Bokashi Part 3

To me, the smell is kind of yeasty. If I get of batch of bokashi'd food scraps with a rotten or nasty smell I bury them in a far corner of the yard.

I make the AEM in a heavy 22-gallon plastic container. I losen the cap every couple of days but don't notice a lot of activity (i.e., bubbling). However, after a week or so when I remember to use the ph strips it is always in the correct range. It then lasts quite a while.

The best advice I can give is to relax. If you do your best to follow the instructions, the way you will know it's working is that you will probably see results quite quickly. I think that's why so many of us are using it and spreading the word. Even after a short period of usage the results are noticeable. And when you see the results you will be reassurred that you're doing it right.

katiebear

Katiebear and Mibus - sounds like the pH strips won't be critical then. Thanks for the advice. My brewing AEM is in my pantry in a gallon jug, and I'll watch it. I had also ordered some AEM for treating a fungus in my front yard, so I sort of know what it's supposed to smell/look like, but am wanting to make my own AEM.

Katiebear/Mibus AND others - can you share the benefits in a short (long)post? I've read the many past posts, but would appreciate a "recap" here.

I noticed new, healthy-looking growth on plants where I used it. A tangerine tree has increased in size by about a third in about six months. It went from about six feet wide to about nin feet wide. The new growth on my jasmine looks much healthier than the previous growth - a bronzy-green.

My feedback is all anecdotal. I'm not good at "scientific" controlled experiments. Basically, where I've used it I've got healthy-looking plants growing in what has been very difficult soil. I've added other amendments like seaweed and fish scraps. I also have not done much folar spraying.

You won't have to use it long before you see the benefits for yourself. That will be the best way to find out what it does.

katiebear

Katie...I was told AEM was only good for 3 days...do you keep it longer than that?????

Yes. It doesn't smell bad or anything so I use it. With 20 gallons it often takes more than a few days to use it up. I don't know how we are supposed to know it has "expired" so I just keep using it. If it smell bad or had nasty molds, I'd sump it in the compost but it seems fine.

katiebear

P.S. Eric might have a comment to add to this. He is our resident expert.

Great news, Katiebear. I've got some citrus trees that have been just hanging out for a couple of years, and I'd love to have a decent crop next year from them. Can't wait to use it on my tomatoes and other veggies next spring.

I'll be interested to see how long the AEM keeps for sure, because the molasses is expensive, and I don't want to waste that or the EM1. I guess the problem would be that the microorganisms might die off and it wouldn't be effective anymore, maybe?

well if it helps any I know we had a donation from EM 1 for the East Texas Ru back the end of June and if I remember right the expire date was November.

Bookworm - If there is a feed store in your area you could probably find cheap molasses there. I got some at Big Lots about a year ago but their inventory varies from time to time. When I saw it I bought all they had. Haven't seen it there since. Feed store is probably your best bet.

I've no idea how you can tell if the microorganisms are still alive. I have a chipper now and I'm chopping up dried up palm trees and making 55-gallon barrels of bokashi. As long as it is kept pretty airtight it keeps indefinately.

katiebear

Feed Store - good idea. Can it be dried/pelleted molasses do you think? I've definitely seen that at the feed store, but I'll look for liquid.

Mibus - my EM1 is pretty new, it's the Activated EM that I was wondering about. Or am I getting my alphabet products mixed up??? Could very well be that!

I understand that dried molasses are OK. Can you find them cheaper than liquid?

katiebear

the EM1 I have is already activated from the main plant that is in Alto
I take and extend it to make it last longer and go further so I am guessing around 5 months is it's life span...but if Eric pops in he can correct me...but then since I extend it it goes further as I make more when I am gettin low

I see, now Mibus, I have the EM1, too. I haven't been using the correct wording. My use of "activated" is the same as your named "extended", so I'll correct the wording I'm using. Five months is a very workable amount of time for me - thanks - good to know!

