Bokashi Fertilizer Recipe: Using Local Materials

Fernando and I flipping the Bokashi

Every morning Chelo and I catch up on each other's lives as we toss shovels full of Bokashi fertilizer from one pile to another. Bokashi is an important organic fertilizer that many agroecological farms use. From my experience on different farms, I've seen different ways of preparing it. Here at Rancho Lum Ha it need to be flipped every few days while in other places it is stored in an air tight container and stays put until its ready. Today we got to prepare Bokashi and see how Rancho Lum Ha makes their style of Bokashi.

Fernando is a young man from the local community who is in charge of the production of Bokashi-- a natural, organic fertilizer. Chelo (the agroecologist at Rancho Lum Ha) taught the young men and women who work in the garden how to make Bokashi with (mostly) local inputs or ingredients.

Today Fernando gathered all of the materials for the Bokashi and had them ready for us to start the process. He gathers the leaves from the forest at the Ranch, the cow manure from a neighbor who has cattle, the soil from here at the Ranch, the biochar is made at the Ranch with corn cobs, the corn stover comes from local corn producers, the ashes from the kitchen, the rock powder comes from an external vendor, the barley is donated from a brewery in San Cristobal, the molasses from an external vendor, and the liquid microorganisms are made at the Ranch.

Lots of barley from the brewery. It's not necessary to use but its great for Bokashi because it activates the soil microbes and gets it decomposing quickly.

The majority of ingredients come from the Ranch itself or from neighboring producers. It is important that ingredients be locally sourced so that local producers can make Bokashi affordably without having to travel to buy lots of products. Chelo made this recipe thinking of how to source most things locally. However, molasses and rock powder are always tricky! Molasses is a by-product of refined sugar but if there is not sugar cane in the region, it must be bought from a agro-supply store and its not always available. When they don't have a supply of barely from the brewery, they just use more corn stover (the leaves, stalks, and cobs of corn plants left in a field after harvest). They can get this from the local producers in the region.

While compost takes about 3-6 months to fully decompose, Bokashi takes just 20 days! When Chelo began working as the agroecologist at the Ranch, the first thing she did was start up a Bokashi production. This ensured more organic fertilizer would be readily available for the vegetable gardens and the plant nursery. The seed trays in the nursery are filled completely with sifted Bokashi. The vegetable and medicinal plant garden beds are prepared with Bokashi. This means they need a lot of Bokashi, and with a process that is just 20 days they can meet their needs.

Fernando and I first layering and then flipping the Bokashi

We started layering ingredients in the order that is listed below in the recipe. We made 5 layers. Then we got our shovels and flipped the Bokashi, mixing together all of the ingredients. Then we flipped it again! Then we flattened out the mixed ingredients and added the buckets of molasses diluted with water. Then we flipped over the Bokashi one more time to get everything thoroughly wet. This is the hardest part because the Bokashi is so heavy when it's all wet. We flipped the Bokashi four times in total, and while I enjoyed the process in the moment, my shoulders were very sore the next day! Then the Bokashi needs to be flipped every day for a few weeks. It gets super hot inside and thats a good sign that everything is working well. If it isn't heating up then something went wrong!

Three Bokashi piles in different stages of decomposition

This process of Bokashi was much different from the process they use at the Organic Learning Center (CAO) in Honduras that I wrote about in this post. At CAO they stored the Bokashi in big plastic barrels and sealed it shut so that no air could get in (anaerobically). They never flipped the Bokashi but just left it sealed for 25-30 days, occasionally opening it to let it breath. Here at Rancho Lum Ha' and in other places where they don't access to lots of big barrels, they just make it in piles and it also heats up quickly (much more quickly than compost) and it's ready in 20 days. However, it takes more work to shovel and flip the Bokashi during the preparation and every day until it's ready!

Chelo and I talked about how Bokashi is community work. It's hard for just one person to collect all of the ingredients and materials needed and prepare the mixture. If communities are going to adopt agroecological practices like Bokashi then it would be much better to do it collectively than individually.

See Recipes below in English and Spanish:

Bokashi Recipe in English

• 10 sacks of leaves from the forest (with white mycelium)

• 6 sacks of cow manure (fresh is better)

• 9 sacks of soil

• 1 sack of ground up corn stover (the leaves, stalks, and cobs of corn plants left in a field after harvest)

• 2 sacks of biochar (make from corn cobs)

• 3 kilos of ashes

• 3 kilos of ground rock powder

• 15 buckets of fermented barley (from a local brewery)

• 10 liters of molasses (diluted with water)

• 30 liters of liquid microorganisms

Receta de Bokashi en Español

• 10 costales de hojas del bosque (con micelio blanco)

• 6 costales de estiércol (fresco mejor)

• 9 costales de tierra

• 1 costal de rastrojo de elote triturado

• 2 costales de carbón

• 3 kilos de ceniza

• 3 kilos de harina de roca

• 15 botes de sebada fermentada (de una cervecería local)

• 10 litros de melaza  (diluido con agua)

• 30 litros de biol (microorganisms en liquido)

Receta de Bokashi sin Sebada

• 2 costales mazorca de maiz triturado

• 10 sacos rastrojo de maiz (caña y hoja)

• 10 costales tierra local

• 10 costales estiércol (fresco mejor)

• 3 costales carbon

• 3 kilos ceniza

• Huesos de puerco en ceniza (si hay!)

• 10 litros melaza (diluido con agua)

• 20 litros bio (microorganismos líquido)