Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
sayasmallamount,thinkahandful.Thatwaytheacidiceffectsareminimizedandanycatastrophic
damage can be contained to a particular area.
So if I were to add raw pre-compost to the worm bin, I would choose a corner of the bin, dig
a small hole, add a handful of raw pre-compost to the hole, mix it with some of the other bin con-
tents, and cover it. Then I'd watch and wait. This is a key step, as it is important to observe and
react to how the worms handle the pre-compost. If everything appears to be going well in a couple
of weeks, you can add some more bokashi pre-compost to another section of the bin.
Whatdoesgoingwellmean?Itmeansnoputridsmellsarecomingfromthebinandwormshave
entered the area and are consuming the pre-compost. Observe and react. Over time you will start
to get a feel for how your worms are handling the compost you are feeding them and can increase
the volume of pre-compost you put into the bin based on that. There is no correct method for every
situation out there and nothing is cast in stone; it is a process. That is why you don't want to open
your worm bin the first time and dump two gallons of bokashi pre-compost onto a four-square-foot
area—theriskthatitwillbetoomuchandyouwillcompletelyupsetthebalanceofthesystemyou
are trying to maintain is just too great. At that point, you won't be able to go back, and the results
could be catastrophic.
All of the methods discussed in this chapter have assumed that the bokashi composting process
was successful; fermentation occurred as expected and the pre-compost is a good usable final
product. But as with any process, things can go wrong along the way.
If you open your bucket after the two-week ferment and see black or blue/green mold on the
food waste or smell a rancid odor, something has gone wrong. The contents should have a mildly
pleasant sour cider vinegar smell, and the only mold-like substance you see should be white. A few
tiny spots of green or black mold on the surface of the scraps aren't a big issue, but a lot of non-
whitemoldisaproblem.Again,Iwanttostressthequantity—aninchofnon-whitemoldhereand
an inch there isn't serious, especially if the bucket smells OK, and the pre-compost can be used as
normal. But a full surface of non-white mold and/or a rancid odor is a problem.
There are a few factors that could cause this. The most likely causes are that air entered the
bucket at some point during the fermentation cycle or too little bran was applied to the scraps when
they were added to the bokashi bucket. At this point, you can still save the pre-compost from the
trashbin;youjustneedtoapplyadifferentstrategy.Digatwelve-inchtrenchinthegarden,sprinkle
alayerofbokashibranintoit,pourthepre-compostontop,addaninchofsoil,andmixthoroughly.
Thenaddanotherlayerofbokashibranandcovereverythingwithsixinchesofsoilandwalkaway;
let the soil web go to work. After one month, the pre-compost should have assimilated into the soil,
any noticeably bad odor should be gone, and the soil can be planted into.
