Bokashi

Bokashi is the Japanese word for fermented organic matter.

We make Bokashi Active Bran by mixing bran and molasses that has been inoculated with a pro-biotic mixture of micro-organisms sometimes called EMs or Effective micro-organisms. It is a mixed microbial culture of selected species of micro-organisms that are all beneficial and naturally occurring.

Uses of Bokashi bran:

Fermenting food waste to use as a soil conditioner

Sprinkle a layer of bran over food scraps every time you add them to an airtight container. Repeat until tub is full. Set aside for 2 weeks. Empty the fermented food into a compost bin or dig a trench and bury it in the ground. It will break down in 4 to 6 weeks greatly improving the fertility of the soil.

Bokashi as a soil conditioner

Put 50g bokashi in 10 litres of water. Leave for an hour. Water onto the soil.

Bokashi for animals

Horses. To increase horses natural resistance to diseases add 50g of bokashi to their daily feed, or add 10ml EM liquid to their drinking water. It will improve their health and give them a wonderful glossy coat. Reduces need for antibiotics. The manure will have less odour and it will compost down faster.

Because EM makes digestion in the rumen more efficient the horses produce less methane which is great for the environment as well.

Chickens. Chickens love bokashi bran. Just add as 5% of their normal feed. The probiotics keep your chickens healthier and firm up their poo at the same time as reducing odours, and the manure will break down much more efficiently.

Composting

Adding bokashi to compost speeds up the composting process. EM in its liquid form is used by commercial composting facilities to accelerate the process.

PRO-BIOTIC COMPOSTING USING EM BOKASHI

The problem with putting your mixed kitchen waste into a normal compost bin is that if it contains meat or fish or dairy products it becomes disgusting, it creates flies, maggots, attracts rats, produces ammonia and methane. This is because it putrifies under pathogenic bacterial processes. The good news is the application of bokashi bran can turn this process of putrefaction into fermentation.

What it entails: Collect your food waste in an airtight lidded container, sprinkle a layer of Bokashi bran over food scraps every time you add them, once full leave the container for 2 weeks for the fermentation process to take place. After 2 weeks add the contents to your compost bin or dig a hole in the ground and bury it. It will break down in 4 to 6 weeks, the fermented matter produces abundant amounts of nutrients and anti oxidants which revitalize soil and it is teeming with pro-biotic bacteria which enhance the health of your plants.

To use this system you do need access to garden to either bury the fermented waste or to add it to a compost bin. It is therefore not ideal for people who live in flats unless you have access to communal gardens. I do know someone who collects her food waste in a bokashi bucket and then gives it to her mother to add to her compost bin, that’s dedication for you.

Some benefits of the Bokashi System
• No smells because friendly and safe bacteria are used
• No fruit flies
• Small & compact for the kitchen or can be kept outside
• Composts cooked and uncooked food, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables
• Will rebuild the soil in your garden on a microbial level
• Will decontaminate soil from harmful pathogens and pollutants
• Watch your garden bloom with new life as you bury your fermented food waste directly under the soil
• Be part of an organic solution by directing food waste away from landfill.