Clay pot is good because it is not prone to temperature changes
particularly in summer. However the downhill is that if the jar is too
large, it is very heavy, which makes handling and washing the jar
after-use very difficult. Therefore, it is important to choose a jar
that is not too large. Small opening is recommended. If the opening is
small, then less air will contact the juice, thus promoting the
fermentation process, Also, when the liquid rises to the top and all
ingredients are fully soaked. If the opening is wide, the liquid will
not rise above the ingredients; the surface will become dry and fungus
may appear.
For Japanese cedar containers, 18 to 36 liter size are adequate. It is
also convenient to use a wine barrel with a knob on the bottom because
you can easily retrieve the solution.
It is most convenient if you have jars and cedar containers in variety
of sizes. Different FPJ may need different size containers. To
practice NF properly, you will need 5 to 10 containers of various
sizes. Most of other NF inputs also need such containers.
If you cannot obtain a clay pot or cedar barrel.\, you may use plastic
or glass containers. But quality of NF inputs made in these containers
will not be as good. And remember to shade glass containers with black
cloth or paper since sun ray should be blocked.
* Brown sugar
Large amount of brown sugar are used for FPJ. Remember that when the
ingredient has lot of moisture ( as in summer citrus, fruits, flowers
etc ), you need to add in more brown sugar. Brown sugar needed is
about 1/3 to 1/2 weight of original ingredients and in cases of
ingredients with high water content,1/2 weight of the original
ingredients should be used. However, if you use Philippine crude
sugar, it is necessary to increase the quantity used.
If it is totally impossible to obtain brown sugar, then you may use
white sugar. However, refined sugar does not have much minerals or
vitamins;fermentation process will be different and FPJ will be low
quality. Brown sugar should be used. What is even better is crude
sugar. You can also mix sun dried salt with sugar. Of course refined
white salt should be avoided. Molasses contains too much water; it is
not goods for generating osmotic pressure.
* Stone Weight to extract air
After putting all ingredients in a container, you need a stone to extract air.
Since plants' juice are extracted by osmotic pressure, not by a
physical force,it is necessary to make brown sugar and ingredients to
closely contact together. So a stone shall be placed on top of the
container. The size of a stone should depend on the thickness of
ingredients and their sugar content.
You can also use plastic bag filled with water instead of a stone.
This method is advantageous as it perfectly adheres to the plants and
applies an even weight.
But you must be careful that it does not get torn. Use thick ones or two layers.
The weight should be removed after air has been extracted; maybe after one day.
* Cover lid
A cover is needed to prevent insects. Porous paper are ideal. It must
let air in and out. Newspapers are not good because they have ink on
the surface. you may use cloth but it is easy for small animals to get
in and wrinkles can accumulate dust. Remember to write the date and
ingredients on the paper. You need this information.
Kim CS Chang,RS
Island Trust Properties
14 Waianuenue Ave
Hilo,HI 96720
Office: 808-969-3939
Fax: 808-969-4949
Cell: 808-217-6299
k...@island-trust.com
kimrealt...@gmail.com
www.island-trust.com
