Bokashi

*** latest bokashi bucket doesn't smell - might be a sign it's too dry though...
** make sure you include can't keep it outside during freeing weather (probably slows down closer you get to freezing anyways). Garages not in Winter: maybe in furnace room?
Ideal temp 25-40F but can handle up to 49. Garages would be good during heat of summer.



Bokashi is the process of using anaerobic bacteria to ferment waste foods. It is not a type of composting in itself, but a way of preserving the food while making it unattractive to (most) pests.

This allows you to safely put it in a compost pile, or directly in your garden without rats, mice, squirrels or other pests constantly rooting around for it. The fermented smell doesn't seem like food to them.

I put all food scraps in my bucket. Chicken bones, fats, dairy: everything they tell you to avoid putting directly in your compost bin. Break up large items if you can. Liquids impede the process so drain the water from soups before adding the leftovers to the bucket.

Bokashi tea is very acidic, so make sure you water it down 100:1 before adding it to your garden or compost pile. I have been experimenting with keeping ground eggshells in the wet part of the bokashi bucket to see if that reduces the acidity.

I find by biggest use for Bokashi is using it to 'hold' onto foods I want to compost over the winter, then using them in spring. The food stops decomposing, and pretty much comes out of the bucket the same way it went in.

This year, instead of having a bunch of buckets sitting around the kitchen at the end of the winter, I'm going to try bringing them out to the garage once they have drained and fermented enough. I am guessing (hoping?) that they will freeze for the remainder of the winter, and still be useable in the spring. The freezing will kill the LAB, but I am hoping it will be pickled enough to last thawing out in the spring.

In Fall there are tons of leaves available everywhere. I skulk around my block at night and collect them all, and store them on the side of my house.

By springtime, the leaves are partially broken down as 'leafmold' and make a great carbon for a compost pile.

Another option would be starting a round of Winter composting before things get too cold.

In practice

You will need 2 things to start fermenting your scraps:

-A Bokashi bucket that allows water to drain from the bottom and keeps air from entering.

-An inoculum- either Bokashi Grains or LAB Juice.

Every time you add new items to your bucket, you add more inoculum to keep the process going.

Air is the enemy of your Bokashi bucket, so you don't want to be cracking it open for every piece of food. Get yourself a small Kitchen Food Waste Bin. Empty it into your Bokashi bucket every few days.

The bucket is designed to allow liquids to escape, so you need to drain it every week or so.

Once the Bokashi bucket is full, you put it aside for at least 2 weeks to allow it to completely ferment. You still need to drain it during this time, but there will be less and less water. You can leave it in the bucket as long as you want if you are unable to use the finished material (during winter). It will continue to ferment.

Bokashi Tea

Every week or so you need to remove the top bucket and dump out any water that drained out of the top one. This is the 'Bokashi Tea'. It is good for your garden, but very acidic. Make sure you water it down to about 1:100.

Finished Product

Finished Bokashi is a little too sour even for worms. You can slowly build their tolerance, or build yourself an aerobic digestor.

My preference is to compost it or add it directly to the garden (A la Ruth Stout). You can burying it in a Bokashi trench, or spread it out in a layer and cover it with mulch. The soil fauna should quickly tear it apart so earthworms can work it into the soil. Try tossing in some ground egg shells to neutralize the acidity.

Some quick warnings

Every time I research bokashi people talk about here being no smell, or a slight hint of vinegar, however this is not my experience. There is a DEFINITE smell when I open my bucket.

So much in fact I thought I might have captured the wrong bacteria. I ordered the professional grains and started a new bucket, but the odor was still there. In the summer I keep the bins outside, and in the winter I take the buckets outside to open.

Another warning is that flies and wasps love the smell of Bokashi. One day I opened a bin to add some food, then went inside to grab some food I forgot and by the time I got back there were 50 flies landing everywhere.

The maggot larvae don't seem to survive in the bucket when it's sealed and air tight, but be careful. They might survive above the divider.