Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
IF YOU READ ABOUT BOKASHI ON THE VARIOUS WEBSITES
andblogsoutthere,youwillhearalot
about bokashi leachate or tea. This is the liquid generated during fermentation in the composting
process. As you start adding organic material to the bokashi bucket, the excess liquid that can't be
absorbedbythecontentsdrainsdown,collectingatthebottom.Onitswaydown,theliquidpicksup
all sorts of stuff as it passes by and through the organic matter. The resulting tea is a mixture of
everythingthatwentintothebucketandthensome:water,smallbitsoforganicmatterfromthekit-
chen waste, microorganisms from the bokashi bran, microorganisms that came into the bucket on
the kitchen waste, the by-products and waste of all of those microorganisms, and more. In most
cases, the liquid is orange/yellow in color with a sweet/sour vinegary smell. Its viscosity is some-
where between maple syrup and water, so you should have no problem getting it to flow from a
spigot in your bokashi bucket.
When you tap the spigot on the bokashi bucket and collect the leachate, I would suggest using
it right away, within hours. The longer it sits out exposed to the air, the greater the chance it has
of spoiling, going rancid, and smelling. If you can't use the leachate right away, I would suggest
pouring it down the drain. There is absolutely no harm in that; it isn't a pollutant or toxic, and the
microbes in it are beneficial to the waste system, so introducing them to the system is ultimately
beneficial downstream. I would not waste my time trying to preserve the leachate by refrigerating
it or adding sugar to it. I just don't see a huge benefit there given the relatively small and frequent
quantities of leachate that the average bokashi composter will generate. So use it quickly or dump
it; you will have more soon enough.
