Basic Recipe and Uses Around the Farm
Liquid Gold: How I Turned Rabbit Manure into My Garden’s Secret Weapon
I’ve read enough studies and worked with rabbit manure enough to realize it is absolute gold for the garden and the farm. As a “cool” manure, meaning it has a balanced carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, I can apply it directly to my garden beds without burning roots. Taking things a step further with KNF methods, I create a very powerful FLM (Fermented Liquid Manure). This FLM from rabbit manure is extremely useful around the garden.
Soil Drench
I mix it at 1 tablespoon per gallon, all the way up to 1 cup per gallon, mixed with clean water. I make sure the water is free of chlorine and any oxidizing or other ingredients that would harm the bacteria.
Foliar Spray
I use around 1 teaspoon per gallon of clean water for foliar sprays. I’ll use up to 2 teaspoons per gallon with very heavy feeding plants.
Here is exactly how I go about brewing my 4-gallon batches.
My Setup and Ingredients
When I prepare a batch, I use a standard 5-gallon bucket. This size is perfect because it gives me 4 gallons of liquid fertilizer and leaves 1 gallon of headspace for bubbling and expansion.
The Setup
4 Gallons of Dechlorinated Water: I use reverse osmosis filtered water. It provides a clean environment for the bacteria, while having a neutral effect on the nutrients.
2 to 3 lbs of Rabbit Manure: Since rabbit manure is already mostly dry when dropped, I’ll use any age rabbit manure, as long as it isn’t soaked with water or urine when weighed.
A Mesh Bag: I use paint strainer bags, cotton sheet, burlap sacks, pillow cases, and even t-shirts with the sleeves tied off. I strain my manure solutions at the end. Rough filter for soil drenches, and fine filtration to keep particulates out of my sprayer nozzles.
1 to 1.5 Cups of Blackstrap Molasses or Brown Sugar: Published research shows the complex sugar/carbs in the molasses feeds the microbes while supplying additional iron and potassium, helping them multiply rapidly. Brown sugar feeds the microbes without additional inputs.
The “Spark” (Microbial Inoculant):
The KNF Way: I usually head to the woods and grab a double-handful of rich, active forest leaf mold. I look for the white, sweet mold found under the leaf piles at the base of older trees.
The Commercial Way: I have read you can use use 1–2 tablespoons of a high-quality biological inoculant like EM-1, but the local leaf mold will contain the most effective biology for your local area.
My Optional Boosters: I really like to add a 1/2 cup of humic acid to complex the nutrients, and sometimes I’ll toss in 1/2 cup of Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) for an extra kick of plant hormones and trace minerals.
My Step-by-Step Process
1. Preparing the manure Put the manure in a 5 gallon bucket. I’ve found the use of a strainer type bag slows down the release of nutrients, vs. being able to stir/mash the manure and fine strain at the end.
2. Mixing the ferment base I take a small container and dissolve my molasses or brown sugar in a quart of warm water. Once it’s fully dissolved, I pour it into my 5-gallon bucket containing the 4 gallons of dechlorinated water. This is when I stir in my inoculant and any humic acids I’m using that day.
3. Submerging the goods I drop the bag into the bucket. If it floats, I’ll weigh it down with a clean stone or tie it to a stick laid across the top so it stays suspended in the liquid. I make sure to give the bag a few good squeezes to saturate the manure and kickstart the nutrient release.
4. The fermentation phase I cover the bucket with a piece of cardboard or a breathable cloth secured with a rubber band. This allows gases to escape while keeping bugs out. Because KNF liquid manures are fermented anaerobically or facultatively, I don’t need an air pump. I just make sure to give the mixture a vigorous stir with a clean stick for about 30 seconds once a day.
5. The Harvest Depending on the weather, since warmer temperatures make things move faster, I find it’s usually ready in 7 to 14 days.
I call it ready when the liquid turns a deep, dark amber color. I look for an earthy, yeasty, or slightly sweet and sour smell, almost like beer or cider. If it ever smells putrid like sewage or rotten eggs I know the wrong microbes have taken over. In those case I dump it in an unused corner of the property and start over.
How I Use It
Since this is a concentrated brew, I never use it full strength. I’ve developed two reliable routines for application:
For Soil Drenching (Root Zone): I dilute it at a 1:20 ratio—roughly 1 cup of ferment per gallon of clean water. I water this directly into the soil around the drip line of my plants. I’ve found this works wonders for my heavy feeding plants like my tomatoes, squash, and brassicas.
For Foliar Spraying (Leaf Feed): I dilute it much further, at a 1:500 to 1:1000 ratio (about 1 to 2 teaspoons per gallon of water). I prefer to spray this early in the morning or late in the evening when the stomata are open and the sun won’t burn the wet leaves.