{"id":13767,"date":"2025-03-21T02:05:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovenfreshflowers.com\/?p=13767"},"modified":"2025-03-21T02:05:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:05:38","slug":"weed-juice-or-jadam-liquid-fertilizer-jlf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovenfreshflowers.com\/weed-juice-or-jadam-liquid-fertilizer-jlf\/","title":{"rendered":"Weed Juice or JADAM Liquid Fertilizer (JLF)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"homemade<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the third in a short series of blog posts on easy homemade regenerative inputs for your farm and garden. If you missed the previous two posts, be sure to check out how to make Leaf Mold Tea<\/a> and Eggshell Extract<\/a>.   Once you\u2019ve caught up with those, it\u2019s time to talk about my favorite of all homemade regenerative inputs: Weed Juice<\/strong>.  Why is it my favorite?  Because it gives me a whole new appreciation for weeds, so much so that I\u2019ve even gone begging my neighbors for some of theirs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I call this concoction \u201cWeed Juice\u201d because I use plant material from what many people consider \u201cweeds\u201d, you may have already come across the concept.  Comfrey tea, nettle tea, and JADAM<\/a> Liquid Fertilizer (JLF) are all versions of this.  I first read about steeping plant material in a bucket for months until it disintegrated in a gardening book Garden Anywhere<\/em><\/a> by UK-based author, Alys Fowler, more than a decade ago.  She wrote about using comfrey tea as a natural fertilizer.  I remember trying it one time back then; it was the foulest smelling stuff ever! I couldn\u2019t stomach making it again and pretty much assumed all British gardeners must be a little nuts if they were using that stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward several years and I started learning a lot more about homemade regenerative inputs for the farm thanks my curiosity about Korean Natural Farming<\/a> and JADAM.  I read about JLF (yet another unfortunately awkward acronym that scares so many of the initiated away from KNF and JADAM) and made some using nettles.  Just like that bygone bucket of comfrey tea, the stench was pretty darn bad.  However, I was delighted with the results: when applied to rows of young transplants, their leaves became glossy and vibrant!  The stink was worth it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was while reading the book, When Weeds Talk<\/em><\/a> by Jay McCaman, that some seemingly disjointed pieces clicked into place beautiful in my mind.   JLF became \u201cWeed Juice\u201d and I got pretty carried away with it. To explain why, I\u2019ll first need to tell you about The Rule of Return<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters, let\u2019s take a moment to pointedly acknowledge that all of this trendy \u201cregenerative farming\u201d talk we are immersed in today is not new or groundbreaking. Critical and important, yes.  But not new!  Discussions of naturally balancing the soil and the ecosystem at the farm level through a closed loop system have been around for many decades.  There is much to be learned from older books if you\u2019re willing to take some time to dig around and find them.  For one, in the 1940s and 50s, Dr. William Albrecht<\/a> was writing extensively on the subject of soil health and biology, rallying against the \u201cmodernization\u201d of American farming and its use of then-new synthetic fertilizers and large machinery.  If only more farmers had listened to him then! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not sure if it was Dr. Albrecht or one of his contemporaries (possibly Lady Eve Balfour<\/a> \u2013 yes a female farmer!!) who originally coined the phrase \u201cLaw of Return\u201d. [I\u2019ve since bastardized it in my own mind to refer to it as the Rule of Return because the writer in me likes alliteration.] In short, nature requires that whatever is taken out of a soil ecosystem must be returned to it in order for the soil to continue on in a balanced and healthy manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes complete sense when you think about the simple (and yet beautifully complex) function of a mature deciduous tree. The tree pulls nutrients from the soil all throughout the spring and summer to develop leaves that enable it to prosper. Then in the fall, the leaves drop to the ground to return nutrients to the soil and the life therein. Next spring the tree accesses those processed minerals and nutrients to stretch its limbs even further. And so the cycle continues effortlessly it would seem. Or at least until some stupid human decides they don\u2019t like leaves on their lawn and they hire a posse of leaf-blower wielding landscapers to vacuum up the leaves and haul them away. Grr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As farmers, what we take off the land must be returned to the land in some way. This is the golden Rule of Return. It cannot be broken or ignored without consequence. But all too often, we farmers are not putting enough back. Especially flower farmers who take massive amounts of plant