Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
WHENEVER WE COMPOST FOOD WASTE USING BOKASHI
, we are essentially fermenting it. In
ordertocontrolthefermentationprocessandensurethatittakesplacehowwewantitto,we
needtointroduceaspecificsetofmicrobestothefoodwaste.Inbokashicomposting,thisisusually
done with a product called bokashi bran. Bokashi bran is a carbon source, commonly wheat or rice
bran, that has been inoculated with a specific set of beneficial microbes, usually EM. It is usually
dried to make it easier to store and transport, but it can be used and stored wet.
In order to make your own bokashi bran, you will need a microbial inoculant. The most com-
mon,preferredinoculantisacommercialEM1-typeconcentrate,ormotherculture.Thisstocksolu-
tionissoldbyavarietyofmanufacturerswitheachbrandingitundertheirownname.Aspreviously
discussed,anyEM1-typemothercultureshouldgiveyousimilar resultsaslongasitisproducedby
a reputable manufacturer. In the US, the two main retailers of EM mother culture are SCD Probiot-
ics and TeraGanix and both produce a high-quality, reasonably priced product. I use both products
to manufacture my own high-quality EM bokashi bran.
The substrate is typically a carbon source. To make things economical, people typically use in-
dustrial food processing byproducts such as rice bran, rice hulls, or wheat bran. Can you use other
substrates such as paper or coffee? Yes, but the results are not what I would call optimum; more
on that later. For now I will focus on making the “industry standard” EM bokashi bran. To do so
you need a few basic ingredients, most of which can be found locally (wheat bran and blackstrap
molasses), and EM mother culture, which can easily be found online.
How to make EM bokashi bran
