checking-if-i-did-it-right
Svetlana asked 3 months ago
Hello
1. I buried my first precompost in hard soil which I crushed. 2 weeks after most food disappeared except for bigger chunk ones so I think its going right. However the product soil is still clayie. Is this normal? I added plenty coco coir, carbonized rice hull etc. To make a crumbly potting mix. Is this normal?
2. 2nd batch in same bin. This time its buried in leftover bokashi soil from first batch. Still clayie. Is this normal? I open bin during the day to let moisture out. I can see condensation under bin cover. Hoping it dries a little and make it crumbly. Is this correct to do?
3. 3rd batch in same bin, same left over soil just more this time from 2nd batch. 2 weeks hence, I checked and found most food gone. Lemon rinds still identifiable. And saw clayish matter blue-gray color , really pasty when I squish them. Smells like dog poop but not so bad and intense. Maybe a little bit rotten smell but not as terrible as typical rotting organic matter. Smell lingered in my fingers even after soaping hands. What is this blue-gray clayie stuff? Something went wrong? Is this from certain big chunk food? I remember throwing in cauliflower stem. They smell when they go bad bec of sulfur content. Anyway just speculating.
4. Still 3rd batch, I added dry leaves, sticks, dry lemon grass which I cut up. Read somewhere these things help loosen soil. I mix them in, also sprayed fermented fruit peel juice to add microbes. I did not compact soil. A couple of days later, I open bin to let moisture out, i feel warm air inside. Plenty of water droplets under bin cover. White cottony stuff in some cracks and crevices, but does not cover entire pile. Did it just turn into regular compost bec they probably got aerated when I mixed the leaves and sticks? I hope I did not make greenhouse gasses. How can I make them bokashi process again?
Nick Kiss answered 6 months ago
It sounds like you are doing things correctly. Keep in mind that the soil building process takes time. What we are doing with bokashi composting is using our food waste to generate garden friendly microbe species, with the aim of feeding our soil. We do this with the intent of attracting the natural soil building organisms to our gardens, and they do the work of building the healthy and natural soils that we want. If you have clay like soil, then these organisms are not generally present in your soils yet. But give them time, and keep up with your efforts, and they will come. Note that white mold is healthy and good in our gardens. It is a species of fungi, which we want to encourage in our gardens. But darker color molds like blue and green are a sign that the wrong microbes are coming in. If you see them in your bokashi bin, then refer to your troubleshooting section of our guidebook for tips on how to avoid them.
