My Bokashi update

Just finished the pickling process of my first bokashi bin...the contents are now being stored in an airtight container in an unheated garage until the ground thaws here. The second bin is full and I will let it ferment while I begin to fill the newly-emptied bin.

It's really interesting to me how the drained liquid from each batch has a completely different odour and colour....obviously because the contents are different. One had a lot of citrus rind and it smells pretty harmless. But the other has lots of beet peels and trimmings and wow...is it ever funky! Not sure if I mean that in a good way or not!

Can't wait to get this stuff into the soil!!! And....I got one friend so far to start bokashi-ing!!!

Donna LeClair wrote:Just finished the pickling process of my first bokashi bin...the contents are now being stored in an airtight container in an unheated garage until the ground thaws here. The second bin is full and I will let it ferment while I begin to fill the newly-emptied bin.

It's really interesting to me how the drained liquid from each batch has a completely different odour and colour....obviously because the contents are different. One had a lot of citrus rind and it smells pretty harmless. But the other has lots of beet peels and trimmings and wow...is it ever funky! Not sure if I mean that in a good way or not!

Can't wait to get this stuff into the soil!!! And....I got one friend so far to start bokashi-ing!!!

Donna - You may want to add another small handful of your Bokashi 'bran' and re-seal it up to help it. Just in case there has become an imbalance, for some reason.

Good advice Ollie....thank you.

I saw an interesting Web page where the composter took his pickled bokashi and added it to a large plastic household tote (10 gallons?) and mixed it with a few bags of store-bought top soil. This allowed the material to continuing to compost and breakdown in an aerobic environment. I live in New England and have my first batch brewing. Rather than wait for the ground to thaw I'm going to use this method. Good luck.

Hey Brian...let me know how that goes.

Brian Chandley wrote:I saw an interesting Web page where the composter took his pickled bokashi and added it to a large plastic household tote (10 gallons?) and mixed it with a few bags of store-bought top soil. This allowed the material to continuing to compost and breakdown in an aerobic environment. I live in New England and have my first batch brewing. Rather than wait for the ground to thaw I'm going to use this method. Good luck.

Bryan McGrath of Prokashi and Natural Korean Farming has a vid that shows how to do this and he calls it a Bokashi Soil Generator. I had forgotten about this, it looks like a great thing to have going all the time. You could easily incorporate after every cycle. Thanks for bringing it up, Brian...