Previously, I mentioned that I made Water-Soluble Calcium (WCA) for my plants and animals. This time, I’ll show you how to make a second form of Water-Soluble calcium – Calcium Phosphate (abbreviated WCP, sometimes CaPo) made from charred bones.
WCP provides phosphorus, necessary for the production of ATP (adenosinetriphosphate a.k.a. energy) in the plant. I like to think of it as what makes plants have a ‘backbone’ as it makes strong stems and stalks. This makes sense since it is made from the bones of animals.
In KNF, it is used frequently with WCA. The process for making it is very similar, except for the fact that WCP comes from soaking bones, not eggshells.
You will need to gather clean bones that are free of fat, sinew and meat. After I make stock, I toss leftover bones to my chickens. They pick them clean after a day or two. Since I need to make WCP so rarely, they will sit there for many months or years until I make anything from them. So I simply need to gather from the coop floor while the girls are out and about.
Natural farmers are resourceful, so if there aren’t any bones lying around, consider road kill, if you happen to see their skeletons lying around on a hike. This may also appeal to vegetarians 🙂
Get your chickens laying eggs again.
You will need to really blacken these bones, so a grill is typically the way to go unless you have a fire pit. Since I can always raid the coop for bones, I simply choose a day to have a barbecue and use the residual hot coals to char the bones.
This is the way.
Ingredients :
- clean animal bones, as explained above — mammal bones preferable
- brown rice vinegar or other fermented vinegar — never distilled
- grill or fire pit
Instructions For Homemade Calcium Phosphate :
- Place your bones on the glowing coals or fire — either directly or on grate. They will catch fire, so make sure to have adequate space around the area.
- Rotate to make sure they blacken on all sides.
- They are done when they are hollow.
- Put one part of crushed (not powdered) charred bones to 10 parts brown rice vinegar into a clean, half gallon-sized mason jar, but only fill 2/3. No brown or unblackened bones.
- Cover with paper towel tied with string. It will be bubbly and active at first like soda. After about a week or so, when it stops moving, you can strain off the vinegar into a bottle for storage.
- Label bottle with name of contents (WCP) along with the date and dilution rate of 1:1000
What Does The Dilution Ratio Mean?
A rate of 1:1000 means for every liter (1000 ml) of water you only need 1 ml of WCP. Since one teaspoon is roughly 5 ml, that means for every gallon of water, you would add just shy of a teaspoon of WCP. One gallon of water feeds a 100 sq ft bed. A little goes a long way. More is NOT better.
Note that when I say ‘feed’ I mean we’re feeding the soil. We’re building up the resilience and balancing nutrients within the soil. KNF always focuses on soil first, mainly because the mouth of the plant is in the roots. This means that not only will your current crops benefit, but the next year’s crop yields will be higher too!
Rainwater is a natural source of nitrogen. As a result, during times of excessive rain, you may end up with plants such as melons, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants or zucchinis that refuse to flower. This is a perfect place to use WCP. And let me tell ya, it works in about 3 hours.
About six years ago, my former neighbor, who was known for her green thumb couldn’t figure out why her pumpkin patch refused to flower. On the day her daughter told me that, I happened to be using WCP on my garden. Her patch was just over the fence, so when I was done with my plants, I drizzled the remaining diluted WCP from my watering can over her plants. The next day, the first blossoms appeared on her vine!
WCP is one of many KNF inputs that can increase sweetness in fruits. Master Cho suggests sprinkling some around the plants in question in a big ring. It is also helpful in strengthening fruit skins, firming mushy fruit and giving it a shiny healthy coat. Finally, it helps livestock get pregnant. This stuff rocks!
Stay tuned for my next post explaining how I combine WCP with WCA to make a powerful input to help chickens add several years to their egg production!
If you’ve used WCP or have a question, please let me know in the comments below! I just hope I know the answer….
Water Soluble Calcium Phosphate
Materials
- Clean animal bones – mammal bones preferable
- Brown rice vinegar or other fermented vinegar — never distilled
- Grill or fire pit
Instructions
- Place your bones on the glowing coals or fire — either directly or on grate. They will catch fire, so make sure to have adequate space around the area.
- Rotate to make sure they blacken on all sides.
- They are done when they are hollow.
- Put one part of crushed (not powdered) charred bones to 10 parts brown rice vinegar into a clean, half gallon-sized mason jar, but only fill 2/3. No brown or unblackened bones.
- Cover with paper towel tied with string. It will be bubbly and active at first like soda. After about a week or so, when it stops moving, you can strain off the vinegar into a bottle for storage.
- Label bottle with name of contents (WCP) along with the date and dilution rate of 1:1000
Notes
