Using Lactic Acid Bacteria you can prepare any food scrap (meat, cheese, fats, cooked foods, etc.) to become soil.
Check out our video for a visual guide!
Learn how to make LAB at home here and get access to a printable recipe by signing up below!
What LAB Is and Why It Matters
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) can be found almost anywhere; on your body, in the air, in beloved fermented foods, and in the soil. Making a simple LAB culture from grain starch and milk will give us the opportunity to use it in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is fermenting food scraps, preparing them for rapid decomposition.
When the bacteria feed on the food scraps in a moderately anaerobic environment, they predigest and acidify the materials, preparing them to be converted into soil once introduced to the soil.
Fermenting Food Scraps
Materials
- Two-bucket system (drainage holes in top bucket)
- LAB spray (LAB diluted 1:1 in dechlorinated water)
- Food scraps (anything that does not contain large amounts of colorful mold)
Setting Up the Bucket
- Purpose of drainage holes for moisture control
- Why moisture management is the most important variable
- Collecting and draining bokashi “juice”
Fermenting the Food Scraps
- Coat food scraps in LAB – To ferment your food scraps simply coat them in LAB by spraying them or dressing them in your LAB culture.
- You don’t need tons of LAB, just enough to coat the food scraps.
- You can also chop your food scraps into smaller pieces if you are able and you it will result in slightly faster decomposition. However, even larger pieces will ferment and decompose.
- Bones are best crushed prior to fermentation.
- Compress food scraps – Once your food scraps are covered in LAB you need to press them down into the Bokashi bin so that they compress and air is removed.
- Moisture will be released from the food scraps and will drip downward over time.
- This results in a partially anaerobic fermentation process—the food scraps are not submerged in a brine such as is the case with other lacto-fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.). Rather, the LAB culture acidifies the food scraps in a low-oxygen, medium moisture environment. This keeps putrefactive anaerobes (STANKY microbes) from contaminating the material.
- Note: If the cultured food scraps do become contaminated and harbor pathogen microbes, they will still decompose in the soil, but it may take longer and attract pests. Proper LAB fermentation results in a material that is unpleasant for pests (rodents, flies, dogs, and other critters) and that decomposes evenly and quickly in the soil.
- Continue to add to the bucket until full – Each time you add food scraps to the bin, press them down firmly and drain off excess leachate (bokashi drippings) from the bottom of the bucket. This leachate can be poured over soil with no plants or added to a compost pile.
- Ferment for two weeks – Once your bin is full with food scraps, seal it and leave it to ferment for two weeks (less in warm temps, more in cool temps) from the last date food was added. After the two weeks is complete the Bokashi food waste is ready to be turned into soil.
After Fermentation
The two most common ways bokashi food scraps are turned into soil are by incorporating them into a compost heap or digging them into the soil. Both result in microbially rich humus within a month (or less) of decomposition. You can also use a “soil factor” method like the one we show in this video. This allows you to process your food waste continuously in a contained space.
After 2 weeks, bokashi food scraps will have begun to melt into the soil they were buried in (or the compost heap they were mixed into).
After a month, the food scraps will have turned into microbially rich humus that is excellent for planting directly into.
If you would like to use a shelf stable bokashi bran out LAB check out our in-depth tutorial on how to make your own.