biomass off the farm with each vanload of blooms. I know I\u2019ve been guilty of this more than I care to admit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I was contemplating the Rule of Return, I was also reading Jay McCaman\u2019s book, all about what weeds can tell us about our fields. While his discourse can be rather disjointed by times, he does bring to the forefront of the readers mind the idea that weeds are not \u201cbad guys\u201d, but rather the talisman of soil balancing. With their root systems reaching into the subsoil, weeds are mining the minerals needed to bring tired topsoil back into balance again. For example, when a soil is low in calcium, crabgrass, sorrel and chickweed will proliferate, on a mission to bring that calcium up from deep down and make it available to the soil food web near the surface. Once their mission to bring calcium into balance is complete (usually after a handful of generations that grow, die and decay in place), those types of weeds will dissipate, making way for the next set of species to take over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if we, as farmers and gardeners, pull up the weeds and cart them away, we are denying the Rule of Return. Yes, we could supplement with another amendment we buy and have shipped to the farm to be spread around between bed flips. But why do all of that when Nature has already done half the work for us and just wants to complete this cycle of mineral balancing as intended? \u201cWell, Jennie, you can\u2019t very well just stop weeding and let the place go to hell in a handbasket!\u201d Trust me, I know you can\u2019t skip the laborious task of weeding. But what if you could flip the script on that chore and consider it to be a type of harvesting instead? Harvesting nutrients! Now you\u2019ll love your weeds! And maybe even covet your neighbors if they\u2019ve got nettles, yarrow, or comfrey growing wild. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collecting<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The process is so darn easy too! By fermenting weeds in rainwater to make Weed Juice, you\u2019ll be able to extract all those minerals the weeds were mining and put them right back into your farm\u2019s soil via irrigation or drenching, ultimately feeding your crops, balancing the soil, and reducing future weed growth. The Rule of Return is being met and the farmer\u2019s job becomes a little bit easier and more pleasant. Win-win! Oh, and it\u2019s free! Win-win-win!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with making five gallon batches like outlined below in the recipe. Once you get into the swing of it, consider scaling up! This will look different at each farm. At mine, I\u2019ve installed a rain catchment system off my barn, culminating in a 750 gallon tank so I have plenty of rainwater for making Weed Juice and for the other homemade regenerative inputs and foliar feeds I\u2019m making. This spring I\u2019m also installing a series of 55 gallon drums next to the rain tank where I\u2019ll be fermenting Weed Juice on a larger scale that will then get pumped through my drip irrigation system. I\u2019m so excited! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. \u2013 I\u2019m not going to lie to you. This is still a very stinky input but somehow more bearable when you think about the Rule of Return. Or at least I think so! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEED JUICE (aka JLF) <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal:  To extract the minerals out of the plant material via a long-term fermentation process. A little bit of biology is also likely included with the end product, but this input is mostly about nutrients (unlike Leaf Mold Tea, which is primarily about ramping up biology in the soil).<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any type of weed or crop reside (i.e., the tops of dahlias when you pinch them back) will work here<\/strong>, but I would encourage you to scout your farm for your most common weeds and make an inventory list of your Top 5 and then focus on making batches of Weed Juice specific to those and consciously using the resulting liquid around the same areas where those weeds have proven to be a problem.  Observe what happens! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– A big pile of freshly pulled weeds
– Rainwater (well water can also work, but do not used treated municipal water)
– A handful of leaf mold freshly gathered from under a healthy tree <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– 5 gallon bucket with tight fitting lid


