Erik Klockemann Permaculture Education, Design and Consultancy

Cijeruk Farm Report from Consultancy dated July 23rd ­ July 26th 2013

Permaculture is a design science for sustainable development and food production based on natural principles. It is a practical and effective way to design using natural patterns and natural processes with the goal to become input free, labor efficient and highly productive.

The farm is roughly 75% orchard and 25% crop with less than a dozen penned sheep on site. The Taiwanese Guava is the main orchard tree and requires much of the farm workers time and energy. In an attempt to keep this Guava's fruit "Supermarket Marketable" each fruit has to be wrapped in a soft plastic guard, covered with a plastic bag and tied tight. In addition to the labors act of trying to protect each fruit the crop requires fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide all costing money, time and ultimately deteriorating the long term fertility of the farm. The total energy that goes into the attempt at making this strain of Guava which is normally not grown at this high of an altitude, productive is cutting into the ability to make the farm financially stable and ultimately profitable. The placement of the Guava seems to be based upon tree spacing only, with no considerations for contour of the land, natural water flow, natural nutrient flow, prevailing winds, irrigation or accessibility. If this mono­crop orchard were to be left out of maintenance it would quickly be taken over by the grasses and smothered out of existence.

The main crops include chili pepper, carrot, tomato, green bean and a couple other crops. These crops have plastic sheets to keep the tropical grasses at bay. They also receive inputs in the way of fertilizer, fungicide, pesticide and herbicide to help in the constant fight against nature's natural processes. The farm manager is working very hard to keep the high input, high maintenance system producing.

I wanted to find the area I could make the most effective change in the few days I had on­site. Addressing the chemical addiction of the farm and teaching alternative ways to make the fertilizers they are buying would help to reduce overhead costs and reverse the ill effects of the chemicals that have been implemented. Fertility is based in the life of the soil and can be measured by the tons of microbes per Hectare. Healthy soil will have 200 tons of microbial life per hectare where modern farms are now down to 1­2 tons per hectare. Natural capital is the fertility of the soil and when you lose the fertility you become subject to the implements required to produce. When we strip the soil bare and spray synthetic fertilizers we have made the unconscious decision to select for weeds. Then requiring us to use herbicide and in turn leading us down the path of chemical reliance.

Cultivated tropical land is almost always lacking in basic minerals due to leaching. Most of the phosphorus, silica and calcium are in low supply. Thus restoring the soils ability to hold nutrients becomes a priority. The natural systems have a canopy that do not allow the raindrops to touch the soil. Rain drops are filtered through this canopy leaving behind a mist at the soil surface. Due to the removal of the canopy for cultivation monsoon rains wash away and leach out much of the soil nutrients, thus leaving the soil lacking in basic minerals. There are a few strategies to restore the soils ability to hold nutrients.

• ●  Restore humus with green crop, and especially perennials such as Leucaena and tree legumes.

• ●  Intercropping

• ●  Frequent intervals of applying Phosfito so the plants can absorb before leaching.

• ●  Fertilize (Compost/Compost Tea, Bio­Fertilizer) at 6­week intervals.

• ●  Reduce annual crops and replace with perennials.

• ●  Mulch to protect soil from leaching, growing weeds and as a protection and food for the microbes.

The focus of my time spent with Ridwan was attempting to teach the processes of making microbiologically rich compost, fermented Bio­fertilizer and soluble phosphorus, calcium and silica called Phosical or Phosfito. All three products are proven to work and are easily duplicated using products that are considered waste. Here we are teaching to turn waste into a resource. The language barrier was the most difficult obstacle to the teaching process. In an attempt to communicate the information we used examples that we could find in the surrounding area as well as the use of the white board by drawing examples.

Bio­Fertilizer is a ferment made from fresh cow dung dissolved in water and enriched with milk, molasses, ashes, rock dust and sometimes oxidized magnesium, zinc, calcium, ect. Fermented fertilizer is higher in plant available nutrient due to being predigested. The end product is a locally made EM at a drastically reduced cost. 50 liters of the Bio­Fertilizer is diluted into 1000 liters of water and applied to 1 hectare as a foliar spray and applied at dawn or dusk when the plant stomates (pores of the plants on the underside of the leaves) are open to absorb the nutrients.

Once the dilution is made the solution is viable for 6 hours. If the barrel is opened during the ferment proccess it must be reactivated with milk, molasses and yeast then resealed. When the product has completed the proccess it is stable for up to six months.

