New, easier/cheaper form of bokashi

Hi folks, I just wrapped up documenting a two year project trying to adapt bokashi composting for humanure. It has been done, yes, but I wanted to do it with wild-cultivated LAB in a non-laboratory/non-professional context with ultra-cheap materials. The poop part didn't work out, but it did work very well for regular kitchen scrap bokashi.

What i've added to existing alt-bokashis is: Technical understanding of what bacteria we're cultivating, why, and how. More about alternative substrates and how/why to use them (beyond soggy clumps of newspaper). Not buying milk just to spoil it, but using kitchen waste itself to cultivate wild LAB. And more.

I spent about 2 years trialing all this stuff, this seems like the best place I could share it, I think it is a decent jump ahead of what exists currently. Please try it out and let me know how it goes. The "how to" section is partway down, there are large parts in orange that are technical information you don't NEED to know to do it.

I do hope to see this method proliferate. It was a lot of work so I slapped a creative commons license on it at the bottom.

https://archive.org/details/trashkashi_202406

Thanks!

Anton — thank you for posting! I am just getting started with Bokashi and am trying to do it in an affordable way. Your overview really breaks down what is happening and I found your process super helpful!

I have a question — it seems like I can either go the route of pickling, or just use purchased yogurt n the ramping up step.

I'm going to try using yoghurt because I'd like to start my bokashi system as soon as possible, and then I'll try the pickle method.

Did you find that one method worked better than another?

Eventually I'd like to just use pickle as it's less expensive and also reduces the suffering of dairy cows in the modern agricultural system.

I also love that you give the option of drying or skipping that step. I'll have to see which is more doable for me — making fewer large batches and drying, or making frequent monthly batches and keeping moist.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, I'm incredibly glad to have stumbled upon your post and method.