While some of her information was about
pest management, she was also very
excited to tell me about composting in the
city. She lives in town where it is sometimes
harder to compost due to space restrictions.
I asked her about this, assuming she meant
traditional composting—“How does that
work with your neighbors? Do they ever
complain?” She looked at me like I was
from a different planet—“They don’t smell
anything of course—it’s in my house.”
I’ve become accustomed to being
astounded working and writing for North
40 Outfitters, from logging in Monarch to
testing colostrum replacer (follow those
links and check out the blogs), but being
told that this Master Gardener kept her
compost in her house—I thought Ms. Hattie
Lewis was enjoying a joke at my expense.
Of course this wasn’t the case—and this
is where we kind of went off the deep end
on Bokashi composting. A type of layering
composting you do in a sealed five gallon
bucket. “You use this method and you can
keep your compost in your pantry!”
SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, BOKASHI.
Bokashi is from the Japanese and means
“fermented organic matter.” This includes
meat and dairy refuse. It is a simple process
whereby you layer your organic refuse with
an inoculant—a fermenting agent–and a
simple carbohydrate like molasses or white/
brown sugar. You can make this fermenting
agent from materials you can find at most
N40 stores. Find the recipe on the next page.
Once you collect your refuse and layer your
Bokashi mix, simply take it out into your
garden and dig a trench at least 6” deep.
Bury your compost for 4 weeks, and you
have some of the best compost you can
make in the city. A natural way to reduce
household organic waste which averages
26
20%-40% of all waste delivered to the landfill,
and a great way to improve your soil health.
Before the interview was over Hattie went
back and gave me some other choice tidbits
to relate.
1. Be sure to have your soil analyzed at
your local extension office—this will tell
you what type of soil to use and keep you
from making your soil “too hot.”
2. Bees—if you have an opportunity to have
bees in your garden, take it! “Pollinating
in the morning with a paintbrush is not
something you want to do—let the bees
do it for you!”
3. Use vinegar to kill weeds—there is no salt
and no leeching.
4. Plant focal point plants to attract bad
bugs away from your prime flowers or
plants!
5. Most importantly, buy your plants from
a reputable supplier—these plants
come hardy and ready to integrate into
a chemical free garden. You don’t need
chemicals to make good plants grow—
“Just add water!”