A few customers from the past few months:

From the email:

T writes: Have you had any experience with the bears and the fermented compost? Are they attracted to it? I live in West Vancouver and would like to order some dry bokashi mix but was wondering about the bears when I go to bury the fermented food scraps.

All I can say with certainty is that the deeper you bury the fermented food scraps, less smell will percolate above ground. It is my opinion that bokashi compost does not smell like normal rotting food waste so it is less attractive to animals that may want to eat it.

A few years ago, I put a large quantity of bokashi prepared food waste on a raised garden bed and covered it with straw. Purposely, I left one corner exposed and waited to see what would happen. Wasps and flies were around but never landed on it.

Your own experience may vary. I hope this helps.

Al

[as this person did by some bokashi, I'll be asking for updates]

-30-

From the email:

From: Sue N
Date: Tue, May 19, 2009 at 7:09 PM
Subject: [Bokashi]
To: aapNO@SPAMgreatday.ca

Hi Al,

I save organic waste for a friend who has a community garden plot. As I live in very small studio apartment with no cross-ventilation, the odour can be fairly overpowering every time I lift the lid of the ice-cream pail containing the potential compost.

A friend gave me a sample of your [Bokashi] product, and it made an immediate difference to the strength (and quality) of the offensive smell.  I can now continue to save this material for my friend during the summer months, rather than stopping until the cold strikes again.

Good product!

Sue N

Thanks Sue. I really appreciate this kind of feedback.

-30-

I donated a bokashi bucket to the Living Oceans Society’s silent auction

Living Oceans Society is Canada’s largest organization focusing exclusively on marine conservation issues. We are based in Sointula, a small fishing village on the Central Coast of British Columbia.

Living in a coastal community, we are reminded each day that it’s not just about the fish—it’s about the fish and the people. Living Oceans Society believes that people are part of the environment and that by protecting the B.C. coastal ecosystem, we can build sustainable communities today and for our children.

Since Jennifer Lash started Living Oceans Society in 1998, we have advocated for oceans that are managed for the common good, according to science-based policies that consider entire ecosystems.

I’m in good company with many other businesses contributing to a great cause:

Living Oceans Society - Join us in Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary!

-30-

Bruce from HT Naturals writes:

We started using bokashi to help control the fruit flies in our small compost collection in our office/warehouse. The bokashi has worked perfectly and exactly as we had hoped for that purpose. We definitely saw an immediate and significant reduction in the fruit flies due to the bokashi and they are virtually non existent now (when we stay on top of adding the bokashi). As an added bonus the compost is also way less smelly now. We will continue to use bokashi and strongly recommend it to anyone who is composting in a work and home situation.

-30-

Emily - one my clients - won the semi-final of this  contest! She has a bokashi bucket in her company’s office and her mother is using bokashi on Bowen Island. Congratulations Emily!!

From an article in the Vancouver Sun:

Emily Jubenvill is more than just an environmentally minded Vancouverite.

She is the greenest person in Canada, and one of five people worldwide in the running to become the "Greenest Person on the Planet."

…

More than 600 people from 25 countries entered the contest, which posed a series of questions testing entrants’ eco-commitment.

Fifty of them were named finalists in the global search for the greenest person, with voters asked to cast their ballots for the top five contenders. Source

It is official. I have 16 days at the Vancouver Farmers Market this year. Eight days each at Kitsilano & Riley Park. You can see a schedule on the right, but for the record, here are the days:

-30-

If you are in the Vancouver network on Facebook you can join the Farmers Market group page here and their fan page here.

I also have a fan page on Facebook: Great Day Bokashi

J. received a bokashi bucket as part of a corporate prize draw, so I did not have the opportunity to explain the system in advance or provide a small intro demonstration. My instruction sheet and information brochure are being changed to include some of the concerns raised.

Edited for clarity:

I need more bokashi. I am only 1 person using this system & started the composted at the end of March — so in less than 2 months I’ve used up the bag. I think used too much –but the reason why was because every time I opened the bucket to add more food scraps, I would find mold on the top of the food/enzyme pile AND all over the interior sides of the bucket.  So, I would try to scrape the sides & add more bokashi in order to cover the mold & aid digestion.

I’m concerned that this system really does not break down the organic materials into compost. It really is in a very early state of decomposition and not appropriate for putting in my window planters (I’m an apt dweller). It appears that it only gets to a state of partially digested/rotted food. Is this correct?

Thanks,

J

My reply:

Thanks for your comments. I’ll answer them as best as I can. Using a 1Kg bag of bokashi in a two month period is within a normal range but for a single person, you are correct: it should last longer. Bokashi is very forgiving. As long as it has something to eat/grow on, it will continue to do its work.

With regard to the mold, on Page 2 of the instruction sheet is says:

The Signs Of A Successful Fermentation
Smell: Well fermented food organics should have a smell similar to that of pickles or
cider vinegar.

Visual: Occasionally, particularly for longer fermentation periods a white cotton-like
fungi growth may appear on the surface. This shows that a good fermentation
process has occurred.

The Signs That All Is Not Well*
Smell: A strong rancid or rotten smell indicates a poor batch of compost.

Visual: The presence black or blue-green fungi indicates that contamination has occurred
and the process has not fermented but putrefied.

Was your mold white or black? Did your food waste smell fermented or putrid?

With regard to what is happening in the bucket, again, you are correct: the system does not break down the organic materials into "black gold" compost.

It states this on Page 2 of the instruction sheet:

The Composting Process
The composting process is one of fermentation, which is like pickling
onions in a jar. The organic food will not breakdown or decompose
while it is in the bucket. So if you have a bucket that is fermenting
with a pickling/vinegar type smell and looks the same when you put the
food in the bucket, this is okay composting is still happening.

On Page 4 it states that the finishing process is as follows:

How To Use Your Biosa Bokashi Compost or What to do when the bucket is full

In existing gardens
Dig a hole/trench approximately 20-25 cms deep, add the fermented food organics and mix with some soil, then cover with the remaining soil. The FM fermented compost is acidic when first dug in but neutralises after 7-10 days. Bacteria in the soil and compost will start to break down the food and after about 2-4 weeks all the food will have decomposed. Alternatively you can add it to an existing compost bin.

For people who live in apartments, there are different solutions possible and I offer the suggestion provided in this weblink:

http://www.livingsoil.co.uk/learning/planters.html

According to one of my clients, this has worked very well for him.

I hope this is helpful for you J. The concerns you raised will be made more clear in my information brochures and instructions.

Please contact me to get another bag of bokashi.

Regards,

Al

*I did not include this section in my original reply.

-30-

Isabella uses social media a lot and was inspired by moneycoach to get on board the bokashi bandwagon.

Thanks.

Lisa works at Junxion Strategy which has a bokashi bucket in their company kitchen.