Katiebear - I will check on the price of dried vs. liquid. I have bought the dried form to add as an organic amendment to my beds before reading about the EM. The dried molasses must help the microbes already present in the existing soil. So much to learn!

A week ago Tony and I put several loads of dried up palm trees through my new-to-me chipper. I filled a 55-gallon barrel with the coir-like stuff that resulted, then added some EM, some molasses and water. Decided to put some of it around some plants today and, as I dug down, there was lots of white mold!!! I was so thrilled I danced a happy dance. Nice to be so easily delighted, isn't it? The white mold is one of the ways to know your bokashi is doing its thing properly and its easy to remember "white good, green or black bad."

katiebear

Yes - it is fun to be so easily entertained! I've been taking my kitchen scraps and burying them with some diluted EM for a few weeks. (not using the indoor method, yet) I can't wait to see how it works when I use it directly on the plants for the spring growing season. I do have some tomatoes and peppers still going, but the weather is turning really cold for a few days, so I don't think it'll be a good test, now.

Thanks for the info about the white mold.

ya know using the EM! gets the ground working and in turn it brings the ground temp up a lil bit ....trying to recall if Eric told me that or I read it on their site.

I read that somewhere, too, Mibus. Maybe that will help the peppers that are in the ground. The tomatoes are in earthboxes, so they've gotten a foliar dose and a little down the watering tube. Maybe that will keep them warm enough tonight... it's supposed to be in the mid to high 30's - our coldest yet. I didn't cover them before I left town, so we'll see what happens. I just started using EM on them 10 days ago.

well I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya we're suppose to be around 38 or so they said at one time.

I guess I thought Houston was a bit warmer then we are up here but then we are only about 3 hours apart...but then again it seems that can be a difference anyway .
I'll learn more as time goes by on the differences though I think I am going to be helping my daughter get moved into her apartment this coming friday as they are coming weds to get her stuff here and deliver it to the new place on friday and if I can get off I'm gonna help her get things set up so she doesn't have to do it by herself. Just hope the place she ismoving into isn
t as crazy to get to as the Hotels by the galleria LOL

Houston should be warmer than you are up there. I just heard the weatherman say we'd be 36 tonight and 35 tomorrow night!
Good luck with the move! You're a great mom! She's moving to an apt. in Houston? Hopefully anywhere but near the Galleria, then!

Yeah she is staying in one over by minute maid park right now ..it belongs to the girlfriend that just got married 2 wks ago as she started the new position the 28th of Oct.
2 yrs ago she lived down there in the cypress station area

So good luck to her as she settles in. We really do have great winters. The summers... uh... well... that's another story. And hopefully we won't have anymore 100-year hurricanes! I'll be out of town late next week and weekend, but dmail me if you're back sometime and we could tour the nurseries here. Also a perk to our area!

I'm getting ready to spray my citrus trees, Katiebear - will let you know what I see in the spring when the new growth sets in!

Are we supposed to use EM or AEM all winter? I assumed that wasn't a good idea to fertilize in winter. Am I wrong?

The EM and AEM are specifically fertilizers. The microbes make nutrients more available to the plants. The soil microbes will keep the soil warmer if there is enough activity.

Silverflutter, I was wondering the same thing. If I spray or put it on the plants now, will I stimulate the plants to grow when it's going to get so cold, or wait until spring? If EM works as a fertilizer, then I shouldn't spray it now?

However, if it's used as a soil conditioner, poured on, then it's ok to apply it any time? I definitely want to build the soil - and we don't get too many hours of freezing here. Are there two types of applications with different timings?

Please advise, thank you!

I'm guessing if you have something that really needs a rest in winter like hostas or amaryllis, you shouldn't spray or condition the soil. I think hostas especially are very prone to rotting in warm winters especially if the soil is moist.

That makes really good sense. Thanks!

If you have roses though or a vege garden conditioning in winter should be a great idea.