Bio­Fertilizer Receipt

• ●  40 liters of fresh cow manure

• ●  3 liters of kelp

• ●  2 liters of fresh milk (if using pasteurized or powdered milk mix with yogurt)

• ●  2 liters of molasses

• ●  4 liters of wood ash

• ●  1 liter of Phosfito waste

• ●  250 grams of dry bakers yeast

• ●  1 liter of Bio­Fertilizer made with Rumen (the grass from the first stomach of a fresh killed cow)

• ●  Topped with water 300 millimeters from the top

  All ingredients are mixed together thoroughly in a 100 liter drum that has a good seal and a oxygen blow off tube with the end placed in a bottle of water to allow the air to escape from the barrel into the bottle of water without allowing air to return to the barrel. The fermentation is a 2­ to 3 month process. The color should be gold or gold/green and have a soft smell. If the product has a foul smell and/or is black in color it must be dumped and not used and the failure would have been caused by a bad airlock seal. Once complete the Bio­Fertilizer is good for 6 months.

  Phosfito is burned bone and rice husk cooked down to a powder and when mixed with water becomes a soluble form of phosphorus, calcium and silica. It is double burned bone that is initially burned on an open fire and then slow burned with a high silica product like rice husk or dry coffee husk using a chimney. Applying Phosfito as a foliar spray will feed the soil and plants needed phosphorus, calcium and silica. Some of the benefits of Phosfito will be reduction of fungal attacks on crops and better plant posture due to thickening of the plants cell walls. 2 kilograms of Phosfito dissolved in 400 liters of water is enough to treat 1 hectare and should be sprayed from a nebulizer with a 1 mm nozzle at 35­ to 40 psi.

  The step­-by-­step process for making Phosfito

First burn

• ●  25 kilos of cow bone (preferably ribs and leg bones ­ bones with marrow)

• ●  Start a "campfire” using sticks and small pieces of wood.

• ●  Place the bones on the fire.

• ●  The bones will keep the fire going due to the cartilage and marrow being flammable.

• ●  The process will take several hours to complete and cool and it is best to leave the burnt bones overnight.

• ●  When the bones are burned they will be mostly white.

  The bones will need to be crushed. One of the most efficient ways to crush the bones is to place them onto a tarp and fold the tarp over the top of the bones. Place the burnt bones in front of a car tire and drive the car over the bones tuning the wheel side to side, repeating this process until the bones are mostly crushed. Then sift the material through a 1/4 centimeter grade sifter. The product that is not powder can be used in the Bio­Fertilizer process. The burned bone powder is now ready for the second burn.

Second Burn

• ●  Light a fire under the chimney.

• ●  The chimney is a steel pipe with legs welded to the bottom. It should stand 1.8 meters tall, be a 3" diameter pipe and stand 20 centimeters off the ground.

• ●  The fire will be drawn up by the chimney making a "jet or rocket" type sound.

• ●  Once you have hot coals under the chimney and smoke is coming from the top of the chimney you are ready to add the rice husk and burnt bone.

• ●  Add rice husk to the hot coals and sprinkle the bone dust onto the rice husk. The ratio 10:1. 10 scoops of rice husk to 1 scoop of burnt bone dust. Make sure to continue to add material until you have covered the inlet of the pipe.

• ●  As you observe burn spots in the bottom of the rice husk add additional layers always keeping to the 10:1 ratio.

• ●  Layers can be added until the pile reaches a meter high.

• ●  As long as you continue to see smoke come from the top of the chimney the process is working.

• ●  Let this continue to cook overnight. The next day everything should be completely burned and a soft gray nearly white color. This end product is Phosfito.

• ●  Phosfito can be stored in a bucket once cooled and has an indefinite shelf life.

  Both Phosfito and Bio­Fertilizer focus on mineralizing the soil, feeding the microbes and feeding the plants. However if the use of sulphuric or salt based fertilizers and herbicide have been the management system we can be sure the soil has very low microbiology let alone diverse microbiology. By growing living soil all the nutrients needed for the plants are available as they need, due to the living and dying of the microbes. Plants require more than the basic elements fed to them via chemically based or even organic fertilizers. By offering the plants a "Living Soil" as Dr. Elaine Ingham, lead Biological scientist with the Rodale Institute and founder of The Soil Food Web, teaches and has written extensively about.

 When using a Living Soil approach the plants have all the nutrient they need available to them and in a form that does not "force feed" the plant. By growing the biology of the soil, produce becomes more nutrient dense, proven by the increased flavor, shelf life and dry weight of the product. Plants become strong and healthy and far less susceptible to disease and pest attacks. This biologically rich food becomes supper food and far more healthy than any food grown hydroponically or conventionally. Nutrient density has been on a steep decline since the introduction of chemically based fertilizers in the 1950's and organic fertilizers follow the same principles (just organically).

