Bakashi Compost Activator

[Mackay]

Anyone know how to make it?

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

http://www.compostguy.com/bokashi-resource-page/




Sounds like an interesting process.

 

[Mackay]

I've been exploring bokashi further

I've found that many of my neighbors make it and use it in their garden. It really seems to fast forward compost and makes the plants grow super strong and fast.

My neighbors all do lasagna gardening and I am preparing my first beds right now. We have a short growing season and nothing will really be in the ground till about july 1 or so.

Meanwhile my neighbors beds from last year are all heated up from the bokashi and volunteers are coming up already... they keep a plastic cover over their beds on the cold days and we still have plenty of them..

They also use it to compost their food scraps... it goes very fast.

I am quite impressed witht the process and it appears it is the prefered compost method in Japan. This stuff is known also to compost meat, fish, oily stuff, small bones, and get this, animal waste.

Did you know that in Japan the regular commons country folks sell their human waste to compost facilities? I suspect they use the Bokashi method for that but I am not absolutely sure.

Here is a site that tells you how to make your own including the starter. There are quite a few sites out there telling you how to use it with purchased starter but my neighbors prove it is not necessary. All you need to get going is a 5 gal bucket with lid, newspapers, some rice, molasses, 2 gallon plastic bags.

take a look... I just can't say how impressed I am with this. I think I will be letting go of the vermiposting in favor of this. Those worms just can't process all the scraps fast enough... and now they got invaded by some kind of bug that is crawling all over the bins. :/


Aside from composting you can lay the bacteria impregnated newspaper right into the layers of your lasagna garden. This is how my neighbors got their beds cooking all winter and it seems that the plants just love it. They say it structures the soil and makes nutrients more accessable to the plants.

http://bokashicomposting.com/?m=200809

 

[Mackay]

Ok, I got my bokashi compost bucket set up and I started making my mother serum. I'm hoping to make enough to cover my whole garden with microbe implanted newpaper just under my compost planting mix

Just the idea for having a compost bucket that does not stink is worth it

 

[chixluvdirt]

I have been bokashi composting for about 2 years- it is incredible! I made my own after I purchased the first several bags and made enough to last me over a year. I also compost in an open pile, I use vermicomposting in containers, and compost my food scraps with my chicken litter in large 70 gallon trash cans with holes drilled in. All systems have a different function for me. Since I live in the city, I must keep food from being a vermin attractant- so that was why I began bokashi, that and the fact that I wanted to compost chicken and fish scraps too.
The only down side to bokashi is it still needs to have "underground time" so although you can get everything nicely started in the bokashi bucket- you have to bury it to finish it off. The bokashi fermenting gives your compost a tremendous start and after being underground (I have a pit for it) I can harvest the compost a few short weeks later, and it is truly black gold- filled with worms and smells of heaven and earth.
One of the plus's of bokashi composting (besides being able to be fed to your animals as well) is the "tea" that you drain off and dilute to feed your plants. I have used this for inside plants and outside- and the difference between plants that have been fed with it and plants that have not (yes I did a side/by side comparison of two identical bouganvillea) was tremendous. The plant fed the bokashi tea had three times the blooms and at least three times the fullness of the other- and they had both started exactly the same.
The recipe I used came from Neal Foley who has a video on Youtube- THe only part he left out is you MUST dry it out after the fermenting time is done -otherwise it goes bad too fast to use. I use a large tarp and pour it out in the hot sun for several days until it's completely dry- raking it several times a day to keep it stirred. Then put it in sealed bags and use as needed- it keeps forever- I still have some I made last fall.

 

[Mackay]

I forgot that I had this thread here!

since last posting I continue with bokashi.

Since all my beds were planted I ran into the problem of where to bury my bokoshi when it was ready. Then after a search I came across the idea of getting a black plastic trash can and cutting out the bottom. Throw a little dirt in. throw the contents of your bokoshi bucket it and cover with a few shovels of dirt. Put the lid on. Continue like this until the can is full.. Let sit for at least one month after the last bokoshi bucket was put in.

When you are ready to compost pull the can off and you are left with a pile of bokoshi compost on the ground ready to go.

This idea is perfect for those who have freezing climates. You can fill your cans all winter. then in march or april, when it starts to warm up your bokashi will go to work and be ready for planting in May.

 

[journey11]

Hadn't seen this thread before, it sounds interesting! And easy too? I read your link Mackay on how to ferment your starter. Now where does the 5 gal. bucket come in?

Are you saying you just layer the impregnated newspaper with your compost in a pit or large trash can? What is the compost to newspaper ratio? I mean, I have a LOT of compost in my big 'ol pile--I just pile it and pile it and let it bake, turning it once in the fall and alternating between two piles each year so one is always done and ready. Now this takes a long time... How much of my composting material could I put in with, say, one sheet of newspaper--cause I have LOT!

I'd like to give this a try because it sounds so EASY and seems there is nothing to lose. And especially since there is no money involved.

 

[chixluvdirt]

Here is the link on making your own bokashi- just make sure and dry it outside then store in an airtight container- it lasts for a looooong time- I still have several bags actively working from last fall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96fSXccQx9Q

I have a small yard so ran out of burial sites too. I now add the finished bucket of fermented waste right into my large 30 gallon trash cans that I am using as composters (with holes drilled in the sides and bottome) and just make sure to layer the material with plenty of "dry" material since it's pretty wet. The resulting compost is amazing- truly black gold, and it heats the whole pile up much quicker than without the bokashi.
I used two 5 gallon paint buckets from home depot- at $2 a piece- drilled 1/4" holes in the bottom of the inside one for drainage, and one large 1" hole in the side of the outside one with a rubber stopper (for collecting the draining liquid). IT works great and a fraction of the cost of a commercial bin. I use a paper plate to push down the waste on the inside bucket to keep out air since this is an anerobic system. As I said, I've been doing this for over two years and it works like a dream.

 

[journey11]

Thanks Chix, I think I'll be giving this a try!

 

[simple life]

I watched the video and a few others but they do not tell you how to make your own EM.
They give you all the info on making your own bokashi but one of the ingredients is the EM which they don't tell you how to make or where to buy it and I have not seen it for sale.
On one of the comment pages on the video a few people questioned the same thing as me and one of the replies was that it is dangerous to make your own EM and it needs to be done in a laboratory or under similar conditions so what is the deal with that?
I am curious to what is dangerous in the starter.
I am editing this to sayt that I followed a link found in one of the posts at the top of the page and they talk about making EM starter from rice water.
Is that what anyone else here is doing and I am wondering how it compares to commercial brands.