Bokashi Part 3

Hi! I like that tip about the newspaper layered in below and between scraps. Anything that helps press out air is a good thing. Right now I have five 5-gal. plastic buckets in my garage, full of my over-flow Bokashi'd scraps (awaiting burial in the spring) --my practice has been to put down a layer of coir in the bottom to absorb any extra leachate, but I think newspaper might serve the same function--?

The newspaper is easier to press down when you are compacting the scraps.

I have had great success using newspaper as GM described. Plus - it's moldable to the contents & facilitates eliminating the excess air.

Couple more questions from a bokashi newbie. My first bucket is filled, mostly from freezer burned meet & fish & some canned goods I know I'll never use. It's sitting & fermenting for at least 2 weeks. My small garden is completely full & I do not have the room to dig a large enough hole to put the bokashi once it's completed its fermenting. I have 2 choices. Get a large enough plastic bin, cut the bottom out, bury this a few inches down in the soil & dump in the bokashi & cover it with more dirt. Or I can just use a plastic bin, put several inches of soil at the bottom, dump in the bokashi & cover it with more dirt.

I kind of like the 2nd option, cause it wouldn't be taking up valuable garden space & I could easily move the finished product to where I need it in the garden. Any ideas?
Jo-Ann

Maybe I've missed something here. If your garden is completely full, how will you fit the large, bottomless bin into it?

I can get a bin that's more like a small trash can. Something that's about 1'x1'x3' high. I can make room for something this small in diameter. I can't dig a deep hole - New Orleans has a high water table, dig down 2' & you hit water. What I can't make room for is the size of hole the bokashi website recommends - 3'x1'xat least 1' deep.

I think my trenches are a bit smaller. Sounds like the bottomless finishing bin may be the way to go.

I LOVE the idea of layers of newspaper! But...I like the juice to put around the trees to get the microrganisms going... Ah, the decisions...! It is the end of citrus season and the orange rinds have been bokashied and they work wonderfully!!!!

I did empty some full bokashi buckets of kitchen waste into a big 35 gal. bottomless rubbish can, but notice that the 'action' stopped... I added some more AEM and will go back and check if it re-lit! Love this stuff!!!!! (p.s. - so does the dog!!!)

Carol

Carol, when you emptied your buckets into the bottomless rubbish can, was the lid on top air tight? If not, I think you'll need to add a layer of soil to help keep the anerobic process functioning.

Of course... thanks for that reminder...I would not have thought it. I will do it. No, the lid is not airtight...and the muck is full of worms...but I need to 'seal it off'...

So many thanks...

If it is full of worms, I wouldn't seal it off other than to add a layer of soil. The worms are doing their job. I suppose you could experiment with a sealed lid and see what happens......I just had wretched thoughts of asphyxiated worms and then I remembered the bin was bottomless, so they can crawl away if they choose to.
Do keep us posted on how this experiment comes along.

I'll add my notes on "dogs loving it." I have a big tank that I put fish scraps in, then added AEM and seaweed. It has a bottom spigot and I've started using the juice in the garden. The dogs love it. If they would stick to licking the drips around the spigot I 'd be happy but they want it all and dig where I have burried it if I don't cover the area with fan covers and bricks. There is not much odor and what there is is not unpleasant, certainly not fishey. But is sure is a dog attractant!

katie