My tomatoes have been outstanding this year. The whole vegetable garden has produced beyond my expectations. I think it’s because of the Korean Natural Farming (KNF) methods I’ve been learning to implement.
But that said, a few tomatoes are having problems. I think it’s blossom end rot, but I’m not sure. It looks like a regular, almost ripe tomato, but the color is a little off and when you try to pick it it’s squishy. So, I’m assuming I have a calcium deficiency. Or it could be a calcium uptake problem. My acidic soil could prevent the plant from using the calcium. Or it could just be that we’ve had a very wet spring. Or it could be that the variety, Early Girl bush tomatoes, just doesn’t perform well in my ecosystem. But I’m going with it’s a calcium problem for now.
So, while wondering what to do about the struggling tomato plants, I was harvesting some Malabar spinach and thinking of how abundant it is and the fact that I didn’t even have to plant it because it reseeds itself prolifically. The temps are going to start getting in the 100’s and stay there for a while and that’s when Malabar spinach shines. It loves the heat.
I’ve potted several plants to pass along to friends and family and spread the Malabar spinach love. But I still have plants that need to be thinned out and I thought, well at least they’ll add some calcium and iron to the compost. But then my KNF training started to kick in. Wait a minute, this plant has properties that some of my other plants need. It has minerals and it grows abundantly in heat. If I make an FPJ (Fermented Plant Juice) out of it, maybe I can harness those properties and spray them on the other plants that need it.
I’ve struggled with learning the KNF system. It’s different from just organic gardening – make or buy compost and buy organic fertilizers and pest controls. With KNF you learn what your plants need, and you make the inputs to use on them. Sort of a zen thing where you become more one with the plant.
This is a hard thing to teach to a broad audience. It was designed to help Korean farmers produce on small farms cost-effectively. KNF harnesses the power of nature to provide everything plants need to grow abundantly at very little cost. The methods tend to be specific for their needs and they also use plants that we don’t necessarily have here. The groups I follow to try to learn more about the methods are typically growing more large scale than me and are in Hawaii. Again, I don’t have the same plants to make my inputs to spray on the plants and soil as they do in Hawaii, so I need to adapt what they’re saying and learn to use what I have available.
It’s not a hard system, but it’s new to me. It’s different. My mind wants to say – this is too hard to learn. Stick with the easy organic way because you don’t have to think so much. I just want to go purchase the input to fertilize and control pests, not create the solution myself.
So, my victory today is not that I’ve found a way to cure these tomatoes from whatever is ailing them. I still have to make the FPJ, that will take five days and it might not be the solution to the problem. It will just be an experiment for me to see if it works.
But the victory is the shift in my thinking.
My brain has been absorbing all the information I’ve been reading and videos I’ve watched and without me realizing it, has started regurgitating this information into solutions.
And the same thing happens with natural pain relief. There’s so much information out there and so many methods to try, herbal remedies, essential oils, CBD oil, chiropractic, nutritional therapy, yoga, etc. The list goes on and on. It’s overwhelming. And if you’re used to reaching for a pill bottle to solve your problem, you become disconnected from your body and what it really needs.
When something seems too hard, sometimes it’s because you just don’t want to think so much. It’s a lot of information to take in and process. But if you keep gathering that information, at some point you’re able to extrapolate it to your own situation, and that’s when the magic happens.
If you’re new to using natural methods to treat your pain and want to become less dependent on doctors and prescription medications, don’t expect to read it and know it all immediately. Give yourself time to experiment and read as much as you possibly can. You won’t get results overnight, but you will get results.
And in the long run, you’ll learn what’s best for your body. You’ll learn what your body responds to and how to recognize what it needs.
You’ll suddenly experience small shifts and find yourself in the produce section looking for foods that can provide what your body needs instead of looking for food that provides entertainment for your taste buds. Or you’ll think about habits and how they might be changed to benefit your body rather than add to its decline. These small shifts add up to major lifestyle changes and move you towards a healthier you.
Soak up as much information as you can and just when you think it’s all too much, you will experience a shift in thinking. Knowledge truly is power when this sort of alchemy happens.
Happy Gardening!
Join the community! We’re stronger together.
Join the Pain-less Gardening Facebook group to meet other gardeners seeking natural solutions to chronic pain. Click the image below or visit The Disabled Gardener Facebook page to check it out!