To Make: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shake off all the dirt from the roots of the weeds. You can also just cut\/pull roots from the plant tops if that\u2019s easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with just the green materials (no dirt), chop up the weeds\/plant material with scissors (or use a mulching push mower if you\u2019re handling large volumes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place chopped up plant debris in the bucket, filling it about three quarters of the way full when stuffed in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add water to cover the plant material completely, filling nearly to the top of the bucket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sprinkle the leaf mold over the surface of the water in the bucket. Do not stir it in; just let it float on the top. The leaf mold adds some biology to the mix that will help decompose the debris faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover the bucket with the lid, making sure it’s sealed up so the stink doesn’t seep out when fermentation begins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Label the bucket with the date and contents so you remember several months from now what exactly was in there! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set the bucket in a place away from sun and rain, but ideally not inside a building where you\u2019ll be close to it often. The contents will stink so you want plenty of airflow! I use the back porch off my barn during the summer and then bring any remaining buckets inside for the winter so they don\u2019t freeze. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let contents sit for several months, stirring occasionally with a stick. Hold your nose when you stir! When the bucket is not actively stirred, it doesn\u2019t smell too badly unless you get right up close to it. You want the plant material to be pretty well dissolved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually my batches take about two months during warmer weather and four months during colder months. Letting it sit for an entire year is apparently ideal, but I\u2019ve never been able to hold off that long before I wanted to use mine. You can actually start using it after just a few weeks, but you won\u2019t be maximizing the mineral content if you use it before the plant material is fully dissolved. *You may also use a proper lid for the bucket and seal it up completely. In JADAM, it is actually recommended that the container holding JLF be sealed because air is not desirable for fermentation. I personally found sealed buckets just way too stinky for my stomach to handle. By letting air in throughout the fermentation process, there seems to be a little less stench. But if you have no choice but to hold these buckets in an enclosed area, you\u2019ll probably want to seal them off and only work with the finished contents outdoors. To get a visual for all of this, check out Tony and Denise\u2019s amusing video over on the Bare Mountain Farm Youtube channel.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To Use: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use as a soil drench, I add about 1 cup of Weed Juice to each gallon of water.<\/strong>  The dilution rate recommend varies from source to source in the reference materials:  Fowler\u2019s Garden Anywhere doesn\u2019t recommend diluting the comfrey tea at all; Nigel Palmer recommends a 1:20 dilution rate in his book The Regenerative Grower\u2019s Guide to Garden Amendments (he calls this Leaf Mold Fermentation, by the way); and JADAM itself recommends a dilution ratio of about 1:200 to 1:500.  I suspect the range of recommended dilution rates has a lot to do with which weed is the base and how your soil might hold onto nutrients (sandy soil leaches nutrients and so low dilution rate would be better; heavy clay soil can hold onto nutrients so a higher dilution rate would be better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use as a foliar feed, I use 1 tablespoon of Weed Juice per gallon of water<\/strong> and apply with a backpack sprayer. I usually only use Weed Juice made with nettles for foliar spraying.   I like to combine it with Eggshell Extract, Leaf Mold Tea, kelp and fish emulsion as a nutrient and biology stimulant for young transplants. I hope this short series on easy homemade regenerative inputs for your farm has helped make the practices of KNF and JADAM a bit more approachable.  Fertilizing your crops and bringing your soil into balance do not have to cost a lot of money. What you need may very well already be on hand at your farm and might otherwise be something you\u2019d just throw out.  Hopefully Weed Juice in particular will give you a whole new appreciation for Nature\u2019s mineral miners! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to follow @notillflowers<\/a> on Instagram and subscribe to the podcast feed<\/a> for more discussions and ideas about deeply sustainable flower farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


\"Weed #NaturalHomemadeFarmInputs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the third in a short series of blog posts on easy homemade regenerative inputs for your farm and garden. If you missed the previous two posts, be sure to check out how to make Leaf Mold Tea and Eggshell Extract.   Once you\u2019ve caught up with those, it\u2019s time to talk about my favorite of all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-farming"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"lovenfresh","author_link":"https:\/\/lovenfreshflowers.com\/author\/lovenfresh\/"},"uagb_comment_info":20,"uagb_excerpt":"This is the third in a short series of blog posts on easy homemade regenerative inputs for your farm and garden. 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