Silverflutter - That's what I thought. I went ahead and sprayed the citrus trees, the roses, the lawn now twice (to hopefully cure bad brown patch fungus), the asparagus, and my winter veggies. I'm going to compost my kitchen scraps directly to the empty raised veggie bed by adding activated EM while digging them in. It will be a fun experiment to see what happens!

bookworm, just want to share with you about dogs being attracted to the yummy smell. Our lab love to eat the stuff - as do half of the wild pigs on the island. I cut the bottom out of a huge rubbish (plastic) can and I bury it up to 1/2 height in the bad parts of my garden where I am throwing garden waste. The worm activity is incredible!!! I have smaller bottomless buckets scattered around...no dog or pig problems. When one can is empty, we take it away and turn the whole area...using it for compost.

Carol

That's a great idea, Carol. I'll do that. Thanks for sharing. I don't want my dogs (or other varmits) digging up my "compost in place!"

Regarding the longevity issue of AEM. My experience is that if you "spike" the AEM from time to time, keep access to the air to a minimum (by placing the mixture in smaller containers as it is used), the AEM stays good for months. I have 4 gallons that I made back in the spring that are still showing a pH of around 3.4. I am assuming this is the "litmus" for good, usable AEM (correct me if I am wrong, Eric!). I have heard stories of folks storing this stuff in 50 gallon barrels for up to two years will no problems. I have also seen (myself) it go bad in a month or two. Depends on the conditions, I suppose. I have noticed a slight film of yeast at the top of my longer shelved AEM, but I filter this off when I use it.
Now I am deciding whether to throw caution to the wind and "bokashi" a 50 lb sack of wheat bran with the "old" AEM!
Jimmy D

Let us know how that works if you try it. I've been using the mother culture for making the Bokashi bran, or the AEM in a spray bottle if I Bokashi without the bran. I haven't tried using AEM for the bran itself. It seems like that would be extending it twice.

Garden Mermaid:
I almost always use activated EM for making fermented wheat bran. I use a 1.0 to 1.5% solution (molasses and AEM). I have also tried it with roughly a 5% solution (blackstrap molasses AND Mother EM). Works out great either way. I don't think it is really extending it (could be wrong!).........I mean, when I use it as a foliar spray, I guess one could make that argument as well........though it is used up rather quickly compared to aforementioned method.
I am thinking it is a matter of giving the EM or AEM the nutrients it needs to keep it going. My concern at this point, with what I have, is nine month old AEM which still tests out at pH of 3.4. I am hoping we're still in the ball park. Doing the bokashi thing with this AEM might be extending it a bit tooooooo far, as you suggest. Gonna try it, albeit in a smaller amount than 50 lbs., in case it goes south.
Added note: The bran usually tests out below 5 and down as low as 4.5, which (I think) is where you want to be.
We'll see where it ends up this time. Thanks for your input.
JimmyD

JimmyD, perhaps you'd be willing to post your "recipe" for making the bokashi bran and the proportions you use. The one I've been using calls for stock culture, molasses and water added to the bran. I'd like to try it with AEM and see if that works.

