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I’m slowly working towards some simplicity within the home, but hey! It’s a lot of hard work!

I love having a go at growing my own veges and always use herbs fresh from my garden. I try to plant from seed whenever I can and have learnt to save and share my own seed for the following year. I make Award Winning preserves and pickles; and my husband brews Award Winning boutique beers as well. I love to stockpile and try to limit quick trips to the shops. I dabble in bread making and enjoy making my own stocks too.

I enjoy feeding my family good hearty meals, nothing like those tiny restaurant stacks you have to look for on the plate. My husband maintains our vehicles and machinery and we both enjoy fabricating on a small scale mostly relying on metal & timber recyclers for any materials needed.


While I don’t always have time to reply to comments, I love reading them. I hope you enjoy your stay and I hope you learn something new because I love sharing what I learn, and I'm always looking for another new skill myself.

Cheers!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Make your own Bokashi Powder

Today I attended the Bokashi course run by my local council...Shellharbour Council....I encourage you to check your local council and see what FREE courses they offer....Yes FREE!! This Bokashi course was totally free, and we got to bring home a whole heap of Bokashi Powder that we made on the day. You can't get any better than that. 



Notes from the course...
********************************************

THE BOKASHI BUCKET
You can compost almost every kitchen food waste including:
  • fresh fruit and vegetables
  • prepared foods
  • cooked and uncooked meats and fish
  • cheese
  • eggs
  • bread
  • coffee grinds
  • tea bags
  • wilted flowers 
  • tissues

 MAKING YOUR OWN BOKASHI MIX (EM Bokashi)  
((Any italics is my own words))

Original Recipe Bokashi Mix from Stephen Willis.

There are 3 mixes to prepare: 
a lactic acid, a wet mix and a dry mix.

HOW TO OBTAIN LACTIC ACID  (this was prepared ahead of time.)
  • White Rice
  • Wheat Bran 
  • Water
1. Let water that has come from rinsing white rice (homebrand) sit for 5 days until it smells sour.
2. Mix some rice bran or wheat bran with the sour water and leave to float to the surface.
3. Remove floating bran or wheat. The Remaining Liquid is the LACTIC ACID.

To use lactic acid in Bokashi preparation: 
1. Mix one part lactic acid to two parts milk.
2. Leave for a few days until the milk protein separates from the water which can be removed from the top.
3. This leaves a creamy yellow water which you can use.
4. To keep, add equal parts of molasses or brown sugar and store in the fridge.

HOW TO MAKE THE WET MIX   (this was prepared ahead of time)
(In a milk carton add the following......)
  • 2 litres water (pure rainwater or filtered water. Chlorine will kill the bacteria and fungi)
  • 20 mls molasses or brown sugar (dissolved in the water)  
  • 20 mls lactic acid

MIX THE FOLLOWING TO MAKE YOUR DRY MIX
In a large tub of about 80L size....Wearing garden gloves mix the following......
  • 10 Litres of Rice Bran or Wheat Bran...(We used Wheat Bran...you can see the large 25kg bag of Horse Bran from the Produce Store for $14)
  • 5 Litres of Fish Meal or Bone Meal or Chicken Manure (We used a bag of Chicken Manure from the Produce Store for $6)
  • 5 Litres of seed remains after oil extraction of either Canola Seed or Soya, Sunflower, Sesame or Linseed (We used Linseed from the supermarket or health food store, but don't buy organic as it is not needed...Linseed is the cheapest option)
1. Mix dry ingredients in large bucket or crate
2. Combine with wet ingredients
3. Knead together until mixture becomes crumbly yet sticky, like a biscuit base
4. Put into a heavy duty garbage bag, remove all the air, seal and store for about 1-2 weeks inside a plastic tub with an airtight lid. Check after 5 or so days. When it is ready it will crumble to the touch. It will smell sweet and fermented when finished, even without opening the bag. Do not use if it is still fermenting. 

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS I TOOK
WHILE WE WERE MAKING THE BOKASHI POWDER

Everything you need to make your own Bokashi Mix

Wheat Bran: Also sold as Horse Bran.


