Makapala, North Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island · October 19–21, 2017
Three days in a Makapala hall with Master Cho Han-kyu: when to feed a crop, what to feed it, and why. All seven recorded sessions are here as they happened. His Korean is translated again and checked, so you can read what he said, not only what the room heard.
Read the whole seminar in one page →
3 parts on “fermentation”
Seated now, Cho says a crop is a living being made of the same sun, air, water and soil as us, so farming starts with humility: 'natural farming is love'. He writes three chi and three heats on a fresh flip-chart page and says body heat is fermentation heat, because microbes digest our food and we absorb what they make. From there: collect microbes near you, and feed livestock what is made here, not shipped in.
The question held since Joe's talk comes back: must the vinegar be brown rice vinegar? Kim Chang, the interpreter, answers first in her own voice (4-5% acidity, and why competency matters), then Cho takes the flip chart. Don't insist on brown rice: carbohydrate plus nuruk makes liquor, the air's acetic acid bacteria turn it to vinegar in 3 to 5 days, and the material sets the quality. He adds coconut vinegar, a little cooked brown rice in banana liquor, why koji isn't IMO, and why brown rice beats white.
Taught Use local material for vinegar; it needs at least 4 to 5% acidity
Cho puts up his 'Natural Farming' title slide and asks what nature is: three chi, three heats, the bodies and three kingdoms; farming is heaven, earth and people working with them, and food is the gift. Then he recites the Lord's Prayer, tells how pastors scolded him and threw him out, and says 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 is why he farms. A voice from the room sums it up in English.
Taught Cho came to natural farming through 1 Corinthians 3:16–17: the body is God's temple
