KK, you use a little bran or inoculated material sprinkled or laid on each layer in the bucket. It will be interesting to see how long the first bag of bran lasts. If you donot use enough it will begin to smell. You can make the inoculate, mix it with molasses or raw sugar and put it on newspaper or other materials, dry it and store it. I think I will be making it eventually if this is as successful as I hope.
Have had a couple of bumps along the way, both errors on my part. The first error was not putting the lid back on securely after adding more materials from our countertop container. The smell was throughout the house before we figured out the lid was not tight. For the inoculate to work properly it really needs to be air tight. After the first bin was full and layered with a variety of chicken bones, as well as vegetable matter it was set outside securely lidded. When we went to open and check on it the smell was so powerful I only cracked the lid before closing it down again. The smell could have been because it was not properly 'cured'/fermented or because I hadn't added enough bran. Probably the first since today when I checked it didn't have a significant smell. I still added more bran inoculate. I figured meat scraps might take longer and need more micro organism to pickle/ferment. The big test will come when I add the bokashi compost to the garden. With city wildlife and three dogs we will see how well it works. I can't bury dried blood meal in the garden unless I want it excavated.
Ok, we have been using the bins since August. Have only been using kitchen wastes and the first has been sitting for quite a time. It had three chickens worth of bones and skin as well other veggie materials. It smelled like silage when I dumped/spread it this morning. Not a bad smell but not a perfume smell either. Then the bokashi area was covered with cardboard to kill the sweet woodruff there since I will be planting vegetables in this bed in the spring. The idea that animals won't like it was quickly proven false. My little shadow, Max snuck out a pickled piece of celery that must not have gotten completely covered with cardboard. He brought it in the house so it went back into the bin. Didn't seem to notice the meat scraps that had fermented. We will see if the wildlife has any interest in the bokashi since I only covered it with cardboard. The bokashi is one way to compost a tiny bit more. The sad truth is a large amount of bios go out to the curb to be composted by the county but a lot has stayed right here. With the terracing we have done over the decades it is amazing how the soil literally gets deeper/taller over time. The soil by the neighbors fence is over a foot taller on our side of the fence. Guess it is best to let someone else add compost to their yard.
