Bokashi

WHAT IS BOKASHI?

The product “bokashi” is an inoculated bran mix that ferments kitchen waste including meat and dairy products. In this mix is wheat bran, EM1 (effective microorganisms), molasses, and warm sterile water.

The bran is the host medium while the EM1 is the magic ingredient that makes it all happen. The EM1 has to be activated by the addition of molasses. Unless its activated the EM1 would take a long time to perform its function. Finally the water is added and the whole thing is mixed together. This is a brief overview of what bokashi is without getting too technical. For all you scientists and geeks there are many sites that go into great detail about bokashi.

 HOW DOES IT WORK

 The EM1 innoculant is a combination of naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria similar to those found in pro biotic yogurt. They work by fermenting the kitchen waste anaerobically, the opposite to ordinary composting/vermiculture which is aerobic.

The kitchen waste is placed into the bottom of a bokashi bucket and sprinkled with a handful of bokashi bran. Because the process is anaerobic press the waste and bokashi down to exclude as much air as possible. Placing a plate or piece of plastic on top of the waste as your going along will also be beneficial to the process.

This process is repeated until the bucket is full. It is then left to ferment for 12 to 14 days ideally inside out of direct sunlight. As the waste is fermenting a liquid should form at the bottom of the bucket called leachate. This is where a purpose made bokashi bucket comes into its own as it is made with an insert for the waste and a tap to siphon off the leachate. This can be used as a garden fertilizer if diluted down.

After 14 days the fermented waste can be dug into a patch of fallow soil or placed onto the compost heap where it will continue to decompose. If your digging it into the soil you will have to wait two weeks before you plant anything in it as it has a very high acid content until it has finished fermenting.

PRO´S AND CONS

 The bokashi process from start to finish takes about 5 weeks, considerably less time than either vermicomposting or regular composting. It can and should be carried out indoors ie the kitchen. It doesn't smell except for a fermented kind of sweet and sour smell, and anyway bokashi buckets have airtight lids. It is a solution to an old age problem of what to do with cooked leftovers and could, in a utopian world, be the answer to land fill sites.

                                   EM1                                                                                          

If you’re familiar with bokashi then you will have come across EM1. It is an abbreviation of effective microorganisms. These organisms are naturally occurring and are similar to those found in pro biotic yogurts and other food stuffs. They are a mix of yeasts, fungi, lactic acids and bacteria.

 Apart from their use in bokashi, EM is used by the farming industry as a treatment for slurry and to eliminate odours, as a nutrient in hydroponics to encourage root growth, in agriculture to improve the state of the soil and increase crop productivity by encouraging germination, flowering, ripening and root growth. By encouraging good root growth the plants are able to combat pests and diseases without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

When em1 is used in bokashi it combines with molasses to start an anaerobic fermentation process that can benefit gardeners and society as a whole. All kitchen food waste can be treated with bokashi and the finished product can be used in the garden. Combined with recycling of packaging, bokashi can reduce the amount of waste we put in landfill sites. Bokashi produces a liquid by-product called leachate which can also be used to keep drains clear as well as a garden fertilizer.  

 According to some EM was developed by professor Teruo higa in Japan. He is certainly credited to developing bokashi and bringing it to worldwide attention but there is evidence that EM/bokashi technology was used in agriculture in the far east before it was made popular elsewhere. EM cultures can be grown with some success by the enthusiastic amateur but results are sometimes hit and miss, lacking all of the necessary bacteria.