Been away awhile haven’t I? I’ve been sewing costumes and trying to squeeze in some planning & research in the few available spare moments.

 Please do not mind the meandering path my brain follows. My mind can be interesting place to visit just be glad you don’t live there.

We are the proud owners of 2.1 acres of flat clay soil set in the beautiful Ozarks. The garden spot could be brickworks but that would defeat the purpose of having a garden. The clay must be conquered!

 Among the favorite reads is a site called Path to Freedom. A quick introduction: The family lives in Pasadena one mile from the Rose Bowl Parade route. They live on 1/5 of an acre, with a garden that is 1/10 of an acre or about 66’ x 66’ on which they have harvested up to 6,000 lbs. (From this page)  Another little detail is that over the years of building the soil their property is now 1.5 inches higher than the neighbors. That’s some soil building!

My clay soil needs some building. Just so you know, clay soil is not all bad – clay has high moisture & nutrient holding ability. The downside is that clay is stingy in releasing the nutrients, is slow to warm up or dry out, and can be near impossible to work at the correct stage which is about 10 minutes on the evening of the blue moon. (More here) Soil building idea one next…

One of the soil building techniques mentioned by the Path to Freedom folks is em bokashi. Not the link I read but this is another early article they wrote: Fermented Composting. However, being me I did my own search to check out the details – what is reasonable pricing to one is not to another.

I think this might be the site that Path to Freedom linked to: bokashi composting and more the link has detailed steps.

  EM•1® Bokashi is a product made of dry organic matter such as rice or wheat bran, hay, sawdust, dried leaves, etc. and fermented with EM•1® Microbial Inoculant;, molasses, and water. The most common types of EM•1® Bokashi sold are rice bran or wheat bran. Rice bran is more desirable because it is loaded with several vitamins, namely vitamin E.

 To make your own EM•1® Bokashi (in this recipe) you’ll need a 50 pound bag of bran (or some other dried plant material), some EM•1®, molasses, and fresh water. A 50# bag of wheat bran made into bokashi costs about $22 to make (including the EM•1® Microbial Inoculant, molasses, and bran). Rice bran costs about twice as much as wheat bran. This recipe takes about 20 minutes from start to finish to make a 50-pound bag of EM•1® Bokashi. It needs to ferment for a minimum of two weeks and then is dried for long-term storage. If you choose not to make it, you can purchase it from on the link above.

Where to get the ingredients

Wheat bran or rice bran can be purchased at any co-op or grain/feed supply store. A 50-pound bag of wheat bran usually costs about $15 (plus tax). The molasses can be purchased at a feed store or in any grocery store in the baking section (near the sugars). A quart of molasses is usually about $5. Blackstrap, cane, or feed molasses are what you want. Other sugars can be used, but require recipe changes to accommodate for lack of sugar and minerals and are not as stable during fermentation.

 Recipe for 50 Pounds of Bokashi:

 Materials:

50 lbs wheat bran or rice bran

1 cup Waste Treatment or EM•1® Microbial Inoculant

 1 cup molasses

3-4 gallons clean water

Large black plastic garbage bag or airtight container

Something to mix the materials in or on

 Procedure:

 Mix one gallon of the water with the molasses to dissolve the molasses. Mix in the EM•1®.

 Mix the liquid thoroughly into the bran

Squeeze some of the bran into a ball. If it holds shape and no extra liquid comes out, it is the correct moisture. Put into bag or container. If it is too dry, add more water and mix.

If using the bag, tie the bag tightly, squeezing out excess air. If using a container, press down mixture and cover container tightly.

Place mixture somewhere warm and out of the way. Let it ferment for a minimum of two weeks. Longer is fine.

When fermentation is complete, you may notice some white mold on/in the bokashi. This is good. Black or green mold means some air got into the container or it was too moist and is undesirable. You can use the material as is, or dry for long-term storage.

Keep airtight during storage, whether dry or wet.

 The inoculant from this site is $14.99 for a 12 oz bottle which is 1 ½ cups of inoculant. The given recipe calls for 1 cup per 50 pounds of bran.

 In searching I found that bokashi can be made with any dried materials including leaves & rice hulls – two things that are easy to find & importantly free. Another cheap dry ingredient substitute (but maybe not free) is sawdust. It seems that bran is preferred because it can add nutrients but almost any dry, compostable material can be used.

 Using bokashi:  The Path to Freedom crew seems to put the finished product directly on their garden beds, I’m not positive but it was mentioned. More commonly – have two buckets with lids most recommended is 5 gallon but 2 has also been mentioned. Place  ½ – 1 inch of bokashi in the bottom, add kitchen scraps adding 2 or 3 handfuls of bokashi after each addition and placing the lid on to prevent odors. Press down occasionally. When the bucket is full seal tightly and place outdoors in a sunny location. Take the second bucket and repeat the process. When the second bucket is full – generally 2 weeks later – the first bucket should be ready to use as compost. Empty into the garden and start process all over.

Note: There is also a mention of liquid at the bottom of the bucket – it seems common and some bokashi buckets have spouts on the bottom to drain off any liquids which is used as a fertilizer. If you have a drain then use the small amount of filler at the bottom, if not, then use a 1-2 inch layer at the bottom of the bucket to absorb the liquids.

Some warn against adding dairy, meat and oils BUT most agree that with a proper inoculant these are acceptable & that bokashi is the about only way to compost these food wastes. Animals are not a problem with the tightly closed bucket. You decide.

 Can Compost in Winter!!

 How to make your own bokashi inoculant 

 Another good read

 Product site that expressly says meat & fish can be used with bokashi

 The last thing is the argument over homemade start v purchased. Purchased has several different microorganisms while homemade has mainly lactobacillus. Once the starter is purchased, it can be used to produce more starter – like sour dough & with the same cautions to prevent bad microorganisms from conquering the good.

Cheap summary:

•  Use whatever dried carbon matter is available free/cheap: leaves, sawdust, peat moss, rice hulls, etc
• Use any large bucket with a tight fitting lid:   kitty litter bucket, frosting bucket, paint bucket
• Grow your own inoculant using the recipe provided or whey from yogurt or cheese making

Mid-range:

•  Purchase the starter but remember to make/keep some finished product for future use
• Use any large bucket with a tight fitting lid
• Use available carbon material

 Regular:

• Purchase em bokashi starter
• Purchase wheat or rice bran
• Use any available large bucket with a tight fitting lid

 Expensive:

• Purchase a starter kit
• Purchase a decorator bucket if not included with the kit

Around here: we have rice hulls available though I am considering checking into wheat bran & perhaps doing a 50/50 blend of the two. Seriously considering just purchasing the starter because all my other “catch a wild microorganism” have resulted in some odorous failures. Finally using large buckets we have until I see how fast we fill them. The have two rotation should work well especially since I still want a worm bin.

 Hurray! A way to compost all the food scraps & in winter too! Guess I’d better get busy…