Throw it On the Compost Pile! Bokashi Style
Instead of wheeling your organic material to the curb, you can use it in the garden or donate it to a garden near you. These food scraps, brown papers, leaves and branches are valuable nutrients that can be returned to the soil to beautify and sustain our gardens. When you think about it, should there really be any material going to the landfill?
We think we have discovered one of the most efficient ways of recycling food scraps. It is called Bokashi (Japanese word meaning fermented food) . It is an ancient method of fermenting organic material that gets returned to crop fields. Would you like to give it a try with us? Reach out and we can get you some of our homemade Bokashi bran.
The Bokashi method of pre-composting is one of five different types of food recycling Eat South is currently working with. We will be teaching all about it at our upcoming workshop with the Tuskegee Urban Agriculture Innovation Center, October 27th 2pm at the TUAIC (sign up here).
Eat South Bokashi Instructions
Materials
Bokashi bran (Eat South makes bran, you can also make your own)
Bucket with a tight fitting lid and handle (air tight is ideal, you can add a layer of cloth or plastic under the lid)
Larger air tight container (such as Bearacuda bin) or additional buckets (this will depend on your diet, average family fills a 5 gallon bucket per week)
Fruit and vegetable scraps (follow the list on bucket sticker or refrigerator magnet, ILSR composting 101 do’s and don’ts)
Stirrer/tamper (this can be any small handheld tool, we recommend a hand rake)
Cardboard, brown paper or any absorbent material such as sawdust or coconut coir
Empty container (Tupperware or plastic food container, quart size yogurt containers work well)
Process
Use empty container to collect food scraps in your kitchen
Add absorbent material to the bottom of the bucket (bucket placement is up to you,a garage or mud room near kitchen)
Whenever adding food scraps, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of the Bokashi bran in and stir thoroughly and tamp it down to compress out the air and get good contact with the Bokashi bran
Keep the lid tightly on at all times
Once the bucket is full transfer to a larger air tight bin to ferment or use multiple buckets
Once the material has fermented 2 weeks at least (can sit as long as you like) you can do one of these options:
Add the fermented organic material to your compost pile as a green (nitrogen)
Dig a 12” deep hole or trench in your garden and bury material (can be in a future planting spot 2-4 weeks before planting)
Add to a raised bed container at a 1:4 ratio of Bokashi:soil
Feed to red wiggler earthworms at this point or after hot composting
Donate it to a neighbor or farmer near you who can use it in their garden
Image: Burying Bokashi at Eat South (Montgomery, AL)
Why Bokashi?
Reduce composting time
Recycle organic material and keep valuable resources in circulation
Budget friendly fertilizer for your garden
Reduce pest pressure in and around your garden (insects and rodents are not attracted to fermented organic material)
Reduce odors - when done correctly, the process should be fairly low odor as compared to composting collection buckets with no bokashi added (this also depends on your diet)
Bokashi leachate (extra liquid at the bottom of your bucket) can be used to unclog drains
Add bokashi bran to animal bedding to reduce odors
Upcoming Workshop:
Thank you to City of Montgomery Grants Department and the US Council of Mayors Environmental Sustainability Grant for supporting Eat South to expand compost programming in Montgomery.
Amanda Edwards, compost@eatsouth.org
334-422-9331
@eatsouth
Sources: ILSR Webinar on Bokashi, Recycle Food Waste (Matsukawa), Bower Farm School Composter Sara Covatta, Independent research by Eat South