STEP 2

Okay, so you’ve followed the above steps and now your Bokashi bucket is full of non-wasted-food-waste. Nice!

Technically, the food at the bottom of the top bucket (the food you first put in) has probably been fermenting for weeks now! I took me around a month to fill my bucket. But the food at the top of the bucket has only recently been placed inside. So the next step is to make sure that the entire bucket gets 2 weeks of air-tight fermenting. Just put the lid on and don’t open it for at least 2 weeks.

ln the meantime, you STILL HAVE TO EMPTY THE TEA REGULARLY. When I was feeding my food-waste to the bucket, it was easy to remember and drain the tea daily. Now… I seem to forget about it. I made the mistake of not emptying the tea out for 4 days and when I did… it smelled pretty trashy. UGH…First time I gagged during this whole Bokashi process so far. Luckily, once I drained it, the smell went away with the liquid. I’m better at remembering to empty it daily again, but I’m also comforted to know that it wasn’t the end of my project! 8) Thank you effective microorganisms!

As I wait out the time on my bucket, I want to remind you that the next step involves choosing an area of your yard to BURY THE BOKASHI! I will be using half of my garden bed. This thing has seen better days, and is now hosting a bunch of unwanted volunteers (weeds), but it’s still a nice marked area of the yard. So part of my prep for Step 3 is weeding, and clearing any old grass runners out of the bed. Once the bed is clear, I’m going to add a bunch of leftover potting soil I’ve had for too long not using. It’s been rainy, so my Bokashi might have a little extra time to ferment. It shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m really excited to bury this stuff. See you then!