My first real introduction to composting was when my sister, Vanessa, buried some banana peels in our backyard as part of a science fair project in elementary school.

We grew up with a compost pile in the backyard, but mostly just wondered what the funny smell was. Now I have a compost pile in the yard, a bucket for collecting food scraps in my kitchen, and a couple bokashi fermentation buckets outside.

Bokashi is a beneficial mix of microbes on a host medium, often grains or byproducts. It can even be made from spent brewers’ grain sourced from local organic breweries. The first and foremost of the bacteria in a bokashi mix are Lactobacillus.

Once applied to the host medium, the microbes will become shelf stable and have many uses, becoming active in the presence of moisture or food. Once active, the microbes start a powerful anaerobic fermentation.

Fermenting kitchen scraps

The main use of bokashi in the garden is in relation to your compost methods. I use a bokashi bucket, which is a five-gallon bucket with a spout attached at the bottom and a lid on top, to ferment many of my kitchen scraps before using its contents. This is often more convenient than dealing with fruit flies or smells from an over aged compost bucket in the kitchen!

We add kitchen scraps to the bucket in layers about two inches deep, and then coat with a few handfuls of bokashi, and finish by sealing the lid tightly. We repeat this process until the bucket is full. Sometimes this will take a while, but the wonder of the bokashi bacteria, is that they will outcompete most of the other bacteria that produce bad smells.

Once full, the bucket will need to be drained periodically until the fermentation is done. This will be at least two weeks, but it can sit for 30 to 45 days. I usually use it after a month, which at that point my next bucket is full and ready to rest.

While resting, the liquid drained can be used as a fertilizer for your plants at a rate of 1 tsp. per liter of water. Use this by watering your houseplants, garden, or general plantings to build the number of beneficial microbes in your soil. These microbes will help unlock the nutrients stored in your soil and mulch.

Adding to compost or garden

Once the fermentation is done, the contents are generally added to our compost pile, again increasing the microbial count in the compost, as well as fighting off unwanted bacteria in your compost pile or bin. The contents of your five-gallon bucket can also be buried directly in the garden or ground.

It should be buried deep enough that the roots of your vegetable plants will not be touching the fermented organic matter, as it will still be very acidic for a brief period. Once emptied, you are ready to wash your bucket and start again.

The great benefit of bokashi composting is it can be done in a small area and used immediately in the garden when buried properly. If you garden and don’t have access to a yard, or live in a small space, this is a great way to use your kitchen scraps and prevent excess input into our landfills.

From houseplants to litter box

Not only is the bokashi useful in the garden, but you can also mulch your houseplants, add to your worm bin, create compost tea, and if you want to get creative, create a fungal mat to add to your compost pile.

My favorite use though is easily in my cat’s litter box. The bokashi’s beneficial bacteria, again, eat up most of the undesirable scent producing bacteria leaving the box much more pleasant to deal with!

Overall, cultivating beneficial microbes for your garden will improve your gardening results. Bokashi is another method of multiplying and adding microbes to your garden, whether it be through small scale indoor fermenting to large scale outdoor compost piles, it will increase your beneficial microbes.

There are many other uses for the microbes around the home and in the kitchen too. Many of the microbes from bokashi are the geniuses behind yogurt! The benefits are undeniable, from the litter box to the garden, bokashi composting and the microbes it supports make your life easier and keeps food waste out of the landfill.