Soil factory in winter
Norine asked 7 years ago
I am just getting started with bokashi and am really wondering how this will all work through the winter. Have read your blog about winter and have decided to set up a soil factory. I have a large container with holes in the bottom sitting on a bed of wood mulch. Our winter will have snow and subzero temps for several months, the soil factory WILL freeze. Can I continue to add dirt and pre-compost, letting it freeze and just mix when it thaws?
Nick answered 7 years ago
Yes you can certainly do that! Putting bokashi pre-compost into the regular compost pile or a container soil factory is a popular choice over the cold winter months. Just note that the sub zero temperatures will kill and damage some of the beneficial bokashi microbes, so we would recommend adding some bokashi bran to the soil factory in the spring to boost the beneficial soil microbe populations that may have been damaged over the winter.
For winter soil factories we recommend:
- using the largest container possible for your situation,
- adding a bit more soil each time than you would during the warmer summer months,
- diggin in some fresh bokashi bran when the warmer weather resumes as this will help kick start the process.