Sure thing.
Basically, all else is the same with the exception of BSM and AEM, of course. Instead of using 3- 6 oz of each of EM and BSM for one gallon, I use 1 oz to 1.5 oz AEM and roughly the same for the BSM. I don't like to use more of the BSM than the AEM due to less than desirable results (in my experience). Seems to slow things down a bit. So, if I go with 1 oz, it is 1oz for both components. This is in a one gallon batch, so to maintain the 1% goal I go a tad higher than 1oz, if that makes sense. It has been awhile (early summer since I have made a batch of bokashi like this, but I will do this again soon and post results.
I do add a pinch of himalayan salt and the same of ceramic powder. Also, I quit being so anal about using organic variety of BSM as it seemed to slow down fermentation process (quite a bit!). It might take a mother culture to AEM process 3 to 4 weeks at room temperature to cook down to 3.6 if I went organic (BSM).
I have been getting pH readings with the fermented wheat bran using the AEM slightly under 5 and as low as 4.5. Hoping this is desirable. I do notice sometimes that the fermented bran gets a slight "acetony" off odor (4.5), along with the sourness. Not sure what to make of this, if anything (Eric......comments?).
That's the beauty of this whole EM thing is that it is part art, part science. I think each batch behaves slightly different than any other batch due to slight changes in microbial consortium, environmental changes, etc. I think it is all good in the end, though.
When I first started making batches 2 years ago, I was all about the science side of it (still am, to a degree). But, after diving in, reading everything I could about it, and trying out different things, I realize there is a wide margin of skinning this cat, so to speak....... some of which I have learned from this forum (Eric, GardenMaid, etc....)
Here's a thought....................anyone made any batches with "structured," "ormus," or ",magnetized" water?
Now that sounds interesting! Any comments about this.........please share!
By the way, there is a new youtube video about making bokashi. If I can find it, I will post it. Thanks.
JimmyD

All right, I've been convinced to try Bokasi. I'm scheduled to get my new bins on Saturday. I've been going through my freezer & pantry to see what's outdated & needs to be tossed. One thing I've realized is that I need to stock a lot less and stop losing things in the back of the freezer & pantry. I have a good idea about what can be put into the bokashi, but I'd like to check with you all to make sure. Are these thing OK?
* Old cake mix, corn bread mix, rice a roni
* Old tortillas
* Freezer burned uncooked meats
* Freezer burned vegetables
* Leftover frozen cooked, chopped turkey from Thanksgiving
* Meatballs in spaghetti sauce.
* Canned fruits & vegetables
* Dried beans & peas

I guess things with a lot of liquid should be drained first. I'm so looking to trying this system. Any help you all can give me would be wonderful.
Jo-Ann

Jo-Ann, all of the items you've mentioned can be put in the Bokashi bucket. You will need to either sprinkle with innoculated Bokashi bran or spritz with EM or AEM solution each time you add material to the bucket. It is important that the bucket have an airtight seal.

I've been trying out EMEric's suggestion of putting some newspaper in the bucket to absorb the excess liquid. This is working quite well for the 5 gallon buckets that don't have a drain at the bottom. The Happy Farmer bucket has a drain and tap, but is too expensive for me to have more than none of these. I rotate between three 5 gallon contractors buckets in addition to the Happy Farmer bucket.

For the regular bucket, I place a section of newspaper on the bottom, spritz lightly with EM, then add the scraps, spritz again, add another piece of newpaper, press everything down well and seal the bucket. Whenever I have more than an inch or so of scraps, I add another folded piece of newspaper and press down on the contents to compact it. This is working really well. I can get more into the bucket by compacting the contents. This also pushes out more air that may have been trapped between the layers.

Thanks for the answer, garden_mermaid. Now I have one more question, my kitchen is kind of full right now, and I was wondering if it's OK to leave the bins outdoors. If I put them on the deck right outside the kitchen door, I can still easily empty my daily scraps. We have very few freezes in the winter, but does temps in the 30's & 40's hurt it? How about temps that are close to 100 in the summertime? It would be in shade, but it still gets pretty hot.
Jo-Ann

Good tip about the newspaper.

I have been buying hose bibbs and overflow fittings for my several 55 gal. barrels that will become rain barrels this summer. I suppose it would be just as easy to drill a hole in a 5 gal pail and add a hose bibb to it for convenience in drawing off the liquid.

Jo-Ann, I don't see a problem keeping the buckets outdoors if you can keep them out of direct sunlight and can keep critters out of them.

darius, DH would probably add taps to my buckets if I asked. I'll have to think about that one. Good suggestion! My construction skills are more fibre oriented. You'd have a good laugh at some of my past engineering projects. If the intended object isn't made out of wood, cloth or yarn, I'm all thumbs! (but I do make great jam wells in jam dot cookies!).