Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Just an update. I have four pages up on my website about bokashi composting now. It's an anaerobic method that starts with fermentation and ends by burying the fermented waste in the soil. While it sounds wrong to all of us who have been working to keep compost aerobic and the people who want to avoid digging it does have some merit.

Personally I started my bokashi in my kitchen late last week. I've added fish and chicken as well as the usual stuff and the smell is indeed a sour odor rather than rot.

You do need to get a combination of microbes called EM-1 or effective microorganisms, or you would have to buy bran that has been fermented with those microbes. In the US you can get the solution containing these guys through teraganix. Here is a link.
http://www.teraganix.com/EM1-Effective-Microorganisms-s/68.htm&Click=3161

They do not ship to Canada but I found an equivalent product at http://www.gardenerspantry.ca/em.html

Some people make their own inoculant. What they make is just the lactic acid bacteria part so it is not the same thing. But, if you can't get the em-1 in your area or it just really bugs you to spend money this does work. Here is a link to instructions for that. http://www.scribd.com/doc/28347167/Newspaper-bokashi-instead-of-expensive-bran

The problem with the above method is you don't get the phototrophic bacteria and they are especially benefical. My page on the EM-1 has more details about this.

http://www.the-compost-gardener.com/em-1.html

For an overview and links to the other pages on my site go to.

http://www.the-compost-gardener.com/bokashi-composting.html

Happy Composting
Leslie High River, Alberta, zone 3

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