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Home > Blogs > Farm Life and Local Harvest > Archives > 2012 > January > 14 > Entry
Which Composting Method is Best? What is Bokashi?
The short answer is; which one do you like the best? So many cool composting methods… so little time. Let’s see, the most common composting methods I see around include; the 3 bin composting system, the tumbler, the worm-bins, the enclosed bins (sometimes look like Darth Vader helmets), the ‘throw everything out the backdoor in a pile’ method, and the single circular bin made of chicken wire held upright with 3 T-post stakes. If you check out your friends composting methods you will almost certainly see one of the methods from this list.
A new method I learned of this Summer is called bokashi composting. Bokashi composting is just emerging in the US but is an ancient method of compost, originating in Japan. Bokashi is unlike compost piling methods because the waste is actually fermented in a pale in the the kitchen layer with a carbon inoculated with bacteria, sugar, and yeast. If it sounds like making home-brew; it should. However, unlike home-brew, the product is then directly buried in the garden, covered with soil and is ready in 1-2 weeks. Wow that’s fast! Speed is just one of the praises of bokashi. Another benefit is being able to add ALL kitchen scraps. If you have ever scraped your food scraps into a compost bucket you were probably met with a list of what can and can’t go in the bucket. The list is confusing; no cooked foods, no grains or bread, no meat or dairy and no fat. Whew!..So what can I compost?…And why not the other stuff? If we look at that list objectively we can surmise that if it’s something the human gut can breakdown, then shouldn’t all the forces of the natural world be able to break it down? Yes, they can. The list of foods allowed in the pile are more or less in the favor of good house keeping. The scent of rotting meat and the attraction of large mammals (racoons, rats) to the pile in an urban environment is unappealing to put it mildly; so it is especially important to keep these foods out of an open compost pile. Anyways, back to bokashi; because the process is fast and hot with lots of bacteria eating, all kitchen scraps can be composted- even meat.
Bokashi sounds great- I want to get started! Before searching for directions on bokashi composting, there are some things you should know. Right now bokashi in the US is pretty commercial, meaning, any initial searches for bokashi will lead you to different sites to buy products and services to compost. Don’t let this scare you off. The ancient people of Japan did not buy products to compost. The purchased items work for those who live in a highly urban area who want to compost without much space or time. The products sold for bokashi composting can be made for a fraction of the cost. From my (short) awesome journey of research on bokashi I have learned that the microorganisms sold in this (somewhat expensive) solution are all around us and can be collected relatively easily. Follow these links and remember the rice-hulls and wheat bran can be any dry carbon, like saw dust or newspaper; and the microorganisms are everywhere!
Link here to a wiki on composting
Link here to read a good post on how and why bokashi.
Link here to learn one recipe of how to make the EM (effective microorganism) inoculate
Link here to read about collecting the beneficial bacteria ‘indigenous microorganisms.’
Link here to read more on collecting indigenous microorganisms from the Korean Natural Farming handbook.
