Bokashi

Started the Winter Composting mode, since it is too cold to maintain an active compost bin outdoors. For me, that means starting up the Bokashi buckets, and keeping them going until the Spring weather warms. I moved the Bokashi buckets to the greenhouse instead of doing the composting indoors as I have done previous years. Since I visit the greenhouse every day, it just means taking the kitchen scraps out to the greenhouse with me when I go.

The first bucket on the left is about half full already.

 

That's just what she said! 

Winter has finally set in with the nighttime temps down into the low-20's, and daytime highs in the mid-40's, so it is time to put the Bokashi buckets back into the composting rotation. Started the first of the three buckets this past weekend and it is now about half full.

It has been a month since I started using the Bokashi buckets for winter composting, and all three are now full. It takes about two weeks to fill a bucket, and then it needs two weeks to ferment once it is completely filled. Usually by the time the third one is nearly full I can empty the first one in the compost bin, clean it, and get it ready to start filling again. But this month the temps have stayed down into the single digits, and I haven't been able to empty one of the buckets. So, today I picked up another bucket, spin-on lid, and grid guard to make a fourth bucket. Fortunately, when I bought the drain spigots they came in a set of four, so tomorrow I can assemble the bucket and put it into use. We will soon be getting some warmer weather, which will allow emptying the buckets again.

Two of the buckets are fully fermented and ready to empty. The one on the left is nearly full, and has room for only about two more days worth of kitchen scraps.

We finally got a break in the weather, a fairly warm day (45ºF) with no rain, so I got a chance to empty two of the Bokashi buckets into the compost. Fortunately, I was able to make a 4th bucket to add to my Bokashi setup.  I was, though, surprised by the price increases in parts that I needed for the bucket since the last one I made several years ago. Just the 5 gallon food grade bucket, the Gamma lid, and the generic grit guard for the bottom of the bucket cost me a little over $32.  The last time I made one of these buckets it cost me less than $20.  

Had to move a few things to make room to add the 4th bucket to the lineup.

Two of the four Bokashi buckets are finished fermenting, and are ready to dump into the compost tumbler to finish composting. Both buckets have white mold on them, which is a good sign. The daily temperatures are getting warm enough now that I can start regular outside composting now, and the winter composting with Bokashi can wait until fall.  The other two buckets of Bokashi are still fermenting, but when they are done they will be emptied and washed out, too.

sanderson wrote:In the warm months, do you put produce scraps directly in a tumbler or compost cage?  Bokashi fermenting in the winter and direct toss in the summer?

Yes, during the warmer months, when daytime temps stay above 50ºF, all of the kitchen scraps are dumped directly into the tumbler with some pine pellets for carbon.

During the winter months the fermented Bokashi is dumped into a section of the tumbler and allowed to set until warm weather arrives to start composting.

Day before yesterday I dumped two 5-gallon buckets of fermented Bokashi into one of the compost tumbler sections, and today I checked its temp to see if it needs any change. It is perking at 125ºF, so other than turning the tumbler it will be left alone to compost. We had a high of 49ºF outside today.

The Bokashi in the compost tumbler is still actively composting. This afternoon when it was 50ºF outside, the temperature of the compost read at 139ºF. This is the 5th day since the Bokashi was dumped into the tumbler along with some pine pellets for carbon.