Maine Coast Heritage Trust will host a free, hands-on Korean Natural Farming Workshop to teach farming techniques including making natural fertilizers and soil microbial inoculants. The workshop will be a two-part series held Wednesday, July 30, from 2 - 4 p.m., at Erickson Fields Preserve, 164 West St., in Rockport.   

Aaron Englander, Associate Director of Stewardship at Aldermere Farm and Erickson Fields, will demonstrate Korean Natural Farming (KNF), an agricultural method that encourages self-sustaining, closed loop systems through minimizing external inputs. Developed by Master Han Kyu Cho in South Korea, KNF echoes many of the principles central to Masanobu Fukuoka’s Natural Farming technique as well as Permaculture.

This two-hour, hands-on workshop will present practices of KNF and adaptations to the Northeast US through live demos of various Natural Farming bio-fertilizers and nutrients.  Workshop attendees will learn to make KNF inputs.  KNF is applicable to many types and scales of farming, from backyard veggie gardening to large scale livestock operations. The goal of the workshop is for attendees to leave equipped with the knowledge to implement some KNF practices on their own farm or garden. 

Attendees should bring a notepad, pen, water, and sunscreen. Space is limited. Anyone interested in participating may register for one or both workshops online at aldermere.org/events and over the phone, 207-236-2739. 

Aaron Englander is the Interim Farm Preserve Director of Aldermere Farm and Erickson Fields, educational farm preserves managed and owned by Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Englander learned Korean Natural Farming through an intensive workshop led by Master Han Kyu Cho, the originator of KNF, and working on a polyculture fruit farm in Hilo, Hawaii which implements KNF techniques.  Currently, Englander utilizes KNF inputs and techniques at Erickson Field Preserve. Over the years, Englander has led KNF workshops for NOFA (New England Organic Farming Association), Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, and the University of Maine.  Englander has an M.S. from UMaine in Plant and Soil Science and has published research on the subject.