Adding the chicken manure


Taking turns mixing


Another happy student with her Bokashi Powder

L to R: Wet mix in Milk carton, plastic bags,
Linseed in 3 packets,
Jam jar lying down with sugar water mix &
Chicken Manure

HOW TO USE THE BOKASHI BUCKET
1. Place a 3 to 4 cm layer of organic wast on top of the grate before coating evenly with a layer of EM Bokashi.
2. Use approximately one handful of EM Bokashi to every layer of waste. Use more EM Bokashi when adding high protein foods such as meat, fish, cheese and eggs.
3. Press down to remove air after every application. A plastic Potato Masher from the op-shop is good for this.
4. Ensure that the lid is closed tightly after each application.
5. Repeat this layering process until the bucket is full, and top-up with a generous layer of EM Bokashi.
6. Frequently drain the Bokashi Juice that has accumulated in the bottom of the bucket.
7. Once the fermentation period is over, you will see that the food has been preserved and now has an appearance similar to pickles. This indicates The Bokashi Bucket composting process has been a success.


15 comments:

  1. Well Narelle, I've checked to see what my local council is offering and the answer is nothing!
    So will have to learn through you at this time. Keep up the good work.
    Will have to set up a Bokashi soon. Will also instruct my stepdaughter if she is interested.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a fun day was had by all!

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  3. Where about's on the council website do they list what courses they offer?

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  4. It is amazing the amount of waste that fits into my Bokashi bucket, as it keeps compressing, sometimes I fill it to the brim every few days...and each time I go back there is always room to add more....you won't look back once you start a Bokashi Bucket......

    Mathew. I had a hard time looking for it too....on the LHS links you will see "Garbage and Recycling", click on that and it takes you to another page with a link on that...etc

    Click on the link for the Earthworks courses for 2011...you complete the compost/recycling course first then you do the Bokashi course

    http://www.thiess-il.com.au/page5299/Latest-News.aspx?newsID=558

    Margaret is the lady who runs the weekend courses and she is lovely.

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  5. Hello: Do you know quantities for that first step - white rice, wheat bran, and water? Went to a workshop this morning on composting, worm farming, and bokashi put on by my local council here in Melbourne. So now I've been looking at how to make my own bucket and have also discovered your recipe for the mix. Do you find it is significantly cheaper than purchasing the commercial pre-made mix? Regards, Beth

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  6. Also, did you not have to dry the mixture at the end? Thanks, Beth

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for this, have been looking for a way to keep my bins going without spending $14 per 5L of the bran.

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  8. Well done to your Council and thanks for the recipe as I have run out of mix and need a large bucket - can't find a distributor so now can make my own. I have had a bucket (2) for about five years and did it into my vege garden (Wicking Bed) or feed to the worm farm. It takes me four weeks to fill one bucket of kitchen scraps. The only problem I have had in the garden I think it encourages rats/mice! I have found their "tunnel" into the feed.

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  9. Great tutuorial! Quick question: Do you really need the dry ingredients? Couldn't you ferment the liquid and use it as a spray on the food scraps?

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  10. Thank you for sharing your knowledge so generously! I have been looking at the prices of purchasing the Bokashi Mix and despairing - why should it be so cost prohibitive to be environmentally friendly? You have given a solution for which I am ever so thankful.

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  11. Although I am new to composting, A workshop I am taking at Growing Power said, " If your compost smells or attracts mice you are doing something wrong."

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  12. Greetings from Finland :-D How long it will last from the beginning till the end to make all these mixes. I want to make diy-solution and cheaper way to fertilize our veggies and my granma was a real wizard about getting rid off all kinds of bugs with natural ways and also fertilize with more natural ways. She would have loved this bokashi idea. I know for sure.

    We have here still snow on the ground but all the window sills are full of little pots full of seedlings.

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  13. Western Australia, G'Day Here on the Swan coastal plain it is sand and l/stone and in summertime water runs over the top of the sand and finds a small area to soak in, A one off treatment of diluted Bokashi juice 10 water-5 juice guarantees even soakage. Cheers.

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  14. hi,

    great info.thanks.

    i am not sure about this step:5 Litres of seed remains after oil extraction of either Canola Seed or Soya, Sunflower, Sesame or Linseed.

    how do i extract the oil from the seeds?

    i look forward to your pearls of wisdom.

    cheers.

    ReplyDelete

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