My third phase of education was to teach Ridwan how to make probiotic, microbial rich compost. Ultimately this compost can be used to brew compost tea. Compost tea takes 5 liters of the biologically rich compost and breeds the microbes in a 1000 liter tank to be sprayed as a foliar. This spray of microbes coats the plants with a film and is quickly absorbed by the plant as well as protects the plant from insect infestation and disease. Banana plants sprayed with a mixture called Preparation 252, a mix of Probiotic compost tea, Bio­Fertilizer and Phosfito, is a management system used by the largest banana producer in the world. The banana leaves are full without tears. I hope to be able to return to teach this process.

The composting process as taught to Ridwan creates a ton of compost, half of which is micro-biotic life (if done correctly). The process takes 8­ to 10 weeks to complete, but when finished is worth it's weight in gold. The compost is spread at the base of the fruit trees and covered in mulch, such as rice straw which is considered a waste product throughout the area and sadly burned off. The mulch protects the microbes from the elements and is a slowly digested food for the microbes. In addition to using the compost for trees it should be applied to main crops when sowing the seeds or transplanting a seedling. I advised Ridwan to duplicate the process throughout the farm. By having compost piles throughout the farm, far less energy is needed for implementation if compost piles are available where they will be used. The compost pile is built simply by using products that are considered waste products.

The receipt for building a Probiotic, Microbial rich compost:

• ●  An area of 1.5 meters is loosened with a fork in a circle.

• ●  A few sticks are place in that circle.

• ●  3 wheelbarrows full of "brown" material is laid down

• ●  Brown material consist of rice straw, wheat straw, dry leaves, soft wood chips and the like.

• ●  It is best to have a diversity of material when building a compost pile.

• ●  2 wheelbarrows full of "green" material.

• ●  Green material are green weeds, grasses, food waste and the like.

• ●  1 wheelbarrow full of cow dung. Again a diversity is good. However if using chicken manure use only half a wheel barrel due to the high nitrogen content.

• ●  With each layer water is misted over the pile.

• ●  This process is repeated at least 3 times but up to 5. With the goal of making the pile at least a meter high.

• ●  Small dead animals such as rats, fish or chickens can be added to the middle brown layer. No more than 3­-4 chickens per pile.

• ●  The pile is topped off with a mixture of the three materials (brown, green and manure) and will become the bottom of the pile when turned.

• ●  The compost is covered with a tarp to protect it from the rain and sun as well as to lock in the moisture of the pile.

• ●  Within 2 to ­3 days the pile will reach a temperature of 50 ­to 60 C. This is an indication that life is active within the pile.

• ●  After 10 days the pile is turned. The premixed top becomes the bottom of the turned pile. The material on the outer edge of the pile is placed in the center of the new pile and the decomposed material in the center of the pile becomes the outer edge of the pile. The pile should be lightly misted with water during the turning process.

• ●  When applying water it is important to note that the pile should not be too wet or too dry. The squeeze test is a good indicator. Ideally if you grab a handful of material you should be able to just squeeze out a drop or two of water. Too much water can make the pile go anaerobic and not enough water the pile will not activate and get up to temperature.

• ●  The pile is turned every 10 days for the next 8 to ­10 weeks after which the compost is completed.

• ●  Once completed the compost can be sifted and stored. Ideally stored in a closed container off the ground and protected from excessive heat, the sun or rain.

Aside from teaching the compost tea method and Preparation 252 a return consultancy is advisable. It would be very beneficial to teach a 6 day, translated course to the farm manager and all the farm hands. We will teach about designing systems that integrate many elements that ultimately serve to stabilize the system and increases the diversity of products available for market while reducing inputs with a goal to be input free. We will teach about farming on contour, integrating animals into the farm for increased fertility and marketable products. We will teach about establishing food forest systems that are ecologically balanced orchards with a diversity of produce. We will teach how the farmer can farm with nature. We can teach about crop boarder species that will keep the grasses from creeping into the growing beds saving on labor. We can teach about productive nursery systems. We can teach about integrated aquaculture systems. There are many elements that can be used to make the farm more bio­diverse and ultimately have long term productivity.

The farm as it is may be a broken system but can be redesigned without having to start from scratch. By paying attention to the contours of the land and how the elements interact with the land we can redesign the farm. A proper farm design plan would take 30 days +/­ to complete and would require me to be on­site with a helper for a week surveying, an aerial photograph of the farm and would also require a graphic artist who is competent in Illustrator or the like for 3­ to 5 days. It would also be required to have the farm manager and farm hands trained in the 6 day translated training. With the cost of food continuing to climb and the population increasing rapidly and the basic fact that everyone needs to eat, I advise to hold onto the farm and possibly invest in other farms. Farms that have failed are excellent investments for the future. 

Note* Please do not use any part of this report without written permission from Erik Klockemann