Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Bokashi
Bokashi is a fermented substrate such as rice bran or wheat bran, but it can be made with
many other kinds of waste materials such as sawdust, grain mash from breweries, and other
grain scraps. I've made a lot of bokashi with sawdust, just because that's what I had avail-
able. It's fermented by mixing it with the liquid microbial inoculant called Effective Mi-
croorganisms (EM). It's done today because it makes some of the most incredibly benefi-
cial organic matter possible for the garden, but traditionally, it was also a method of making
use of waste products.
It has many of the same benefits as compost, but the process is a fermentation, without
air, like making wine or pickles. It's actually better for the environment than composting
because no carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen compounds or water vapor are volatized into
the air during the process, and some people argue that the finished product is consequently
more nutritious. The small bucket that I use to make it isn't going to make a big difference
for the environment, but it can be done on a larger scale if you prefer.
Bokashi is made by filling a container such as a five-gallon pail approximately two-
thirds full with the substrate in order to leave room for stirring. You can optionally add in
some rock dust. Then you make a mixture of EM, molasses and water, generally at a ratio
of 1:1:100, which is 2 teaspoons each of EM and molasses per quart of water. In this liquid,
you can optionally mix liquid kelp, fish, and/or sea minerals. This liquid is thoroughly
mixed in with the substrate in the pail until it is moist like a wrung-out sponge all the way
through, just like your compost pile.
Then press the mixture firmly and cover it with a plastic bag and then a plate, and even a
weight (if you have it) to keep the air out. I do the same thing when I make sauerkraut, an-
other ferment product. The bokashi will now only take up perhaps ½ of the pail. We want
this to ferment without air for one or two weeks, therefore no more stirring is done from
now on. Some people let it go for months. It's better if you can keep it warm somehow,
around 100F. Otherwise, it may take a few weeks, which is fine.
When it's done, it should have a pleasant sweet and sour smell, kind of like pickles. If it
smells really bad, something went wrong. Perhaps the moisture level was too high and acid
was developed. In this case, throw it on top of the compost pile, clean the bucket, and start
again. Likewise, any smelly molds indicate something went wrong. It's alright to have
some white fungi, but you should not see fuzzy green or gray molds.
Once your bokashi is finished, you can put it in the garden or store it in a cool, dark
place. If stored anaerobically under the same conditions as it was made, it will keep many
months, and can actually improve with time. When stored moist and not anaerobically, it
seems to keep for about two to three weeks, and longer at cooler temperatures. If dried and
then stored, it will keep for at least two months.
